English Department News

            

September 19, 2001

          

Volume 4, No. 5

 
September 19 Great Books Committee; 2:00, HC 9030D
September 19 Undergraduate Studies Committee; 3:00, HC9030D
September 22 Department Picnic, 4:00-dusk, Chewacla State Park
September 24 Graduate Studies Committee, 1:00, HC 9030D
September 26 Undergraduate Studies Committee; 2:00, HC9030D
September 28 Last day to apply for foreign language exam; last day to submit approved draft of doctoral dissertation
October 1-12 Submission of thesis rough draft for format check 
October 4 Foreign language exams
October 8 Graduate Studies Committee, 1:00, HC 9030D
October 10 Mid-Semester;  Last day to drop without penalty
October 17 ADA and Sexual Harassment Workshop; 3:00, HC 3104
October 22 Graduate Studies Committee, 1:00, HC 9030D
October 29-30 M.A. Comprehensive Exams
November 5 Graduate Studies Committee, 1:00, HC 9030D
November 17-25 Thanksgiving Holidays
November 26 Graduate Studies Committee, 1:00, HC 9030D
December 3 Graduate Studies Committee, 1:00, HC 9030D
December 7   Classes End
December 8-9  

Study/Reading Days
December 10 Graduate Studies Committee, 1:00, HC 9030D
December 12 Liberal Arts Staff Retreat
December 10-14  

Final Exams
December 15  

Graduation

 Graduate School Calendar
December 20 - January 2 University Closed for Holidays University Calendar
 


English Center

The English Center, located in HC 3183, offers tutorial services to students enrolled in undergraduate English core courses at Auburn University. Consultants help students learn all aspects of the composing process, from exploring ideas to developing strategies for proofreading the final document, and assist students in developing critical reading skills. In addition to its support for students, the Center also provides professional development opportunities for the consultants.
Dr. Isabelle Thompson, Coordinator of the English Center, conferencing with a student.
Mary Stephens Diamond, Assistant to the Coordinator, and Kim Pruett --- the smiling faces that meet and greet at the Center and keep things running smoothly.

New GTAs serve as consultants in the English Center. Here, they participate in professional development as part of the teaching practicum.


 2001-2002 EGO Officers

This year's EGO officers, l-r: (back row) Dave Murdock, GSC Senator; and John Miller, MA Co-Chair; (middle row) Dana Nichols, Composition Committee; Jessica Van Slooten, Great Books Committee;  Carol Carpenter, Parliamentarian; Jennifer Riley Campbell, PhD Co-Chair; and Christy Pagans, GSC Senator; (front row) Mary Stephens Diamond, English Center Committee, Amy Jo Formby, Secretary; and Amanda Muse, Faculty Liaison. 


English Department Picnic

The annual English Department picnic will be held on Saturday, September 22, 2001 from 4 p.m. until dusk at the Upper Picnic Area in Chewacla State Park. Spouses, significant others, and children are all welcome to come. 

Please return your RSVP to Betsy Smith's mailbox today. 

Friends of the department will provide a meat dish and beverages. We ask that you bring a salad, vegetable, or dessert to share.

Chewacla State Park has hiking trails and open spaces for games or other activities. Bring frisbees, lawn chairs, musical instruments -- or simply plan to eat and socialize. 

Please note: The fee for admission to the park is now $2 for adults, $1 for children ages 6-11; there is no charge for children under six. See map.

English Center On-line Resources

Semicolons, the third component of the Auburn University English Center on-line punctuation resources, is now available at

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/liberal_arts/english/ec/resources/semicols.htm  

This resource was produced by students enrolled in ENGL 6840, Modern English Grammars, last spring. Colons was produced by students in Modern English Grammars in Spring 1999. Commas was developed under the sponsorship of the Breeden Endowment in 1997. Development of a fourth component, Dashes, is planned for Spring 2003.

Great Books Committee News

The Great Books Committee (Jon Bolton, Tristanne Connolly, Alex Dunlop, Constance Relihan [chair], Jim Ryan, and Jessica Van Slooten) would like to report that we are currently involved in evaluating the assessment materials gathered at the end of last semester. Thanks to all GB teachers who submitted materials.
 
This year, we plan to continue our assessment work and also to turn more attention to faculty development programs, such as brown bag lunches and English Hour programs, and to strategies for improving student attitudes toward the course.
 
Please let any one of us know if you have ideas for either initiative. Please encourage your students, too, to make use of the English Center Great Books Reading Hour (7-8 pm, M-Th). It's a time when students can come and ask questions about their reading, or just sit and read, knowing that if they have questions about their texts they can ask knowledgeable tutors for help.

MLA Job Information List Update

Due to last week's events, the on-line MLA Job Information List, previously scheduled for September 20, will be published on September 27. 

Multimedia Systems Specialist Employment Opportunity

The Office of Information Technology at Auburn University is seeking graduate students interested in student employment as Multimedia Systems Specialists. Student workers in this position will be responsible for performing preventative maintenance, responding to trouble calls, and providing basic operator training on multimedia equipment installed in classrooms throughout Auburn University. Persons filling these positions must be mechanically inclined, be able to lift and transport heavy equipment (up to 50 lbs), be able to climb ladders, and must have a basic knowledge of personal computers running Windows, Microsoft Office and AUNET applications. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply. 

Candidates should submit a letter of application and resume to: 
Daryl Waites 
Manager, 
Digital Repair Facility 16 L-Building 
Auburn University, AL 36849 
waitedk@auburn.edu 
PH: (334) 844-4902 
FAX: (334) 844-4920 

Conference at Tuskegee University

The College of Liberal Arts and Education of Tuskegee University, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, will be hosting a conference entitled, "Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the Humanities," September 19-21, 2001 at the Kellogg Conference Center.  The theme of the conference is the deep history and cultural contributions of Tuskegeeans to American art, literature, film, philosophy, and music.  For more information about the conference, click here.

**Professor Nellie Y. McKay's talk this Thursday, Sept. 20, on the Tuskegee University campus has been cancelled owing to the disruptions caused by the attacks last week. 

Robert G. O'Meally, of Columbia University, New York City, and Director of Columbia's Center for Jazz Studies, will give a talk as scheduled, "Living with Music: The Jazz Writings of Tuskegee's Ralph Ellison," at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 21, in the Kellogg Conference Center Auditorium, Tuskegee University. Professor O'Meally is an editor of the Norton Anthology of African American Literature and played a key role in putting together the accompanying disc of African American music. He is also author of The Craft of Ralph Ellison and the award-winning documentary film, Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday.

Twenty-Fifth Alabama Symposium on English and American Literature

August Wilson, distinguished African American playwright, will be the keynote speaker for this year's symposium, which is titled "Writing Race Across the Atlantic World: 1492-1763."  The symposium, September 27-29, 2001, is designed to "cover the origins of contemporary notions of race in the oceanic interculture of the Atlantic world in the early modern period." For more information, visit the University of Alabama website.


  • If you are planning on taking the foreign language exam, the last day to register is September 28. The exams will be administered on October 4.
  • September 28 is also the last day for acceptance of approved doctoral dissertation drafts.
  • October 1-12 are the dates for submission of thesis rough draft for format check.



Get Famous!

The Fine Arts Committee of the University Program Council is sponsoring lunch-time open mic sessions once a month throughout the fall. The next date is Oct. 10 and due date for applications is Oct. 5. This is a great opportunity for new writers to read their work in a public, yet informal, setting. Poetry would be particularly appropriate for this format (each slot is 10 minutes long) but other kinds of material are welcome as well. The Committee requires only that a form be filled out in the UPC office to determine what technical equipment a reader requires. For more information, call the UPC at 844-5292.

Get a Job!

The Student Success Center is sponsoring a Career Expo for all majors next week, Tuesday and Wednesday, September 25 and 26, from 3:00 - 7:00 in the AU Hotel and Dixon Conference Center. This is your chance to view exhibits from businesses and organizations and to speak with company representatives who will be recruiting for internship, career, and summer job opportunities. Bring copies of resumes to distribute and dress professionally! To make the most of the Career Expo, check the web site at auburn.edu/career to learn what positions are being recruited.

Newsweek magazine has a paid, 13-week summer internship program at their headquarters in New York, designed for college students entering their senior year and graduating seniors, as well as graduate students and professionals with a couple of years' experience in journalism. Interns are assigned to the major sections of the magazine, where they do reporting, research and fact checking, and help with the weekly close. Application material for the summer of 2002 must be postmarked no later than December 15, 2001. See Dr. Dykstal in HC9092 for more information.

 


  • Associate Professor Tom Nunnally has regretfully declined his Fulbright Grant as a Lecturer/Researcher in Bulgaria this year because of the global crisis arising from the acts of war against the USA.
  • Tara Tyson's short story "Grace" won First Prize in the College Short Story Division of the literary contest sponsored by the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery. "Grace" also won the Auburn English Department's first creative writing award for achievement in fiction last year. Tara will be honored at a ceremony at the museum on Monday, September 24.


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.