Monday Missive – September 21, 2015

September 21, 2015 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive
The Versatility of English — Bill Hill, the Senior Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, regularly reads the Monday Missives, and he often sends me responses to the quirky quiz questions.  For last week’s question, I asked people to identify the two departments for which Jay Jacoby served as interim chair, and Bill responded correctly that these departments were Art and English.  This question prompted Bill to think about the various English professors who have served as interim chairs for departments other than English over the years.  After exchanging several emails, Bill and I came up with the following list:

Jay Jacoby – Art
Cy Knoblauch – Biology
Ron Lunsford – Philosophy

Jim McGavran – Dance and Theater

Malin Pereira – Africana Studies

Mark West – Art

There is no other department in the College that has provided six interim chairs for other departments.  The various leadership roles that English professors have played over the years is a reflection of the strength of the English Department, but this record of leadership also reflects the versatility of the discipline of English.  The critical insights and the reading and writing skills associated with English are readily transferable to other disciplines as well as to interdisciplinary fields.  It is worth noting that the current directors of four of the interdisciplinary programs in the College come from English.  Here is the list:

Paula Eckard – American Studies

Beth Gargano – M.A. Program in Liberal Studies

Katie Hogan – Women’s and Gender Studies

Aaron Toscano – Humanities, Technology, and Sciences Minor

The versatility of English also benefits our students.  I was reminded of this last week when I viewed a a video about our Technical/Professional Writing Program.  One of our current graduate students, Yekaterina Dolmatova, interviewed two of our recent program graduates and produced a short, five-minute video. It’s now on the University’s Youtube channel.  As this video demonstrates, the versatile nature of our program helps prepare our students to succeed when they enter the workforce. Here is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/glp1fHcjSD8

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Community Read Program — The Charlotte The Storied Life of A.J. FikryMecklenburg Library is sponsoring a series of events designed to encourage members of the Charlotte community to read and discuss a common text this fall.  This program will take place between September 28 and October 17.  The text that has been selected for this year is Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry.  This 2014 novel deals with a cranky bookstore owner who gradually forges connections with other people through their shared love of books.  In many ways, the novel is a celebration of books, bookstores, and the reading life.  I have agreed to lead several book discussions focused on this novel at various library locations.  For more information about this program, please click on the following link:    http://www.cmlibrary.org/about_us/in_the_news/#!/pressrelease/charlotte-mecklenburg-library/r/charlotte-mecklenburg-library-unveils-2015-community-read-titles,c9820275

Kudos— As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department.  Here is the latest news:

Chris Davis recently learned that he has been selected for a winter residency at the Sundress Academy for the Arts.

Sarah Minslow will be speaking at local libraries about censorship as part of Freedom to Read Week. She will speak on Monday, Sept. 28th 6pm at Independence Library, Thursday, Oct. 1st at 6pm at Matthews Library, and Saturday, Oct. 3 at 2 pm at Uptown Library. Please come along and add to the conversation.

Lara Vetter recently presented a paper titled “Espionage and Psychoanalysis in H.D.’s Late Prose” at a conference on “H.D. and Feminist Poetics” in H.D.’s birthplace, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:

October 9 — Mid-semester reports of unsatisfactory grades are  due on Friday, October 9th at noon.
October 19 — The deadline to apply for a Faculty Research Grant is October 19.  For more information, click on the following link:   http://research.uncc.edu/proposal-development/locating-funding

Quirky Quiz Question — The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry  is published by Algonquin Books.  Although Algonquin Books is now a division of Workman Publishing, the editorial office is still located in the same community where the publisher was founded in 1983.  Where is Algonquin Books located?

Last week’s answer: Art and English
In addition to teaching in the English Department, Jay Jacoby served as the interim chair for two departments.  Can you name these departments?