Our Students’ Winning Ways — Last Friday was a remarkable day for many of the students associated with the English Department. Not only were 25 of our students recognized at our annual Student Awards Ceremony, but a number of our students achieved recognition at two other events that also took place on Friday.
Peter Fields
During an awards ceremony sponsored by the Graduate School, Peter Fields received the Graduate School’s Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award for his teaching in the University Writing Program. Peter is completing his M.A. in English and has taught in the University Writing Program for two years.
The Undergraduate Research Conference also took place on Friday, and nine of our honors students participated in this prestigious event. Three of these students received awards at the conference. Rachel West won the departmental award for English and was mentored in her research on Twitter in the recent election by Liz Miller. Sara Eudy won an Honors College award for her research on black cultural theater performances (and choices to produce or not to produce Shakespeare) and was mentored by Kirk Melnikoff. Thomas Simonson won the Atkins Library Research award for his research on moving beyond the East/West binary in Pamuk’s My Name Is Red and was mentored by Juan Meneses. Recognition also goes to Shelby LeClair (mentor Sarah Minslow), Kelly Brabec (who participated as a junior and presented work from Janaka Lewis’s Honors Seminar), Hannah Brown (mentor Lara Vetter), Rozie Khashmanian (mentor Ralf Thiede), Victoria White (mentor Mark West), and Christina Ward (another junior mentored by Heather Vorhies) for representing the department well at the conference.
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:
Jessie Cortez, one of our M.A. students, presented a paper titled “If You CAN Stand the Heat: Exploring the Rhetoric of Cookbooks as Women Have Entered the Workforce” at the UNC Greensboro English Graduate Student Association conference in March.
Carissa Wilbanks, one of our honors undergraduates, has accepted an offer with full funding from the Ph.D. in literature program at the University of Arizona.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is information about an upcoming event.
April 25 — Alexis Pauline Gumbs will read new work on Tuesday, April 25 at 12:30 pm in Fretwell 205. A signing and meet and greet will also be open to the campus community in Fretwell 290B at 1:30pm.
Quirky Quiz Question — In addition to being an excellent teaching assistant, Peter Fields is also a talented athlete. During his undergraduate days at UNC Charlotte, Peter was a member of one of the university’s athletic teams. What team was he a member of?
Last week’s answer: Wrightsville Beach
Chris Davis’s poem “Shell Island” relates to a beach just east of Wilmington, NC. Some people think it is named after Orville and Wilbur Wright, but it is not. What is the name of this beach?