- Newsworthy: Keith Gibson to Discuss Computer Grading in English Hour Presentation
- Teach For America at Auburn Week - Monday, January 31 to Thursday, February 3
- Auburn Chamber Music Society Concert - Tonight - February 2 - 7:30 pm in Goodwin Recital Hall
- MTPC Oral Exam - Julie Anne Zorn - Thursday - February 3 - 3:30 pm in 3130 Haley Center
- EGO Meeting - Wednesday - February 9 - 3:15 pm in 8009 Haley Center
- Major Decision Day - Tuesday - February 15 - 9 am to 1 pm - First Floor Haley Center
- MTPC Oral Exam - Jessica M. Lueders - Thursday - February 17 - 3:30 pm in 3166 Haley Center
- Benson Lecture and English Symposium Series - Jahan Ramazani - Thursday - February 24 - Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art
- Robert Hughes Mount, Jr. Poetry Prize Deadline March 1
- Not Just Desserts - Lecture by Susan Lanser - March 3 – 12:30 pm in Foy 217
- Congratulations to Donald Cunningham - Appointment to Cottey College Board of Trustees
- Registration for Annual STC April in Auburn Meeting
- Phone Book and Magazine Recycling Period Approaching
Newsworthy: Keith Gibson to Discuss Computer Gr
ading in English Hour Presentation
Keith Gibson, Assistant Professor of English, will discuss computer grading in his English Hour presentation on at 4:00 pm on Monday, February 7, in 3104 Haley Center. His talk will cover three software applications that evaluate student writing: Calibrated Peer Review, Criterion Online Essay Evaluation, and Intelligent Essay Assessor.
Gibson will address three facets of these programs:
How they work. He will provide a brief overview of their theoretical bases, dipping a bit into artificial intelligence theory to help explain how the programs make their judgments.
If they work. Gibson will spend a fair amount of the talk discussing the output of the programs. He has spoken with several university administrators who have employed this software and will report on a handful of studies that compare computer evaluations with human evaluations.
Why we should get behind them. The automation of essay evaluation has understandably raised some hackles among composition theorists, but Gibson will make a case for a place for these programs in a university education. He will further argue that we will be better off if we support a limited, specific use of this technology instead of opposing every part of it and eventually being ignored by those who will be making these kinds of decisions.
Teach For America at Auburn Week - Thursday, February 3
Teach For America calls upon outstanding recent college graduates of all backgrounds and academic majors to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and to become lifelong leaders in the effort to expand opportunity for children.
Teach for America at Auburn Week lasts from Monday, January 31, through Thursday, February 3. A recruiter for the Teach for America Program will be in HC 8009 Haley Center from 2 to 3 pm on Thursday to answer questions regarding this program.
Auburn Chamber Music Society Concert - Tonight - February 2 - 7:30 pm in Goodwin Recital Hall
The Auburn Chamber Music Society will be presenting its second concert of the 2004-05 concert season tonight, February 2, at 7:30 pm in Goodwin Recital Hall. The program will feature the Aulos Ensemble which will be presenting "An Evening at the Home of Johann Sebastian Bach." The ensemble will be works by J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, Vivaldi, and Telemann. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $5 for students with ID. For more information, contact Craig Bertolet, Co-President of the ACMS.
MTPC Oral Exam - Julie Anne Zorn - Thursday - February 3 - 3:30 pm in 3130 Haley Center
Second-year Master of Technical and Professional Communication (MTPC) student Julie Anne Zorn will present materials from her portfolio and coursework.
MTPC students fulfill their degree requirements by completing an oral exam and portfolio presentation. During the oral exam, students present many of the documents they have created in their MTPC classes and that appear in their portfolios. Students also incorporate information from their course readings and discussions into their presentations.
Members of the student's advisory committee conduct the oral exam. Department members and guests are invited to attend and ask questions.
EGO Meeting - Wednesday - February 9 - 3:15 pm in 8009 Haley Center
The English Graduate Organization (EGO) will hold a meeting on Wednesday, February 9, at 3:15 pm. Department graduate students are encouraged to attend.
Major Decision Day - Tuesday - February 15 - 9 am to 1 pm - First Floor Haley Center
Auburn University's annual major recruitment fair, Major Decision Day, will be held on the first floor of Haley Center on Tuesday, February 15, from 9 am to 1 pm. As in previous years, the English Department will have a table with recruitment materials for English majors and, as in previous years, it will be staffed by English faculty and undergraduates. If any professorial faculty have the morning of the 15th free and would like to spend some of that time happily answering questions about the major, contact Craig Bertolet by 4 pm on February 11.
MTPC Oral Exam - Jessica M. Lueders - Thursday - February 17 - 3:30 pm in 3166 Haley Center
Second-year MTPC student Jessica M. Lueders will present materials from her portfolio and coursework.
Benson Lecture and English Symposium Series - Jahan Ramazani - Thursday - February 24 - 3 pm at Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art
Jahan Ramazani - William R. Kenan Professor, University of Virginia, and editor of The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry - will present the Benson Lecture, which is also the second English Symposium Series lecture of the semester on Thursday, February 24, at 3 pm at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art. He will also meet with faculty and students throughout the day. For more information about Ramazani, please see his website.
Robert Hughes Mount, Jr. Poetry Prize 
Deadline March 1
The Auburn University English Department is pleased to announce its annual Robert Hughes Mount, Jr., Poetry Prize, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, and endowed by Mrs. Frances Mayes, offering a $100 prize for the best poem submitted by an Auburn University student.
Graduate or undergraduate students may submit up to three poems to Jeremy Downes's mailbox in the English Department, 9030 Haley Center. The contest deadline is March 1, 2005. More information about this contest can be found online.
Not Just Desserts - Lecture by Susan Lanser - March 3 – 12:30 pm in Foy 217
Dr. Susan Lanser will give a lecture entitled "The Sexuality of History: Sapphic Subjects and the Making of Modernity" on March 3. Her lecture, a part of the Not Just Desserts series, is sponsored by the Center for Diversity and Race Relations, Department of Foreign Languages, Women's Studies, and the
Philpott-Stevens Fund.
Congratulations to Don Cunningham - Appoi
ntment to Cottey College Board of Trustees
Don Cunningham, Professor of English and Coordinator of Technical and Professional Communication, has been appointed a member of the Cottey College Board of Trustees. His term will run from June 2005 until June 2012.
Founded in 1884, Cottey College is an independent liberal arts and sciences college for women located in Nevada, Missouri. Among the interesting features of the curriculum is that all students in their fourth semester spend a week in Europe.
Registration for Annual STC April in Auburn Meeting
Technical and Professional Communication faculty and students and members of the Birmingham Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication will meet on Saturday, April 9, for the annual April in Auburn meeting. This year's theme will be "Writing Proposals and Grants." Chuck Keller, co-author of the textbook Proposal Writing: The Art of Friendly and Winning Persuasion, will give the keynote address: "Tips for Finding, Analyzing, and Responding to Requests for Proposals." A PDF version of the meeting's complete agenda and information about presenters can be found online.
Those planning to attend the meeting must register through the Birmingham STC website. Registration is $15 for STC members, $20 for non-members, and free for students.
Phone Book and Magazine Recycling Period Approaching
The annual AU recycling campaign for telephone books and magazines is scheduled for February 7-18. The campaign will accept all old phone books such as those from AU, Auburn-Opelika, Columbus, Montgomery, etc. To promote interest in this recycling program, magazine recycling will also be offered during this time. Please take the opportunity to clean your office of accumulated magazines and journals and have them recycled and reused in new paper products. Phone books and magazines can be placed in the same container. Collection containers will be placed in the lobbies of the main campus buildings. For a list of these buildings, visit the website or call Donny Addison, AU facilities recycling coordinator, at 844-9461.
To include an item in The English Channel, submit text items by Tuesday at 11:40 am for publication Wednesday. Submit items by email to Jessica Lueders or Betsy Smith or put the information in their mailbox. Please check your submission for accuracy and completion—all calendar items and meeting announcements must include the date, time, and location of the event.
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Last updated February 2, 2005