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Monthly Archives: August 2016

Monday Missive - August 29, 2016

August 29, 2016 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive
The Terrific Trio — At the English Department meeting that took place last week, Monica Alston, Jennie Mussington, and Angie Williams provided everyone with a smorgasbord of delicious goodies that they prepared themselves.  This very pleasant surprise is but one of many examples of our staff going the extra mile to make our department such a pleasant work environment.   As I said at the beginning of the meeting, we are all fortunate to have such a dedicated staff.  Other departments have a great deal of turn over among their staff, but all three of our staff members have worked in the department for many years.  In appreciation of our staff, I have come up with a list of nine facts you might not know about our staff:Monica and Lucy.jpg

1. Monica grew up on a farm outside of Chapel Hill with her father and three siblings.  They raised pigs, chickens, and grew corn.

2. Monica started working for the UNC system in 1998.  She worked in UNC Chapel Hill’s Undergraduate Admissions Office for a number of years before she joined our English Department in 2005.

3. Monica has a loyal cat named Lucy who wakes Monica up every morning.

Jennie area 514. Jennie was born in Roswell, New Mexico (often called Area 51).  Her father served in the Air Force, and he was stationed at the Air Force Base in Roswell.

5. Jennie graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in business administration.

6. Jennie joined the English Department in 2000.  Before joining our department, she worked for several years in the Mecklenburg County Tax Collection Office.

7. Angie grew up in the small town of Montgomery, West Virginia.  This mountain town is located beside the Kanawha River in a picturesque valley.  She graduAngie cheerleaderated from Valley High School where she was a star cheerleader.  When all of the cheerleaders stood on top of each other to form a triangle, Angie always held everybody up, a role she still plays today.

8. Angie joined UNC Charlotte in 1986.  She started her career in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies and then transferred to the English Department in 2005.

9. Angie has worked with eight department chairs over the course of her career at UNC Charlotte.

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:

Boyd Davis guest edited a special issue of the Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict, which has just been published.  This special issue deals with dementia-compromised language conflict and aggression.  The issue includes Boyd’s co-written article titled “The Silent Violence of Marginalization and Teasing in Dementia Care Residences.”   Pilar Blitvich serves as a Co-Editor of the Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict.

Paula Martinac‘s short story “Daddy” has been accepted by the literary journal Minerva Rising and will appear in their next issue, which is due out at the end of the year.

Kirk Melnikoff‘s monograph Elizabethan Publishing and the Makings of Literary Culture is now under contract for publication with The University of Toronto Press. It will be published in 2017.

Rebecca Roeder
and Bryan Walden (a graduate of our M.A. program in linguistics) recently published an article titled “The Changing Face of Dixie: Spanish in the Linguistic Landscape of an Emergent Immigrant Community in the New South” in Ampersand.

Lara Vetter‘s monograph, A Curious Peril: H.D.’s Late Modernist Prose, is under contract with the University Press of Florida.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is information about an upcoming event:

The Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the UNC Charlotte Counseling Center are co-sponsoring an event titled “Just Me and Allah:  A Queer Muslim Photo Project,” featuring the work of Samra Habib.  Her presentation will take place on Wednesday, November 9, 2016 @7pm in McKnight Hall.  Here are some articles on Samra’s work:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/samra-habib-instagram-takeover_us_57769d68e4b0a629c1a9d57f

http://qz.com/594969/between-me-and-allah-the-conflict-between-homosexuality-and-islam/

Quirky Quiz Question — Monica, Jennie, and Angie are the three official English Department staff members, but there is a fourth unofficial member of the staff who resides in Angie’s office.  Does anybody know the name of this unofficial member of the staff?

Last week’s answer: Debbie Reynolds
The film Singin’ in the Rain stars Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor as the two leading male actors.  Who is the leading female star in the film?

Monday Missive - August 22, 2016

August 22, 2016 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

singing-in-the-rain

Singin’ in the Rain — This past Saturday I went to the screening of Singin’ in the Rain at the main branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. Our own part-time faculty member Sam Shapiro showed this classic musical as part of the library’s film series titled “Hollywood Shoots Itself: Movies about Movies.” For more information about this film series, please click on this link: https://www.cmlibrary.org/blog/hollywood-shoots-itself-film-series.

I knew I would see Sam there, but I was pleasantly surprised to see Aaron Toscano and Alison Walsh in the audience, too. After watching the film, I talked for a little while to Sam, Aaron and Alison, and then we all went our separate ways. For a second I thought I saw the three of them dancing down Tryon Street with Alison in the middle and Sam and Aaron on either side, but it was probably just my imagination.

Released in 1952, Singin’ in the Rain is not just a famous musical; it is also a film about the history of the American film industry during the transition between the silent film era and the advent of films with sound. The film is set in the late 1920s, just after the release of The Jazz Singer, which made history as the first “talking picture.” In Singin’ in the Rain, a movie production company must respond to this change or risk being marginalized. The production company, called Monumental Pictures, ends up embracing this change. The company releases a film that takes full advantage of sound, and in the process it sets into motion the rise of movie musicals.

As I drove home humming the title song from the film, I started thinking about connections between the film and our English Department. Like the production company represented in the film, our English Department is facing broader changes that have the potential of marginalizing the department. With the growing emphasis on STEM disciplines and programs that take an applied approach to education, many English Departments are currently experiencing sharp declines in their majors and course enrollments, but not our department. In recent years, our English Department has embraced change through our innovative concentrations, our collaborations with colleagues from the STEM disciplines, and our leadership in the emerging area of digital humanities. Unlike the many English Departments that seem disheartened as they are deluged with bad news, our English Department has a much more optimistic outlook. It is as if we are singin’ in the rain.

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:

Antwan Alexander, one of our recent graduates, was recently honored as one of the “30 Under 30” by Charlotte’s Black Chamber of Commerce, an honor that recognizes Charlotte’s brightest young black entrepreneurs and business professionals 30 years and under.

Sarah Minslow recently published an article in the Journal of Popular Culture Studies titled “Treat Your Chicken-eating Children ‘Right’: The Conservative Political and Evangelical Values Reinforced in Chick-fil-A’s Classic Stories and Essential Values Series.”

Malin Pereira gave a paper at the conference for MESEA (The Society for Multi-Ethnic Studies: Europe and the Americas) in Warsaw, Poland, titled “Becoming a Minority Cosmopolitan: Reading Natasha Trethewey’s Mixed Race Identity from Beyond Katrina to Thrall.” On the way there, she gave a talk on Wanda Coleman’s “Retro Rogue Anthology” at the University of Wuppertal in Germany.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is a list of upcoming meetings and events that will take place this week:

-CLAS All Faculty Mtg & Breakfast Friday, August 26 8:30-10:00am
Fretwell 100

-English Department Mtg Friday, August 26 11-12:15pm
Fretwell 290B (English Department Seminar Room)

Quirky Quiz Question — The film Singin’ in the Rain stars Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor as the two leading male actors. Who is the leading female star in the film?

Last week’s answer: the principal violinist

Like an academic departments, orchestras have their own hierarchies.  In a traditional orchestra, who is second in command behind the conductor?

 

Monday Missive - August 15, 2016

August 15, 2016 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive
Orchestra-Maze2
Tuning Up the Orchestra — In the days of my youth, I played the bassoon in a community orchestra.  One of my pleasant memories from this experience was the ritual involved in tuning up the orchestra before a performance.   I remember the musicians assembling on the stage.  I remember the initial sounds of a few instruments going through scales.  And then more and more instruments would add to the growing cacophony of sounds.  And then the oboe player would play an A, and all of the musicians would tune their instruments to the oboe.  And then they would put down their instruments, the conductor would appear, and the performance would begin.

I flashed back on this memory today while sitting in my office listening to the sounds wafting through the department.  Like the musicians assembling on the stage, the faculty members are assembling in the lobby and chatting in the mail room.  The photocopy machine is making its rhythmic sounds as faculty members keep it busy running off course syllabi.  Students keep ringing the bell at the front desk, asking for help finding offices.  I regularly hear Sarah Minslow’s cheery voice as she greets students and brings them to her office for last-minute advising appointments.  These are the sounds I associate with the beginning of the semester, and they remind me of the sounds that the members of an orchestra make as they prepare for their next performance.  Our next performance starts in a week, and I am confident that by then we will all be tuned up and ready to go.

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:

Eric Linne, a graduate of our M.A. program, recently learned that his new novella titled MillVille will be released in serial form online in the Charlotte Agenda.  Beginning this Tuesday, they will be publishing two chapters a week for five weeks.

Sarah Minslow presented two papers at international conferences this summer.  In June she presented a paper titled “They All Fall Down:  Representations of Child Soldiers in Literature and Film” at a conference on Children’s Lives in Historical Contexts, which took place at Kings College London.  In July she presented a paper titled “Representing War and Genocide in Children’s Literature at the Children and War, which took place at the University of Salzburg.

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

Here is a list of upcoming meetings and events that will take place this month:

–University Convocation   Thursday, August 18

8:30am coffee, 9:30-11 Convocation McKnight Hall

–Day of Convocation       Monday, August 22  

11:00-5:00pm (faculty arrive at 10:15) Halton Arena

–Classes Begin                Monday, August 22 (at 5:00pm)

–CLAS All Faculty Mtg & Breakfast     Friday, August 26

8:30-10:00am  Fretwell 100

–English Department Mtg   Friday, August 26  
11-12:15pm  Fretwell 290B (English Department Seminar Room)

Quirky Quiz Question — Like an academic departments, orchestras have their own hierarchies.  In a traditional orchestra, who is second in command behind the conductor?

Last week’s answer: Chris Bongartz
Manu Vida is a graduate student of a former faculty member from our English Department who now teaches at the University of Cologne.  Does anybody know the name of this former member of our English Department?

Monday Missive - August 9, 2016 (a day late)

August 09, 2016 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

global

Going Global — I just returned from Great Britain where I presented a paper at the Oxford Education Research Symposium.  This symposium drew scholars from around the globe.  Among the many countries represented at the symposium were Australia, Brazil, Iran, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.  During the symposium, everyone talked about education within a global context.  We talked about how technology is used in schools from many different parts of the world.  We talked about bilingual education and how other language issues impact schools in countries where more than one language is commonly spoken.  We talked about how global cultural conflicts affect education.  We talked about how global economic and political developments often lead to changing attitudes toward children and child rearing.  I came away from this symposium with a heightened awareness of how educational systems and approaches are affected by global trends and movements.

My experience at Oxford University got me thinking about our English Department’s global connections.  Of course, many of our faculty members participate in international conferences.  Just this summer Balaka Basu, Pilar Blitvich, Boyd Davis, Janaka Lewis, Malin Pereira, and Alan Rauch have all presented papers at conferences held outside of the United States.  However, our global connections also extend into the classroom.  I could mention many cases of our faculty members’ involvement in international teaching, but I will limit myself to two notable and very recent examples.  For the second half of the summer, Becky Roeder has been teaching college English to Chinese students in Shanghai, China.  Also during the second half of the summer, Manuela (Manu) Vida from the University of Cologne in Germany has been teaching a section of ENGL 3132 (Introduction to Contemporary American English) here at UNC Charlotte.  I think it is a sign of the global nature of linguistics that Manu, who is a linguist from Germany, can come to the United States and teach our students about American English.  As these two examples illustrate, the teaching in our English Department is already going global.

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:

Dina Schiff Massachi, a recent graduate of our M.A. program in English, recently published a chapter titled “Suffragist Matilda Gage’s Influence on Oz” in a book titled Poor Richard’s Ozmanac.

Anita Moss published an article titled “Completing the Circle:  Storytelling and Community in Michael Dorris’s Sees Behind Trees in the spring/summer 2016 issue of RISE:  A Children’s Literacy Journal. 

Quirky Quiz Question —  Manu Vida is a graduate student of a former faculty member from our English Department who now teaches at the University of Cologne.  Does anybody know the name of this former member of our English Department?

Last week’s answer: The Phantom Tollbooth

Norton Juster spent most of his career working as an architect, but he also enjoyed writing for children.  In addition to writing The Hello, Goodbye Window,he wrote one of the most famous American fantasy novels intended for children.  This novel came out in 1961.  Does anybody know the title of this classic novel?

Monday Missive - August 1, 2016

August 03, 2016 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Coming and Going — Every summer I teach a graduate seminar called Children’s hello+goodbye+windowLiterature Award Winners in which I cover the most recent winners of some of the big awards in the field of children’s literature.  Because I teach this course, I am familiar with most of the picture books that have won the Caldecott Medal.  In 2006 the book that won this award was The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka.  In this book, a young girl thinks of the kitchen window in her grandparents’ house as a special gateway.  When she visits her grandparents, she first sees them through this window.  When she returns to her home, her grandparents wave goodbye to her through this same window.  I sometimes think that the door to my office is a bit like the kitchen window in this picture book.   Some people come through the door to say hello, and some come to say goodbye.

This week it is time to say “Hello” to Sarah Minslow and “Goodbye” to Sonya Brockman.  On August 1, Sarah officially becomes the English Department’s first full-time, professional advisor.  Sarah has already served as a part-time advisor in the English Department, so she is well prepared to assume her new responsibilities.  I am so pleased that Sarah will be joining our English Department as full-time employee, and I know that our students will be in good hands when they are advised by Sarah.  At the same time that Sarah is arriving, Sonya Brockman is preparing to leave.  Sonya accepted a full-time teaching position starting this fall in the English Department at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado.  Sonya has been teaching for us as an adjunct faculty member since 2012.  However, her connections to our department go back even further.  She received her M.A. degree from our department in 2005.  I thank Sonya for her many contributions to our department, and I wish her all the best has she starts her new position in my home state of Colorado.

Quirky Quiz Question —   Norton Juster spent most of his career working as an architect, but he also enjoyed writing for children.  In addition to writing The Hello, Goodbye Window, he wrote one of the most famous American fantasy novels intended for children.  This novel came out in 1961.  Does anybody know the title of this classic novel?

Last week’s answer: Somerville College

The novelist Dorothy L. Sayers is one of the first women to earn a degree from Oxford University. In her novel Gaudy Night, Sayers calls the Oxford college that she attended Shrewsbury College, but this is a fictional name. Does anybody know the real name of the college within Oxford University that Sayers attended?  
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