8th Floor Common Area Open  

The common area HC 8082 now has a microwave and refrigerator for department members to use. If your office is on the 8th floor, your office key will open the door; otherwise, check with Jean Joiner for a key.

English Hour to Fight Plagiarism  

Join us in HC 3116 (note room change) at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, February 25th, for a guided tour through the anti-plagiarism software, turnitin.com.  Wiebke Kuhn will give out passwords, offer explanatory materials, and generally walk you through this software package designed to identify plagiarized passages in student papers. 

"Much Ado About Nothing" to Be Performed

UPC Fine Arts is sponsoring "Much Ado About Nothing," one of William Shakespeare's best loved romantic comedies. The only performance will be Sunday, March 3 at 2:00 p.m. in Telfair-Peet Theatre. This is a FREE event performed by the Olney National Players from Maryland. Seating is limited, and tickets will not be handed out ahead of time, so arrive at the theatre early. 

If you have any questions, please call the UPC office at 844-5292 or visit our web site at www.auburn.edu/~upc.

Oscar Wilde Society Weekend Festival

An Oscar Wilde Society has been formed in Enniskillen, the Irish town where Oscar Wilde received his education at Portora Royal School from 1864-1871. A new Weekend Festival has been organized 31 May - 2 June 2002 to celebrate these years. Tours of Portora and the beautiful Fermanagh countryside, lectures by Wildean scholars, readings by eminent actors and performances of Oscar's works will illuminate his life, schooldays and early influences. 

For further information, visit the web site at inform@projectoscarwilde.net.

"New Frontiers in Early American Literature"

The first part of the examination consists of the candidate presenting her portfolio to the examining committee. This part of the examination is open to graduate students and graduate faculty.

The second part of the examination will cover the candidate’s course work and research projects, including courses taken to complete the coordinated minor. This part of the examination is open to graduate faculty.

Fellowship Opportunities

The Graduate School at Cornell University has an immense list of links to fellowship opportunities at http://cuinfo.cornell.edu/Student/GRFN/list.phtml?category=GENERAL.   This link will take you to the general section. If you page down to the very end, you will see links to sort by humanities, social sciences, summer, minority, etc. Visit this site if you're looking for any sort of support for graduate education.

Registration and Advising Schedules

Advising for Summer and Fall 2002 courses will begin February 25. Registration for Seniors and Priority Students begins March 1. 

Course descriptions for Summer and Fall courses will soon be available in the (newly-renovated!) English Department office, 9030 Haley Center, and also on the web. 

The names of current English majors and their advisors will be posted on the wall outside Dr. Dykstal's office, 9092 Haley Center. Your advisors are here to help, not only with registration, but with your plans beyond next semester's courses.

Higher Education Day Rally

Students are encouraged to attend or otherwise support the "Higher Education Day Rally" at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, February 21, on the steps of the Alabama State House, followed by a free BBQ lunch for all participants and a job fair starting at 1:00 p.m. at the Montgomery Civic Center. Potential employers represented include the business and manufacturing community in Alabama as well as the State Departments of Education and Mental Health. The fair represents an opportunity for English majors to explore employment opportunities and to network. 

The SGA will be sponsoring buses to Montgomery for this event. For more information, see the Higher Education Partnership's web site at www.higheredpartners.org.

Literary Journalism Course Offering

During the second five-week session this summer, the Communications Department is offering a new, two-credit course called Literary Journalism (JRNL 4490), which will examine some of the finest work of those commonly called "new journalists" or "literary journalists"-- master reporters who use fiction writers' techniques to tell true, totally accurate and beautifully crafted stories. 

Selections may include Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, John Hersey's Hiroshima, and works by Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, Paul Hemphill, Mark Kramer, Rick Bragg, Gay Talese, Susan Orlean, Annie Dillard, Tracy Kidder and others. Excellent up-to-date selections from the best newspapers and magazines may also be assigned. Both advocates and critics of this "creative nonfiction" will be discussed. Time and date: Monday through Thursday, 9:45-11:00 a.m., June 25 through July 21.

Call for entries: Front T-shirt design with phrase “English at Auburn.”   The winner will receive a $25 BooksAMillion gift certificate.  Submit your designs on 81/2 x 11 paper and attach index card with name, email address, and phone number.  Entries are due Monday, March 4^th in Dr. Carroll’s mailbox in Haley Center 9030.  Creativity welcome.

Contests, Competitions, Awards . . .

Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Literary Contest 

The Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum Association is sponsoring its fourteenth annual literary contest. Winners will receive plaques and monetary rewards: $150 for the College first place winners, and $75 for the College second place winners. 

Essays should be on any personal or literary topic. Subject matter for the short story category is completely open. Mail your entry to: Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum Association Literary Contest, PO Box 64, Montgomery, AL 36101-0064.

...And Don't Forget the English Department's Own Undergraduate Writing Awards! 

Last year we recognized the following winners in our three categories:

Poetry Winner: LeeAnne Gordon, "Antonio"  
Honorable Mentions: Tara Tyson, "Liberation" and Jason MacLain, "Fundamentals"

Creative Prose Winner: Tara Tyson, "Grace"
Honorable Mention: Amanda Hudson, "Peter Pan, Jesus and The Big Bad Wolf"

Academic Essay Co-Winners: Troy Woollen, "Politics and Religion" and Patricia Cooper, "Integrity is Going to Hell in a Hand Basket, and Cosmopolitan is Packing the Sandwiches"

Who knows--you could be next!

The fine print:

Students must submit two copies of each entry. The pages of each entry should be numbered and list the title of the work but have no other identifying information. Each entry must be accompanied by a title page that contains the student's name and the title or titles of the works submitted. Submissions should be made to the Undergraduate Awards Box in 9030 Haley Center by Thursday, March 15, 2002, 4:45 p.m.

Students may submit only one entry per category, but may enter in two or three categories each year. No student can win in more than one category in any year. No student may win in the same category in consecutive years.

A panel of English faculty will judge the entries and the decision of the judges is final. Among the criteria used to judge the entries are originality, style, clarity and coherence of structure and content, and depth of insight.

Poetry: One or several poems, 10 pages maximum. "Poetry" is anything that calls itself poetry.

Creative Prose: One story or other work of creative fiction or non-fiction, 20 pages maximum. "Creative prose" includes both fiction and non-fictional prose.

Academic Essay: One essay, 30 pages maximum, including notes. An "academic essay" is any paper or project that has been written for an English course at Auburn, at any level; or any paper or project written by an English major at Auburn. Students should submit a copy of the specifications for the essay, or an assignment sheet, with the essay.

Prizes will be awarded at the annual Benson Lecture on Thursday, April 18, 2002. For more information, please contact Dr. Dykstal at dykstti@auburn.edu.

You can find the hard-copy announcements of contests, competitions, and awards on the bulletin board outside the English Department office, 9030 Haley Center. 

If you would like to include an item in the "Professional Notes" section of The English Channel, please submit your note to Betsy Smith.

 

If you would like to include an item in the "Personal Notes" section of The English Channel, please submit your note to Betsy Smith.

---

Please submit items and direct all questions or comments about The English Channel, to Betsy Smith 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.