November 15, 2023
Dear Colleagues,
As the end of the semester and holidays approach, I’d like to thank you for your tireless efforts on behalf of our students and your support of the English Department overall. I’d also like to acknowledge the people who make the department such a welcoming place: staff members Angie Williams and Monica Burke, advisor Gina Karp, student workers Madison Davis, Brianna Hickey, Galen O’Neil, and Eleanor Coleman, front desk assistant Lane Rhodes, Jonathan Garrett who keeps our computers working, and the housekeepers who clean the department. These special individuals brighten our work days and help keep the department running smoothly. They deserve our many thanks!
KUDOS
JuliAnna Ávila co-edited a special issue of the Journal of School and Society (published by the John Dewey Society) titled “What is the Role of Philosophy in Initial Teacher Preparation?”
Meghan Barnes presented a paper titled “Taking apart the puzzle: Drawing on Teacher Candidates’ Experiences with Assessment to Improve Teacher Education”at the North Carolina Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NCACTE) Conference.
Pilar Blitvitch was included in the world’s top 2% most-cited linguists and top 400 world linguists by 2023 @stanford list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists Data List DOI: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.6. Pilar presented a paper titled “Attributing and non/verifying ethno racial identities in on/offline spaces” at the ADDA4 (International Conference on Approaches to Digital Discourse Analysis) which was held at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. As co-founder of the ADDA initiative, she was also a co-chair of ADDA4. Future ADDA conferences will be held in the following locations: Tilburg, the Netherlands (2024); Brno, Czech Republic (2026); Turin, Italy (2028); and, Essen, Germany (2030).
Paula Eckard presented a paper titled “War, Motherhood, and Disability in Lee Smith’s On Agate Hill” at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference (SAMLA).
Tony Jackson published an article titled “The Fascination of Imitation: What Social Neuroscience Reveals about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” in Style.
Ron Lunsford presented a paper titled “Can a Novel ‘Mean’ and “Be”? The Artistry of Anthony Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land” at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference (SAMLA).
Dina Massachi, with the help of Natalie Ornat of Atkins Library and the International Wizard of Oz Club, has successfully acquired back issues of The Baum Bugle. Previously, Atkins Library owned 60% of all issues but will now have a complete set of the publication, which began in 1957. This makes Atkins Library the only library in the country to have a full run of The Baum Bugle, an important Oz publication.
Kirk Melnikoff’s scholarly two-text digital edition of The Tragedy of Selimus, Sometime Emperor of the Turks (1594) has been published as part of Queen’s Men Editions. Oxford University Press recently offered Kirk a contract to edit (with Sarah Dustagheer and Katherine Walker) the Oxford Handbook of Christopher Marlowe. The volume will contain 52 chapters and will be published in 2027.
Juan Meneses gave an invited talk at the Sheffield University Animal Studies Research Centre (in the UK) titled “Why Speak to Animals? Dialogue, Politics, and the Literary Imagination.”
Jen Munroe gave an invited lecture titled “Making Space: Gender and Class in Early Modern Gardens and Literature” at William and Lee University.
Clayton Tarr published an article titled “Registration and Impersonation in A Tale of Two Cities” in Studies in English Literature 1500-1900. His book chapter “Queer Gothic Poetry” was published in Queer Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion (Edinburgh University Press).
Aaron Toscano chaired a session and presented a paper titled “Oppressor Victimhood: The Rhetoric of Insecurity and Twenty-First Century Culture Wars” at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference (SAMLA).
Lara Vetter’s biography of H.D. was recently reviewed in The Gay & Lesbian Review Her interview about the book for the History of Literature podcast can be found here.
Mark West participated in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s Freedom to Read panel. He also gave an interview for Library 2.0 about his book Theodore Roosevelt and His Library at Sagamore Hill.
EMERITUS NEWS
Boyd Davis published two co-edited collections: Dementia Caregiving East and West: Issues of Communication (Cambridge Scholars Publishing) and Seniors, Foreign Caregivers, Families, Institutions: Linguistic and Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Mimesis International).
Jay Jacoby published a poetry collection titled Composition Book: Lessons Learned and Unlearned (ArsPoetica.
STUDENT NEWS
Nicole Gantz’s article “Becoming a Minor Literature: Supposing in Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Modern Literature. Nicole graduated from our M.A. program in 2022.
Cody Ward presented a paper titled “Eco-Queering the Novel of Formation: Environments, Ecology, and Anti-Bildung in Rechy’s City of Night” at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference (SAMLA).
REMINDERS
English Department Meeting, Friday, 12/1/23 at 11:00 (Seminar Room)
English Department Holiday Party, Friday, 12/1/23 at 12:30 (Department Lounge)
Grades Due, 12/18/23 by noon
Best regards,
Paula