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 24, 2017

July 24, 2017 by Angie Williams
Categories: Monday Missive

Summertime – When I hear the word summertime, I immediately think of the song “Summertime” from the opera Porgy and Bess.  It is one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music, but my favorite rendition is the the duet version by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.  I just listened to it as I started writing this Monday Missive, and it seems perfect to me in every possible way.   However, I also like the versions by Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin.  One of the reasons I so like this song is that it captures the slow, almost languid, pace of summer in the South.  The fish might be jumping, but for many of us, summer is a time to slow down a bit and enjoy the pleasures associated with living easy.  Still, the world does not come to a stop in the summer, and neither does the English Department.

Our internship program, now under the capable direction of Sarah Minslow, is one program that that is especially active in the summer.  This summer ten students from the English Department have been busy interning around the community.  We have students at the N.C. Wildlife Federation, Girls on the Run, International House, the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, The Independent newspaper in Concord, a law firm, and three local businesses.  These student interns are using skills learned in their English courses to design professional documents, manage social media, create content, and assist their supervisors while developing professional skills and networks.

Tiffany Morin has also been busy this summer recruiting for the English Learning Community.   She has been manning the table at the SOAR Resource Fairs, meeting with future English majors, and e-mailing prospective members. Her work has yielded 16 members of this year’s community, and recruitment continues, as does the planning for their first semester in college. While the learning communities help to transition students to university life in general, this year, Tiffany is trying to incorporate more interaction with the English Department itself. This is especially important because a student’s first year involves mostly gen-ed courses and very little work in the major. Often as freshmen, students even confuse the English Department with the UWRT classes. Students that understand and feel at ease in the program they have joined will be more engaged and successful students, which benefits us all. The sooner the students start meeting their future professors, learning about opportunities, and becoming involved in department events, the sooner they can begin to feel like a part of the English Department community.

As Tiffany tries to bring the focus back to the major, she is building off of previous successes. Veteran ELC members fondly remember and still keep in contact with Henry Doss, so he will again be joining the class to discuss “purpose, success, and the English BA.” One of the highlights for students in the past has been Andrew Hartley’s visits to discuss Steeplejack and being a writer, which he has agreed to do again. This year, the ELC is excited to have two authors visit the class, as Bryn Chancellor has accepted an invitation to discuss Sycamore with the class. Please let Tiffany know if you or one of your students would like to come in and tell them about those opportunities, including specific events, organizations, and programs. Also, she is looking for volunteer opportunities for them, so please let her know if you need the assistance of some eager first-year students. She even welcomes professors to just come in and say “Hi” for a moment. Let’s help them to feel at home remind them of their great decision to join our English program. You can e-mail Tiffany at tamorin@uncc.edu.

The work that both Sarah and Tiffany are doing this summer will help our students as they prepare for the future.  There is a line in “Summertime” that seems as if it is written with our students in mind:  “One of these mornings you’re gonna rise up singing/And you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to the sky.”

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 was an invited member of the fiction faculty at the Hub City Writing in Place Conference at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC, July 14-16, where she taught a fiction workshop and gave a fiction reading.

Juan Meneses recently published an article titled “Historical Restoration, Narrative Agency, and Silence in Graham Swift’s Waterland” in the Journal of Modern Literature.  You can access the article by clicking on the following link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/jmodelite.40.3.10?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Liz Miller guest edited a Special Issue for the journal Critical Inquiry in Language Studies which has just been published. She and her collaborator, Ryuko Kubota, also have an article in the issue titled “Re-examining and Re-envisioning Criticality in LanguageStudies: Theories and Praxis.”

Thomas Eric Simonson, who recently received his BA degree (with honors) from our English Department, was featured in an article published in the Statesville Record & Landmark.  Here is the link:  http://www.statesville.com/news/mooresville-native-wins-prestigious-fellowship/article_82932706-6d48-11e7-8579-1f83698754e6.html

 

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

Last week’s answer: Jeffrey Leak
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?

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? 

Monday Missive - July 3, 2017

July 05, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Canada 150 — Canadians celebrated their nation’s 150th birthday this past weekend. This event prompted me to think about the English Department’s associations with our neighbor to the north. Three of our colleagues immediately came to mind: Balaka Basu, Alan Rauch, and Becky Roeder.

Balaka has conducted extensive research on Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables. Montgomery is widely recognized as one of Canada’s most well-known writers. In June 2016, Balaka presented a paper titled “‘Before I’ll not be wanting visitors for a while’: The Social Consequences of Pregnancy in the Works of L.M. Montgomery” in a plenary session at the L.M. Montgomery Institute’s 12th Biennial Conference, “L.M. Montgomery and Gender.”

Alan grew up in Canada, and he has a degree in biology from McGill University in Montreal. Alan’s monograph titled Dolphin, which Reaktion Books published in 2014, can be traced back to the research he did on marine mammals under the auspices of the Montreal Zoological Society. Alan has also taught courses on “Canadian Literature and Culture” both at UNC Charlotte and at Georgia Tech.

Becky has focused much of her research in the area of socio-phonetics on the pronunciation of vowels in different regions of Canada. She is widely recognized for her original research on what is known as the “Canadian vowel shift” associated with words such as out and about. This research has led to the publication of several scholarly articles, including an article titled “The Canadian Shift in Two Ontario Cities,” which came out in World Englishes.

The distance between Charlotte and the southern border of Canada is about 750 miles, but English Department’s Canadian connections can be found by taking a short walk down the hallways of the Fretwell Building.

In an email to me about Canada’s 150th birthday, Alan sent me a link to a song from the Toronto band Moxy Fruvous. It’s called “My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors.” So, if you want to listen to a song while you toast Canada’s birthday, please click on the following link: https://youtu.be/nr5bAhEsX6M

Celebrating the 4th of July — My father was born on July 4, 1928, and he grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. According to a family story that my father often told, when he was a little boy, his father took him for a walk through the neighborhood on his birthday. My father asked my grandfather why everyone was shooting off fireworks, to which my grandfather responded, “Because it’s your birthday.” Well, my father didn’t like loud noises when he was a young child, so he didn’t fully appreciate the fireworks. He walked up to a man who was about to light some firecrackers, and he told the man, “You don’t need to light the firecrackers for my birthday. I don’t really like them.”

For some reason, I love this family story. I like the idea that the little-boy version of my father thought that the whole city of New York was setting off fireworks to celebrate his birthday. This story reminds me that we all have our own associations with holidays. Whatever your associations with the 4th of July might be, I hope you have a great July 4th holiday.

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:

Dina Schiff Massachi, a graduate of our M.A. program, recently published a chapter titled “‘You are not a live thing. You’re a dummy’: The Rights and Hierarchy of the Hero-Creations of Oz” in Toy Stories: The Toy Hero in Literature, Comics, and Film, edited by Tanya Jones.

Malin Pereira participated in a roundtable on Afropolitanism at the Collegium for African American Research conference held in Malàga, Spain, from June 13-16.

Lane Rhodes was in Austin last week for Macmillan Publishing’s Tech Ed Week. She presented to other educators and to Macmillan’s development team how she uses interactive and adaptive learning online components in the classroom.

Quirky Quiz Question — 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?

Last week’s answer: Wayne State University

The Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment Conference was sponsored by the largest university located in Detroit.  Does anybody know the name of this university?

Monday Missive - June 26, 2017

June 26, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive
Synergy — There is something magical about synergy, for it defies the basic mathematical expectations associated with addition.  The dictionary defines synergy as the “interaction of two or more agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.”   This type of synergistic magic happens on occasion in the English Department.  Two examples just took place this month.

Three members of the English Department recently traveled to Detroit to participate in the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment Conference, which took place from June 20 to June 24.  Katie Hogan delivered a paper titled “Resisting the Urban/Rural Divide in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home.”  Juan Meneses presented a paper titled “Shedding Light:  Environmental Destruction and the Politics of Visibility,” and Matthew Rowney gave a presentation titled “‘It ate the food it ne’er had eat’: Plastic, the Albatross, and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”  Their participation in this conference adds up to much more than three conference papers.  In a very real sense, their participation shows how the members of our department are working together to make ecostudies a core part of what we do in the English Department.

A few days after Katie, Juan and Matt headed north to Detroit, Sarah Minslow, Alan Rauch, Ralf Thiede, and I headed south to Tampa to participate in the Children’s Literature Association Conference.  Sarah gave a presentation titled “Exploring Imagined Futures by Revisiting the Past:  Strategies of Time Travel in Children’s and YA Holocaust Literature.”  Alan gave a talk titled “Writing the Scientific Mother:  Understanding Women as the Source of Knowledge,” and Ralf delivered a presentation titled “Baby Einstein to Baby Chomsky:  Neurocognitive Science and the Future of Early Children’s Books.”  Ralf and I were on the same panel.  Speaking immediately after Ralf, I gave a talk on “LeVar Burton’s Leadership Role in Shaping the Future of Reading Rainbow.”  These four presentations underscore the expansive and diverse nature of our children’s literature program.  Sarah’s presentation relates to Holocaust studies, Alan’s relates to women’s studies and the history of science, Ralf’s relates to linguistics and cognitive studies, and my presentation relates to media studies.  The children’s literature programs in many English departments are relegated to a small silo situated in a corner of the department, but our children’s literature program has magically escaped the silo curse and in the process has become far more than the sum of its parts.

Needless to say, I am a true believer in the power of synergistic magic.

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:

Nadia Clifton, who received her M.A. in English in May and will begin an M.S. in Library Science at UNC Chapel Hill in August, has been selected as a 2017-2019 Association of Research Libraries (ARL)/Society of American Archivists (SAA) Mosaic Fellow. The benefits of the award include a tuition stipend, a paid internship at UNC’s Wilson Special Collections Library, financial support to attend the SAA Annual Meeting and the 14th Annual ARL Leadership Symposium in 2018, and financial support for enrolling in digital archives specialist courses provided by the SAA.

Nancy Gutierrez, the Dean of our College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a member of the English Department, recently published an essay titled “Storytelling and the Deanship” in From the Desk of the Dean:  The History and Future of Arts and Sciences Education,co-edited by Mary Anne Fitzpatrick and Elizabeth A. Say (University of South Carolina Press).

Thomas Simonson, who recently received his B.A. with honors in English, was awarded a 2017 Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship.  He will use this fellowship as he begins his graduate studies at Wake Forest University this fall.

Quirky Quiz Question —   The Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment Conference was sponsored by the largest university located in Detroit.  Does anybody know the name of this university?

Last week’s answer: Patty Jenkins
The new Wonder Woman movie is the first superhero movie to be directed by a woman.  Does anybody know the name of the woman who directed this film?     

Monday Missive - June 19, 2017

June 20, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Wonder Women — This past Saturday, my wife (Nancy) asked me, “So what do you want to do for Father’s Day?”  I suggested that we go see the new Wonder Woman movie.  “It seems more like a Mother’s Day movie to me,” she said, “but let’s go.”  And so we did.

I had heard good reports about this movie, but I did not expect to like it as much as I did.  I especially liked the depiction of the central character.  I liked her determination to make a difference in the world, to help others in need, and to face frightening situations with bravery and confidence.  These qualities come to the surface when she finds herself in Europe during the closing days of World War One.  She repeatedly says, “Take me to the front.”   Perhaps the reason I appreciate these aspects of Wonder Woman is that I recognize these same qualities in women I know in my home and work life.

One such woman is Jen Munroe.  Like Wonder Woman, Jen is facing a formidable foe, and like Wonder Woman, she is determined to meet her foe head on.  In Jen’s case, her foe is breast cancer.  In her conversations with me about her recent diagnosis, she has made it clear that she is ready to go to the front and do battle.  At the same time, though, she remains committed to working with her students, collaborating with her research partners, and helping me respond to administrative developments.  Just as Wonder Woman took the time to help the beleaguered residents of an occupied town even while she was heading into battle, Jen took time out of her schedule today to help a struggling student deal with a suspension appeal.  Jen might not have have Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth, but she has Wonder Woman’s indomitable spirit.  I know that Jen is going to prevail in her battle.

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 just published a young adult novel titled Firebrand. For more information about this novel, please click on the following link: http://inside.uncc.edu/news-features/2017-06-12/distinguished-professor-shakespeare-publishes-new-young-adult-fantasy.

Alan Rauch recently presented a paper titled “Eyes, No Eyes, and Visualization: Text and Image in Children’s Books” at the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing Conference, which took place in Victoria, Canada.

Quirky Quiz Question — The new Wonder Woman movie is the first superhero movie to be directed by a woman.  Does anybody know the name of the woman who directed this film?

Last week’s answer: President Carol Quillen
From its founding in 1837 until the 1970s, Davidson College admitted only male students (with a few unusual exceptions), but the times have changed.  Now Davidson College has its first female president.  Does anybody know that name of the woman who currently serves as the president of Davidson College?

Monday Missive - June 13, 2017

June 13, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Sustaining a Sense of Community — This past weekend, my wife (Nancy) participated in her 40th class reunion at Davidson College.  The class of 1977 holds a special place in the history of Davidson College, for it was the first class to include a cohort of women students.  As a member of this class, Nancy has long felt a deep-seated bond with the other members of the class of ’77 and especially with the other women who transformed Davidson College into a coeducational institution.

The reunion lasted for three days and concluded with a dinner on Saturday.  I joined Nancy for the dinner, and I watched with a tinge of envy the interactions of this group of former classmates.  They clearly cared for each other. They asked with sincere interest about what everyone had been up to since they last saw each other.  They celebrated as a group the various accomplishments of the members of their class.  As an outsider looking in, I could tell that these people shared a genuine sense of community.

Franconia College From Main Street, Open in 1963

Like Nancy, I graduated from a small college in the mid-1970s.  My alma mater, Franconia College, was one of a handful of experimental colleges from the 1960s and ’70s, but it closed a few years after I graduated.  As a result, there are no regularly scheduled reunions or institutional structures to help former students stay in touch with one another.  As a graduate of Franconia College, I have no sense of belonging to a larger extended community of former classmates.  I thought about such matters during the dinner on Saturday.

Fretwell building, UNC Charlotte

However, before I started feeling too sorry for myself, I realized that I, too, belong to an extended community of colleagues who care for each other, who take a sincere interest in the lives of one another, and who celebrate the successes of everyone in the community.  This community is called the English Department.  Like the members of the Davidson class of 1977, the members of the English Department value and make an effort to sustain the sense of community that binds us together.

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’s new novel, Sycamore, was selected for O: The Oprah Magazine’s “20 Books of Summer” at #7; it also was chosen for the June Indie Next List and featured in reading recommendation lists in Glamour, Bustle, and the New York Post. She also published an essay, “How to Write Suspense,” in Publisher’s Weekly.

Boyd Davis recently published a chapter titled “Other Interviewing Techniques in Sociolinguistics” in Mallinson, Childs, van Herk, eds., Data Collection in Sociolinguistics,  2nd edn. NY: Routledge, 114-117. https://sociolinguisticdatacollection.com/2017/03/03/welcome/

She also delivered a presentation titled “Combining Corpora and Collaboration at Two Ends of the Spectrum: Enhancing Language and Social Interaction for Nonverbal Youth with Special Needs and for Cognitively Impaired Older Persons” as the Faculty Colloquium, Speech Pathology/Special Education, National Kaohsiung Normal University, May 2017.

Paula Eckard recently learned that her latest book, Thomas Wolfe and Lost Children in Southern Literature, as been nominated for the 2017 Ragan Old North Award presented by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association.

Allison Hutchcraft has been awarded a residency from the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, where she will be a resident for the Spring 2018 semester. The Sitka Center, located on the Oregon coast, was founded in 1970 and hosts writers, artists, musicians, and scientists whose work often engages with nature and the environment.

Jen Munroe participated in the Integrated Network for Social Sustainability (INSS) Conference at UNCC (June 5-7); at the conference, Jen lead the graduate student symposium, an all-day event on June 5.

Quirky Quiz Question — From its founding in 1837 until the 1970s, Davidson College admitted only male students (with a few unusual exceptions), but the times have changed.  Now Davidson College has its first female president.  Does anybody know that name of the woman who currently serves as the president of Davidson College?

Last week’s answer: Tom Reynolds

The Charlotte Research Scholars Program is sponsored by the UNC Charlotte’s Graduate School.  Does anybody know the name of the current Dean of the Graduate School? 

 

Monday Missive - June 5, 2017

June 05, 2017 by Angie Williams
Categories: Monday Missive

Charlotte Research Scholars — Every summer the Graduate School sponsors its Charlotte Research Scholars Program.  This program is intended to provide high-achieving undergraduate students with opportunities to collaborate with faculty members on research projects.  Another goal of the program is to encourage the student participants to pursue graduate degrees.  This summer four members of the English Department are working with undergraduate students as part of this program.

Janaka Lewis is working with Chelsea Moore on representations of black girlhood and natural spaces in literature popular culture of the twentieth and twenty first centuries.  Examining such works as Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything (currently featured in film), Chelsea is exploring how nature comes to serve as freedom from more disciplined and restricted spaces for black girls in more contemporary texts.

Sarah Minslow is working with McKenzie Fortner on a project on war-affected children.  For this project, McKenzie is researching child soldiers and displaced children with an emphasis on the different roles that children play during violent conflicts and how this influences their identity development.

Jen Munroe is working with Jenna Hainlen on a project that that involves transcribing from the manuscript recipe book of Lettice Pudsey (ca. 1675), which she is using to conduct original research that uses manuscript recipe books to rethink the role of such books and women’s domestic work in our understanding of the social history of the book.

Malin Pereira is working with Kelly Brabec on a project on contemporary African American poetry.  As part of her research, Kelly is examining how African American poetry relates to questions of identity, race, and aesthetics.

Another way in which members of the English Department are contributing to Charlotte Research Scholars Program is by giving presentations on writing for the students in the program.   Greg Wickliff gave a presentation on “Professional Writing in Science and Engineering,”and Sarah Minslow gave a presentation on “Professional Writing in the Humanities.” In an email to me about these presentations, Greg wrote, “We talked with the students about the process of entering a research community though reading and writing, the role of peer review, the value of conference papers, abstracts, proposals, and publishing articles in the discipline.”

I am very pleased that the English Department is so well represented in the Charlotte Research Scholars Program.  For more information about this program, please click on the following link: http://graduateschool.uncc.edu/deans-office/partnerships-and-initiatives/charlotte-research-scholars

Quirky Quiz Question — The Charlotte Research Scholars Program is sponsored by the UNC Charlotte’s Graduate School.  Does anybody know the name of the current Dean of the Graduate School?

Last week’s answer: Charleston

Angie’s Aunt Lou grew up in West Virginia, and she will be buried in Montgomery, West Virginia.  One of the major cities in West Virginia has the same name as a major city in South Carolina.  In this tale of two cities, what is the name that these cities have in common?

Monday Missive - May 29, 2017

May 29, 2017 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive

Aunt Lou has a winning hand!

Angie Williams and Her Aunt Lou — Last Friday, a little before midnight, I received an email from Angie informing me that her Aunt Lou had passed away earlier that evening.  She was 92 years of age.

Angie’s sad news did not come as a surprise, for I knew that her Aunt Lou had been receiving hospice care for about a month.   I knew about her Aunt Lou’s struggles with cancer and dementia.  I knew about her Aunt Lou’s love of poker and television programs about wrestling.  I knew about her Aunt Lou’s fondness for chocolate ice cream.  I knew about her Aunt Lou’s desire to sit on the sofa with their new dog Roxie at her side.  But what I did not know was her Aunt Lou’s legal name, so this morning I asked Angie.  Aunt Lou’s legal name, Angie told me, is Louise Marie Daniels, but as far as I am concerned her real name is Aunt Lou.

Five years ago Angie opened her home to her Aunt Lou.  At the time, Angie was already caring for her mother, who was in declining health.  However, Angie knew that her Aunt Lou needed help, so Angie stepped up as Angie always does.  Angie and her brother Pat took turns looking after their Aunt Lou.  They included her in their family activities and celebrations. They played poker with her.  They listened to her stories about growing up in the coal-mining country of West Virginia.  Angie wrote about her Aunt Lou’s colorful stories in a recent blog post.  Here is the link to this posting:  https://pages.charlotte.edu/angie-williams/blog/2017/05/16/tell-me-about-the-good-ole-days/

Angie often refers to herself as a caregiver when she talks about her relationship with her Aunt Lou, but I don’t think that this word fully captures this side of Angie.  It is true that Angie provided her Aunt Lou with the care that she needed, but she also provided her with acceptance, love, and a place to call home.

Memorial Day — Today is Memorial Day.  Originally called Decoration Day, this holiday can be traced back to the years right after the Civil War when the families of fallen soldiers decorated the graves of their relatives who died during the war.

For most Americans, Memorial Day is a paid holiday, but not for the staff at UNC Charlotte.  If staff members want to stay home and observe Memorial Day, they need to deduct the hours from their vacation time.  I objected to this practice in the Monday Missive that I wrote last year at this time, and I still object to it.  For many staff members, Memorial Day has a deep, personal meaning.  UNC Charlotte should recognize the significance of this special day by making it a paid holiday for the staff.

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:

Cara DeLoach, who just received her M.A. in English from our department, has accepted a full-time English instructor position at Bladen Community College in Dublin, NC.  In addition to teaching writing courses, she will teach a course on British literature in the fall.

Tiffany Morin published a scholarly review of Reading in the Dark:  Horror in Children’s Literature in the most recent issue of the Children’s Literature Association Quarterly.  This review has special meaning for Tiffany since it is her first scholarly publication.
 

Quirky Quiz Question — Angie’s Aunt Lou grew up in West Virginia, and she will be buried in Montgomery, West Virginia.  One of the major cities in West Virginia has the same name as a major city in South Carolina.  In this tale of two cities, what is the name that these cities have in common?

Last week’s answer: Science, Technology, Engineering, ARTS!, and Math
Tisha Greene is the principal of  the Oakhurst STEAM Academy.  What does STEAM stand for in this context?