Bonnie E. Cone Professor in Civic Engagement Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
AUTHOR

Mark West

Monday Missive - September 18, 2017

September 18, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

3 Under 30 — The website Charlotte Agenda recently ran an article titled “30 Under 30”  in which they featured thirty young people who are making a difference in the Charlotte community.  Inside UNC Charlotte picked up this story and noted that of the people featured in the article six graduated from UNC Charlotte, including one who majored in English.  For more information, please click on the following link:  http://inside.uncc.edu/news-features/2017-09-11/alums-make-%E2%80%9930-under-30%E2%80%99-list In response to this article, I decided to celebrate the accomplishments of three young people who recently received degrees from our English Department.

Ashley Pittman Bookout is the English major who is included in Charlotte Agenda’s “30 Under 30.”   Ashley graduated in 2011 after which she worked in corporate Charlotte for a few years.  However, Ashley’s long-time love of flowers and flower arranging, combined with her entrepreneurial spirit, led her to found Bookout Blooms in the fall of 2015.  Located in Atherton Market in the Southend, Bookout Blooms is already recognized as one of Charlotte’s premier florists.  According to Paul Redd (another one of our former students), “This is the best florist in Charlotte. Hands down! Ashley has done the flowers for my daughter’s celebrations, my grandmother’s funeral, and everything in between. I will continue to support these fine people. Plus you get to see her smiling face when you go to pick them up at Atherton Market.”

Peter Fields received both his BA (2015) and MA (2017) in English from our department.  Peter is now working as an outdoor educator in Florissant, Colorado.  In a recent email that Peter sent to me, he wrote, “Teaching on the trail at High Trails Outdoor Education Center has been one of the most unique, stimulating and fulfilling experiences of my life.  Each lesson requires a different approach, and the variety of material covered has far exceeded expectations.  My time learning under the English Department’s wonderful professors has undoubtedly contributed to my preparedness as an instructor and provided examples of how to bring out the inquisitive nature in students.”

Mark Taylor received both his BA (2011) and MA (2014) in English from our department, where he specialized in Technical and Professional Writing.  Since 2015, he has worked for IMPLAN Group a global software company headquartered in Huntersville.  Mark currently has the title of Applied Support Economist.  In this role, he analyzes economic impact data and modeling to governments, universities, and public and private sector organizations for assessing the economic impacts of project decisions in all industry sectors.  Mark will be one of our featured speakers at our upcoming Major’s Day, which will take place on October 23.

As these brief profiles indicate, our English majors go on to pursue a wide variety of careers.  So what can you do with an English major?  The correct answer is just about anything.

English Learning Community News — The English Learning Community has put up their new bulletin board. ELC Peer mentors Bethany Hyder and MaKalea Bjoin have designed something a little different this year, giving it an Alice in Wonderland theme as well as making it a bit more interactive. In addition to seeing pictures and learning about the individual members, you can also leave them little notes of encouragement. Please stop by and learn a bit more about the newest members of our department. Let’s make them feel like a part of our department. Please let Tiffany Morin know if there is any events coming up that the ELC can be involved with.

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:

Ron Lunsford (and Christopher Daniel Lunsford) delivered a paper titled “Insurance Claims and Denials: Insights Provided by Rhetorical Genre Theory” at the third biennial meeting of The Symposium on the Rhetoric of Health and Medicine, Sept 14-15, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Quirky Quiz Question —  Bookout Blooms is located in Atherton Market.  Does anybody know the original purpose of this facility before it became a market?

Last week’s answer: 1989
I remember well when Hurricane Hugo hit Charlotte?  Does anybody remember what year Hugo came to town?

Monday Missive - September 11, 2017

September 11, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

The English Department Has Received a Grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council — I am pleased to announce that the English Department has just been awarded one of the North Carolina’s Humanities Council’s “Large Grants” to support a series of community events around the theme of “The Child Character in Southern Literature and Film.” This $20,000 grant will make it possible for the English Department to bring several authors to Charlotte, engage in collaborative literacy projects with area educational organizations and programs, and co-sponsor a film series with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library. Sarah Minslow and I co-wrote the grant proposal with valuable input from Paula Eckard and Sam Shapiro.

As I see it, this project is part of the English Department’s larger commitment to engage with the Charlotte community. Our department has a long record of sponsoring or co-sponsoring cultural and educational events that are open to everyone in the Charlotte area. These events include the Center City Literary Festival, the Shakespeare in Action’s lectures and performances, and the annual Seuss-a-Thon.

As I reflect on our record of community engagement, I have a sense that we are truly of the city for which our university is named. The official name of our institution is the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, but when it comes to the English Department, I think it might be more accurate to say that we are of Charlotte, not just at Charlotte.

Reflecting on Hurricanes — Like most everyone else, I have been closely following the distressing news about hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Perhaps more than any other meteorological event, hurricanes command our attention. Not only are they amazingly powerful and destructive, but they seem almost sentient as they relentlessly advance toward land. It is no wonder to me that we give them human names and anthropomorphize their behavior. One gets a sense that they are indeed hellbent on destruction. Even after they die, hurricanes continue to haunt us. They transform lives and communities, and in the process, they resurrect themselves in the form of stories.

JuliAnna Ávila and Paula Connolly have turned their attention to hurricane stories, in particular stories related to Hurricane Katrina. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, JuliAnna moved to Louisiana, where she worked with children displaced by the hurricane. One of the ways in which JuliAnna helped these children deal with the trauma in their lives was by creating opportunities for them to create stories about their experiences. JuliAnna wrote about this work in several articles. She also maintains a website with some of the then-young Katrina survivors’ stories as an ongoing tribute to them: storyagainstsilence.org Paula has studied children’s books that deal with Katrina. She published her findings in an article titled “Surviving the Storm: Trauma and Recovery in Children’s Books about Natural Disasters,” which appeared in Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature.

I have no doubt that hurricanes Harvey and Irma will generate their own stories in the coming years, but for now I am just hoping that the loss of life will be minimal, and we can all pull together to help with the recovery.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines—Here is a list of an upcoming meeting that will take place this month:

-English Department Mtg Friday, Sept. 15 11-12:15pm
Fretwell 280C (English Department Conference Room)

Quirky Quiz Question — I remember well when Hurricane Hugo hit Charlotte? Does anybody remember what year Hugo came to town?

Last week’s answer: New York Public Library

The animal characters in Winnie-the-Pooh are based on toy animals that A. A. Milne’s son (Cristopher Robin) played with during his childhood.  These toys are now on display in a public library.  In what city is this library display located?

Monday Missive - September 4, 2017

September 05, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

 

Working and Making — When I think about the meaning of Labor Day, I think about the meaning of work in our daily lives.  One of the most memorable books I have ever read on the meaning of work is Studs Terkel’s Working:  People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.  I read this collection of oral history interviews when it first came out in 1974.  I was an undergraduate student at the time, and I read it for one of my classes.

Many of the people featured in this book felt alienated from their jobs, but others took great satisfaction from their work.  A pattern that I noticed is that people who made things or who exercised creativity as part of their jobs tended to feel positively about their work.  The stonemason who was interviewed, for example, stood out for me as a person who found great meaning in his work.  I just re-read this interview, and it still resonates deeply with me.  I especially like what he had to say about the pride he took in the stone buildings he helped create: “I can see what I did the first day I started.  All my work is set right out there in the open, and I can look at it as I go by.  It’s something I can see the rest of my life. … That’s the work of my hands.”

The satisfaction that comes from making things is a pleasure that many contemporary Americans do not experience in their jobs.  However, for those of us who live in the Charlotte region, Labor Day presents us with an opportunity to make something and, in the words of the stonemason, “set it out there in the open.”  This opportunity is Yard Art Day, an annual community event founded and organized by Deborah Triplett.  As she explains on her website, “Yard Art Day is a grassroots arts exhibition, curated by the community for the community.  The annual Labor Day event is for anyone and all to celebrate their creative spirit by displaying or performing their works of art in their front yard for the public.”

I always participate in Yard Art Day.  This year  I created a scene from Winnie-the-Pooh in which Owl is standing at his front door.  I carved Owl from a piece of pecan wood, and built his porch much as it is depicted in the book, complete with Eeyore’s missing tail.  So that’s what I did on this Labor Day weekend.  Whatever you have done this weekend, I hope you have made the most of it.  http://www.yardartday.org/yad-2017-highlights/

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:

Bryn Chancellor is the recipient of a 2017-18 North Carolina Arts Council Artist Fellowship in the categories of literature, musical composition, and songwriting; she is among nineteen recipients from across the state. https://www.ncarts.org/meet–2017-nc-arts-council%E2%80%99s-artist-fellowship-recipients

Allison Hutchcraft  is the recipient of a 2017-18 North Carolina Arts Council Artist Fellowship in the categories of literature, musical composition, and songwriting; she is among nineteen recipients from across the state. https://www.ncarts.org/meet-2017-nc-arts-council%E2%80%99s-artist-fellowship-recipients

Upcoming Events and Deadlines—Here is a list of upcoming meetings and events that will take place this month:

–Provost’s Awards Reception    Tuesday, September 5       
3:30-5:00 pm  Halton Reading Room, Atkins Library

–Bank of America Award Reception and Dinner   Friday, September 8
6:00 pm  Hilton Charlotte Center City

Quirky Quiz Question —  The animal characters in Winnie-the-Pooh are based on toy animals that A. A. Milne’s son (Cristopher Robin) played with during his childhood.  These toys are now on display in a public library.  In what city is this library display located?

Last week’s answer: Windex
In addition to being interested in the ancient Greeks, the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding has a peculiar obsession with a particular product.  What is this product?

Monday Missive - August 28, 2017

August 28, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Laz Varnas and the Origins of Our Linguistics Program — If you have ever watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, you’ll likely remember that the father in this film always traces the origins of practically everything back to the ancient Greeks.  He is very proud of his Greek heritage and takes every opportunity to share his passion for all things Greek.  In some ways, Laz Varnas, the first linguist in our English Department, reminds me of the father from this film.

When I first joined our department in the fall of 1984, Laz stopped by my office and said that he had heard that I had moved into Dilworth.  I said that this was true.  He then told me all about the upcoming Yiasou Greek Festival sponsored by the the Greek Orthodox Cathedral, which he informed me was right in the middle of Dilworth.  He let me know that he belonged to this church, and that the festival was their big community outreach event.  Well, I have gone to the Greek Festival every year since then.  The 40th Annual Yiasou Greek Festival will take place this year from September 7–10.  I will be there and (as always) Laz will cross my mind as I enjoy the Greek food, music, and dance.

Lazaros Anastasios Varnas joined our English Department in the mid-1960s and immediately set about developing our linguistics program.  One of Laz’s first students was Ron Lunsford, and Ron traces his professional interest in linguistics back to courses that he took from Laz.  In addition to creating the department’s first linguistics courses, Laz advocated for the hiring of additional faculty members in this area.  He succeeded in this endeavor, and soon our own Boyd Davis joined Laz.  I recently contacted Boyd and asked her to share with me her memories of Laz and the origins of our linguistics program.  Here are her comments:

Laz was our first linguist, hired by Dr Bob Wallace not long after he completed his dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania on the phonology and morphology of the Parker Chronicle (DA 26.3322, 1965).  Before arriving here, he taught at the University of Michigan, where he was working on the Middle English Dictionary, was promoted from Instructor to Assistant Professor in 1965 after completing the dissertation, and that may have been when he joined the department.  He was married to Athenais (who had an MA in Old French from UNC Charlotte) and they had twin sons who attended UNC Charlotte. He was deeply involved with Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral on East Boulevard.  Shy and modest as he was, Laz had connections with most of the Greek restaurateurs through the Cathedral, and was able to talk many of them into establishing prizes in language for our English undergraduate majors and later, our graduate students, setting both the precedent and the bar. My interview in summer 1969 was at the Amber House, a really good steak and Greek potatoes restaurant on 49, and I began as an instructor in 1970. Jim Hedges came a couple of years later: James Stoy Hedges. His Midwestern training was, like Ron Lunsford’s, partly in linguistics and partly in comp theory, and he adored folklore, so among the three of of us – this was prior to Ron’s return to the department – we developed courses in all three areas (I remember I developed the Intro to Tech Writing with campus-wide projects which let us push for new hires there, as well as Language & Culture and Language Acquisition; Jim developed most of the comp/rhetoric courses and its sequence plus Syntax; Laz did History of English, Chaucer, and we all shared Intro to English Linguistics).  We were overflowing with students and were able to make a case to hire – and that was Ralf.

Like Boyd, Ralf worked closely with Laz until Laz’s retirement in 1995.  Ralf took it upon himself to organize a special event to honor Laz’s long career.  I contacted Ralf and asked him to share his memories of this event and of Laz’s career.  Here are his comments:

I did indeed organize a special session in honor of Laz at the SouthEastern Conference on Linguistics (SECOL); it was in 1995 at the University of Georgia, Athens.  Laz’s concluding remarks were improvised and unnecessarily self-deprecatory.  Laz was working on a book manuscript at the time in the spirit and style of Robert Lado on transfer interference for native Greek speakers of English.  He gave me five or six chapters to critique after he retired, which I did, but I suspect they are stored somewhere in a box now.  I also recall he was working on ancient Greek and Hebrew reflected in Anglo-Saxon writing, and boy do I wish I had that manuscript now.  Laz had the only typewriter I have ever seen in my life with Anglo-Saxon characters on it.  He had it specially made for him, I think.  He also had a roll-out map of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, which now resides in my office and will do duty again next Spring, when I teach a Medieval Literature survey.  One thing that could be mentioned is that Laz was the faculty member who organized the library purchases for the department, which is probably a major factor in why Atkins has such a fine collection of old and facsimile English grammar books going back to the 16th century.

Laz still lives in Charlotte.  He is in his late 80s, and it has been many years since he last visited our department.  We, however, should remember Laz, for he was one of the pioneers of the English Department, and he played a key role in building our internationally known program in linguistics.

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:

Valerie Bright published an interview titled “Speaking as a Southern Picture Book Author:  An Interview with Gail E. Haley” in the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of The Southern Quarterly.  

Paula Eckard published an article titled “Lost Children in Southern Literature” in the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of The Southern Quarterly.

Anita Moss contributed an essay on Willie Morris’s My Dog Skip as part of a collaborative article titled “Childhood in the New South as Reflected in Children’s Literature:  A Forum.”  This article appears in the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of The Southern Quarterly.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines—Here is a list of upcoming meetings and events that will take place this month:

–Provost’s Awards Reception    Tuesday, September 5 

3:30-5:00 pm  Halton Reading Room, Atkins Library

–Bank of America Award Reception and Dinner   Friday, September 8  

 6:00 pm Hilton Charlotte Center City

Quirky Quiz Question —  In addition to being interested in the ancient Greeks, the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding has a peculiar obsession with a particular product.  What is this product?

Last week’s answer: Ron Lunsford

The first time that the English Department was the recipient of the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching was in 1995-1996.  Who was the chair of the English Department at that time?

Monday Missive - August 21, 2017

August 21, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

“Wall of Fame”

Excellence in Teaching — Whenever I talk about the English Department to candidates or other people who are interested in our department, I mention that our faculty members take teaching very seriously.  We do not all teach in the same way, but we are all committed to sharing our specialized knowledge and insights with our students.  We all do our best to cultivate our students’ skills as readers, writers, and critical thinkers.  I believe that we always strive for teaching excellence, so I take great satisfaction when the larger university recognizes our excellent teaching.  Over the years, such recognition has come our way on many occasions.  For evidence, one simply needs to look at the many plaques and certificates related to teaching on display on the English Department’s Wall of Fame.  This year, the larger university is again recognizing the excellent teaching that takes place in our department.

The English Department is the recipient of the 2016-2017 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.  According to the official description of this award, “The Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching is granted to an academic department, program, or unit in recognition of the collective responsibility of faculty members for maintaining high-quality teaching.  The award is intended to recognize documented efforts that improve student learning and outcomes.”  The English Department also received this award in 1995-1996, making our department one of only three departments to receive this award twice.

Also this semester, Kirk Melnikoff is being honored as a finalist for the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence.  The award ceremony will take place on September 8, 2017, at which point we will learn if Kirk won this award.  However, being named a finalist for this award is itself an honor.  Kirk joins a long list of English faculty members who are recipients or finalists for this award. Listed below are the names of the various English professors who have received this award or who have been named finalists:

1968:  Seth H. Ellis (Recipient)
1969:  Roy C. Moose (Recipient)
1976:  Anne R. Newman (Recipient)
1977:  Boyd H. Davis (Recipient)
1988:  Anita W. Moss (Recipient)
1993:  Samuel D. Watson (Recipient)
1995:  James H. McGavran (Finalist)
1997:  Margaret P. Morgan (Finalist)
1998:  Daniel L. Shealy (Finalist)
2001:  Sandra Y. Govan (Finalist)
2004:  David Amante (Finalist)
2006:  James H. McGavran (Recipient)
2008:  Margaret P. Morgan (Recipient)

2013:  Mark I. West (Finalist)

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:

 

Henry Doss, who just joined our English Department as a part-time faculty member, is also a recording artist.  His recently released single titled “Just the Way” recently hit the #30 spot of the AMC National Top Hot 40 ratings.  For more information about this single, please click on the following link:  https://lamonrecords.com/henry-doss-releases-new-single-just-the-way-on-lamon-records/
 
Paula Eckard‘s book Thomas Wolfe and Lost Children in Southern Literature has been nominated for the C. Hugh Holman Award.  This “annual award is for the best book of literary scholarship or literary criticism in the field of southern literature published during a given calendar year.”  For more information about this award, please click on the following link:
C. Hugh Holman Award

Upcoming Events and Deadlines—Here is a list of upcoming meetings and events that will take place this month:

–CLAS All Faculty Mtg    Friday, August 25       8:00-10:30am

 Fretwell 100

–English Department Mtg   Friday, August 25          11-12:15pm

Fretwell 290B (English Department Seminar Room)

Quirky Quiz Question —  The first time that the English Department was the recipient of the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching was in 1995-1996.  Who was the chair of the English Department at that time?

Last week’s answer: The Prince and the Pauper
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is not the only novel that Mark Twain set in pre-industrial England.  He also used this setting in a novel dealing with switched identities.  Does anybody know the title of this novel? 

Monday Missive - August 14, 2017

August 14, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

 

Reflections on the Eclipse — In a very literal way, the hullabaloo surrounding the start of the fall 2017 semester is being eclipsed by an eclipse.  On August 21, during our New Student Convocation, we will experience a solar eclipse.  Well, what’s an English professor to do when faced with such a celestial phenomenon?  For me, at least, the upcoming solar eclipse has prompted me to retrieve my copy of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and reread the passage that deals with the solar eclipse that took place in the year 528.

In Twain’s remarkable time-travel story, the central character, Hank Morgan, is a nineteenth-century engineer and gunsmith who is magically transported back in time to the age of King Arthur.  He arrives in Camelot just before the solar eclipse will take place.  Being something of a history buff, Hank knows when the eclipse will happen.  He uses this knowledge to convince the inhabitants of Camelot that he has the power to extinguish the sun.  Awed by Hank’s apparent power, the King names Hank his “perpetual minister and executive.”  This development launches Hank’s meteoric rise to become the most powerful person in King Arthur’s court.

As Twain demonstrates in this novel, knowledge is empowering.  Because of Hank’s knowledge of history and technology, he is able to bring about change and sway the views of the people he encounters in Camelot.  Although I would be surprised if any of our students find themselves transported back in time to the age of King Arthur, I have no doubt that the knowledge that they acquire during their years at UNC Charlotte will empower them to bring change to our world.

Meghan Barnes and All Things Pedagogical  — Meghan Barnes, our new assistant professor in English Education, has already settled into her new office and has started work on two research projects.  For one of these projects, she is surveying a group of pre-service undergraduate English Education students as they complete a university-based methods course.  Meghan is researching how this coursework relates to the students’ responses to the edTPA Standards for initial teacher licensure.  For her other project, she is examining how the reading and analysis of young adult literature influences students’ responses to polemical topics such as race, gender, and sexuality.

When Meghan and I talked about her research projects last week, she indicated to me how pleased she is to be in an English Department where pedagogical research is valued.  After she left my office, I started thinking about how many faculty members in our department have published scholarship in this area.  JuliAnna Ávila immediately comes to mind with her multiple publications on digital literacy and storytelling, including her award-winning volume titled Critical Digital Literacies as Social Praxis:  Intersections and Challenges.  However, we have other faculty members outside the field of English Education who have also conducted research related to pedagogy.  Liz Miller has conducted research on the role that emotion plays in the interactions between students and teachers in the context of second-language acquisition.  She has published some of her findings in her book The Language of Adult Immigrants:  Agency in the Making.  Beth Gargano has studied the history of British schools and published her findings in Reading Victorian Schoolrooms:  Childhood and Education in Nineteenth-Century Fiction.  Paula Connolly has studied the racism reflected in Confederate-era textbooks and published her findings in Slavery in American Children’s Literature, 1790-2010.  These are just a few of the examples I could mention, but they demonstrate that Meghan’s research projects align perfectly with the English Department’s long and impressive pedigree in area of pedagogical-related research.

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, who just joined our English Department as a part-time faculty member, recently published a co-edited book titled The Love of Baseball:  Essays by Lifelong Fans.  The volume includes essays by several people who have connections to our English Department, including Henry Doss, Nancy Gutierrez, Julie Townsend, and Sam Watson.

Boyd Davis recently published a co-authored article titled “Care across Languages” in The Linguist.  The article will be available online to non-members at http://thelinguist.uberflip.com/h/  in another couple of weeks.

Paula Eckard was a featured speaker at the “Writers at Wolfe” event sponsored by the Thomas Wolfe Memorial in Asheville this past weekend.  She talked about and read from her book Thomas Wolfe and Lost Children in Southern Literature. 

Matthew Rowney recently presented “Preserver and Destroyer: Salt in The History of Mary Prince” at the North American Society for the Study of Romanticism (NASSR) conference in Ottawa, Canada.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines—Here is a list of upcoming meetings and events that will take place this month:

–University Convocation
Thursday, August 17    8:30am coffee, 9:30-11 Convocation in McKnight Hall

–Classes Begin Monday, August 21 at 5:00 p.m.

-CLAS All Faculty Mtg  
Friday, August 25 8:00-10:30am in Fretwell 100

–English Department Mtg
Friday, August 25  11-12:15pm in Fretwell 290B (English Department Seminar Room)

Quirky Quiz Question —   A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is not the only novel that Mark Twain set in pre-industrial England.  He also used this setting in a novel dealing with switched identities.  Does anybody know the title of this novel? 

Last week’s answer: Rutgers

Since arriving at UNC Charlotte in 2014, Katie Hogan has played a major role in introducing the field of girlhood studies to the English Department.  Does anybody know the name of the university from which Katie received her PhD?  Here’s a hint:  Think Garden State.

Monday Missive - August 7, 2017

August 07, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Girlhood Studies — A year or two ago I wrote an article about the education of girls in antebellum America, but I was not sure where to submit it. I shared a draft of the article with Katie Hogan and asked for her feedback and for any suggestions as to where my article might find a home.  Katie provided me with valuable advice and suggested several journals that might be interested in considering my article, including Girlhood Studies:  An Interdisciplinary Journal.  Before receiving this information from Katie, I had not heard of this journal.  In fact, I did not even realize that the field of girlhood studies had achieved a level of recognition and acceptance in academia to support its own scholarly journal.  I ended up publishing my article in the Journal of American Culture, but this experience made me more aware of the field of girlhood studies.  Within the context of academic specialties, girlhood studies is quite new–the journal was founded in 2008.  Nevertheless, several members of our English Department are already teaching and conducting research in this field.  Three notable examples are Katie Hogan, Janaka Lewis, and Paula Eckard.

Katie teaches an interdisciplinary course titled “Girl Cultures.” In an email that Katie sent to me about this course, she wrote, “This course uses texts by and about girls’ experiences both in the United States and globally.  Focusing on how girls both shape culture and are shaped by it, this course looks at three conflicting characterizations:  “can-do” power girls; girls as consumers; and “at-risk” girls.  These contradictory portrayals of girls and girlhood guide a variety of topics. including the rise of girlhood studies; girls and feminism, girls and social media; girls and sex; riot girls; black girls; queer girls; trans girls; and global girls.  Students read Brown Girl Dreaming (J. Woodson); Redefining Realness (J. Mock); Girls to the Front (S. Marcus); Push Out:  The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools (M. Morris); Loteria:  A Novel (M. Zambrano); selected fairy tales; and several articles by girlhood scholars, including Ruth Nicole Brown, Mary Celeste Kearney, Lyn Mikel Brown, and Anita Harris.”

Janaka’s current scholarly project relates directly to the field of girlhood studies.  In an email that Janaka sent to me about this project, she wrote, “My current book project, Freedom to Play, looks at the representation of African American girls in literature and how they learn and have sought liberation through play.   I am concerned specifically with what girls are taught as they become women, beginning in the 19th century with narratives of enslavement but continuing to how they have been taught about their identities through various social movements. From Harriet Jacobs to Zora Neale Hurston to Maya Angelou, and even including newer fictional texts like Everything, Everything, I frame many of my questions about girlhood and freedom with concerns about education, discipline and even criminalization of black girls in institutional settings. This project examines how childhood, and specifically girlhood, are represented in narratives of restriction and freedom and to what end black girls are able to engage and learn through play.”

Paula’s interest in girlhood studies relates to her larger interest in southern literature and culture.  In an email that Paula sent to me about this interest, she wrote, “My research and teaching have included girlhood studies as a component, particularly as southern girlhood is represented in works by southern women writers.  In my undergraduate courses ‘Growing Up Southern,’ ‘Appalachian Literature and Culture,’ and ‘Literature of the American South,’ as well as in my graduate course ‘Contemporary Southern Women Writers,’ I include an array of texts that depict girlhood and coming of age in the South during different time periods, ones frequently associated with conflict and change, such as the Civil War, Reconstruction, Civil Rights Era, desegregation, and the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Texts include Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons, Oral History, Saving Grace, and On Agate Hill by Lee Smith, In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason, The Invention of Wings and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and stories from Trash by writer Dorothy Allison who won the Lambda Literary Award Best Lesbian Fiction for the collection. In my research, I have written about several of the above authors and their works in articles, conference papers, and book chapters in my two monographs, Maternal Body and Voice in Toni Morrison, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Lee Smith and Thomas Wolfe and Lost Children in Southern Literature.”

As these aforementioned examples indicate, our English Department is already establishing itself as a powerhouse in the new field of girlhood studies.  Upon reflection, I think that this development is fitting, for it combines our longstanding strengths in women’s and gender studies and children’s literature and childhood studies.

It’s a Mystery — Susan Riley, a recent graduate of our M.A. program, learned last week that her children’s mystery novel titled That Southern Spirit has been accepted for publication by Young Palmetto Books, which is affiliated with the University of South Carolina Press.  Susan initially wrote this mystery as a creative thesis.  Susan is following in the footsteps of Mark de Castrique, who also wrote a mystery for young readers as a creative thesis and went on to get it published.  Titled Death on a Southern Breeze, this mystery launched Mark’s career as a successful mystery writer.  Mark has a new mystery coming out this fall titled Hidden Scars, which is set in Asheville uses Black Mountain College as a backdrop.

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 Martinac recently learned that a panel proposal titled “Nothing Can Happen Nowhere: The Craft of Setting in LGBTQ-Themed Fiction” has been accepted for the upcoming  AWP Conference to be held in Tampa.

Matthew Rowney recently presented a paper titled “More Invisible than Visible: The Albatross, the Anthropocene, and Plastic” at the inaugural conference of the Romanticism Association in Strasbourg.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Important dates to keep in mind:

Here is a list of upcoming meetings and events that will take place this month.

–University Convocation      Thursday, August 17 
8:30am coffee, 9:30-11 Convocation in McKnight Hall

 –Classes Begin                     Monday, August 21   

Classes begin at 5:00 p.m.

–CLAS All Faculty Mtg    Friday, August 25 
8:00-10:30am in  Fretwell 100

–English Department Mtg   Friday, August 25  
11-12:15pm in Fretwell 290B (English Department Seminar Room)

Quirky Quiz Question —   Since arriving at UNC Charlotte in 2014, Katie Hogan has played a major role in introducing the field of girlhood studies to the English Department.  Does anybody know the name of the university from which Katie received her PhD?  Here’s a hint:  Think Garden State.

Last week’s answer: Denmark
Tinkertoys were very popular during my childhood, but nowadays the most popular construction toys in the United States are Legos.  However, Legos did not originate in the United States.  Does anybody know what country gave the world Legos?   

July 31, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive
Of Construction Toys and Public Engagement —  A few weeks ago I arranged for a group of graduate students to take a tour of ImaginOn, which is a collaborative venture of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and the Children’s Theater of Charlotte.  During our tour, we spent part of our time exploring an amazing interactive exhibit called “TINKERTOY:  Build Your Imagination.”  This exhibit will be at ImaginOn through September 10.

I talked with one of the librarians who brought the exhibit to ImaginOn, and I shared with her my long-standing interest in construction toys.  As a result of this conversation, I agreed to write an essay about the history and importance of construction toys.  This week the administrators at ImaginOn will post a giant version of this essay as part of the Tinkertoy exhibit.  Over the years, I have collaborated with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library on many projects, but this latest project is the first time I have written text for one of their exhibits.

My involvement with our public library is but one of many examples of members of our English Department sharing their academic expertise with the general public.  For the purposes of today’s Monday Missive, I will highlight the public engagement activities performed by JuliAnna Ávila, Alan Rauch, and Greg Wickliff, but I am aware of other examples that I hope to highlight in future Monday Missives.

JuliAnna has an expertise in digital storytelling, and she has been publishing on this topic since 2008.  Recently, however, she has become involved with several community projects in which she is drawing on her expertise in this area.  For example, she is participating in the Lumbee tribe’s project called Unlocking Silent Histories.  This project involves an extensive digital storytelling program.   She is also joining forces with Tisha Greene, the principal of the Oakhurst STEAM Academy in Charlotte, to implement a digital storytelling into their curricula.   As part of her public engagement work in this area, JuliAnna is creating opportunities for our English Education students to participate in these projects.

Alan’s public engagement activities often relate to his scholarly interest in the relationship between literature and science.  A recent example is tied to his role as a member of the Advisory Board of the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature at University of Florida.  As part of his involvement with the Baldwin Library, he helped curate an exhibit of books about science written by women for children between 1790 and 1890.  Titled “Subverting the ‘Natural Order’:  Women and Science,” this public exhibit showed how women contributed to the advances in scientific knowledge during the nineteenth century.

Greg regularly shares his expertise in technical communication with the members of the Charlotte Regional Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication.  He has participated in several collaborative projects with the members of this organization.  However, the largest of these projects is an annual exhibit of student work.  Each year the faculty teaching in our Technical/Professional Writing programs invite undergraduate and graduate students to exhibit and discuss their projects with representatives from the regional chapter of the Society for Technical Communication.  Over the years, Greg, Aaron Toscano, Meg Morgan, and Mary Ellen Muesing, with support from graduate students and other faculty in the department, have worked together to make this annual event a big success.  The discussions of the projects with professional writers and editors have often led to formal job interviews for our graduates with employers looking for employees with a balance of language, computing, and graphic design skills.

As these examples demonstrate, our English Department can be seen as a hub off of which there are many spokes extending in different directions.   I find it intriguing that this description applies equally well to the design principle behind Tinkertoys.

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:

Pilar Blitvich recently presented a paper titled “Trolling in the Name of Free Speech”: The Milo Yiannopoulos’s Controversy” at the Politeness Symposium in York, UK.  She also presented a paper titled “Peninsular Spanish Retailer-Consumer Interactions on Facebook: A Variational Pragmatics Perspective” at the conference of the International Pragmatics Association in Belfast.

Sarah Minslow presented a paper titled “Impossible Choices, Possible Justice?  The Realities and Representations of Child Soldiers” at the International Research Society of Children’s Literature conference at York University in Toronto.

Alan Rauch presented a paper titled “Evolutionary and Anglican Afterlives:  Death as a Sacrament in Kingsley’s Water Babies” at a workshop sponsored by Princeton University and held at the Gladstone Library in Hawarden, Wales.

Lara Vetter‘s edition of By Avon River was featured in a poet-scholar’s blog.  Here is the link:

<https://lesleywheeler.org/2017/07/18/hybrid-h-d/>

Greg Wickliff recently participated with his wife, Alisa, in the STEM education learning festival at Ludwigsburg University  in Germany on July 19th. In Germany, the STEM acronym is MINT: Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaft und Technik. The learning festival brought together hundreds of elementary and middle grades students, their teachers, and students and faculty of the university for a day filled with workshops and exhibits.
 

Quirky Quiz Question —  Tinkertoys were very popular during my childhood, but nowadays the most popular construction toys in the United States are Legos.  However, Legos did not originate in the United States.  Does anybody know what country gave the world Legos?

Last week’s answer: Charleston, SC

Does anybody know what city in the South serves as the setting for the opera Porgy and Bess? 

Monday Missive - July 17, 2017

July 24, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive
United We Teach — Every summer I teach an intensive graduate seminar called Children’s Literature Award Winners in which I cover the most recent winners of some of the major awards in the field of children’s and young adult literature.  Among the awards that I regularly cover are the Coretta Scott King Award, which recognizes outstanding children’s books by African Americans, and the Printz Award, which recognizes outstanding books for young adult readers.  This year March:  Book Three won both of these prestigious awards.  

March:  Book Three is the final work in a trilogy of graphic novels focusing on John Lewis’s role in the Civil Rights Movement during the first half of the 1960s.  Co-written by Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, March:  Book Three culminates with the famous march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in March 1965.  Lewis led this march as part of a larger campaign to advocate for equal voting rights in the South.  This march helped win the necessary support for the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which President Johnson signed into law on August 6, 1965.  One of the final scenes in the book depicts President Johnson giving the pen that he used to sign this legislation to Lewis in recognition of the role the Lewis played in making the Voting Rights Act a reality.

Although March:  Book Three can be read on its own, it has a greater impact when it is read in conjunction with the first two books in the trilogy.  However, in preparing to teach this summer’s seminar, I kept my focus on the third book since it is the book that won this year’s awards.  Luckily for my students and me, Paula Connolly came to the rescue.  Paula had already studied the first two books in the trilogy, and this past Friday she gave a guest presentation to my class on these books.  During her presentation, she also explained how graphic novels differ from conventional novels.

Paula’s presentation underscored for me what I see as one of the great strengths of the English Department.  In my nearly 34 years of teaching in this department, I have witnessed countless examples of faculty members supporting each other in the classroom.  This support includes giving guest presentations, sharing syllabi, mentoring new faculty members, and exchanging teaching tips.  In some cases, this support involves covering classes when faculty members are physically unable to meet their classes.  This situation happened to me last semester when I was unexpectedly hospitalized after the electrical side of my heart stopped working properly.  Without any advanced notice, Paula stepped in and covered my classes.  As a result, not a single one of my class sessions was cancelled during my heart crisis.

By supporting each other in the classroom, we are able to accomplish more than we could if we taught in isolation.  In my reading of March:  Book Three, I see a similar message.  By marching together, John Lewis and the 600 other peaceful demonstrators who set out to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge were able to accomplish much more than they would have if each of them had walked across the bridge alone.

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:
 
Andrew Hartley‘s Steeplejack won the International Thriller Writers’ 2017 Thriller Award in the YA category last Saturday at a gala banquet in New York City.  On the same day, Steeplejack also won the North Carolina-based Manly Wade Wellman award for fantasy/science fiction.

Tony Jackson published an article titled “Imitative Identity, Imitative Art, and AI: Artificial Intelligence” in the June 2017 issue of Mosaic.

Sarah Minslow published an article titled “Forced to Cross Oceans:  Displacement in Children’s Literature” in the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of RISE: A Children’s Literacy Journal.

Alan Rauch published an article titled “Ocean of Whales and Dolphins” in the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of RISE: A Children’s Literacy Journal.
 
Angie Williams was recently received a certificate of recognition “for 30 years of faithful service to the State of North Carolina and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.”
 

Quirky Quiz Question —  John Lewis, the co-author of March: Book Three, lives in Atlanta, which is also the home of Emory University.  Who, among our current faculty members, received a PhD from Emory University?

Last week’s answer: Thomas Paine

Several leaders of the American Revolution went on to support the French Revolution, including the famous pamphleteer who wrote Common Sense and Rights of Man. Does anybody know the name of this writer?

Monday Missive - July 10, 2017

July 10, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive
Bastille Day, Jules Verne, and Revolutionary Power of Science Fiction — The French celebrate Bastille Day on the 14th of July, just ten days after Americans celebrate Independence Day.  Both holidays are rooted in revolutions, and both commemorate the efforts of brave people who took stands against monarchies.  Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which occurred in Paris on July 14, 1789.  The Bastille was a fortress-like prison where opponents of the royal government were often held without trials.  For many common people in France, the Bastille was seen as a symbol of tyranny.  For this reason, they saw the storming of the Bastille as a way to make a statement not only against the royal government but also for “liberty, equality and fraternity,” which was their motto.  The leaders of the French Revolution, like the leaders of the American Revolution, were trying to shape the future.  They imagined a world that differed in significant ways from the world in which they lived, and then they attempted to come up with a plan to bring their vision of the future into reality.

About a half a century after the French Revolution, a French author named Jules Verne also began imagining an alternative future, and in the process he gave birth to the genre of science fiction.  Verne envisioned a future in which technology was much more advanced than the technology of the mid-nineteenth century.  Verne envisioned a more interconnected world where the contributions of scientists were valued and innovation was celebrated.  He provided readers with glimpses of the future that he envisioned through the pages of his novels, such as From the Earth to the Moon (1865), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).  Verne died in 1905, but the genre that he started is alive and prospering, and it is well represented in our English Department.  Several members of our department have taken a serious interest in science fiction, including Aaron Toscano, Sandy Govan, and Andrew Hartley.

Aaron regularly teaches works of science fiction in his classes.  In fact, the honors seminar that he developed and taught is focused on science fiction.  Aaron has also written a scholarly article that relates to Isaac Asimov’s classic 1950 work of science fiction, I, Robot.  Aaron’s article is titled “Using I, Robot in the Technical Writing Classroom:  Developing a Critical Technological Awareness,” and it appeared in Computers and Composition.  

Sandy (who retired several years ago but who is still very much a member of our department) has an ongoing interest in African American writers of science fiction.  Sandy has a particular interest in Octavia Butler, the author of Parable of the Sower and many other works of science fiction.  Sandy has published a number of scholarly articles about Butler’s work, including “Connections, Links, and Extended Networks in Octavia Butler’s Science Fiction,” which appeared in Black American Literature Forum.  

Andrew has taken an interest in writing science fiction.  He recently published a science fiction novel titled Cathedrals of Glass: Planet of Blood and Ice.  He is also co-writing a science fiction series called the Sekret Machines series (co-written with Blink 182 front man, Tom DeLonge).  The first book in this series is titled Chasing Shadows.

As Aaron, Sandy, and Andrew can attest, science fiction provides a lens through which we can see future possibilities.  There is something inherently revolutionary about science fiction, for it is predicated on the assumption that our present conditions are changeable.  No one knows for certain what is in store for us in the future, but science fiction authors can help us imagine what the future might look like and in the process help us look at our present world from a different perspective.For those of you who are interested in participating in a science fiction reading group, you will be pleased to know that Aaron and honorary member of the English Department Alison Walsh have started a book club they call The RITAs (Reading Interesting Tales Association).  On Bastille Day (7/14) the group will be discussing The Handmaid’s Tale. Next month on 8/18–the Friday before classes start–the group will be discussing Octavia Butler’s Dawn.  If you are interested in participating in this group, please contact Aaron.

New Members of the Honors Faculty — The Honors College recently appointed Jeffrey Leak, Janaka Lewis, and Aaron Toscano to the Honors Faculty.  In their letters of appointment, Malin Pereira wrote, “Only full-time faculty who have already taught and/or served honors programs on campus or at another institution are eligible for Honor Faculty appointment and, thus for assuming governance roles for honors.  It is an honor and also a responsibility.”

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:

Allison Hutchcraft completed a two-week residency at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences in the mountains of North Georgia.

Sam Shapiro published a review of a book about American films from the 1970s in the Charlotte Observer.  Here is the link: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/books/article159474939.html 

Quirky Quiz Question —   Several leaders of the American Revolution went on to support the French Revolution, including the famous pamphleteer who wrote Common Sense and Rights of Man.  Does anybody know the name of this writer?

Last week’s answer: Prince Edward Island

When Balaka Basu gave her presentation last summer at the L.M. Montgomery Institute’s 12th Biennial Conference, she traveled to Canada’s smallest province, which is also the setting for Anne of Green Gables.  Does anybody know the name of this province?  Here is an extra credit question:  What does the capital of this province have in common with our city?