Transitions — The 2015-2016 academic year is now upon us, and with this change come other transitions. Two of our long-time colleagues—Meg Morgan and Cy Knoblauch—now officially have emeritus faculty status.

Meg joined the English Department in 1987. Over the course of her career, she has taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses. Her strength as a teacher is reflected in the fact that she won the Bank of America Award for Teaching in 2008. Her commitment to teaching is also reflected in her two published books: Strategies for Reading and Arguing about Literature, which she co-authored, and Strategies for Technical Communication: A Collection of Teaching Tips, which she co-edited. She has served in several administrative positions, including the Director of Rhetoric and Writing from 1994 through 2003. Recently Meg has taken responsibility for the English Department’s internship program, and I am pleased to report that she will continue playing this role as a part-time faculty member.

Cy joined the English Department as Chair in 1998. During his 17 years at UNC Charlotte, Cy played several key administrative roles. He served as the Chair of English from 1998 to 2007, as the Interim Chair of the Department of Biology from 2008 to 2011, and as the Director of First Year Writing from 2011 to 2012. He has also taught a wide variety of courses in rhetoric, writing, and British literature. Over the course of his career, Cy has written or co-written six books. Perhaps his most important publication is a recently published book titled Discursive Ideologies: Reading Western Rhetoric.

Both Meg and Cy have made many important contributions to our department, and I am pleased to include them among our impressive list of retired professors who have emeritus faculty status. In the near future, the English Department’s website will provide a complete listing of the former members of our department who have emeritus faculty status. Alan Rauch and Anita Moss are working together on this project, and my thanks go to both of them.

150 Years of Alice — This year marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This classic work of children’s literature can actually be traced back to July 4th, 1862, when Carroll told Alice Liddell and her sisters a shorter version of the story while they were on a boating trip on the River Thames. In commemoration of the 150th anniversary the book’s publication, the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City is sponsoring an exhibition called Alice: 150 Years of Wonderland (http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/alice).

Alice is quite at home in our department. Carroll’s classic is regularly taught in our children’s literature and Victorian literature classes, and several members of the department have written about the book. For example, Sarah Minslow devoted much of her dissertation to analyzing Carroll’s approach to nonsense literature, and Balaka Basu is writing about Alice in her current book project tentatively titled Reading Digitally with Children’s Literature.

News from Our Foreign Bureau — A few weeks ago I started featuring news about members of our department who have been globe trotting this summer. This week I am featuring Ralf Thiede.

Ralf recently returned from a trip to Germany. I asked him about his adventure, and here is what he had to say. “I saw very little of Mainz, Germany, where I went to attend (and present at) the world’s first colloquium on the linguistics of children’s literature, but thank goodness the meeting room was air conditioned. So, the Europeans are a bit ahead of us here: I took copious notes on a day’s worth of papers on such fascinating research as how adults interact with children during shared picture book reading. It’s a discipline in the making, and I thought that our department probably has the combined knowledge and skill set to become the leader in the US. Anyone interested?”

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.

Boyd Davis presented two co-authored papers at the 13th annual Communication, Medicine & Ethics conference (COMET) held in Hong Kong on June 25-27. One paper was titled “Dropped cues: Missed opportunities in the talk of tele health encounters,” and the other was titled “Politeness strategies in response to directives in the preliminary English version of the Assessment Battery for Communication.”

Paula Martinac’s short story, “Eds and Meds,” was a finalist in the 2015 Prime Number Short Fiction Contest. Prime Number is a literary journal published by Press 53 in Winston-Salem. Her story was one of the 10 stories chosen from 225 entries.

Joan Mullin recently presented a paper titled “Expanding or Limiting Access: Re-visioning the Calls For and Affordances of International English-Medium On-Line Publication,” at the European Association for Teachers of Academic Writing in Tallinn, Estonia.

Jen Munroe co-lead (with Rebecca Laroche) a workshop titled, “Teaching Recipes in the Digital Age” at the Attending to Early Modern Women Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin June 18-21.

Malin Pereira just returned from presenting a paper in Liverpool, UK, at the Collegium for African American Research bi-annual conference. Her paper was titled “The Politics of Memorializing Family and Place: The ‘Phototexts’ of Natasha Trethewey and LaToya Ruby Frazier.”

Quirky Quiz Question — In addition to writing the Alice books, Lewis Carroll spent many years teaching at Oxford University. What subject did he teach?

Last week’s answer: Charlie was Steinbeck’s dog

Travels with Charlie — The other day a professor asked me about the advantages and disadvantages of moving into university administration. I opined that a major advantage to having an administrative position is that one gets to know colleagues outside of one’s home department. Over the course of my administrative career, I have come to know many colleagues outside of the English Department, and in some cases these colleagues have become good friends. Charlie Brody is a prime example.

I got to know Charlie in 2002 when I was the Associate Dean for General Education and Charlie was the Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. My charge at the time was to launch the then new General Education Program. I worked with all of the department chairs, but none was more helpful than Charlie. Some years later, I worked alongside Charlie when I served as the Interim Associate Dean for Student Services and he served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In more recent years, I have worked with Charlie in my role as Chair of the English Department. In all of my interactions with Charlie, I have found him to be one of the most professional and helpful administrators on our campus. He has a remarkable ability to solve problems, defuse potentially explosive situations, and bring people from a wide variety of backgrounds together. He has been a tremendous supporter of the English Department, and he has helped us deal with some very complicated assessment issues.

As many of you know, Charlie has now left UNC Charlotte. As of July 1, he will become the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Misericordia University in Pennsylvania. I know I speak for all of us who have worked with Charlie during his fourteen years at UNC Charlotte when I say that he will be missed. I have enjoyed my administrative travels with Charlie, and I hope our paths will cross again in the not too distant future. As Roy Rogers would have said, happy trails to you, Charlie.

News from Our Foreign Bureau — Last week I started featuring news about members of our department who have been globe trotting this summer. This week I am featuring Andrew Hartley and Tiffany Morin.

Andrew recently returned from a trip to the epicenter of the current European financial fiasco. I asked him about his adventure, and here is what he had to say. “I just returned from Greece where I spent almost 3 weeks between Athens, Crete and Delphi. The official purpose of the trip was to teach for the British Council/Kingston a week’s course on writing suspense fiction. I had a dozen mainly Greek students who worked with me each evening, which meant that I had the daylight hours to wander Athens by myself. Though I’ve visited the city a few times before I’d never had the chance to really get to know it, and there were archaeological sites like the temple of Haphaestus which I’d never actually seen. The class was, as such things tend to be, both challenging and rewarding, the former being inevitable when you are working with students who are writing in a second language. It struck me as weirdly ironic–even presumptuous–to be teaching three act structure in a classroom only a couple of miles from the theatre of Dionysius where the plays of Sophocles and Euripides got their first public airing two and half thousand years ago! The second leg of the trip–to Crete, partly to revisit the Minoan ruins of Knossos–was more obviously holiday, though I came away with the idea for a new novel, so that’s good.”

Tiffany just came back from a trip to the past. I asked her about her adventure, and here is what she had to say. “I just returned from a ten-day trip to Israel. I was there primarily to participate in UNC Charlotte’s Mount Zion Dig with the Religious Studies Department in Jerusalem. It was exciting to dig into the earth and uncover items that had not been touched in over a thousand years. Even just walking around the Old City, where I stayed, felt like an adventure as I observed the stunning architecture and many cultures around me. I was also fortunate to visit Masada and Qumran, where Professor James Tabor guided us on a tour. On that same day, I swam in the Dead Sea, which was far more beautiful than I expected. I think my favorite part of the trip though was meeting so many new people from so many different places. It was an amazing experience, and I hope to incorporate it somehow into my work.”

Kudos— As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department. Today’s Kudos section is being brought to you by the letter M.

Kirk Melnikoff delivered the paper “From the Talbot to Duck Lane: The Early Publication History Robert Wilson’s The Three Ladies of London” at The Ladies of London in Context Conference at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Juan Meneses presented a paper titled “Reading Images, Seeing Words” at the ASLE (Association for the Study of Literature and Environment) conference at the University of Idaho.

Julia Morris, a graduate student in our children’s literature concentration, received an offer from the Old Dominion University Darden College of Education for a admission to their PhD Program in Education, concentrating in curriculum/instruction with an emphasis in Literacy Leadership for children’s/young adult literature. She received an assistantship as the research coordinator for a three-year NSF grant that deals with first-year writing and peer review in literature classes.

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

June 29 — Classes for the second summer session begin on June 29.

June 30 — Last day to add or drop a class with no grade.

Quirky Quiz Question — I am not the only person to write about travels with Charlie. John Steinbeck used this phrase as the title of one of his nonfiction books. What role did Charlie play in Steinbeck’s life?

Last week’s answer- The Raven

The Study of the New South — At the end of June, Jeffrey Leak will step down as the Director for the Center for the Study of the New South in order to focus his attention on serving as the Faculty President. Jeffrey has served as the Director of the Center since 2011. Under his leadership the Center has developed programming that has engaged the larger Charlotte community. In 2012, he secured a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council for the Center to host a conference on the book and exhibit Without a Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America. The Center also sponsored year-long programming on Sports in the New South, Soul Food: A Historical and Contemporary Exploration of New South Food, and most recently, a series titled Real Talk: Community Conversation on Why the Black American Male Still Matters. Please join me in commending Jeffrey for providing the Center with such excellent leadership.

Jeffrey’s work as the Director of the Center for the Study of the New South reflects the English Department’s long-standing involvement in Southern Studies. In the mid-1970s, the English Department began offering an upper-level course called Literature of the American South, and in the years since then English faculty have have contributed to Southern Studies both through their teaching and their scholarship. Currently, a number of English faculty members are engaged in scholarly projects that deal with Southern Studies. I could mention many examples, but there are four faculty members who immediately come to mind. Janaka Lewis and Paula Eckard are both doing research projects on writers from the American South while Liz Miller and Becky Roeder are conducting linguistics research on speech patterns and language usage in the South.

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

June 22 — Last day of classes for the first summer session.

June 29 — Grades due for classes taught during the first summer session.

June 29 — Classes for the second summer session begin on June 29.

June 30 — Last day to add or drop a class with no grade.

Quirky Quiz Question — The English Department’s engagement in Southern Studies is reflected in our annual award ceremony. Each year, the English Department gives an award to “an outstanding graduate student with an interest in literature, especially Southern Literature.” This award is named after a former English faculty member. Does anybody know the name of this former faculty member?

Last week’s answer: The Cheshire Cat couldn’t be beheaded because his body (and head) kept disappearing.

Andrea, Josh, Angie, Reili

Warrior Dash — Angie Williams and her offspring (Reili Williams, Andrea Todd, and Josh Edwards) participated in the Warrior Dash in Huntersville this past weekend. This 5K run doubles as an obstacle course. The twelve obstacles include climbing a wall (Warrior Wall), wading through a muddy pond (Mud Mounds), crawling under barbed wire (Under the Wire), and jumping over live flames (Warrior Roast). This sounds like torture to me, and I am not at all sure I would survive. I would likely end up being a roasted chair. Angie and her crew, however, not only completed the Warrior Dash, but they all claim to have enjoyed the experience.

There is a scene in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in which the Queen of Hearts is having her own wild Warrior Dash of sorts, although she calls it a croquet game. I am not sure I would survive this chaotic experience either. I would likely end up being a beheaded chair. Anyway, at one point Alice and the Duchess are watching the proceedings, and the Duchess insists on tacking on a moral to every comment that Alice makes about the game. At the risk of sounding like the Duchess, I can’t help tacking on a moral to the end of Angie’s Warrior Dash story. By supporting each other and finding the fun in overcoming obstacles, Angie and her crew turned something that sounds like an ordeal into something that they all sensed as an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday morning. And the moral to that, to quote the Duchess is–“Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.”

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 Connolly delivered a public presentation titled “Issues of Invisibility: or, How to Read Slavery Where There Is No Slavery” at the Boston Athenaeum. She talked about the Confederate children’s books that she examined during her month-long research stay at the Boston Athenaeum.

Melissa Quitadamo, a master’s student in English, is the recipient of the 2015-16 John Paul Lucas, Jr. Scholarship for Educational Leadership. She is featured in the Summer 2015 issue of The Graduate Source, a publication produced by the Graduate School.

Alan Rauch delivered a presentation titled “Issues Facing Scholarly Journals in the U.S.” at the annual congress of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. This event took place in Ottawa, Canada.

Ralf Thiede delivered a paper on June 6 entitled “Story as the Brain’s Information Management System” at the inaugural Colloquium on the Linguistics of Children’s Literature. The colloquium was held at the University of Mainz, Germany, and went so well that international conferences on the topic are envisioned for the future.

Quirky Quiz Question — In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Queen’s croquet game is interrupted over a dispute involving the ordered beheading of the Cheshire Cat. Why does the executioner argue that he cannot behead the Cheshire Cat?

Last week’s answer: Darwen is an anagram for Andrew

ConCarolinas — I spent part of the past weekend at ConCarolinas, a convention for fans of fantasy and science fiction. The convention took place in a large hotel near the Charlotte Motor Speedway. My wife (Nancy Northcott) was one of the the guest writers, and I agreed to staff her table while she participated in panels and other events. Andrew Hartley (published as A. J. Hartley) also participated as a guest author, and his table was across the hallway from Nancy’s table. Andrew is the Robinson Professor of Shakespeare, but he is also the author of a number of fantasy novels, including a children’s fantasy trilogy titled the Darwen Arkwright Series.

As I watched Andrew interact with his readers, I began thinking about the various ways in which fans and literary scholars are alike. Both share a passion for stories, both enjoy talking to fellow readers about their favorite stories, and both like to write about stories. One of the key differences between these two groups is how they respond to stories. Fans tend to take a celebratory approach to their favorite stories while literary scholars tend to take more theoretical or historical approaches to stories. Still, these differing responses are not mutually exclusive. Fans and scholars can learn from each other and take pleasure in their shared interests.

Andrew provides an inspiring example of a scholar who is as comfortable in the world of fandom as he is in the halls of academe. When a girl came up to his table at ConCarolinas and wanted to talk to him about Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact, he gave her the same respect as he would give a fellow Shakespeare scholar. I watched as Andrew talked with the girl and signed her book, and I thought to myself how fortunate I am to count Andrew as one of my colleagues.

News about Sponsored Awards — Every month I receive a report titled “Sponsored Awards” from the Office of Research and Economic Development. This report provides information about the external funding generated by every department in the university. I took a look at the report that came last week, and I was pleased with the information related to the English Department. The report lists the “total value of awards” that have come in between July 1, 2014, and April 30, 2015. It also lists the same information from the previous year. A year ago, the English Department generated awards totaling $89,095, but this year the total increased to $116,136. This total is the highest for any humanities department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and it is higher than the totals for most of the departments in the social sciences.

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 Eckard served on a panel titled “Teaching Thomas Wolfe in the Twenty-First Century” at the 37th Annual Conference of the Thomas Wolfe Society in Albany, NY, May 22-24. Among other topics, she discussed the versatile uses of Wolfe’s works in teaching both undergraduate and graduate students and the outstanding digital resources available for teaching Wolfe in traditional and online environments.

Jennie Mussington is participating in the Summer 2015 Universal Design Certificate Program. This program provides information on how to make technology used on our campus accessible to users with disabilities.

Quirky Quiz Question — What is an “anagram” and how does it relate to Andrew Hartley’s Darwen Arkwright Series?

Last week’s answer – Decoration Day

Memorial Day — The history of Memorial Day dates back to the conclusion of the Civil War. The holiday started as a way to commemorate the soldiers who died during the Civil War, but gradually the scope of the day expanded to include the commemoration of all Americans who died while serving in the military. Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1967, and nowadays most Americans have the day off from work but not everyone.

Josh Edwards and Josh Blaney

Unlike the faculty and students at UNC Charlotte, the members of the staff are expected to report to the University on Memorial Day or take the day as one of their vacation days. This practice seems wrong to me. Many members of our staff have family members and friends who died while in service to their country, and I believe that these staff members should not have to use their vacation time to observe Memorial Day. Angie Williams, for example, always thinks about her son, Josh Edwards, and her son’s best friend, Josh Blaney, on Memorial Day. The two Joshes served in the Army with tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Angie’s son lived to come home, but Josh Blaney lost his life in Afghanistan. UNC Charlotte prides itself as an institution that honors the men and women who have served in the military. Making Memorial Day a holiday for everyone who works at UNC Charlotte would provide concrete evidence that the University really does honor military service. So long as the University expects the staff to report to work on Memorial Day, the University’s proclamation that it is “veteran friendly” rings a bit hollow.

On Turning Sixty — This week I turn sixty. Reaching this milestone prompts me to reflect a bit on my career as an English professor. For the past thirty-one years I have taught children’s literature in this English Department. During that span of time, I have never taken a semester off from teaching, not because I have some sort of martyr complex but because I find teaching in this department to be immensely rewarding. I have friends who teach children’s literature at other universities who often feel belittled and besieged because their colleagues do not take children’s literature seriously. I have not had this experience. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to pursue my career in a department that values children’s literature as legitimate field of study.

Even though I know that the majority of my teaching days are already receding in the rearview mirror, I hope to continue teaching in this department for many years to come. There are two professors who have taught in this department for more years than I have—Boyd Davis and Anita Moss—and they are my role models. My other role model is my father. He did not retire until he turned eighty, so perhaps I will be lucky enough to follow in his footsteps and keep teaching for another twenty years.

Quirky Quiz Question — Memorial Day dates back to the late 1860s, but the holiday was not originally called Memorial Day. What was the original name for this holiday?

Last week’s answer:

Quirky Quiz Question — Summer is a special time of the year in the lives of young people, which might explain why so many coming-of-age stories take place during the summer. Below are descriptions of three classic coming-of-age novels all of which have the word summer in their title. See if you can the titles of these books:

1. This classic story of first love takes place in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in the late 1930s.    Seventeenth  Summer

2. This novel deals with a Jewish girl who befriends an enemy soldier who escapes from a prison camp in Arkansas.   Summer of My German Soldier

3. This novel is set on Nantucket Island and deals with an adolescent boy’s infatuation with the a young woman whose husband is killed during World War Two.  Summer of ’42

Summer — The builders of Stonehenge seemed to think that the start of summer had something to do with the summer solstice, for they designed the monument so that the the sun rises above a stone known as the Heel Stone on the morning of the summer solstice. What the builders of Stonehenge apparently did not understand is that the real start of summer is the first day of the first summer session at UNC Charlotte, which falls on the 18th of May this year.

This summer the English Department will be offering a little more than two dozen classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Of these classes around half are 100% online courses. The English Department faculty are also teaching seven Liberal Studies courses for the General Education Program. As of Friday, our English and LBST courses had about 600 of their seats filled, which is a record high at this point in the summer registration process. In addition to our regular summer offerings, the English Department is offering several new topics courses, such as Reading the Whedonverse (ENGL 2090), African-American Writers Writing the Sixties (ENGL 3050) and Children’s Literature and Childhood Trauma (ENGL 6070). My thanks go to Kirk for organizing our summer schedule.

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

May 18 — Classes for the first summer session begin on May 18.

May 19 — Last day to add or drop a class with no grade.

Quirky Quiz Question — Summer is a special time of the year in the lives of young people, which might explain why so many coming-of-age stories take place during the summer. Below are descriptions of three classic coming-of-age novels all of which have the word summer in their title. See if you can name the titles of these books:

1. This classic story of first love takes place in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in the late 1930s.

2. This novel deals with a Jewish girl who befriends an enemy soldier who escapes from a prison camp in Arkansas.

3. This novel is set on Nantucket Island and deals with an adolescent boy’s infatuation with a young woman whose husband is killed during World War Two.

Last week’s answer: Prospero

Remembering Ken Burrows — Ken Burrows died on the first day of May, but for those of us who had the privilege of knowing him, he will live on in our memories for years to come. Ken ran the summer programs at UNC Charlotte for many years, and it was because of this role that I came to know Ken.

Ken was always ready to experiment with new programs offered during the summer. He thought that the campus should hum with activity during the summer and that the University should offer summer programs for people of all ages, including children. For these reasons, he started our Camps on Campus summer enrichment program. Ken knew of my background in children’s literature, and he asked me if I would be willing to develop a summer camp based on children’s books. I liked the idea and said that I would give it a try. A few weeks later, he contacted me again and said that he thought that the camp should have a tighter focus. At the time the Harry Potter phenomenon was all the rage, so I suggested that we focus the camp on Harry Potter. With Ken’s help, I wrote a description of the camp in which I said that for one week in the summer our UNC Charlotte campus was going to be transformed into Hogwarts Extension. Over the next several months, Ken and I met many times to plan the camp, and our efforts were rewarded beyond anything we had imagined. The kids had a great time, their parents thanked me endlessly for providing their children with this opportunity, and the camp attracted a tremendous amount of press coverage. Running this Harry Potter camp proved to be one of the most memorable experiences in my career at UNC Charlotte, and I owe it all to Ken.

Commencement Notes — Last Saturday the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences held its commencement ceremony. For nearly 90 of our students, this ceremony marked their transition from current students to graduates. A total of 19 of our graduate students are listed in the commencement program, and 70 undergraduate students are listed.

I was especially impressed with how many of our BA students fall under the heading of “Graduation with Distinction.” Of the 70 students, 14 earned the distinction of Cum Laude (GPA between 3.4-3.7), 7 earned the distinction of Magna Cum Laude (GPA between 3.7-3.9), and 4 earned the distinction of Summa Cum Laude (GPA between 3.9-4.0). This total comes to 25 students, which means that 36% of our graduating seniors earned this special distinction. I am very proud of all of our graduating students, but I want to mention by name the 4 students who earned the distinction of Summa Cum Laude. Their names are John Stuart Cloer, Ashley Michelle Helms, Jessica Katlin Lamp, and Taryn Kandace Summer Walls.

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 has been awarded the Hillary Gravendyk Memorial Scholarship from the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. She will travel to Squaw Valley, CA, this June to attend their 2015 Poetry Workshop Program. Allison also has four poems appearing this month in a special feature of eco-poetry in the Kenyon Review.

Maya Socolovsky’s Troubling Nationhood in U.S. Latina Literature received a very positive review in the most recent issue of Latino Studies.

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

May 18 — Classes for the first summer session begin on May 19.

May 19 — Last day to add or drop a class with no grade.

Quirky Quiz Question — In addition to running UNC Charlotte’s summer programs, Ken Burrows also participated in several UNC Charlotte theatrical productions. He played a central role in a production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. What is the name of this character that Ken brought to life?

Last week’s answer: Nathaniel Hawthorne