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Monthly Archives: November 2017

Monday Missive - November 27, 2017

November 27, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Mark West and Bill Hill

Learning from Bill Hill — At the end of this fall semester, Bill Hill, the Senior Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will retire.  Bill and I arrived at UNC Charlotte within two years of each other.  Bill came in 1982, and I came in 1984.  At the time, the English Department housed speech (as communication studies was then called), so we both started off as assistant professors in the same department.  Over the years, our careers followed along similar paths.  We both served as program directors, department chairs, and associate deans.  However, Bill has always been a few steps ahead of me.  The experience of serving alongside Bill has been one of the great pleasures of my career, but it has also been a learning experience.  Bill’s approach to being an administrator has provided me with an example that I have long attempted to emulate.  Here are three of the lessons that I have learned from Bill about good administrative practices.

Perhaps because of his background in college debate, Bill always looks at administrative issues from multiple points of view.  After all, in debate tournaments, one has to be able to argue both sides of an issue.  Bill is very good at building strong arguments for particular positions, but he never dismisses opposing positions.  Drawing on his many years as a debate coach, he helps those of us who work with him to frame our arguments using sound logic, provide evidence to support our positions, and take a respectful attitude toward colleagues whose positions differ from our own.  His belief in the value of open debate is one of the key reasons he has developed such a good rapport with administrators across our campus.

Another one of Bill’s strengths as an administrator is his patient and methodical approach to building programs.  I watched from a ring-side seat as Bill built communications studies from a few courses, to a semi-autonomous program, to a free-standing academic department, and I was very impressed with the effectiveness of his step-by-step approach.  He carefully followed the curricular-planning process, and he always kept the members of the English Department fully informed along the way.  When the Communication Studies Department split from the English Department in 1995, it was seen as the natural evolution of a gradual and transparent process.

Bill grew up watching the Andy Griffith Show, and he often quotes the following line that Barney Fife says in this show: “Nip it in the bud.”   For Bill, this line captures his desire to solve problems when they first surface rather than wait for the problems to grow into crises.  This approach is one of the reasons Bill always seems so even-keeled, for when problems are addressed before they spin out of control, there is no need for crisis management.

I will miss going upstairs to talk with Bill about the various issues that I face in my role as the Chair of the English Department.  However, even after Bill retires, the lessons that I have learned from him will continue to guide me.  I am sure that I will often ask myself, “What would Bill do?”

I know that I speak for the entire English Department in wishing Bill a happy retirement.

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

Dec. 1 — The English Department holiday party will take place on Friday,  December 1, from 11:30 to 1:30 in the Faculty/Staff Lounge. Please sign up on the potluck listed located on the desk outside of Monica’s office.

Quirky Quiz Question — Bill Hill is UNC Charlotte’s first tenure-track faculty member hired to teach in the area now known as communication studies, but he is not UNC Charlotte’s first full-time faculty member to teach in this area.  A year before Bill arrived, a lecturer was hired to teach communication studies courses.  This lecturer eventually became the director of the University Center for Academic Excellence.  Does anybody know the name of this former lecturer?

Last week’s answer: Utah

“Pieces of April” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.  What is the host state for this annual film festival?

Monday Missive - November 20, 2017

November 20, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Family, Friends, Food, and Film — I associate Thanksgiving with spending time with my family, connecting with friends, preparing and consuming food, and perhaps seeing a film at some point during the long Thanksgiving weekend.  All of these associations relate in one way or another to the film Pieces of April.  I didn’t see the film when it first came out in 2003, but my wife and I rented it a few years later when it came out on DVD.  It has since become my favorite Thanksgiving film.

Pieces of April 
focuses on a young woman named April Burns (played by Katie Holmes) who lives with her boyfriend in a tiny, dilapidated apartment located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.  Although April feels alienated from her family, she wants to reconnect with them.  She invites them all over for Thanksgiving dinner even though she is a totally inept cook, and her family members accept the invitation.  In many of the scenes, April is desperately trying to prepare the meal, which is made more difficult when her oven breaks down.  She copes with this problem with the help of her eccentric neighbors who allow her to use the ovens in their kitchens for the short periods of time when they are not using their ovens.  In other scenes, April’s family members are riding together in a cramped car to New York City. Their tensions play out in comical ways as they get closer and closer to April’s apartment.

What I love the most about this film is its portrayal of a family.  In many ways, this family is completely dysfunctional, but they still care about each other on some deep level.  They do not communicate well using words.  However, they are finally able to connect by using food as a sort of communications medium.  Food also provides a tangible way to bring April’s friends and neighbors into the family fold.  The film’s culminating dinner brings together quite a wide variety of people, but at least for that one meal, they transcend their differences.  Such is the power of food.

I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving.

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:

Meghan Barnes recently gave the following three presentations at the NCTE Conference held in St. Louis: “Challenges of Social Justice Pedagogy:  That Time I Did Exactly What I Tell My Students Not to Do,” “Reciprocal Community Relationships:  Challenges of Inviting Community Voices into Teacher Education,” and “Teacher Research as Reclaiming Education:  A Critical Analysis of Two Inquiry-Based Projects.”

Bryn Chancellor last month was an invited author at Litchfield Books’ A Moveable Feast in Pawleys Island, SC; she also gave readings at Scuppernong Books in Greensboro and McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro as part of the North Carolina Arts Council fellowship reading series. Her novel Sycamore also was named one of Amazon’s Best Books of 2017 and rights recently were optioned to FilmNation (The Big Sick, Arrival) for their new television department.

Katie Hogan presented a paper titled “Rural Queer Echohistories as Movement-Building and Freedom-Making” on Saturday, November 18, at the National Women’s Studies Association conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

Allison Hutchcraft gave a reading at Lenoir-Rhyne University as part of their Visiting Writers Series and was part of a panel discussion “NC Writing Today.”

Janaka Lewis presented a paper titled “Black Girlhood and the Power of Belonging” at the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora conference in Seville, Spain, on Nov. 10 and a paper titled “Reconstructing Black Girlhood, from Stories to Selves” at the National Women’s Studies Association Conference in Baltimore last week.

Consuelo Salas recently presented a paper titled “Food-Based Pedagogies: Opening the Classroom Space” at NCTE Conference in St. Louis in a session titled “Foodways Literacy and Language Learning.”

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

Dec. 1 — The English Department holiday party will take place on Friday,  December 1 from 11:30 to 1:30 in the Faculty/Staff Lounge.  Please put this special event on your calendar and make sure to sign up on the potluck list located on the desk outside of Monica’s office.

Quirky Quiz Question —Pieces of April premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.  What is the host state for this annual film festival?

Last week’s answer: John Benjamins

The Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict is published by an international academic publisher with offices in Amsterdam and Philadelphia.  Does anybody know the name of this publisher?

Monday Missive - November 13, 2017

November 13, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Service to the Profession — Last week Pilar Blitvich showed me a copy of the latest issue of the Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict, a journal that she co-edits.  As I thumbed through the issue, I was impressed with the international nature of this journal.  Both the articles and the contributors have connections with many different countries.  The fact that Pilar plays such a key role in editing this international journal underscores for me the importance of service to the profession.  This type of service work often goes unnoticed, but it is crucial for the integrity and sustainability of academia.  Such service includes writing letters related to tenure and promotion cases at other universities, serving as referees for academic journals, and contributing to the governance of professional organizations.  The members of our English Department take service to the profession seriously, and a number currently play leadership roles in this area, including Pilar, Paula Eckard, and Ralf Thiede.

In addition to serving as the Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict since 2009, Pilar Blitvich serves as the Co-Editor in Chief of an academic book series on pragmatics and discourse analysis.  She is also the co-founder and convenor of the Approaches to Digital Discourse Analysis International Conference.  Paula Eckard has served as the Editor of The Thomas Wolfe Review since 2013, and before that she served as the President of the Thomas Wolfe Society from 2011 to 2013.  Ralf Thiede is currently serving as the President of the SouthEastern Conference on Linguistics, a position he will hold until June 2019.  Before he became the President of this organization, he served for five years as the Editor of its main publication, The Southeastern Journal of Linguistics.  As these three examples illustrate, members of our English Department are leaders in their fields as well as on our campus.

International Education Week — UNC Charlotte is celebrating International Education Week from November 13 -17.  As part of this week-long celebration, Sarah Minslow’s War and Genocide in Children’s Literature course will be hosting their Promoting Peace Project on Wednesday, November 15.  This year they are participating in Facing Difference Challenge, an initiative designed “to help educators worldwide empower young people to reflect and take action toward building understanding, empathy, and peace.”  Sarah and her students will be located in tents set up between Atkins and the College of Heath and Human Services.  For more information about International Education Week, please click on the following link:  https://inside.uncc.edu/news-features/2017-11-08/university-observe-international-education-week

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:

Chris Arvidson, one of our part-time faculty members, was recently did a one-hour interview on WCHL (“The Hill”) radio in Chapel Hill, with D. G. Martin, the host of Carolina Bookwatch.  They talked about baseball, books, writing, and  editing.  Here is the link to the interview:  http://chapelboro.com/wchl/weekend-shows/whos-talking/october-14-2017-6

She was also interviewed by Brendan Omeara for his podcast “Creative Nonfiction Podcast.” Here is the link to the interview:http://brendanomeara.com/

Balaka Basu has just taken on the role of Associate Editor for the Children’s Literature Association Quarterly.  

Consuelo Salas recently co-facilitated a roundtable discussion in a session titled “Double Agents: Infiltrating Writing Center Pedagogy at Multilingual Border Institutions” at the International Writing Centers Association conference in Chicago, IL.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is information about upcoming events:

Nov. 14 — The Personally Speaking presentation featuring Paula Eckard will take place on Tuesday, November 14, 2017, at UNC Charlotte Center City.  Paula’s presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m.  A book signing and reception will follow her presentation. For more information and to RSVP, please click on the following link:  https://exchange.uncc.edu/personally-speaking-looks-at-lostness-through-the-eyes-of-children/

Nov. 17 — The English Department meeting will take place on November 17 from 11:00 to 12:30 in the English Department Conference Room.

Quirky Quiz Question —The Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict is published by an international academic publisher with offices in Amsterdam and Philadelphia.  Does anybody know the name of this publisher?

Last week’s answer: Andrew Carnegie

During Verse & Vino, the organizers played a short video about the history of our public library.  According to this video, the library’s first major building was built in 1901 with funding provided by a famous philanthropist.  Does anybody know the name of this philanthropist?

Monday Missive - November 6, 2017

November 06, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Connecting with the Public Library — For the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, the beginning of November is a special time of the year, for this is when two of the public library’s signature events take place.  On November 2, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation held Verse & Vino, the library’s biggest fundraising event.  On November 4, the public library held EpicFest, a free, daylong festival celebrating children’s literature and literacy.  I am pleased to report that members of our English Department contributed in significant ways to both of these events.

Peter Larkin, one of our part-time faculty members, is also a member of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation.  In his role with the Foundation, Peter is one of the community leaders who helps makes Verse & Vino a reality.  Angie Williams also helps make Verse & Vino happen by volunteering each year with the preparation for the event.  This year the organizers of Verse & Vino celebrated prominent “local authors who have new books for adults published in 2017.”  These authors included two of our faculty members (Bryn Chancellor and Andrew Hartley) and a graduate of our M.A. program (Mark de Castrique).

EpicFest relies heavily on volunteers to staff activity tables and help make this festival run smoothly.  Chauna Wall, the Volunteer Coordinator for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, informed me that our students played a crucial role in helping out with EpicFest.  Members of our various student organizations as well as students in several of our classes stepped up and volunteered their time.  Approximately half of the of the total number of community volunteers who helped with EpicFest this year were our students.

One of the reasons the English Department and Charlotte Mecklenburg Library have so many connections is that we share core values.  We both embrace the importance of literature and literacy, and we both are committed to engaging in meaningful ways with the larger community.  The English Department and the public library are more than collaborators–we’re partners.

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 Eckard recently presented a paper titled “Teaching the Familiar and Fantastic in Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel”  at SAMLA 89 in Atlanta, GA in a session titled “Teaching the Bildungsroman: Reinventing Great Books for the 21st Century.”

Paula Martinac recently served as the judge for the Elizabeth Simpson Smith Short Story Award of the Charlotte Writers’ Club.

Malin Pereira has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the Furious Flower Poetry Center, the nation’s first academic center for Black poetry, housed at James Madison University.

Alan Rauch recently presented a paper called “Death and Recovery in Victorian Literature” at the Victorians Institute Conference at Furman University.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is information about upcoming events:

Nov. 7 —  The Early Modern Paleography Society. EMPS will collaborate with EMROC (Early Modern Recipes Online Collective), a group of international scholars that is creating a database of recipe transcriptions, for EMROC’s 3rd Annual Transcribathon. The event will take place in the Atkins VisLab THIS TUES, Nov 7, 2-5pm.

Nov. 14 — The Personally Speaking presentation featuring Paula Eckard will take place on Tuesday, November 14, 2017, at UNC Charlotte Center City.  Paula’s presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m.  A book signing and reception will follow her presentation. For more information and to RSVP, please click on the following link:  https://exchange.uncc.edu/personally-speaking-looks-at-lostness-through-the-eyes-of-children/

Quirky Quiz Question — During Verse & Vino, the organizers played a short video about the history of our public library.  According to this video, the library’s first major building was built in 1901 with funding provided by a famous philanthropist.  Does anybody know the name of this philanthropist?

Last week’s answer: A troll

For the Haunted English Department Takeover costume contest, Angie William’s granddaughter (Hallie Edwards) dressed up as Herminone Granger from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.   Hallie’s great costume reminded me of the Halloween chapter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  Does anybody know what unexpected visitor showed up at this party and caused the party to come to a sudden end?

 

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