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Monthly Archives: March 2017

Monday Missive - March 27, 2017

March 27, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive
 
Supporting the National Endowment for the Humanities — From March 11-13 Jeffrey Leak attended the annual conference for the National Humanities Alliance with a delegation from public and private colleges and universities across North Carolina.  During this conference, the delegates heard many presentations about the President’s proposed budget and its harmful impact on the NEH and affiliated programs throughout the country.  However, Jeffrey reports that there is support for the humanities in both parties. On the second day of the the conference members of the delegation met with North Carolina members serving in Congress.

In an email Jeffrey sent to me about this experience, he shared with me a line from the keynote address delivered by the former president of the American Academy of Sciences:  “More than anything else, we–scientists, humanists and everyone else–need to make the case for intellectual inquiry in the form of stories. Narrative, not reports, is what will resonate with politicians and people who have no idea about the importance of the NEH. Don’t tell people why the NEH is important. Show them.”

Honors Students on the Road — This semester Janaka Lewis is teaching English 4750 Honors Seminar: Black Feminist Archives.  She recently sent me the following news about two student trips related to this seminar:  “Over Spring Break, three students (Brittney Elder, Rozie Khasmanian, and Sara Eudy) and I traveled to Washington, DC, to tour the new National Museum of African American History and Culture.  There is a wealth of historical and cultural material in the huge (and beautiful) building, and we were particularly interested in the exhibits on Black women writers from North Carolina (including Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckley) and collections donated by UNC Charlotte faculty emeriti Dr. Bertha Maxwell-Roddey and Dr. Herman Thomas from the early days of the National Council of Black Studies.  Last week, four students from the same class and senior Honors cohort (Jenna Hainlen, Chelsea Moore, Maria Lignos,and Sara Eudy) traveled with me to Atlanta for a panel on Collaborative Feminisms at the Southeastern Women’s Studies Association and to conduct research in the Alice Walker Papers at Emory University.  We were also treated to a personal tour and workshop at the Atlanta University Center’s Woodruff Library, where they pulled material on black women’s literary societies just for us.”

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: 

Jessica Dionne, a student in our M.A. program, presented a paper entitled “Nostalgia and Freedom: The Representation of Road Culture in Lana Del Rey’s ‘Born to Die'” on February 18 and read three of her poems on February 17, at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association in Albuquerque, NM. 

Liz Miller recently presented at the American Association of Applied Linguistics conference in Portland, Oregon. The titles of her talks are “Language teacher identity and ethical self-formation: A transdisciplinary account” and “Applied Linguistics at Work: Exploring Language Practices, Emergent Ideologies, and their Implications for Social Sustainability Advocacy.”

Joan Mullin recently published the following two articles: “Occupying Research–Again/Still” with Jenn Fishman. In Horner, Bruce, Brice Nordquist, Susan M. Ryan. Economies of Writing: Revaluations in Rhetoric and Composition.  Logan: Utah State University Press; and “Silent Subversion, Quiet Competence and Patient Persistence” with Carol Lind. In Kahn, Seth, William B. Lalicker, & Amy Lynch-Biniek. Contingency, Exploitation, and Solidarity: Labor and Action in English Composition. Fort Collins, Colorado: The WAC Clearinghouse and University Press of Colorado.

Quirky Quiz Question — The National Endowment for the Humanities was signed into law in 1965.  Can you name the president who signed this legislation?
Last week’s answer: Borders
Paula Martinac’s new novel is published by Bywater Books in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  In addition to being the home of Bywater Books, Ann Arbor was home to famous chain of bookstores that once rivaled Barnes and Nobel.  What is the name of this now defunct bookstore chain?

Monday Missive - March 13, 2017

March 13, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Celebrating Our Part-Time Faculty Members — This weekend I received an email from Paula Martinac informing me that her new novel, The Ada Decades, has just been published Bywater Books in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  After congratulating her on this significant publication, I asked her for more information about her novel.  She responded by sharing with me what she calls her “elevator speech.”  The Ada Decades, she wrote,”is a historical novel-in-stories that looks at the intersections of race, class, and LGBT experience in the life of one North Carolina woman over seven decades. It takes place mostly in Charlotte.”  She also informed me that there will be a reading and book celebration on Wed., April 26 at 7 p.m. at Charlotte Center for the Literary Arts, 1817 Central Avenue and all are welcome to attend.

The publication of Paula’s novel underscores for me what a talented and dedicated group of part-time faculty members we have in the English Department.  I know that many administrators refer to such part-time faculty members as “adjunct faculty,” but I don’t like or use this term.  My old copy of the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines adjunct as “something joined or added to another but not essentially a part of it.”  As I see it, our part-time faculty members are an essential part of our English Department.  Our part-time faculty members teach core courses in creative writing, technical and professional writing, children’s literature, literature surveys, general education, pedagogy, introductory linguistics, to name just some of the different types of courses that they cover on a regular basis.  Our part-time faculty members regularly publish as is reflected in the publication of Paula’s novel.  Our part-time faculty frequently participate in department events and projects.  Our part-time faculty members might not teach on a full-time basis, but they are hardly adjuncts to the department.

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:

Kevin Chauncey, one of our graduate students, presented a paper at the SouthEastern Conference on Linguistics titled “The Effects of Stereotype Threat/Awareness on Accommodation in Turn-Taking Conversations.”

 

Sarah Minslow facilitated two workshops for North Carolina educators at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching last Saturday. The workshops were on using children’s literature to teach the Holocaust and contemporary conflict.
Ralf Thiede presented a paper at the SouthEastern Conference on Linguistics in Charleston titled “Baby Chomsky vs. Baby Aristotle: The Acquisition of Speech Sounds,” reconciling two opposing theories of language acquisition in cognitive science and linguistics. At the meeting, he assumed the presidency of SECOL for a two-year term.

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

March 21–  The next Personally Speaking Series event will take at 6:30 p.m.Tuesday, Mar. 21, at UNC Charlotte Center City.  Peter Thorsheim will give a presentation based on his book titled Waste into Weapons:  Recycling in Britain During the Second World War (Cambridge University Press).

The event is free, but registration is ​​​requested.  (Register) A reception will follow. Complimentary parking is available at 422 E. 9th St. across Brevard from the Center City building. Information will be emailed about how to obtain a parking pass. This is the final Personally Speaking event of 2016-17​, and t​he books and authors for the 2017-18 season will be announced.

​Personally Speaking is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, J. Murrey Atkins Library and UNC Charlotte Center City. For more information, visit exchange.uncc.edu.

Quirky Quiz Question — Paula Martinac’s new novel is published by Bywater Books in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  In addition to being the home of Bywater Books, Ann Arbor was home to famous chain of bookstores that once rivaled Barnes and Nobel.  What is the name of this now defunct bookstore chain?

Last week’s answer: And To Think That I saw It On Mulberry Street.

At this year’s Seuss-a-Thon, Anita Moss read Dr. Seuss’s first book for children.  What is the title of this book?

Monday Missive - March 6, 2017

March 06, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

 

CLGO member Amanda Loeffert reading The Cat in the Hat

United for Literacy — The sixth annual Seuss-a-Thon took place this past Saturday, and it attracted a large and diverse group of children, parents, grandparents, and various other Dr. Seuss fans of all ages.  Co-sponsored by the English Department and Park Road Books, this event featured area educators and literacy advocates reading Dr. Seuss books aloud to children in a marathon fashion for four continuous hours.  Also, students from the Children’s Literature Graduate Organization and Sigma Tau Delta helped children with Dr. Seuss-related craft projects.

CLGO member, Peter Fields reading The Lorax

One of the reasons the Seuss-a-Thon is so special to me is that it joins together a wide variety of people in a convivial celebration of literacy.  The people who read Dr. Seuss books at this year’s event included faculty, staff, administrators, graduate students, undergraduate students, and members of the larger Charlotte community.  The readers included members of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as the College of Education.  Moreover, the event joined together UNC Charlotte’s English Department and Charlotte’s oldest continuously operating bookstore.  The participants in this year’s Seuss-a-Thon came from many different backgrounds, but everyone came together to promote the cause of literacy and to celebrate the works of Dr. Seuss.

The United States is currently experiencing a time of tremendous divisiveness and discord.  As I see it, one of the ways we can bridge our differences is through shared literary experiences.  In a small way, the Seuss-a-Thon shows how literature can help bring us together even if it is just for a Saturday afternoon.

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:

C. T. McGaha, one of our English major, just published his first poetry chapbook with Ursus Americanus Press of Nashville. The book is called Gutterboy Rides Again.

Jessi Morton, a graduate of our MA program, just accepted a full-time teaching position atCentral Piedmont Community College.

Quirky Quiz Question — At this year’s Seuss-a-Thon, Anita Moss read Dr. Seuss’s first book for children.  What is the title of this book?

Last week’s answer: the platypus

In his presentation on “fantastic beasts,” Alan Rauch discussed a “real” fantastic animal that combines the bill of an aquatic bird with the body of a mammal.  As he explained, the first zoologists who examined specimens of this animal initially thought it was a hoax.  What is the name of this animal?

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