The versatility of English also benefits our students.  I was reminded of this last week when I viewed a a video about our Technical/Professional Writing Program.  One of our current graduate students, Yekaterina Dolmatova, interviewed two of our recent program graduates and produced a short, five-minute video. It’s now on the University’s Youtube channel.  As this video demonstrates, the versatile nature of our program helps prepare our students to succeed when they enter the workforce. Here is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/glp1fHcjSD8

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Community Read Program — The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is sponsoring a series of events designed to encourage members of the Charlotte community to read and discuss a common text this fall.  This program will take place between September 28 and October 17.  The text that has been selected for this year is Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry.  This 2014 novel deals with a cranky bookstore owner who gradually forges connections with other people through their shared love of books.  In many ways, the novel is a celebration of books, bookstores, and the reading life.  I have agreed to lead several book discussions focused on this novel at various library locations.  For more information about this program, please click on the following link:    http://www.cmlibrary.org/about_us/in_the_news/#!/pressrelease/charlotte-mecklenburg-library/r/charlotte-mecklenburg-library-unveils-2015-community-read-titles,c9820275

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 Davis recently learned that he has been selected for a winter residency at the Sundress Academy for the Arts.

Sarah Minslow will be speaking at local libraries about censorship as part of Freedom to Read Week. She will speak on Monday, Sept. 28th 6pm at Independence Library, Thursday, Oct. 1st at 6pm at Matthews Library, and Saturday, Oct. 3 at 2 pm at Uptown Library. Please come along and add to the conversation.

Lara Vetter recently presented a paper titled “Espionage and Psychoanalysis in H.D.’s Late Prose” at a conference on “H.D. and Feminist Poetics” in H.D.’s birthplace, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:

October 9 — Mid-semester reports of unsatisfactory grades are  due on Friday, October 9th at noon.

October 19 — The deadline to apply for a Faculty Research Grant is October 19.  For more information, click on the following link:   http://research.uncc.edu/proposal-development/locating-funding

Quirky Quiz Question — The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry  is published by Algonquin Books.  Although Algonquin Books is now a division of Workman Publishing, the editorial office is still located in the same community where the publisher was founded in 1983.  Where is Algonquin Books located?

Several current members of the English Department share Jay’s interest in Jewish literature and culture.  Here are three examples.  Jeffrey Leak is currently researching the connections between mid-twentieth-century African American poets and Rosey Poole, a Jewish scholar and editor who lived in Holland and Great Britain.  Alan Rauch has taken an interest in graphic novels that deal with Jewish themes, and he will be teaching a course on this topic in the spring semester.  Maya Socolovsky has written on Allegra Goodman’s most recent novel, The Cookbook Collector, which deals with contemporary Jewish-American culture.

The topic of cookbooks reminds me that Jewish holidays almost always have some sort of food connection.   Apples dipped in honey is associated with Rosh Hashanah.  In keeping with this culinary tradition, I will bring in some apple-honey tarts of my own invention tomorrow and set them out in the faculty/staff lounge.  In the meantime, I wish you all a happy Jewish New Year.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is a date to keep in mind:

Quirky Quiz Question — In addition to teaching in the English Department, Jay Jacoby served as the interim chair for two departments.  Can you name these departments?

Last week’s answer: Alexander Calder

What is the name of the American sculptor who is largely responsible for introducing mobiles to the art scene?

Fostering Creativity — Today is Labor Day, but in the Charlotte area, it is also Yard Art Day. Deborah Triplett, a Charlotte photographer, created Yard Art Day a few years ago. As she explains on the event’s website, she invites participants “to celebrate their creative spirit by displaying or performing their own works of art in their front yards or balconies for the public” (http://www.yardartday.org/). This year I created a “book mobile” for Yard Art Day. I love books and I love mobiles and other forms of kinetic art, so I decided to create a work that integrates both of these loves.

One of the main reasons I am a big supporter of Yard Art Day is that it fosters creativity. Most of us who participate in Yard Art Day are not professional artists, but we enjoy being creative and sharing our creations with an appreciative audience. Fostering creativity is also at the core of the English Department’s DNA. The most obvious example of this side of our department is our burgeoning creative writing program. Many of the students who take our various creative writing courses relish the opportunity to write poems and short stories, and they take pleasure in sharing their creative work with their classmates.

However, our creative writing teachers are not the only members of our department who foster their students’ creativity. For example, our faculty members in the area of technical and professional writing regularly sponsor an exhibition of their students’ work. I attended this event last semester, and I was very impressed with the high level of creativity that our students brought to their projects. Other faculty members in our department encourage their students to experiment with theatrical projects, film and digital productions, and various visual presentations, ranging from formal conference posters to free-for-all collages.

The creative dimensions of our department spin around us in unpredictable but appealing ways. It’s sort of like a mobile.

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 Davis recently had a poem titled “Idol” accepted by Hawaii Review for a “Literature of Crime” issue.

Andrew Hartley was a guest speaker this Labor Day weekend at Dragon Con, which is one of the largest fantasy conventions in the world. An interview with him appeared in the Daily Dragon. The person who conducted the interview is Nancy Northcott, who is an affiliated member of our department. Here is the link: http://dailydragon.dragoncon.org/2015/discussing-books-and-audiobooks-with-a-j-hartley/

Liz Miller recently presented a paper titled “Relational Agency: An Emerging Perspective in Applied Linguistics” at the annual conference of the British Association of Applied Linguistics, held in Birmingham, England.

Jennifer Munroe recently had an article titled “Shakespeare and Ecocriticism Revisited” published in Literature Compass. Here is the link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1111/lic3.12251/

Lance Phillips’s poem “Sericulture” was published last month in 33rd edition of New American Writing. Here’s a link: http://www.newamericanwriting.com/current.htm.

Daniel Shealy recently had a chapter titled “Little Women in Its Time” published in Critical Insights: Little Women, edited by Gregory Eiselein and Anne K. Phillips.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:

September 10 — Shakespeare in Action is co-sponsoring a guest lecture by Sujata Iyengar titled “Why Shakespeare’s King John Leaves out the Magna Carta” at 4:30 in Fretwell 290B.

October 19 — The deadline to apply for a Faculty Research Grant is October 19. For more information, click on the following link: http://research.uncc.edu/proposal-development/locating-funding

Quirky Quiz Question — What is the name of the American sculptor who is largely responsible for introducing mobiles to the art scene?

Last week’s answer: runcible spoon
In her article about Edward Lear’s nonsense poetry, Sarah Minslow discusses many of Lear’s poems. One of Lear’s most famous poems is “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat.” In this poem, the owl and the pussy-cat eat “slices of quince” with an unusual utensil. What is this utensil called in the poem?

Hidden Gems — Student Niner Media recently published a tabloid called Welcome Back to UNC Charlotte 2015.  I thumbed through it this weekend and came across an interesting article titled “Hidden Gems in the UNC Charlotte Course Catalog” by Casey Aldridge, the Opinion Editor for the student paper.  In her article, she features several of the most “exciting” courses offered at UNC Charlotte this fall, and nearly half of them are classes being taught by members of our department.  She especially highlights “Sexing Shakespeare,” which Kirk Melnikoff and Kent Brintnall are co-teaching.  She also includes Tony Jackson’s “I Can’t Believe My Eyes:  Storytelling, Movies, Science Fiction” and Valerie Bright’s “Blood, Sweets, and Beers:  Forbidden Food in Literature and Culture.”

As this article underscores, the English Department is offering a wide range of engaging courses, and the preliminary enrollment figures indicate that a record number of students are signing up for these classes.  The current enrollment figures for our undergraduate courses (including LBST courses) add up to a total of 2,335 seats filled.  Last fall semester, we had 2,079 seats filled.  This represents a 12% increase.  In reviewing these figures, I am very pleased that the English Department is having such success in attracting so many students to our courses.

News from Our English Learning Community — Tiffany Morin, the Director of our English Learning Community, recently sent me the following report:

The members of the English Learning Community are settling in after completing their first week of college. This year we have 18 very enthusiastic students, who are ready to start planning their Fall Events.  They are currently completing their profile collages, so you can soon learn more about the individual members from the ELC bulletin board, located by 290-B. If you would like to involve the ELC in any upcoming events, please contact Tiffany Morin.

As I thought about these three chance encounters, I realized that one of the reasons I have no desire to retire is that it would limit my opportunities to share my love of children’s literature and to make a difference in students’ lives.  I consider myself fortunate that my job and my interests so closely align.  This fall semester marks the beginning of my 32nd year as a member of the English Department, and as always I am looking forward to teaching my children’s literature class.  I am also looking forward to working with all of you as we kick off a new academic year.

News from Our Foreign Bureau — This summer I have been reporting on news about members of our department who have been globe trotting this summer.  This week I am featuring Heather Vorhies.  I asked Heather about her European adventures, and she sent me the following report:

I presented “Transatlantic Adaptations of Hugh Blair’s Lectures on Rhetoric” at the International Society for the History of Rhetoric in Tubingen, Germany, on July 29. It was the perfect place for the conference–the Rhetoric Department at the University of Tubingen is 500 years old. We didn’t get too much other travel in around the conference, but my husband and I did make it to Baden-Baden for the thermal spas (105 degree water coming up from the ground!) and to Frankfurt to walk around the skyscrapers and find locks all over the bridges.  It seems that couples go to bridges with an inscribed lock to “solidify” their relationship (most had the two names and the date).  The bridges were absolutely COVERED with them! And I was surprised to see that you could get an inscription on a combination lock.

 

Jen Munroe’s Latest Blog Post.  Jen recently sent me a report about her blog dealing with early modern recipes.  Here is her news:

Here is the link to my latest blog post for the Recipes Project. It deals with the question of “earth” and sustainability in a recipe from a book I’ve been working with. At the end, you will see that transcription credit goes to Kailan Sindelar, one of our grads. She and Breanne Weber have been working with me this summer (Kailan as part of a DR and Breanne just for fun) to transcribe the manuscript recipe book of Lady Frances Catchmay (digitized from the Wellcome Library in London but on the Folger software system we have partnered with). It’s been incredibly difficult work for them, too, as the entire book is in multiple hands, all secretary, which is a difficult handwriting to read, and the hand in this book is especially challenging. So, kudos to them! And the least I could do is give Kailan transcription credit for the recipe I used in my post. Their transcriptions are part of the EMMO (Early Modern Manuscripts Online) database that is housed at the Folger and will be part of the EMROC (Early Modern Recipes Online Collective) database once we parcel the two.  So, here is the link to my blog: https://recipes.hypotheses.org/author/jennifermunroe

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 recently learned that Tor Publishing will bring out Steeplejack, the first volume in his new YA fantasy series, in June 2016.  For more information about Andrew’s summer activities, please click on the following link:  http://ajhartley.net/whats-going-on/summer-2015/

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:

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

–University Convocation     Thursday, August 20    9:00am coffee, 9:30-11 Convocation

 McKnight Hall

–Day of Convocation           Monday, August 24     11:00-5:00pm (faculty arrive at 10:15)

 Halton Arena

–CLAS All Faculty Mtg & Breakfast     Friday, August 28       8:30-10:00am

 Fretwell 100

–English Department Mtg   Friday, August 28          11–12:15pm

Fretwell 290B

Quirky Quiz Question — Heather Vorhies’s account of her recent trip to Germany reminds me that Heather is not the only member of our department who presented a paper at a conference in Germany this summer.  Can you name the other member of our department who presented a paper in Germany this summer?

Last week’s answer: Mortimer

In my upcoming presentation at the Waltonwood retirement community, I will talk about the history of Disney’s animated movies, including his Mickey Mouse movies.  When Mickey made his first film appearance, he was not called Mickey Mouse.  What was Mickey’s original name?

You Ought to Be in Pictures — In 1934 Rudy Vallee recorded “You Ought to Be in Pictures,” and the song went on to become a smash hit.  Rudy Vallee might not have realized it at the time, but his song relates to Janaka Lewis.   Janaka recently sent me an email about her summer adventures, and she included news about her new career as a movie star:

On August 1, I took a trip to Durham to see the premiere of the film When We Free, directed by Julia Roxanne Wallace and produced by Dr. Alexis Gumbs of Durham (who both discussed the making of the film on behalf of Black Feminist Film School on campus last fall). When I had the opportunity to visit the first set in Mebane last August, I was put in costume and invited to participate in the scene setting up a table at a church meeting, which earned me a few seconds of screen time and credits, by name, as “Congregant #2.”

Quirky Quiz Question — In my upcoming presentation at the Waltonwood retirement community, I will talk about the history of Disney’s animated movies, including his Mickey Mouse movies.  When Mickey made his first film appearance, he was not called Mickey Mouse.  What was Mickey’s original name?

Last week’s answer – Jen Munroe

Bryn Chancellor spent part of this summer writing in Wyoming.  Bryn is not the only member of our department who has Wyoming connections.  In fact, one member of our department has a BA degree from the University of Wyoming.  Do you know whom this faculty member is?

Bryn Chancellor                        Photographer: Christy Whitney

Bryn Chancellor Is in the House — I am pleased to report that Bryn Chancellor, our new creative writing professor, has arrived and is already settling into her new office.  Bryn has had a very busy summer.  She spent a month at the Jentel Artist Residency, a retreat for visual artists and writers in rural Wyoming. While there, she worked on a draft of a new novel and gave a reading as part of “Jentel Presents” in the nearby town of Sheridan, Wyoming. She was awarded this residency as part of the Poets & Writers Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award. Also this summer, she served on the fiction faculty at the Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference at the University of the South, working with talented high school age creative writers.   Please join me in welcoming Bryn to the English Department.

Charlotte Research Scholars Program — This summer both Sarah Minslow and Malin Pereira mentored undergraduate students as part of the Charlotte Research Scholars Program.  Sarah mentored Kenia Rios.  Kenia’s research project examines how child soldiers are depicted in contemporary popular culture with a focus on some of the texts and films that have been among the most successful. This research specifically examines child soldiers in Ender’s Game, Harry Potter, The Walking Dead and The Hunger Games.  Malin mentored Shanon Murray.  Shanon titled her project “The Anatomy of Racism: Racial Oppression and Social Injustice in the Work of African American Poet Wanda Coleman (1946-2013).”  She focused on Coleman’s “didactic poetics.”  Both Kenia and Shanon gave poster presentations on their research at the Summer Research Symposium last month.

Sarah Minslow and Kenia Rios

Shanon Murray

News from Our Foreign Bureau — This summer I have been reporting on news about members of our department who have been globe trotting this summer.  This week I am featuring Pilar Blitvich.  I asked Pilar about her European adventures, and this morning she sent me the following report:

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:

Jeffrey Leak was a guest on WFAE’s Charlotte Talks last week.  He participated in a panel discussion on the national debate over the display of the confederate battle flag and related issues.

Kirk Melnikoff gave the invited talk “Christopher Marlowe’s ‘Mighty Line’: Language and Power on the Elizabethan Stage” at the University of Cologne on July 2.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:

August 3 — Last day of classes for the second summer session.

August 10 — Grades due for all classes taught during the second summer session.

Quirky Quiz Question — Bryn Chancellor spent part of this summer writing in Wyoming.  Bryn is not the only member of our department who has Wyoming connections.  In fact, one member of our department has a BA degree from the University of Wyoming.  Do you know whom this faculty member is?

The Enduring Power of Books — As I was flying back to Charlotte last night, I reflected on my week in New York City.  Over the course of the week, I focused much of my attention on researching Theodore Roosevelt’s personal library at his Long Island home, which is called Sagamore Hill.  However, I also took advantage of some of the unique cultural opportunities available in the city.  I went to the Morgan Library where I saw their exhibition titled “Alice:  150 Years of Wonderland.”  I also saw Matilda:  The Musical, which is based on Roald Dahl’s last children’s novel, also titled Matilda.  In reflecting on these experiences, I realized that they all relate to the enduring power of books.

Theodore Roosevelt’s Books — I am about to travel to New York City where I will be conducting research on President Theodore Roosevelt’s personal library. Roosevelt’s books are still located in his home in Long Island. Named Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt’s home is now owned and administered by the National Park Service. For the past three and a half years, Sagamore Hill has been closed to the public while a major restoration project has taken place, but the home reopened to the public earlier this month. The Park Curator has agreed to talk with me about the restoration project and Roosevelt’s library.

Roosevelt called himself a “book lover,” and he devoted part of nearly every day to reading books. He often wrote letters to the authors of his favorite books, and he sometimes invited these authors to visit him. His library reflects his passions, his political causes, and his literary tastes. Through my research, I hope to develop a better understanding of Roosevelt as a reader and collector of books.

Writing Project — Anyone who has been in the English Department during the past few weeks has undoubtedly noticed all of the activity and excitement generated by the participants in the Writing Project. I asked Lil Brannon, the Director of UNC Charlotte’s Writing Project, for more information about what the Writing Project’s participants are up to this summer. Her response is listed below:

I would be delighted to tell you what all the Writing Project has been doing. You know that the Writing Project was started in l980 by Sam Watson and Leon Gatlin as an English Department Partnership with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. Our site (The UNC Charlotte Writing Project) has offered Invitational Summer Institutes (like the one we were doing these last three weeks) every summer since then. We are one of the original sites of the National Writing Project. So for 35 years, the UNC Charlotte Writing Project has grown and prospered.

This summer, the next to last week of June, we held our Partnership School Institute along with our Teacher Research Institute. The UNC Charlotte Writing Project has several partnership schools who send teachers to our campus for professional development in the teaching of writing. The Writing Project Teacher Consultants provide workshops for partnership teachers in a week-long conference-like setting on-campus. This year, we held one-day of the Institute at the Center City Campus so that partnership teachers could learn more about “museum pedagogy,” having their students take advantage of the many wonderful museums in downtown Charlotte. We focused attention on Discovery Place, the science museum in downtown Charlotte, with whom we have a partnership. We also had a writing marathon in NoDa, starting out at Amelies with side visits to Makerspace Charlotte and coffee at the Smelly Cat.

The Teacher Research Institute ran in conjunction with the Partnership Institute. Teacher Research brings experienced Writing Project teacher consultants to campus for a week of writing and of reflecting on our practices as teachers of writing. Heather Coffey and I lead this group, many of whom were professional articles, drafting dissertation chapters, rethinking curriculum, and catching up on reading in the professional literature.

Between the two groups we had over 40 teachers that week working in the seminar room, conference room, and at the various coffee shops on campus.

The last week of June through July 16, we hosted 15 area teachers at the Invitational Summer Institute. Each February teachers apply to participate. The Writing Project interviews all the applicants and selects out 15 outstanding teachers to come. The Institute contains three strands: teacher as inquirer (researcher); teacher as leader, and teacher as writer. So the days are filled with writing; with inquiring into questions about the teaching of writing and of engaging the professional conversation about writing; and with these teachers and the Writing Project leaders all conducting teaching demonstrations from their classroom and reflecting on those practices. Once teachers complete the institute they continue with the Writing Project as Teacher Consultants.

During all of these activities, we had meetings of the Education Innovator team of middle grades teachers who worked with the Writing Project this year on “Making Their Worlds,” a grant we have with the National Writing Project and the MacArthur Foundation to bring the idea of “make” to middle school English language arts classrooms so that students can do larger projects on social justice issues that matter to them and their communities. We also are working with Discovery Place and the Renaissance West community in Charlotte to plan a CMS K-5 school which will open in 2017 so that “make” and literacy are central to the work of the school. This coming year, the Writing Project and Discovery Place will be hosting maker faires and literacy activities (performance poetry, writing marathons) as the community builds and designs the new elementary school in partnership with us.

So it has been a very busy summer, with lots of people in our Fretwell digs, and it was exciting to be in our English home and feel the energy, support, and excitement of our Department.

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:

Aaron Gwyn’s novel Wynne’s War is now available in a handsome paperback edition published by Eamon Dolan/Mariner Books.

Alan Rauch recently presented a paper titled “The Enchanting Life (and Death) of Charles Darwin” at the North American Victorian Studies Association Meeting held in Hawai’i.

Angie Williams recently received the Golden Nugget Award from the Staff Council for “going above and beyond the call of duty and representing UNC Charlotte in a manner in which we can all be proud.”

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:

August 3 — Last day of classes for the second summer session.

August 10 — Grades due for all classes taught during the second summer session.

Quirky Quiz Question — One of Theodore Roosevelt’s favorite novels was The Virginian. Who wrote this novel?

 
Last week’s answer: receipts
As Bonnie and Jen well know, recipes have been around for a long time, but the term “recipes” did not come into widespread use until the second half of the 19th century. What term was used before then?