{"id":1967,"date":"2019-09-16T09:38:29","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T13:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/?p=1967"},"modified":"2019-09-16T09:38:29","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T13:38:29","slug":"monday-missive-september-16-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/blog\/2019\/09\/16\/monday-missive-september-16-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Missive – September 16, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Back in the Groove<\/strong>\u00a0— In August 1998, the film\u00a0How Stella Got Her Groove Back\u00a0<\/em>made its debut.\u00a0 Based on Terry McMillan’s 1996 novel of the same title, this film had a great opening weekend, and it went on to become one of the most successful romantic comedies from the 1990s.\u00a0 Shortly after the release of the film, I started hearing more and more people saying the word “groove,” and this pleased me.\u00a0 I like the word “groove” because it is associated with the grooves on vinyl records, and I have never lost my love of vinyl records.\u00a0 It is for this same reason that I still use the old hippy word “groovy.”\u00a0 Thus, even though Stella (a stockbroker on the rise) and I (an aging English professor) don’t have that much in common, the title of her film appeals to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Stella, getting her groove back involves taking a vacation at a luxury resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  For those of us in the English Department, however, getting our groove back involves settling into the routines and rhythms of our work.  Now that our students have returned and our fall classes are well underway, I have a sense that the English Department is back in business.  The quiet summer months are conducive to doing research, but the department just doesn’t feel right to me without the presence of students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The energy that our students bring to the department was evident at last Friday’s Graduate Student Social.  Hosted by our English Graduate Student Association, this event took place off campus at the nearby Wine Vault, and it provided an opportunity for graduate students and faculty members to socialize.  I went, and I enjoyed hearing our students talk excitedly about their classes and their research projects.  I also enjoyed hearing our faculty members sharing stories with our students.  Kirk Melnikoff, for example, entertained all of us with his tales about his new office mate, who happens to be a mouse.  I am not sure how a mouse got into Kirk’s office, but I am pretty sure that the mouse is in for an educational experience.  When faculty, students, and perhaps an occasional mouse interact in this way, I know that the English Department is back in the groove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working the Game<\/strong> — We all know how hard our staff work in the department, but what many people don’t know is that our staff often also work at UNC Charlotte sporting events on the weekend.  Last Saturday, Monica Burke, Jennie Mussington, and Angie Williams all worked at the home football game.   I am pretty sure that this is the real reason the home team won!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kudos<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u2014 As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of the English Department.\u00a0 Here is the latest news:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Shealy<\/strong>\u00a0published an article titled \u201c\u2018Wedding Marches\u2019: Louisa May Alcott, Marriage, and the Newness of\u00a0Little Women<\/em>\u201d in\u00a0Women\u2019s Studies<\/em>, vol. 48, no. 4, 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upcoming Events and Deadlines<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Here is information about upcoming events and deadlines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 24\u2014 The Provost’s Awards Reception will take place on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. in the Halton Reading Room (Atkins Library).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quirky Quiz Question<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Three years before the release of\u00a0How Stella Got Her Groove Back\u00a0<\/em>another film based on a popular McMillan novel made its debut.\u00a0 This film is about the friendship of four women.\u00a0\u00a0 What is the title of this film? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week’s answer: Piedmont Airlines<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our English Department is not the only place in Charlotte with international connections.\u00a0 The Charlotte Douglas International Airport offers international connections of a different sort.\u00a0 The Charlotte airport became an international airport in 1987 when a now defunct airline introduced flights between Charlotte and London. What is the name of this airline? <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in the Groove\u00a0— In August 1998, the film\u00a0How Stella Got Her Groove Back\u00a0made its debut.\u00a0 Based on Terry McMillan’s 1996 novel of the same title, this film had a great opening weekend, and it went on to become one of the most successful romantic comedies from the 1990s.\u00a0 Shortly after the release of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-monday-missive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1967"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1971,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967\/revisions\/1971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}