June 19, 2024

Dear Colleagues,

I hope your summer is going well. I write to let you know that today is my last day in the office. I will be taking vacation days through June 30. On July 1, a new and very capable English Department leadership team will be in place. Next year is sure to be an exciting and successful year. I know you will give Kirk Melnikoff, Bryn Chancellor, Meghan Barnes, and Clayton Tarr tremendous support in the semesters ahead.  

Next week is Angie Williams’s last week on the job, so please stop by or email to wish her well in her retirement. It can’t be said enough just how valuable Angie has been to the English Department. Her experience, expertise, and extraordinary collegiality will be greatly missed. Fortunately for us, Monica Burke is now officially Business Services Coordinator (her first day was this past Monday). The department will be in excellent hands with Monica.  

As I conclude my time as department chair, I’d like to thank Angie, Monica, Lara Vetter, Liz Miller, Clayton Tarr, Gina Karp, Lane Rhodes, and our student workers for their dedicated contributions to the English Department. As you know, Lara had double and triple duty as Graduate Director, Associate Chair, and Undergraduate Director (all at once this spring!). Her depth of knowledge and hard work have made such a difference during her many years of service and leadership in the English Department. Also, many thanks and congratulations to Matt Rowney and Juan Meneses for their success in directing the Honors Program, to Tiffany Morin for leading the English Learning Community, and to Alan Rauch for serving as Sigma Tau Delta advisor. And to each faculty member, thank you for all that you do to support the mission and values of the English Department. Each semester your work changes lives. What you do truly matters. Please know how much I have appreciated your efforts. I am honored to have been Chair of this department.

Although I am taking vacation days until the end of June, I am still reachable by email, text, or phone (704-574-4933).  Angie and Monica will be here next week, and Lara is also available by email.  My new office is 250E (between Liz Miller’s and Beth Gargano’s offices).  Please drop by! 

KUDOS

Meghan Barnes published two co-authored articles:

• Barnes, M. E., & Qasserras, L. (2024). Low assessment literacy in an assessment-obsessed field: What teacher candidates learn about assessment during teacher education. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/15505170.2024.2354187?needAccess=true
• Coffey, H., Steele, L., & Barnes, M. E. (2023). How to get teachers talking: Building networks of novice middle school educators Critical ELA Educator Collaborative. Voices from the Middle. 

Pilar Blitvich gave a presentation at EPICS XI (Intercultural, Cognitive, and Social Pragmatics Conference), Pablo de Olavide University (Seville, Spain), on her recent Cambridge University Press book. (EPICS is a conference she founded when she was a professor at the University of Seville.) Pilar also gave the commencement speech on morality in post-digital societies at the University of Valencia (her alma mater).

Dina Massachi published an article in the Early Children’s Literature and Culture Chronicle titled “Bringing in The Baum Bugle” https://preview.mailerlite.io/emails/webview/773825/124244013412779037

Alan Rauch gave a talk to students at Weddington High School about his research and career. 

Becky Roeder presented a paper titled “The Changing South: The /ay/ vowel in flux in Charlotte, NC” at a joint conference of LAVIS (Language Variety in the South) and SECOL (SouthEastern Conference on Linguistics). She also began her term as a new member of the SECOL Executive Committee. 

Ralf Thiede gave a presentation titled “Core vs. Periphery in First Language Acquisition and Attrition” at at a joint conference of LAVIS (Language Variety in the South) and SECOL (SouthEastern Conference on Linguistics).

Mark West’s book Theodore Roosevelt on Books and Reading was favorably reviewed in Clio’s Psyche and the Journal of American Culture.  He gave two presentations at the Children’s Literature Association’s 50th Conference in Madison, WI.  He was one of four past presidents to speak at a plenary session titled “Past Presidents Reflect on ChLA.” He also gave a presentation titled “The Children’s Literature Association and Me:  Reflections on My Early Years as a Member.” Mark also published an article in the Early Children’s Literature and Culture Chronicle titled “Letters from Grandpapa: Discovering Jacob Abbott’s Correspondence with His Grandsons.” https://preview.mailerlite.io/emails/webview/773825/124244013412779037

STUDENT NEWS

Lauryn Massenburg’s first solo short film “Puddin” was a quarter finalist at the Big Apple Film Festival in New York. 

Cody Ward presented a paper titled “Not the Whole Glory of the Great Plantation of the Earth: The African American in Thomas Wolfe’s Short Fiction” at the 2024 Thomas Wolfe Conference.  He also introduced keynote speaker Elizabeth Engelhardt, Senior Associate Dean for Fine Arts and Humanities, UNC Chapel Hill, who spoke on “Boarding House Women.” 

Best wishes,

Paula