English Department News

            

January 24, 2001

          

Volume 3, No. 15


January 24

  

Head Search meeting, 3:00 p.m., HC 3104

January 25

  

Professorial Faculty meeting, 3:00 p.m., HC 2352

January 29

  

Littleton-Franklin Lectures, Elaine Pagels, Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center, 4:00 p.m.

February 5

  

Graduate Studies Committee meeting, 2:30 p.m., HC 9030D

February 19

  

Graduate Studies Committee meeting, 2:30 p.m., HC 9030D

February 26

  

English Hour, Christian Gregory, "Captivity as Farce: Patty Hearst and the Proletariat of Fear," 4:00 p.m., HC 3104

March 2

  

Mid-Semester

March 5

  

Graduate Studies Committee meeting, 2:30 p.m., HC 9030D

March 5

  

Littleton-Franklin Lectures, E. O. Wilson, Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center, 4:00 p.m.

March 26-April 1

  

Spring Break

April 2

  

Graduate Studies Committee meeting, 2:30 p.m., HC 9030D

April 9

  

Littleton-Franklin Lectures, Lynn Margulis, Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center, 4:00 p.m.

April 16

  

Graduate Studies Committee meeting, 2:30 p.m., HC 9030D

April 30

  

Graduate Studies Committee meeting, 2:30 p.m., HC 9030D

May 2

  

Classes end

May 2

  

Graduate Student Reception, Pebble Hill, 4:00 p.m.

May 3

  

Reading Day

May 4-5, 7-9

  

Final Exams

May 12

  

Graduation

May 22

  

Classes begin for Summer Term


Auburn University English Department Announces Poetry Prize

The Auburn University English Department is pleased to announce the establishment of a prize in poetry, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, offering a $100 prize for the best poem submitted by an Auburn student. Graduate or undergraduate students may submit up to three poems to the poetry contest mailbox in the English Department, 9030 Haley Center. The contest deadline is March 1, 2001. The prize-winner will be announced at the English Department’s annual Benson Lecture in April 2001. Questions about Auburn’s contest should be directed to the Poetry Prize Coordinator, Jeremy M. Downes, at 844-9040.
The Academy of American Poets University & College Poetry Prize Program was founded in 1955 with only ten schools, but now awards more than 170 prizes across the country. Many prominent American poets won their first recognition with an Academy College Prize, including Mark Doty, Tess Gallagher, Louise Glück, Joy Harjo, Robert Hass, Heather McHugh, William Matthews, Robert Pinsky, Sylvia Plath, George Starbuck, Mark Strand, and Charles Wright. Whenever possible, the Academy also publishes selections of prize-winning poems. The eighth volume in the Academy’s New Voices series is forthcoming in 2001.
Prizes are funded by alumni interested in encouraging young writers, by the colleges and universities themselves, or through the gifts of donors to the Academy. Two-thirds of the prizes are now, like Auburn’s, supported by permanent endowments.
The Academy of American Poets is the largest organization in the country dedicated specifically to poetry. The academy sponsors a broad range of national programs, including the prestigious Whitman, Laughlin, and Marshall Awards, as well as National Poetry Month in April, an annual celebration of the vitality and richness of American poetry. For more information visit the Academy’s lively and comprehensive website.

Resources for Great Books

In an attempt to provide better resources for those people teaching Great Books, the Great Books Committee is looking to compile a list of websites that might be helpful for both teachers and students. For example, there are several websites offering advice on teaching Things Fall Apart. If anyone has found other sites that might be helpful to your colleagues, please give suggestions to Patsy Fowler, who will be compiling the list.

Send In Your Links to On-Line Syllabi

There's still time to submit your links to on-line syllabi. This semester I'll be updating the Teaching Resources section of The English Channel Forum. If you currently have an on-line syllabus for one or more of your courses and would like to include it among these helpful teaching resources, please send your URL to George Crandell.

Volunteers Needed for English Hour Presentations

I'm looking for additional people to participate in English Hour presentations this semester. The English Hour is an informal forum where colleagues in the English Department regularly share ideas about research and teaching. The English Hour is a great venue for presenting works in progress (as a way of receiving valuable feedback) or for sharing successful teaching methods. It’s also a great way to prompt or engage in discussion of topics of special interest to you.
If you would like to present a paper or organize a panel discussion, please contact George Crandell by January 31, 2001.

Submit Names, Titles for Book Author Reception

If you haven't already done so, submit your name and the title of your recently published book for inclusion in the Book Author Reception. The English Department is planning a reception, to which everyone is invited, honoring faculty members (both professorial faculty and Instructors) whose books have appeared in print since the last reception in October 1994. If you have published a book (or books) since then (or haven't been honored for a recent book publication), please contact George Crandell by January 31, 2001. We currently plan for a similar reception in the spring of 2002 to honor authors whose books appear in print in 2001. When you respond, please include the title of your book and publication information.

Question of the Week

"How can classroom management issues (for example, students who dominate discussions, are disruptive, or shy) be handled?" Please respond to this week's question in The Forum. If you have forgotten your password, please contact George Crandell.


James Goldstein presented a paper, "Chaucer and the Pursuit of Perfection," at the MLA meeting in Washington, D.C.
Jake York, Auburn alum and former Instructor, writes from his position at the University of Colorado at Denver that he will now be serving as Contributing Editor for Shenandoah, joining luminaries such as Betty Adcock, Jeanne Walker, Brendan Galvin, Claudia Emerson, and Leslie Pietrzyk. Former Auburn University professor Rod Smith, who taught Jake at Auburn, is the Editor of Shenandoah. People interested in contacting Jake to congratulate him can get his email address from Jim McKelly.
If you would like to include an item in the "Professional Notes" section of The English Channel, please submit your note to George Crandell.


If you would like to include an item in the "Personal Notes" section of The English Channel, please submit your note to George Crandell.
Please submit items and direct all questions or comments about The English Channel, to George Crandell, who currently maintains this site.
To include an item in The English Channel, submit text items by Tuesday at 11:40 a.m. for publication the following Wednesday. Graphic images are due by the preceding Friday at 11:40 a.m. Submit items by using my email link or by putting a note or disk in my mailbox (disks will be returned). If you submit an image on disk, please make sure that it can be edited to fit and be read clearly on the page. Items over fifty words in length should be submitted on disk or sent by email. Please check your submission for accuracy and completion--all calendar items and meeting announcements must include the date, time, and location of the event. Please omit all unusual formatting.