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Monthly Archives: February 2019

Monday Missive - February 25, 2019

February 25, 2019 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Experiential Learning — A few years ago, a colleague in the English Department noticed me wandering down the department’s hallways and talking to everybody whose doors were open.  This colleague diagnosed me with a rare condition called “Restless Chair Syndrome.”  I think it might be related to Restless Leg Syndrome.  However, as far as I know Restless Chair Syndrome has not yet made it into the The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, so I am not certain it’s a real thing.  Nevertheless, I cannot deny that I dislike sitting behind my desk for long periods of time.

During one of my recent wanderings, I saw JuliAnna Ávila in the hallway, and we ended up having a conversation about John Dewey, the educational theorist who is often credited with founding the experiential education movement.  JuliAnna and I discovered that we share an interest in Dewey, and we both feel that Dewey’s writings on education are still relevant in the contemporary world of pedagogy.  After my conversation with JuliAnna, I took my copy of Dewey’s Experience and Education (1938) off the shelf and thumbed through it.  In this classic work, Dewey argues that experiential learning involves interacting with the natural and social environment and then reflecting on the meaning of that interaction.  For Dewey, guided experiences are conducive to what he called “genuine education.”

Initially Dewey’s ideas on experiential learning had their greatest impact on the education of young children.  Drawing on Dewey’s theories, elementary school teachers began incorporating outdoor activities and other types of interactive experiences in their lesson plans.  In more recent years, however, the experiential learning movement has taken root in higher education, including our English Department.

Our creative writing program is an example of an area in our department in which experiential learning has a foothold.  Bryn Chancellor, for example, has pioneered an approach to teaching fiction writing in which she has her students incorporate the experience of walking in their writing process.  I contacted Bryn and asked her how she involves this type of experiential learning in her fiction writing course, and she sent me the following response:

This spring’s advanced fiction writing class is focused on the art and craft of perspective. As we go, we also are exploring our own perspectives, in particular how writing in varied physical settings can change the way we see, respond, and reflect, as well as how we might mine raw sensory material for our work. For each of our three hour-long campus walks, we meet in Fretwell’s lobby and I hand them their “excursion maps,” which include maps, instructions, and writing prompts. For the first walk,“Inside Out: Seeing Buildings and Spaces Anew,” students were randomly assigned to explore the McMillan Greenhouse and Facilities parking lot, Rowe Arts and the lake, Storrs and the gardens, or Kennedy and Belk Plaza. For the second, “The Edges of Nature,” students wandered the wonderful trails of the Botanical Garden. For the upcoming third, “The Neighborhood Swerve,” we will jaunt off campus. Time and again, I have seen how the simple experience of slowing down and paying attention to new spaces opens up students’ (and my) writing in unexpected, joyful ways.

Allison Hutchcraft also incorporates experiential learning in her creative writing courses.  In an email she sent to me about this aspect of her teaching, she writes:

I often take my creative writing and poetry classes to UNC Charlotte’s outdoor gardens and McMillan Greenhouse, where students practice sensory description and—in the spirit of William Carlos Williams’s question “What do I remember / that was shaped / as this thing is shaped?”—making metaphors. The various garden paths, look-outs, and benches offer students the chance to wander and explore while writing, after which we reconvene to share our work. In my Documentary Poetry course, we investigate intersections of psychogeography, history, and poetry, studying Kaia Sand’s “Remember to Wave,” which documents public poetry walks Sand led through the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. Together, we consider various historical photographs of UNC Charlotte from the Special Collections before taking our own “poetry walk” through campus, documenting both what we see and what, through the archival materials, we “remember” of campus while it was built. Our walk concludes in the gardens, where we share our observations aloud in an ad-hoc reading. That day may be one of my most treasured teaching memories: standing with students on a wooden bridge in the Van Landingham Glen as the sun was setting, the poets reading aloud in a round.

Both Bryn and Allison believe in the value of taking their students out of the classroom. As the above quotations make clear, Bryn and Allison encourage their students to explore the world around them and then reflect on these experiences in their creative writing.  The experiential activities that Bryn and Allison are incorporating in their creative writing courses reminds me of the following quotation from John Dewey:  “We learn from reflecting on experience.”

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:

Sarah Minslow recently presented a paper titled “Visual Art in Children’s Literature of Atrocity” at the War, Art and Visual Culture Conference in Sydney, Australia.

Aaron Toscano recently presented a paper titled “Video Games as a 21st-Century Technological Veil: Critical Theory, Ideology, and Hyperreality” at the Southeastern Association on Cultural Studies Conference in Asheville.

Upcoming Events and Meetings — Here is a list of upcoming events and deadlines:

March 9 — The Eighth Annual Seuss–a–Thon will take place on Saturday, March 9, at Park Road Books from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  This community event is co-sponsored by the English Department and Park Road Books, Charlotte’s only full-service, independent bookstore.

March 21 — The Children’s Literature Graduate Organization (CLGO) will hold their annual Graduate Student Colloquium on March 21 in Cone 111 from 9:30 to 2:30. The title for this year’s colloquium is “Modern Authors, Historic Influences:  Framing Children’s Literature in Historical Context.”

Quirky Quiz Question — John Dewey developed many of his ideas about education at a famous laboratory school associated with the university where he was then teaching.  What is the name of this university?

Last week’s answer: Marshville, NC

For the students who participated in Collegium for African American Research, one of the highlights was having the opportunity to hear Alice Walker speak.  Walker is perhaps best known for her book The Color Purple, which was also made into a movie.  In what state was this movie filmed?

Monday Missive - February 18, 2019

February 18, 2019 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Going on an Expotition — Toward the end of Winnie-the-Pooh, Christopher Robin gathers up his friends sets out on an expedition to discover the North Pole.   Pooh, however, is not familiar with the word expedition, so he replaces it with the following new word that he invents on the spot: Expotition.  Apparently for Pooh, this new word is a proper noun, for it is always capitalized in the book.  For Pooh, an Expotition has to do with going on adventures and discovering new things.  I am please to report that many members of our English Department have been going on their own Expotitions over the past few weeks.  Although none of them discovered the North Pole as far as I know, they all had interesting experiences during their various Expotitions.  Here are summaries of three recent Expotitions involving members of our department.

Expotition #1 — Malin Pereira took three undergraduate students (Kevin Bonilla, Diana Nava, and Xavier Neal) to the Collegium for African American Research (CARR) held at the University of Central Florida from January 30 to February 2.  Malin’s teaching assistant, Shanon Murray, also participated in CARR.  The students participated in a round-table discussion titled “The Relevance of Zora Neale Hurston to American College Students Today.”  They also had an opportunity to hear a presentation by Alice Walker, the keynote speaker.  These students are taking Malin’s course on African American Literature:  Harlem Renaissance to the Present.  For these students, this experience gave them an opportunity to make connections between the insights they gained at CARR and what they are learning in Malin’s course.

Expotition #2 — Tiffany Morin took the members of the English Learning Community (ELC) last week to see Charlotte Ballet’s performance of “Shakespeare Reinvented:  A New Take on the Works of William Shakespeare through Contemporary Dance” by the Charlotte Ballet.  Part of the Charlotte Ballet’s Innovative Works Series, “Shakespeare Reinvented” has a direct connection to the English Department through Andrew Hartley, who was one of the collaborators on this production.  For the ELC students, going to this performance provided them with a memorable experience and it helped them become more familiar with the cultural resources available in Charlotte.

Expotition #3 — Alan Rauch took the drive down Providence Road to the Sandra & Leon Levine Jewish Community Center on four occasions between January 16 and February 13 in order to deliver a series of salons on the topic of “Jewish Identity and Assimilation.”  Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Charlotte, these salons attracted over forty people for each of the four presentations.  For Alan, leading these salons provided him with an opportunity to share his deep knowledge of Jewish heritage with an important segment of the Charlotte community.

As the aforementioned examples demonstrate, the reach of the English Department extends far beyond the walls of the Fretwell Building.  It seems clear to me that Pooh is speaking our language when he says to Piglet, “We’re going on an Expotition, all of us, with things to eat.  To discover something.”

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:

Janaka Lewis‘s Freedom Narratives of African American Women:  A Study of 19th-Century Writings was recently named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title.

Quirky Quiz Question — For the students who participated in Collegium for African American Research, one of the highlights was having the opportunity to hear Alice Walker speak.  Walker is perhaps best known for her book The Color Purple, which was also made into a movie.  In what state was this movie filmed?

Last week’s answer: Clue

CLGO’s board game night reminds me of the board games that I played as a boy.  One of my favorite games from my childhood includes a character named Professor Plum. What is the name of this board game?

Monday Missive - February 11, 2019

February 11, 2019 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Games People Play — For the members of the Children’s Literature Graduate Organization (CLGO) this spring semester is barely long enough to fit in all of the events and projects that they have planned.  The biggest of these events is their annual Graduate Student Colloquium, which will take place on March 21 in Cone 111 from 9:30 to 2:30. The title for this year’s colloquium is “Modern Authors, Historic Influences:  Framing Children’s Literature in Historical Context.”  However, they are also planning a series of other activities, including a board game night, which will take place this Friday (February 15) in the English Department Seminar Room (Fretwell 290B).  Their game night will start at 4:15 and will continue until there are no more moves.

I think it is fitting that CLGO is holding a game night in the English Department Seminar Room since our English Department has deep connections to the diverse world of games and gaming.  Aaron Toscano, for example, is currently on a Reassignment of Duties (RD) to complete a book that he has tentatively titled The Rhetoric of Video Games:  A Cultural Perspective.  In this book, Aaron is analyzing the connections between video games and American culture.  As he recently stated, his book uses “a cultural studies approach to explain how video games are products of American culture even though the industry is global.”

Our English Department also has members who love games that involve word play.   The most notable example is Jay Jacoby, a retired faculty member who currently plays in competitive Scrabble tournaments throughout the southeast.  Last year he did especially well at a tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he won $145 in prize money.  Jay’s interest in Scrabble stems from his fascination with words, a fascination he developed over the course of his twenty-seven years as a professor in our English Department during which he taught a wide variety of courses on writing and Jewish-American literature.  When I asked Jay about his love of playing in Scrabble tournaments, he wrote, “I really do enjoy the competition and the camaraderie–I’ve met tons of people from all over and we are all word freaks.”

I am sure that the sense of camaraderie that Jay associates with Scrabble tournaments will also come into play during CLGO’s upcoming board game night.  Let the games begin.

Report from the Levine Scholars Program’s Finalist Dinner — Last night I represented the English Department at the Levine Scholars Program’s Finalist Dinner, and I am pleased to report that two of the finalists have expressed an interest in majoring in English.  I ate dinner with these two finalists and their parents, and I shared with them information about our faculty and programs.  However, I was not the only person at the table who was singing the praises of the English Department.

Two of our current students also participated in this dinner, and they did a fantastic job of answering the finalists’ questions about the department.  Eddie Angelbello, a current Levine Scholar who will be graduating at the end of this semester, shared his story of how he went from being a physics major to becoming an English major.  He talked about how much he enjoyed all of his English classes, but he was especially enthusiastic about his creative writing classes.  Shanon Murrary, one of our graduate students, was also sitting at our table.  She serves as a graduate assistant for the Levine Scholars Program, so she was able to provide the finalists with lots of information about the program.  However, she also talked with them about our department, and she did an excellent job of responding to the finalists’ questions about our literature courses.  After observing Eddie and Shannon interact with the two finalists, I came away from the dinner convinced that the best promoters of our department are our excellent students.

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:

Grace Ocasio recently gave a poetry reading at the Waccamaw Library on Pawleys Island, South Carolina.

Ralf Thiede recently learned that he had an article accepted by the Children’s Literature Association Quarterly for a special issue of Cognitive Science and Children’s Literature.  His article is titled “Synesthetic Entrainment in Interactive Reading Sessions of Children’s Books.”

Upcoming Events and Meetings — Here is a list of upcoming events and deadlines:

February 12 — The Early Modern Paleography Society (EMPS) will meet on February 12 from 1:00 to 2:00 in the English Department Conference Room (Fretwell 280C).  Participants will examine and try the earliest manuscript recipe for chocolate in England.

Quirky Quiz Question — CLGO’s board game night reminds me of the board games that I played as a boy.  One of my favorite games from my childhood includes a character named Professor Plum. What is the name of this board game?

Last week’s answer: MacArthur Fellowship

Sandy Govan is widely recognized as a leading authority on the works of the science fiction author Octavia Butler.  Butler was the first science fiction writer to receive the prestigious fellowship that is unofficially known as the “Genius Grant.”  What is the official name of this fellowship?

Monday Missive - February 4, 2019

February 04, 2019 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

African American History Month — Throughout the history of UNC Charlotte’s English Department, various members of our department have taught courses and conducted scholarship on African American literature and culture, but there are two retired faculty members who played especially important roles in this part of our department’s history:  Mary Harper and Sandra Govan.  Given that February is African American History Month, I have decided to make note of their lasting contributions to our department in today’s Monday Missive.

Mary Harper joined the English Department in 1971, and she taught in the department until her retirement in 1993.  In addition to teaching courses on African American literature, she forged lasting relationships with other academics and cultural leaders both on and off campus.  For example, she worked with Bertha Maxwell Roddey and Herman Thomas to establish the department that is now known as the Africana Studies Department.  She also played a key role in establishing the Charlotte Afro-American Cultural Center, which is now called the Harvey B. Gannt Center for African-American Arts + Culture.  For more information about her role in founding this center, please click on the following link:  http://www.ganttcenter.org/donate/harper-roddey-society/

Sandra (Sandy) Govan joined the English Department in 1983, and she taught in the department until her retirement in 2009.  During her career as an English professor, she broadened the range of courses taught on African American literature, and she expanded the types of works taught in these courses.  For example, she regularly taught works of science fiction by African American authors, such Octavia Butler.  She also developed our graduate courses in African American literature, and she served as the the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement ProgramCoordinator.  Throughout her career, however, she remain committed to teaching undergraduate students.  Her excellent record in the area of undergraduate teaching was recognized in 2001 when she was named a finalist for the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence.

The leadership of Mary Harper and Sandra Govan prepared the way for other English faculty members to teach courses in African American literature and culture.   These faculty members include Malin Pereira, Jeffrey Leak, and Janaka Lewis.  In a very real sense, the history of our English Department and African American History Month are interconnected stories.

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:

Bryn Chancellor published a short story, “The Moon, the Pyramids, the World,” in NELLE, a literary journal published through the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Upcoming Events and Meetings — Here is a list of upcoming events and deadlines:

February 7 — Grace Ocasio will participate in a poetry reading at the Waccamaw Library on Pawleys Island, SC, from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

February 8 — The English Department meeting will take place from 11-12:30, in the conference room (Fretwell 280C).

Quirky Quiz Question — Sandy Govan is widely recognized as a leading authority on the works of the science fiction author Octavia Butler.  Butler was the first science fiction writer to receive the prestigious fellowship that is unofficially known as the “Genius Grant.”  What is the official name of this fellowship?

Last week’s answer: Sarah Minslow
The keynote speaker at this year’s EGSA conference is a professor from UNC Charlotte’s Global Studies Department. Our department also has another ongoing connection with the Global Studies Department. A member of our department regularly teaches a course that is cross listed with Global Studies. Who teaches this course?

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