English Department News

            

November 7, 2001

          

Volume 4, No. 12

 
November 7 EGO Meeting, 5:00, HC 3184
November 14 Undergraduate Studies Committee, 2:00, HC 9030D
November 17-25 Thanksgiving Holidays
November 26 Graduate Studies Committee, 1:00, HC 9030D
November 28 Undergraduate Studies Committee, 2:00, 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
 

 

New Directions 01: 
Mapping the Future of English

The Nunn-Winston House at Kiesel Park provided the setting for the retreat.


Great Books News

Should anyone want to review a new anthology for Great Books courses, Constance Relihan has received a copy of Western Literature in a World Context, vols 1 & 2 (Bedford/St. Martins). It seems to be a bit different from the Norton Expanded and may be worth a look for those who want to use an anthology. Contact Dr. Relihan at relihco@auburn.edu.

Great Book Week

Do you have a text that works particularly well in Great Books II? Do you know others who like to teach the same text? We're trying to gauge interest in some sort of "Great Book Week" this spring term: a week where many Great Books teachers would teach the same text, and students and teachers would get together for a series of special events. 

Examples: a "Jane Eyre Week" with a mock trial of Rochester, a group showing of the 1996 (or 1944) film, maybe even a costumed dinner. Or a "Moby Dick Week" with public readings of the book supplemented with servings of clam chowder. 

If you are interested in participating in such an event, or have a text to suggest, please let Tim Dykstal know (at dykstti@auburn.edu) by next Wednesday's edition of The English Channel. We will try to settle on a text by next week so that those who are interested in participating in this project may place it on their syllabus for next term.

Benson Lecture Series:  Please submit nominations for the Benson Lecture Series to Betsy Smith by 4:40 p.m. today. 







Undergraduate Listserv Established

Encourage your undergraduate English majors (and other students) to subscribe to the undergraduate listserv, managed by Alicia Carroll. To subscribe, students should do as follows:

email: to: majordomo@mail.auburn.edu

In the message area, type: subscribe english-majors@auburn.edu

English Club
The English Club will meet tonight at 6:30 at The Big Blue Bagel (120 N. College Street).

Agenda items include planning of the Urban Legends campfire and discussing leadership.

Major Decision Day

Faculty and student volunteers are needed to staff the English Department's table at MAJOR DECISION DAY, Tuesday, November 13, from 9:00-1:00 in the Haley Center lobby. Major Decision Day provides Auburn schools and colleges with the opportunity to display exhibits and distribute information about the programs they offer; students--mainly, freshmen and sophomores--will drop by to ask about majors that interest them. This is, in short, a great opportunity to talk up the many advantages of majoring in English. If you can take a shift at the table, please let Tim Dykstal (dykstti@auburn.edu) know.

How to Apply to Graduate School

Undergraduates thinking about applying to graduate school are invited to an open forum discussion on "How to Apply to Graduate School (and Why You Would Want To)," on Thursday, November 29 at 4:00 in the Eagle's Nest. Dr. Jeremy Downes, our own Coordinator of Graduate Studies, and two recent survivors of the application process will be on hand to describe the process, offer advice, and answer your questions. Bring a friend: the application process is never easy, but there is solace in numbers.

 


Jim Ryan recently attended "Moby-Dick 2001," an international conference conducted October 18-20 by the Herman Melville Society in cooperation with the Hofstra University Cultural Center in Hempstead, NY. There, he read a paper on Melville and physical disability entitled "Ishmael's Recovery: Injury and Convalescence in Moby-Dick." The meeting was conducted in recognition of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Herman Melville's great novel and featured a remarkable keynote lecture by novelist E. L. Doctorow on the subject of Melville's fiction, a lecture that will soon be televised on C-SPAN.

The Hofstra Melville conference also had on display copies of the new book Melville Among the Nations (Edited by Sanford E. Marovitz and A. C. Christodoulou), a collection of essays published by Kent State University Press that includes an essay by Jim entitled "Melville in the Brotherhood: Freemasonry, Fraternalism, and the Artisanal Ideal."


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.