Educating Educators — Bobbie Cavnar, who received an M.A. in English from our department in 2011, has just been named the nation’s best teacher for 2018 by National Education Association (NEA). Bobbie is an English teacher at South Point High School in Belmont, North Carolina. Bobbie received this award on February 9, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Here is the link to the NEA’s article about Bobbie’s award: http://neatoday.org/2018/02/12/2018-nea-foundation-gala/
During his graduate studies in our English Department, Bobbie focused on English Renaissance literature, but he also took courses in other areas. For example, he took my seminar on Children’s Literature Award Winners for which he wrote an excellent paper comparing Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book to Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. All of us who had Bobbie in our classes remember his passion for literature–a passion that he now shares with the students in his high school English classes. I know that I speak for the entire English Department in congratulating Bobbie on winning this prestigious and well-deserved award.
Bobbie’s latest award underscores for me our English Department’s connections with area educators. For example, members of our department regularly lead seminars for area teachers through the Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI). Over the years, Lil Brannon, Paula Connolly, Jeffrey Leak, Ron Lunsford, Alan Rauch, Ralf Thiede, and I have also led CTI seminars. Next semester both Sarah Minslow and Alan Rauch will be leading CTI seminars. Sarah’s seminar is titled “‘A Person’s a Person No Matter How Small’: Teaching Human Rights,” and Alan’s seminar is titled “Animals, Culture, and Society.”
By regularly leading CTI seminars and by welcoming area teachers in both our undergraduate and graduate courses, our English Department has a long and proud record of educating educators.
Third Annual Transcribation — The Early Modern Paleography Society (EMPS) will hold its Third Annual Transcribaton this Thursday, February 22, from 9:30 to 4:00 in the Atkins Library VisLab. Breakfast and pizza will be provided. At this year’s transcribathon, participants will be working on an anonymous cookbook, published around 1720, from the Folger Shakespeare Library. The book is not very long, and members of EMPS are hoping to finish transcribing it on Thursday. Also that day, the participants will finish making the ink that was started at last week’s EMPS meeting. The ink is from an early modern recipe.
Kudos — As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of the English Department. Here is the latest news:
Anita Moss recently published an article titled “In a Deep, Dark Wood: The Forest in Folk Literature” in the current issue of RISE: A Children’s Literacy Journal.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines — Here is information about an upcoming event:
February 19 — The Faculty/Staff performance of “Tales From Down There” will be on Monday, February 19 at 7pm in McKnight Hall. This performance will include appearances by the following people associated with the English Department: Janaka Lewis, Tiffany Morin, Angie Williams, Alison Walsh, and Shannon Bauerle. Advanced tickets can be purchased on-line at https://goo.gl/V6SYwq or with cash only at the door.
Quirky Quiz Question — The English Department supports the Charlotte Teachers Institute by offering seminars and participating in other CTI events. As a result, the English Department is in frequent contact with CTI’s Executive Director. What is this person’s name?
Last week’s answer: Antoni Gaudí
The upcoming panel presentation about the current situation in Catalonia reminds me of a trip my wife and took to this part of the world a few years ago. While we were there, we visited several buildings designed by Catalonia’s most famous architect. Does anybody know the name of this famous architect?