- Newsworthy: "Auburn Through the Years" Lecture Series Begins February 23
- English Graduate Organization Meeting - February 22
- MTPC Oral Exam - Diane Glanzer - February 24
- Deadline for Submissions for Robert Hughes Mount, Jr. Poetry Prize - March 1
- Deadline for Graduate Student Award Nominations - March 3
- MTPC Oral Exam - Will Brinkley - March 6
- English Symposium Series - Janisse Ray - March 9
- Deadline for Department Dissertation Fellowship Nominations - March 10
- Deadline to Enter The Nation Essay Contest - March 31
Newsworthy: "Auburn Through the Years" Lecture Series Begins February 23
In celebration of its sesquicentennial, Auburn University has planned a year-long lecture series titled "Auburn Through the Years" to commemorate the university's storied history.
The first lecture—"Auburn in the 1850s and 1860s" by Ralph Draughon Jr.—will be Thursday, February 23 at 4 pm in the Special Collections Room of the Ralph B. Draughon Library.
The series, which will continue next fall as well, includes 10 different lectures reflecting on periods of AU's history such as "Women at AU," "The WWII Era at Auburn" and "AU Desegregates" among others.
The series will serve as an opportunity for AU's alumni and friends to reminisce and share memories about the state's largest and oldest land-grant institution.
Auburn officially celebrated its sesquicentennial on February 1, the 150th anniversary of the date when Alabama Gov. John A. Winston signed the charter establishing the East Alabama Male College.
The five lectures that will occur during this semester will be in the Special Collections Room of the Ralph B. Draughon Library and are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. The schedule of lectures for Spring semester is:
- Thursday, February 23 - AU in the 1850s and 1860s - Ralph Draughon Jr
- Thursday, March 2 - Land Grant/Early Auburn - Wayne Flynt
- Tuesday, March 14 - Women at AU - Leah Atkins
- Wednesday, April 19 - AU vs UA - Anthony Donaldson
- Thursday, May 4 - The WWII Era at Auburn - David Alsobrook
In addition to the special lecture series, many of the university's schools and colleges have also planned lectures throughout the year to not only reflect on their own accomplishments during the past 150 years but also to look to the future. For more information on AU's sesquicentennial celebration, visit www.auburn.edu/150.
February 22 - EGO Meeting - 3:30 pm - HC 8009
The next meeting of the English Graduate Organization will be Wednesday, February 22 at 3:30 pm in HC 8009.
February 24 - MTPC Oral Exam - Diane Glanzer- 3 pm - HC 3104
MTPC student Diane Glanzer will present materials from her portfolio and coursework on Friday, February 24 at 3 pm in HC 3104.
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.
March 1 - Deadline to Submit Poems for the Robert Hughes Mount, Jr. Poetry Prize
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. Instructors are encouraged to announce the contest in their classes.
Submission Guidelines:
• Cover sheet with contact information (no identification on poems)
• Three poems maximum
• No electronic submissions
The winner will be announced at the English Department's Spring Awards Ceremony on April 21. Questions about Auburn's contest should be directed to the Poetry Prize Coordinator, Jeremy M. Downes, at 844-9040, or by e-mail.
March 3 - Deadline for Graduate Student Award Nominations
It is once again that time of year when we look ahead to our departmental awards ceremony (this year to be held Friday, April 21 at 3pm) and think about ways to recognize the accomplishments of our graduate students.
The Department is asking graduate students to submit copies of your publications and/or conference papers for consideration for two of our departmental awards: Best Publication and Best Conference Paper. To be considered for an award, the information requested below should be sent to Dr. Hilary Wyss by March 3.
In addition, the Department is soliciting nominations from Graduate faculty for the Best Graduate Student Paper Award. Please e-mail Dr. Wyss the names of students who have produced outstanding academic papers in your graduate classes and she will contact them to submit copies of their work for the award.
The following is a description of each award and the requirements.
Best Conference Presentation by a Graduate Student
This award goes to one graduate student from any of the department’s graduate programs. Presentations must have been delivered during the previous calendar year (2005) for an externally sponsored conference. All authors of a nominated presentation must have been Auburn students at the time the presentation was accepted. All nominees must have been Auburn students at the time the presentation was delivered. In the case of joint authorship by Auburn English graduate students, the award will be split among the authors.
Students must submit:
- A copy of the presentation as delivered, including any electronic presentation material or handouts. A cover page should contain the student’s name and the presentation’s title. Subsequent pages should list only the title of the presentation and the page number.
- A copy of the conference program.
The CGS will appoint a committee of three graduate faculty members, none of whom is the major professor of any of the authors. The presentations will be judged anonymously on their originality of conception, quality of writing and research, contribution to the field, and the level and/or prestige of the conference within the field. If no outstanding candidates emerge, the award will not be given.
Best Publication by a Graduate Student
This award goes to one graduate student from any of the department’s graduate programs. All authors of a nominated paper must have been Auburn students at the time the work was accepted for publication. In the case of joint authorship by Auburn English graduate students, the award will be split among the authors. Eligible publications are articles, books, poems, stories, chapters in books, edited collections, editions, or other academic or creative publications, in print or on-line, that were accepted through a refereed process during the previous calendar year (2005).
Students must submit:
- A copy of the publication manuscript. A cover page should contain the student’s name and the publication’s title. The student’s name should be removed from subsequent pages.
- A copy of the acceptance letter.
- Documentation that this is a refereed publication.
The CGS will appoint a committee of three graduate faculty members, none of whom is the major professor of any of the authors. The publications will be judged anonymously on their originality of conception, quality of writing, research and editing (if relevant), contribution to the field, and the level and/or prestige of journal or press within the field. If no outstanding candidates emerge, the award will not be given.
Best Paper by a Graduate Student
This award goes to one graduate student from any of the department’s graduate programs. Papers written for graduate English courses at Auburn during spring, summer, or fall semester 2005 are eligible. The papers will be judged anonymously on their originality and quality; if no outstanding candidates emerge in a particular year, the award will not be given.
March 6 - MTPC Oral Exam - Will Brinkley - 3 pm - HC 2306
MTPC student Will Brinkley will present materials from his portfolio and coursework on Monday, March 6, at 3 pm in HC 2306.
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.
March 9 - English Symposium Series - Janisse Ray - 3 pm - HC 2370
Writer, naturalist, and activist Janisse Ray will present “Community, Language, and a Life Waiting to Be Imagined” as part of the 2005-06 English Symposium Series. Ray's presentation will be Thursday, March 9 at 3 pm in the Gordon Bond Auditorium (Haley Center 2370).
Ray is the prize-winning author of three books of literary nonfiction— Ecology of a Cracker Childhood (1999), Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home (2003), and Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land (2005)—as well as a chapbook of poetry, Naming the Unseen. Among the periodicals in which she has published are Audubon, Natural History, and Sierra. Among the multiple anthologies in which her work appears is The Norton Book of Nature Writing.
A native of Georgia, Ray and her family now divide their home time between that state and Vermont. She travels extensively giving readings and lectures, speaking out against global industrial capitalism, and on behalf of the diversity of life, especially the beleaguered Southern landscape, and on how we can, through restoration, remake a world in which we can be fully human. Her writing has drawn intensive praise. Derrick Jenson calls Pinhook “a wonderful book, fierce and loving, defiant and joyful.” Ann Raver of The New York Times says that in Ray “the forests of the South find their Rachel Carson.”
March 10 - Deadline for Department Dissertation Fellowship Nominations
The English department is offering up to three fellowships for ABD students in English who are nearing completion of an outstanding dissertation. This dissertation fellowship allows $6,000 for summer support. Students should submit materials to Dr. Hilary Wyss by Friday, March 10.
No tuition fellowship accompanies this award, and the student may not hold a GTA during the time period covered by the award. The recipients of the English Department Dissertation Fellowship are chosen by the Graduate Studies Committee of the Department of English, who consider the following criteria:
- A cover letter by the student specifying the date doctoral exams were passed and the date the prospectus was approved and describing the current state of the dissertation and plans for its completion.
- A letter of support from the student’s major professor
- The student’s curriculum vitae
- The dissertation prospectus or a detailed chapter outline for the project as currently planned
- All completed chapters of the student’s dissertation
The following criteria may also be considered as the GSC reach their decision:
- The student’s academic record
- The nominee’s potential for substantially completing the dissertation and preparing to defend within the semester of support
The fellowship winners will be announced at the spring awards ceremony on Friday, April 21.
March 31 - Deadline to Enter The Nation Essay Contest
The Nation, a national magazine, is sponsoring a student writing contest looking for original, thoughtful, provocative student voices to tell us what issue is of most concern to their generation. Entries (only one per student) will be accepted through March 31.
Essays should not exceed 800 words and should be original, unpublished work that demonstrates fresh, clear thinking and superior quality of expression and craftsmanship. The Nation will select five finalists and one winner, who will be awarded a $500 cash prize and a Nation subscription. The winning essay will be published in the magazine and featured on our website. The five finalists will be awarded $100 each and subscriptions, and their entries will be published online.
The
contest is open to students at American high schools and to undergraduates at American colleges and universities. A winner will be announced by May 31. Please send entries to studentprize@thenation.com or faxed to
(212) 982-9000. All e-mailed submissions will be acknowledged. Each entry must include author's name, address, phone number, e-mail address,
short biography, and school affiliation.
Please email questions to studentprize@thenation.com.
To include an item in The English Channel, submit text items by Tuesday at 4 pm for publication Wednesday. Submit items by email to Will Brinkley or put the information in his 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 22, 2006