- Newsworthy: PhD Student Katherine Perry Finds Rewards in Prison Arts Program
- EGO Meeting - Today - Wednesday - November 17 - 3:15 pm in 8009 Haley Center
- Literature After Dark - Tell About the South - Tonight - Wednesday - November 17 - 7:45 pm in 3195 Haley Center
- Biggio Center Professional Development Seminar - November 18 - 12 pm in 202 Foy Student Union
- New Website Features Faculty Book Publications
- Faculty Publications - Chris Keirstead
- Chronicle of London Experience Featuring Paula Backscheider and Students Can Be Found Online
- Technical and Professional Communication Programs Participate in Live Video Conference
Newsworthy:
PhD Student Katherine Perry Finds Rewards in Prison Arts Program
Katherine Perry, PhD student, first met Kyes Stevens, the Director of The Alabama Prison Arts & Education Project (APAEP), when they worked together on the Quilts of Gee's Bend in Context project through Women's Studies in the summer of 2003. By the fall of 2003, Perry was a visiting poet in one of Stevens' writing classes at Tutwiler Prison in Wetumpka. She was hooked after one visit. When asked why she does it, especially considering how busy she is, she replies, “Because they need teachers, and I need them. Those two hours every week reacquaint me with what life means.”
She started teaching her own class in the spring of 2004, and she has taught poetry writing classes at both Tutwiler and Tutwiler Annex (both women's facilities). The students range from 18 to 65 years old and come from all racial, social, and geographic backgrounds, and while some students have been writing poetry all of their lives, some are new to writing. No matter what level of education, all the women in the writing classes treat each class day as a privilege, as a way to turn their lives around, and as a gift. Perry says the students at Tutwiler are a dream. They come to class prepared, they spend time and energy working on their assignments, and they are genuinely interested in learning. She finds working in the prison system some of the most rewarding work she has ever done because she can see improvement in the students' writing and self-esteem every week.
APAEP is housed at Auburn University's Center for the Arts and Humanities. The program began approximately four years ago under the name The Alabama Prison Arts Initiative and is now funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Alabama States Council on the Arts, and the Auburn University Center for the Arts and Humanities. The project has been hosted in Tutwiler Prison for Women and Annex, Frank Lee Youth Center (minimum-security for all-aged males), two work release units, and L.I.F.E. Tech facility of Pardons and Paroles. The program holds writing and drawing classes and is hoping to start including humanities classes in the spring. You can find information on the project online. If you are interested in becoming a teacher, contact Kyes Stevens.
EGO Meeting - Wednesday - November 17 - 3:15 pm in 8009 Haley Center
EGO will meet today, Wednesday, November 17, from 3:15 to 4:15 in 8009 Haley Center.
Literature After Dark - Tell About the South - Wednesday - November 17 - 7:45 pm in 3195 Haley Center
Tell About the South: Let Freedom Ring (2000) will be shown tonight, Wednesday, November 17, at 7:45 pm in 3195 Haley Center. Narrated by Rita Dove, this documentary tells the story of Southern Literature from the Civil Rights Movement until the present.
Biggio Center Professional Development Seminar - November 18 - 12 pm in 202 Foy Student Union
The Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at Auburn University will continue its Professional Development Seminar Series on Thursday, November 18. All Auburn University and PFF Cluster Institution faculty and graduate students are invited to attend.
Seminars will be held in 202 Foy and start with refreshments at noon. Participants are asked to bring their own lunches; beverages and cookies will be provided. Dr. Bill Buskist, Professor, Psychology, will begin his presentation, "Characteristics of Effective College Teaching," at 12:15 pm.
Website Features Faculty Book Publications
Visit the new English Department web page highlighting faculty book publications.
Books published from 2000 on appear in reverse chronological order with the book jacket; books published before 2000 are listed after the most recent books. The page is linked off the Department's home page and will be linked in several other locations (for example, the alumni news and graduate student page).
We know the list is incomplete. Please send book publications that are missing and any corrections to Betsy Smith or Jessica Lueders.
We will honor faculty and note their achievements at the Spring awards ceremony planned for April 21.
Faculty Publications - Chris Keirstead
Chris Keirstead has recently had two articles accepted for publication. "Stranded at the Border: Browning, France, and the Challenge of Cosmopolitanism" will appear in an upcoming issue of Victorian Poetry. "Authenticating Italy: Poetry, Tourism, and Browning's The Ring and the Book" will appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Anglo-Italian Studies.
Chronicle of London Experience Featuring Paula Backscheider and Students Can Be Found Online
In May 2004, Dr. Paula Backscheider travelled with seven English graduate students to London, England. Under Backscheider's guidance, Heather Hicks, Adrea McDonnell, Rhonda Powers, Sharyn Pulling, Amy Qualls, Adriane Smith, and Shea Stuart visited
National Archives, the London Metropolitan Archives, the Corporation of the City of London Records Office, as well as the Guildhall and British Libraries
to gather research for individual projects. These students received financial support from the Stevens Fund, the English Department, the College of Liberal Arts, and, in almost all cases, the Graduate School.
A chronicle of the trip can be found on Backscheider's webpage under London Experience.
Technical and Professional Communication Progr
ams Participate in Live Video Conference
On Monday, November 15, Dr. Betsy Smith, Dr. Keith Gibson, and their document design classes met in 3233 Haley Center to participate in a live video conference with alum Alise Chabaud Hagan, MTPC 2003. Dr. Donald Cunningham and Dr. Joyce Rothschild were also present.
Hagan spoke to the group about her work as the Coordinator of Technical Communications at the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training/Academy of Counter - Terrorist Education at Louisiana State University in Baton 
Rouge.
IT specialist for the College of Liberal Arts, Wiebke Kuhn, also spoke to the group about the live video technology used in the conference room.
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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this page.
Last updated November 17, 2004