Monthly Archives: October 2019

Three Acts — The English Department was a busy place last Friday.  In between the classes and committee meetings, three department-wide events took place over the course of the day:  the English Department meeting, Janaka Lewis’s presentation on her current research project, and the annual Halloween party organized by our various student groups.  As I scurried from event to event, I started thinking about these events as three acts in a larger play about community.

In act one, the players gathered in the conference room to consider a series of proposals related to the department’s graduate program.  What impressed me the most about this opening act was the sense of camaraderie that ran throughout the deliberations.  Each proposal received careful consideration, but everyone took a constructive and positive approach when asking questions and requesting clarifications.   With the close of the first act, I came away feeling pleased with the department’s commitment to faculty governance and to offering a high-quality and diverse graduate program.

Act two opened shortly after the close of act one, and it starred Janaka Lewis.  Janaka delivered a soliloquy titled “Black Girlhood and Radical Creativity.”  Based on the research project she did during her residency at the National Humanities Center this past summer, her presentation spanned African American literature, women’s and gender studies, and childhood studies.   While act two focused on Janaka, the people who came to her presentation also contributed to its success.  Many members of the English Department came, and they were joined by several other attendees from other departments.  I enjoyed the lively discussion following Janaka’s presentation.  People asked thoughtful questions and offered their own insights into the portrayal of black girlhood in literary works.  Act two underscored for me the department’s commitment to creating and sharing new knowledge.

The third act–the Halloween Party–brought our play to a festive close.  With the opening of act three, a major scene shift occurred.  Instead of taking place in one room, act three expanded to include every public space in the English Department.  New players also made their appearance in act three.  These new players represented every student organization in the English Department.  These students filled the department with energy, creativity, and a communal sense of fun. 

As is the case with most three-act plays, each of Friday’s three acts contributed to a larger story.  For me, the theme of this larger story is the importance of community.  Each act showed a different side of the community that is the English Department, but combined they showed a department that shares a commitment to teaching, scholarship, and good cheer.

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:

Paula Martinac received a 2019-2020 North Carolina Arts Council Literature Fellowship. This is the second major fellowship that Paula has received in two years, and it is an indication of her prominence as a North Carolina fiction writer.   Here’s the link with the artist statements for all the recipients: https://www.ncarts.org/meet-north-carolina-arts-council%E2%80%99s-artist-fellowship-recipients?fbclid=IwAR3pTxY8Ege3kDBhiJr9pTpP57H2NC_I8y_zcHiIPVnC1XkDho5cIzCB2mk

Quirky Quiz Question — The title of Paula Martinac’s most recent novel makes reference to the muse of history from Greek mythology.  What is the title of this novel?

Last week’s answer: France

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from another country.  What country gave this famous statue to the United States?

Two Poems for Now — I have long admired Elijah Cummings, the congressman from Baltimore who died last week, so I paid particular attention to the news coverage surrounding his passing.  Several of the stories that I saw on television included a video clip of the very first speech he ever gave in Congress back in 1996. In this speech, he recited the following poem titled “Just a Minute” by the famed civil rights leader Benjamin Mays:

I only have a minute,
60 seconds in it,
Forced upon me,
I did not choose it,
But I know that I must use it,
Give account if I abuse it,
Suffer if I lose it.
Only a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it.

Hearing Cummings’s eloquent recitation of Mays’s poem, I had a sense that this short poem perfectly captures the spirit of Cummings’s purpose-driven life.  The fact that this poem was written by Mays, who was Martin Luther King’s mentor at Morehouse College, underscores for me how Mays and King and Cummings are all interconnected. 

In a sense, Mays’s poem is part of a larger American saga–a saga about the ongoing struggle for liberty, civil rights, and equal opportunities.  It has connections to other poems that also relate to this saga.  I am reminded of “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, a Jewish American poet from New York City.  In 1883, she wrote “The New Colossus” as her contribution to an art and literary auction organized to raise funds for the construction of the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty.  Twenty years after Lazarus wrote “The New Colossus,” a bronze plaque bearing the text of Lazarus’s poem was installed on one of the walls of the pedestal, and it has been associated with the Statue of Liberty ever since.  Although it was written 136 years ago, Lazarus’s poem is as relevant today as it was when she first penned these words:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Mays’s poem and Lazarus’s poem not only speak to each other but they also speak to us as we decide what role we will play in this great American saga.  These are two poems for now, for this minute.  By reciting Mays’s poem in the halls of congress, Cummings reminded all of us that we might just have a minute, so we should use it wisely.  Cummings made the most of his.   

News from the English Learning Community — Students in the English Learning Community are enjoying their first semester at UNC Charlotte both on and off campus. Last weekend they visited the Carolina Renaissance Festival along with their new advisor Gina Kelley, where they got to see a “Joust to the Death.” On Friday, they experienced their first SlamCharlotte Poetry Slam at the Knight Gallery, helping to judge some of the best spoken poets in the country. On campus, they are looking forward to becoming more involved with the English Department by helping out with the English Department Halloween Take-Over and hosting faculty at the Meet and Greet Coffee Hour on November 22nd. If you would like to include the ELC in your event or program, please contact Tiffany Morin.

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:

Liz Miller recently accepted an invitation to serve as Co-editor of Brief Research Reports for TESOL Quarterly. She will begin her three-year term in March 2020.

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

October 25 — The English Department faculty meeting will take place on Friday, October 25, from 11:00 to 12:30 in the English Department Conference Room (Fretwell 280C).

October 25 — Janaka Lewis will deliver a faculty talk titled “Black Girlhood and Radical Creativity” on Friday, October 25, from 1:00 to 2:00 in the English Department Seminar Room (Fretwell 290B).

October 25 — A Halloween Party will take place in the English Department from 4:00 to 8:00. Jointly sponsored by the Children’s Literature Graduate Organization, the English Graduate Student Association , and Sigma Tau Delta, this party will feature a costume contest, games, prizes, and food.

Quirky Quiz Question —The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from another country.  What country gave this famous statue to the United States?

Last week’s answer: Bank of America Finalist

In 2004, David Amante received an important honor from the university, earning him a spot on our department’s Wall of Fame.  What honor did he receive?

Bridging the Years — For me, attending Leon Gatlin’s memorial service last week had a bittersweet quality to it.  I felt a sense of sadness, but I also took pleasure in seeing so many former members of our department gathered together to remember and honor Leon.  As I exchanged greetings with these retired members of our department, memories of my early days in the department kept surfacing.  

Seeing David Amante and John McNair together, I flashed back to the days when the three of us regularly carpooled to the university.  At the time David and John lived in Dilworth, and when they learned that I had just moved to Dilworth, they invited me to join their carpool.  For my first year at the university, we took turns driving.  When it was my turn to drive, David and John braced themselves for a time-travel experience.  I had an ancient, gas-guzzling, gigantic,  green Ford LTD that was once a luxury car but had devolved into something that resembled a gangster car.  David dubbed it the Green Hornet.  However, whether we were riding in the Green Hornet or the more normal cars that David and John owned, we spent much of the drive talking about the English Department.  Both of them had already been teaching in the department for many years when I join their car pool, and their willingness to share their experiences and insights provided me with a sense of the history of the department.  They helped me better understand departmental dynamics and provided me with sage advice about building my career as a UNC Charlotte English professor.

The willingness of David and John to reach out to a new colleague is not an isolated incident in the history of our department.  Still today established members of our department often reach out to newer members.  Here are just a few of the examples that come to mind.  Julianna Ávila and Meghan Barnes have formed a great partnership, and JuliAnna has helped Meghan pursue her career as a specialist in English education within the context of an English Department.  Jen Munroe has reached out to Matt Rowney, and the two of them have cultivated a connection over their shared interest in eco-criticism.  Greg Wickliff extended a helping hand to Heather Vorhies while she was still a member of our department.  Drawing on their mutual interest in the history of science and science writing, they formed their own writing group.  Before Heather resigned and moved to the Washington, D.C., area, she told me how much she valued Greg’s support. 

In reflecting on this aspect of our department, I am reminded of a nautical phrase that dates back to the days of sailing ships.  When new recruits would join a ship’s crew, the experienced sailors would teach the new members of the crew how to manipulate the sails, and this always involved moving and tying ropes.  This process gave rise to the phrase “learning the ropes.”  I salute David, John and all of the members of our department, both past and present, who have taken it upon themselves to help the new members learn the ropes.

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:

Alan Rauch was recently recognized by the Executive Director of Sigma Tau Delta for his excellent leadership as a faculty advisor for our chapter of Sigma Tau Delta.

Aaron Toscano recently presented a paper titled “Neoliberalism and American Entrepreneurial Lore: How Showtime’s Billions Reflects Capitalist Vacuity” at the Popular Culture Association of the South/American Culture Association of the South Conference in Wilmington.

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

October 25 — The English Department faculty meeting will take place on Friday, October 25, from 11:00 to 12:30 in the English Department Conference Room (Fretwell 280C).

October 25 — Janaka Lewis will deliver a faculty talk titled “Black Girlhood and Radical Creativity” on Friday, October 25, from 1:00 to 2:00 in the English Department Seminar Room (Fretwell 290B).

Quirky Quiz Question — In 2004, David Amante received an important honor from the university, earning him a spot on our department’s Wall of Fame.  What honor did he receive?

Last week’s answer: Cy Knoblauch and Ron Lunsford

Leon Gatlin long valued the English Department’s sense of camaraderie and collegiality.  In fact, on the day that he died, he and Mike Doyle from the Department of Languages and Culture Studies were heading to Topsail Island to socialize and play a little golf with two former chairs of the English Department.  Can you identify these two former chairs of our department?

Honoring Leon Gatlin, One of the Founders of the English Department — With the death of Leon Gatlin on October 3, 2019, the English Department lost a friend, a former colleague, and a link to the department’s origin story.  A native of North Carolina, Leon earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Wake Forest and his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.  He joined UNC Charlotte’s English Department in 1966 and remained a member of the faculty until his retirement in 2001.  Even after his official retirement, he continued to teach courses in the department for several more years on a part-time basis.

When Leon first came to UNC Charlotte in 1966, the university was still a young institution.  In fact, he arrived just one year after Charlotte College became the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  Leon played a key leadership role in building the English Department during this formative period in the university’s history.  For many years, he served as the department’s Undergraduate Coordinator, and in this capacity, he contributed to the operation and growth of the department.  A specialist in British literature, Leon developed and regularly taught many of the British literature courses offered by the department.  He also contributed to the department’s writing program and served as the Director of the UNC Charlotte Writing Project for a number of years.

One of my early memories of Leon dates back to the fall of 1984, a few months after I joined the department.  At that time, Leon was the Undergraduate Coordinator, and he was in charge of the process by which students registered for their courses for the next semester.  The process was completely different then as compared to today’s process. It involved having the students go to the gym and then migrate from table to table picking up a computer punch card for each of the courses that they wanted to take.  Leon asked for volunteers to assist with the registration process, so I signed up to help.  I remember being overwhelmed by the chaotic nature of the whole process, but I also remember how calm and cool Leon was throughout the process.  No matter what problems arose, he remained unflappable.  Somehow Leon solved every problem, and in the end, all of the students succeeded in registering for their classes.  That was the first time I associated Leon with the Bill Withers’s hit song “Lean on Me” from 1972.  However, I made a slight change to the line “We all need somebody to lean on.”  Here is how the line goes in my version:  “We all need somebody to Leon.” 

Thank you, Leon. 

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

October 10 — A memorial service for Leon Gatlin will be held at 3:00 pm on Thursday, October 10, at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 1510 E. 7th St., Charlotte.

Quirky Quiz Question — Leon Gatlin long valued the English Department’s sense of camaraderie and collegiality.  In fact, on the day that he died, he and Mike Doyle from the Department of Languages and Culture Studies were heading to Topsail Island to socialize and play a little golf with two former chairs of the English Department.  Can you identify these two former chairs of our department?
Last week’s answer: Frank Oz

Jim Henson worked with many puppeteers over the course of his career, but there was one puppeteer he worked with on almost every project he did.  This was the puppeteer behind Miss Piggy.  This same puppeteer also controlled Yoda from Star Wars.  What is the name of this puppeteer?