Monthly Archives: May 2016

The Land of Hans Christian Andersen — I just returned from a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, where I researched the connections between Hans Christian Andersen and Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen’s legendary amusement park.  Before I set foot in Copenhagen, I knew that the city takes pride in its associations with Andersen, but it still came as a surprise to me how central Andersen and his fairy tales are to the culture of the city.

Andersen’s presence is felt throughout Copenhagen.  The famous Little Mermaid statue serves as an icon for the city, but it is only one of many Andersen-related statues scattered throughout Copenhagen.  A larger-than-life statue of Andersen is located on Hans Christian Andersen Boulevard, which borders Tivoli Gardens.  It is sometimes hard to see this statue close up because it is usually surrounded by people who want to have their photograph taken next to this representation of Andersen.  The residents of Copenhagen are also remarkably familiar with Andersen’s fairy tales, and they often make references to these tales in their everyday conversation.

My experiences in Copenhagen underscore for me the role that stories can play in building and maintaining a sense of community.  Copenhagen is a large city with a population of well over a million residents, but nearly all of them feel connected to Andersen and his fairy tales.  His stories are part of the glue that holds the city together.  They readily share their love of his fairy tales with others, so outsiders who are familiar with Andersen’s fairy tales soon feel like they too have a place in this unique city.  The motto for this city is “Wonderful Copenhagen,” and for me and other lovers of Andersen’s fairy tales, the motto rings true.

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:

Stephanie Devine, a recent graduate of our M.A. program, won the NANO Prize for her flash fiction piece titled “Of Felling.”  Here is a link to an interview with her:  http://nanofiction.org/weekly-feature/interviews/2016/05/five-questions-with-2015-nano-prize-winner-stephanie-devine.

Madeleine L’Engle did not invent the term “tesseract.”  She borrowed the term from a field of study that can be traced back to a Greek scholar from Alexandria.  What is this field of study?

In Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, the central characters use something called a “tesseract” to jump through space and time, and each time they make these jumps it changes their perspectives.  This past weekend, I had my own private tesseract that ping-ponged me back and forth between New Orleans and Charlotte, and it helped change my perspective on the hoopla surrounding commencement ceremonies.  As most of my friends and family members know, I feel uneasy wearing regalia, and I don’t usually respond positively to pomp and circumstance,.  However, my very recent experience at Tulane changed my perspective a bit.  Although participating in commencement ceremonies is still not my favorite activity, I now better appreciate the pleasure that many students and parents associate with such ceremonies.

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:

Jen Munroe gave an invited paper titled “Teaching Recipes in the Digital Age” on bringing together manuscript transcription and digital humanities work in the classroom, at the Manuscripts Cookbook Conference at NYU, May 11-13, 2016.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is an important date to keep in mind:

May 23  —  The first summer session begins on Monday, May 23.

Quirky Quiz Question —  Madeleine L’Engle did not invent the term “tesseract.”  She borrowed the term from a field of study that can be traced back to a Greek scholar from Alexandria.  What is this field of study?

Last week’s answer: Cheshire Cat 

Andrew Hartley’s new collaborator, Tom DeLonge, became famous when his band, Blink-182, released their debut album in 1995.  The title of this album comes from the name of a fading feline from British children’s literature.  Can you guess the title of Blink-182’s debut album?

Collaborations — Many members of our English Department work collaboratively with other writers and scholars, but as far as I know, only Andrew Hartley has entered into a collaboration with a rock star. Andrew and Tom DeLonge (the lead singer of Blink-182 and the founder of the new rock band Angels and Airwaves) have just published their co-authored thriller novel titled Sekret Machines: Chasing Shadows. This novel, which is intended to be the first in a series, has already received a number of very positive reviews.

Andrew’s latest collaboration prompted me to think of other English professors who engage in collaborative work. A number of our professors have regular research and writing collaborators. Here are three examples that immediately come to mind. Jen Munroe often collaborates with Rebecca Laroche and Lynne Bruckner on scholarly projects related to ecocriticism and ecofeminist theory. JuliAnna Avila often collaborates with Jessica Zacher Pandya on research related to digital literacy. Boyd Davis has a long list of collaborators, but recently she has worked on numerous gerontology-related projects with Dena Shenk, the former Director of UNC Charlotte’s Gerontology Program.

Several of our faculty members collaborate with other faculty on teaching-related projects. Kirk Melnikoff, for example, has team-taught several sections of a Prospect-for-Success with Kent Brintnall from the Department of Religious Studies. Their course is titled “Sexing Shakespeare,” and it is tied to the General Education Program. In their course, they apply contemporary theories of gender and sexuality to Shakespeare’s plays. Ralf Thiede and Dan Boisvert from the Department of Philosophy are also co-teaching a Prospect-for Success course. Their course introduces students to the evolution of human language as well as the impact of language on the evolution of humans. Allison Hutchcraft and our visiting creative writer, Michelle Cahill, worked closely together in developing Michell’s advanced creative writing course. While they did not co-teach the course, they fully collaborated in the preparation of the course.

I could list many more examples of faculty members from English who regularly engage in collaborative writing, research and teaching projects, but the above mentioned examples demonstrate that our department is not a collection of isolated professors working in the solitude of their offices. While most of us do collaborate with rock stars, the department as a whole rocks when it comes to collaborative projects and mutual support.

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:

Sarah Davis, one of our graduate students, has accepted her offer (with full funding) to become part of the PhD program in English at SUNY Stony Brook in the fall.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is an important date to keep in mind:

May 14 — The CLAS Commencement Ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 14, at 10:00 AM in the Student Activity Center.

Quirky Quiz Question — Andrew Hartley’s new collaborator, Tom DeLonge, became famous when his band, Blink-182, released their debut album in 1995. The title of this album comes from the name of a fading feline from British children’s literature. Can you guess the title of Blink-182’s debut album?

Last week’s answer: the dodo bird

In addition to teaching creative writing courses, Allison Hutchcraft is a publishing poet.  She has published a number of poems that make reference to a particular type of bird that was once common in America.  Do you know what type of birds do so often show up in Allison’s poems?