- Newsworthy: Bert Hitchcock to Present Research at English Hour - "Well, Maybe Just This Once: Erskine Caldwell, Old Southwest Humor, and Funny Ha-Ha"
- Faculty Meeting - Today - March 9 - 3 pm in 3104 Haley Center
- EGO Intra-Departmental English Research Colloquium - Call for Abstracts - Deadline Today - March 9
- EGO Meeting - Today - March 9 - 3:15 pm in 8009 Haley Center
- MTPC Oral Exam - Rachel Kennedy - Thursday - March 10 - 3:30 pm in 3166 Haley Center
- CLA Promotion of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (PETL) Teaching Enhancement Activity - "Tenure and Promotion at Auburn University" - Thursday - March 10 - 3:30 pm in 202 Thach Hall
- Breeden Teaching Grants - Application Deadline March 11
- IMG Academy Application - Deadline March 15
- Summer and Fall Book Orders - Deadline March 21
- Gender Questions: A Film and Discussion Series - Ma Vie en Rose (My Life in Pink) - Tuesday - March 22 - 7:30 pm in 3206 Haley Center
- Release of Winter 2005 Southern Humanities Review, Annual Hoepfner Award Winners Announced
- Graduate Student Ahsan Chowdhury Wins ACETA's W. J. Calvert Award for 2005
- Graduate Student Publication - Robin Bates
- Former Faculty Members Publish E-Journal
- Registration for Annual STC April in Auburn Meeting
Newsworthy: Bert Hitchcock to Present Research at English Hour - "Well, Maybe Just This Once: Erskine Caldwell, Old Southwest Humor, and Funn
y Ha-Ha"
Bert Hitchcock, Hargis Professor of American Literature, will present an English Hour lecture titled "Well, Maybe Just This Once: Erskine Caldwell, Old Southwest Humor, and Funny Ha-Ha" on Monday, March 14, at 3:30 pm in 3104 Haley Center.
Hitchcock's lecture will be based on an essay to be published in Reading Erskine Caldwell: New Essays (McFarland and Company) later this year. Caldwell (1903-1987), best known for his Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre, was once a very well-known writer of/from the American South who garnered serious praise both from contemporary critics and later scholars. He is today, as the prospectus of Reading Erskine Caldwell: New Essays noted, "not [standardly] anthologized and...not treated regularly in critical essays in major journals in American literature and cultural studies." In an effort to investigate, if not elevate, Caldwell's literary stature, this new book aimed, it was said, "fully and provocatively to measure his work against established traditions of American literature." One of these traditions, actually long noted and regularly resulting in praise of Caldwell, is the literature of "Old Southwest humor," a kind of writing that directly and undoubtedly influenced Mark Twain and William Faulkner.
Because of Hitchcock's longstanding scholarly interest in this particular "tradition" of Southern writing, he was asked to address it for this new book. According to Hitchcock, he attempted to do that "fully and provocatively," and his findings "turned out to be something quite different from both what I anticipated and, I'm pretty sure, what the book's editor envisioned."
Faculty Meeting - Today - March 9 - 3 pm in 3104 Haley Center
Hiring for 2005-2006 will be discussed at today's faculty meeting.
EGO Intra-Departmental English Research Colloquium - Call for Abstracts - Deadline Today - March 9
EGO is soliciting abstracts in all English-related fields (Literature, Rhetoric, Technical and Professional Communications, Linguistics, Theory) for an intra-departmental English research colloquium. Abstracts are due Wednesday, March 9.
The colloquium, which aims to promote active participation in the academic scholarship of our field in an informal, friendly atmosphere, is scheduled for Saturday, April 16, in Haley Center. Submissions are welcome from all academic levels: faculty, instructors, graduate students, and upper-level undergraduate English majors. Research at all levels of completion is invited, whether recently published or still in progress.
To submit an abstract (with any technology requests) or ask questions, contact a member of the EGO Colloquium Committee: Jill Parrott, Mary Ann Rygiel, or Stephanie Bogle.
EGO Meeting - Today - March 9 - 3:15 pm in 8009 Haley Center
A meeting of the English Graduate Organization (EGO) will be held on Wednesday, March 9, at 3:15 pm in 8009 Haley Center.
MTPC Oral Exam - Rachel Kennedy - Thursday - March 10 - 3:30 pm in 3166 Haley Center
Second-year MTPC student Rachel Kennedy will present materials from her portfolio and coursework on Thursday, March 10, at 3:30 pm in 3166 Haley Center.
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.
CLA Promotion of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (PETL) Teaching Enhancement Activity - "Tenure and Promotion at Auburn University" - Thursday - March 10 - 3:30 pm in 202 Thach Hall
The College of Liberal Arts Promotion of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (PETL) will sponsor a Teaching Enhancement Activity on Thursday, March 10, at 3:30 pm in 202 Thach Hall. Isabelle Thompson of the English Department and Donna Bohanan of the History Department will discuss "Tenure and Promotion at Auburn University." This TEA will provide an overview of the tenure and promotion process at both the college and university levels. All facets of the process will be addressed.
Breeden Teaching Grants - Application Deadline March 11
Competitive grants for teaching enhancement projects will be available again this year from the Daniel F. Breeden Endowment for Faculty Enhancement. Tenured/tenure-track faculty from all disciplines or faculty from the clinician title series with appointments continuing through the 2005-2006 academic year are eligible. Funds may be used to enhance courses or programs, enrich the core curriculum, develop workshops, or underwrite almost any activity germane to teaching or the evaluation and assessment of teaching.
Applications must be received by the Biggio Center by 4:45 pm on March 11. For more information and for application forms, visit the Biggio Center website.
IMG Academy - Application Deadline - March 15
The Instructional Multimedia Group will offer two basic and one advanced Summer Academies (now referred to as IMG Academies) this summer and is looking for faculty and GTAs to participate. These Academies aim to help participants develop teaching materials using instructional technology.
The College of Liberal Arts, as in previous years, will fund several participants for each session. This year funding has been raised to $4,000 per participant, but the number of participants funded through the College will be limited.
Applications need to be carefully planned for the best chance of acceptance. Faculty are encouraged to talk to their program coordinators and heads/chairs to find out what kinds of projects will be most useful for a program or department; graduate students and instructors must get specific approval from their program or department.
The deadline for applications is March 15. Information about application submission can be found online. Contact Wiebke Kuhn for more information or if you have any questions about the Academy.
Summer and Fall Book Orders - Deadline March 21
Place book orders for the Summer and Fall semesters by going to the Department website by 4:40 pm Monday, March 21. For each textbook, you will need the course number, author's last name, title of book, edition, ISBN, paper or hardback, and publisher.
Do not order the books directly from the bookstore. They must be ordered through Jean Joiner. Orders submitted after the deadline must be submitted in a typed memo to Jean Joiner.
Gender Questions: A Film and Discussion Series - Ma Vie en Rose (My Life in Pink) - Tuesday - March 22 - 7:30 pm in 3206 Haley Center
Gender Questions: A Film and Discussion Series sponsored by the World Literature program will present Ma Vie en Rose (My Life in Pink) (1997) on Tuesday, March 22, at 7:30 pm in 3206 Haley Center. Directed by Alain Berliner, this film tells the story of Ludovic, a little girl born in a little boy's body. His situation turns into a drama of intense reactions from neighbors, friends, and teachers. The film stars Michéle Laroque, Hélène Vincent, and Jean-Phillipe Ecoffey.
A discussion and brown bag lunch session will be held on Wednesday, March 23, at 12 pm in 3226 Haley Center.
Release of Winter 2005 Southern Humanities Review, Annual Hoepfner Award Winners Announced
The Winter 2005 Southern Humanities Review is hot off the press. If you'd like a copy, stop by our office, 9088 Haley Center, and Karen Beckwith will give you one. Included in this issue are the poem "Lake Goddess," by our own Marvyn Petrucci, as well as book reviews by Jim Hammersmith and Jim Ryan.
The issue also announces the recipients of our annual Hoepfner Awards for work published in the journal during the previous year. This year the award for poetry goes to two members of our English faculty, Juliana Gray for the "Man Under Your Skin" and Chris Forhan for "Having Crept from My Bed" and "Climbing Down." The award for an essay goes to Chris Arthur for "Miracle Story," the award for fiction to Jacob M. Appel for "Grappling."
We are also pleased to note that an essay by Tony Whedon, "Hunter's Moon" (Winter 2003), is listed among "Notable Essays" in The Best American Essays for 2004, edited by Louis Menand and Robert Atwan. Whedon's essay "Grasshopper" appears in the current issue.
Graduate Student Ahsan Chowdhury Wins ACETA's W. J. Calvert Award for 2005
PhD student Ahsan Chowdhury has received the W. J. Calvert Award for 2005 from the Association of College English Teachers of Alabama (ACETA) for his paper, "A Fearful Blazing Star."
Chowdhury received his award and presented a summary of his paper at ACETA's annual meeting in Huntsville on Saturday, March 5.
Graduate Student Publication - Robin Bates
An essay by PhD student Robin Bates, entitled "'The Queene is Defrauded of the Intent of the Law': Spenser's Advocation of Civil Law in A View of the State of Ireland" will appear in the May issue of Papers on Language and Literature.
Former Faculty Members Publish E-Journal
Former faculty members Elizabeth Latshaw, Angelic Rodgers, and Joe Walker have published a new E-Journal, Virtually Employed, for online educators. They are accepting submissions for future issues and can be reached via email.
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.
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Last updated March 9, 2005