Nudging as Mentoring — Last week I had a conversation with Ron Lunsford about his experiences as an undergraduate student in our English Department in the late 1960s. Like many of our current students, Ron was a first-generation college student. The thought of going to graduate school or pursuing a career in academia never occurred to him until some of his professors suggested that he consider applying for graduate school. Ron credits an English professor named Roy Moose with providing the necessary nudge to apply to the M.A. program at UNC Chapel Hill. This nudge proved to be a key moment in launching Ron’s career in academia. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
The mentoring that Ron received from Roy Moose and other professors at UNC Charlotte underscores for me the importance of nudging in the mentoring process. Sometimes students need a little push, a word of encouragement, or a suggestion to pursue opportunities. For those of us who are working with talented undergraduate students, I suggest that we follow Roy Moose’s example and suggest to these students that they consider applying to graduate programs, including our own M.A. program. Some of our best graduate students received their undergraduate degrees from UNC Charlotte. For those of us who are working with graduate students, I suggest that we nudge these students to submit an abstract for the upcoming upcoming English Graduate Student Association Conference. The deadline to submit an abstract is today. Please click on the following link for the paper call: http://english.uncc.edu/sites/english.uncc.edu/files/media/2017%20EGSA%20Call%20for%20Papers%20Final.pdf
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:
Paula Connolly published a review essay in the most recent issue of the Children’s Literature Association Quarterly. She reviewed two scholarly works about picture books: Reading Visual Narrative: Image Analysis of Children’s Picture Books and Picture Books: Beyond the Borders of Art, Narrative and Culture.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is information about an upcoming event.
December 8 – The Department Holiday Party will take place from 11:30-1:30 in the faculty/staff lounge on December 8. A sign-up sheet for donated goodies is on the front reception desk.
Quirky Quiz Question — In addition to mentoring Ron Lunsford, Roy Moose was well known for teaching courses on the works of Shakespeare. In fact, he was the first member of the English Department to win the teaching award that is now known as the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence. When he won the award in 1969, however, the award reflected the name of the bank at that time. Does anybody know what Bank of America was called then?
Last week’s answer: Professor Sprout
In the Harry Potter series, the students at Hogwarts study science, but the J. K. Rowling often substitutes her own terms when referring to these subjects. For example, she uses the term herbology when referring to botany. What is the name of the professor at Hogwarts who teaches herbology?