Summer — The builders of Stonehenge seemed to think that the start of summer had something to do with the summer solstice, for they designed the monument so that the the sun rises above a stone known as the Heel Stone on the morning of the summer solstice. What the builders of Stonehenge apparently did not understand is that the real start of summer is the first day of the first summer session at UNC Charlotte, which falls on the 18th of May this year.
This summer the English Department will be offering a little more than two dozen classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Of these classes around half are 100% online courses. The English Department faculty are also teaching seven Liberal Studies courses for the General Education Program. As of Friday, our English and LBST courses had about 600 of their seats filled, which is a record high at this point in the summer registration process. In addition to our regular summer offerings, the English Department is offering several new topics courses, such as Reading the Whedonverse (ENGL 2090), African-American Writers Writing the Sixties (ENGL 3050) and Children’s Literature and Childhood Trauma (ENGL 6070). My thanks go to Kirk for organizing our summer schedule.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:
May 18 — Classes for the first summer session begin on May 18.
May 19 — Last day to add or drop a class with no grade.
Quirky Quiz Question — Summer is a special time of the year in the lives of young people, which might explain why so many coming-of-age stories take place during the summer. Below are descriptions of three classic coming-of-age novels all of which have the word summer in their title. See if you can name the titles of these books:
1. This classic story of first love takes place in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in the late 1930s.
2. This novel deals with a Jewish girl who befriends an enemy soldier who escapes from a prison camp in Arkansas.
3. This novel is set on Nantucket Island and deals with an adolescent boy’s infatuation with a young woman whose husband is killed during World War Two.
Last week’s answer: Prospero