Volume 38:5

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1. Announcements

  • CSUN students, Sean Pessin and Norma Aceves, have founded a new Critical Theory Club, generously sponsored by Dr. Ranita Chatterjee as the Faculty Adviser. The group had its first meeting on October 21, with about fifteen students gathering together for a rousing discussion of Michel Foucault’s, A History of Sexuality, V1. This organization will be meeting monthly and is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Each meeting the group will decide on the texts to be read and the board will invite different professors to join and help moderate discussions based on the readings for the given meeting. These discussions are led by two student leaders each session, which will change from month to month. If you have any questions regarding this organization or have any suggestions, please email Norma Aceves at norma.aceves.427@my.csun.edu or Sean Pessin at s.e.pessin@gmail.com. Congratulations to all involved! And please spread the word.
  • An important reminder from Dorothy Clark: November 4 is fast approaching when some of us us will have the opportunity to participated in the new and improved exit interview process. If you are among those called to serve, you should already have heard from Tonie. (And if you haven’t, don’t feel left out–there will be another round of exams in the spring.) Students will prepare discussions of their two literary texts and provide a five item bibliography for research done on one of those texts TWO days before the exam day; the essay portion of the exam has been eliminated.
  • Now is the time to mark your calendars, and RSVP, for a memorable address by President Koester, Reflections on a Career as a Woman in Higher Education. Koester will be the guest speaker for the Fall 2011 Leadership Forum on Women’s Issues, which will take place on Thursday December 1, 2011, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the University Student Union Thousand Oaks Room. Please help celebrate her distinguished career, of which we have been, at least in part, the fortunate beneficiaries. Sign up for the session at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CYK83D2, and plan to arrive ten minutes early so you can sign-in.
  • Dean Say is calling for student writing that may be appropriate for the College of Humanities holiday greeting card. Last year, the card featured a poem by one of Dorothy’s Barresi’s students, and while this call has been directed specifically to those of us who teach creative writing, there are closet writers everywhere, so if you see anything in the next couple of weeks you think might work, please send it to me for consultation with the CW Committee, which will pass along several for the Dean to consider.
  • Speaking of closet writers, the Romance Writers of America has invited interested scholars to apply for its annual Research Grant competition, which seeks to develop and support academic research devoted to genre romance novels, writers, and readers by providing up to $5,000 in research money to a qualified scholar. Deadline for proposals is December 1, 2011, and complete guidelines are available at http://www.rwa.org/cs/academic_research_grant/overview.
  • And for your students, please consider the Judicial Internship opportunity sponsored by CSUN’s Department of Political Science, an excellent opportunity for any student interested in a law career. Students may come from any major, but must be upper division, with a minimum GPA of 3.0, and supply a statement of interest in the law. Appilcations for Spring Semester are available at http://www.csun.edu/judicial/, and the application deadline is Thursday, November 17, 2011.
  • Looking into the future, the 2012 Faculty Retreat will be held on January 17-18, 2012, on the CSUN Campus. The Retreat title is, “Painting CSUN’s Canvas.” Once again, registration fees will be waived and attendance registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Staff are welcome to attend, and newer faculty members and lecturers are also especially encouraged to take advantage of this excellent opportunity to learn more about the CSUN campus, the CSUN culture, and the exciting research and innovative projects currently underway. There will be a special track of sessions just for new members of the faculty. The deadline for faculty and staff to register is Friday, December 9, 2011. A link to the registration site, and the presentation proposal form, is on the Faculty Senate website: http://www.csun.edu/senate/retreat.html.
  • And looking far into the future, you might want to mark your calendars for the Honors Convocation 2012, scheduled for Monday, May 21, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. on the lawn of the Oviatt Library, and the College of Humanities commencement ceremony, scheduled for Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. on the lawn of the Oviatt Library. Additional details will be posted at http://www.csun.edu/commencement as we get closer to the event dates.

2. Reminders

  • Here are some more details, as promised, on CSUN’s upcoming Powwow, which will take place on November 26, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., in the field by the Chicano House (not far from the intersection of Reseda and Plummer). Admission is free. (Parking fees apply.) American Indian music and dancing, of course, along with a children’s activities table. Bring your family and friends to this special event.

3. Faculty/Staff/Student/Alumni Achievements

  • On October 13th, Irene Clark gave a presentation at the California State English Council meeting. It was titled “Joining the Scholarly Conversation: A New Culminating Experience for the MA degree in English.”
  • Angie Misaghi and Noreen Lace presented a session at the ECCTYC 2011 Conference in Burlingame, CA on October 21, 2011. The presentation was “Using Social Media in the Composition Classroom” and focused on the effective use of Facebook for classroom assignments.
  • Martin Pousson has a new story, “Three Boys,” accepted for publication in the forthcoming issue of the Los Angeles Times-bestselling Slake. “Three Boys” is part of his story collection-in-progress, The Nerves. He also has been invited as one of five featured Los Angeles writers in the Third Annual Literary Crawl. The PEN Center USA’s Noir Crawl, part of the upcoming Night & The City Festival, starts with a reading at The Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, October 29.
  • Both the GRS Reading, on October 14, and the Northridge Review Reading, on October 21, were tremendous successes, good fun, and inspiration. Congratulations all!

Compiled by Katharine Haake, Associate Chair