Chair: Kent Baxter
Notes compiled by: Kate Haake
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Announcements
Iswari Pandey has been selected as the recipient of the CSUN 2017 Preeminent Scholarly Publication Award for his book South Asians in the Mid-South: Migrations of Literacies. As previously noted in these notes, Iswari, and his book, were also recognized with the 2017 CCCC Advancement of Knowledge Award, an award that honors an empirical research publication in the previous two years that most advances writing studies.
The 2017 Honors Convocation will be taking place on the Oviatt Lawn on Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. The keynote speaker will be Julio Cesar Ortiz. Mr. Ortiz (CSUN, 2000), a former Outstanding Graduating Senior Scholarship recipient and accomplished journalist. The convocation is a memorable experience for the honored students and their families and serves as an important acknowledgement of our students’ achievements, alongside our own successful endeavors as faculty on this campus. Our participation and demonstration of pride in these students will be observed, recognized and greatly appreciated by them. Please try to come, if you can.
Precisely one week later, the College of Humanities and the College of Health and Human Development will be holding a joint Undergraduate/Graduate graduation ceremony, which will take place, also on the Oviatt Lawn, on Saturday, May 20, at 6:00 p.m. Please plan to be there to help celebrate the successes of all our terrific graduates. They could not have done it without you!
On Wednesday May 3 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., in ST 703, the Career Opportunities and Professional Development (COAPD) club is proud to host a session titled, “What to Do with an English Degree.” Our three speakers will be Miguel Noh, Norma Perez, and Emily Biddle, who will discuss how they have put their English degrees to use on the job. Undergraduate and graduate students of all concentrations are invited.
Even though this is very short notice, on Friday, April 28 (tomorrow, which, for some of you reading this may be today), CSUN will be hosting its 3rd Annual Research and Service Symposium, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., in the USU Grand Salon. Among other featured presenters, one of Martin Pousson‘s students will be giving a poster presentation on bringing creative writing to LAUSD, and students from a collaborative project taught by Iswari Pandey (Business Writing) and JoAnne Pandey (Child and Adolescent Development) will be presenting their work on creating manuals to help children from Nepal and elsewhere contend with the after-effects of natural disasters. There will be prizes, a photo booth, and snacks, so please come by yourself and/or encourage your students to come by and help celebrate the incredible work our faculty and students have performed in collaboration with local community nonprofits.
Reminders
This one really is a reminder, verbatim, from the last TN. But it’s important, so listen up: With everything going on at the end of the term, it’s sometimes easy to lose track of even very important things. Among the most critical of them, are our upcoming deadlines for Department Awards, some of which require faculty nomination, and all of which require students knowing about them. So please announce them in class and let your most promising students know in person. Undergraduate awards are: The Henry Van Slooten Scholarship in English, The Linda Nichols Joseph English Merit Scholarship, The Lesley Johnstone Memorial Award, The Robert apRoberts English Honors Essay Prize, and The William L. Wilson Award. And graduate awards are: The Professor Mitchell Marcus Prize in English; The Mahlon Gaumer Award; The Harry Finestone Award in English. The deadline is May 5, and more information is available from Beth Wightman, 2016-17 Chair of the Awards Committee (beth.wightman@csun.edu) or Kent Baxter, our Chair (kent.baxter@csun.edu).
Also, you won’t want to miss our final department meeting for the semester–and, indeed, the 2016/17 academic year!–which will take place next Friday, May 5, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., in JR 319.
Opportunities
Applications for Exceptional Service to Students Awards are currently being accepted. These awards provide assigned time, on a competitive basis, to faculty “who are engaged in exceptional levels of service that support the CSU’s priorities, but who are not otherwise receiving an adjustment in workload to reflect their effort.” Awards are designated for workload beyond the requirements of regular faculty assignment in enhancing the student learning environment. Completed applications are due to the Office of Faculty Affairs by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 5, 2017. For application guidelines and/or additional information, please see http://www.csun.edu/faculty-affairs.
This one is for students: The Associated Students’ Dr. Susan Curzon Scholarship is currently accepting applications. This award honors Dr. Susan Curzon, who joined the CSUN community in 1992, where she served the campus and student body with dedication, faithfulness, and innovative leadership until her retirement in 2010. Providing $2000 to any student pursuing a BA or an MA degree in English, with an option in Literature and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above, the scholarship is intended to help motivate students to pursue careers in High Education and Information Science, as inspired by Dr. Curson’s exemplary model. The application deadline is May 5, at 9:00 p.m. For more details and to apply, please visit AcademicWorks at https://csun.academicworks.com/opportunities/27
Achievements
Charles Hatfield wrote the foreword to the new book, The Secret Origins of Comics Studies (Routledge), an essay collection edited by Matthew J. Smith and Randy Duncan that offers a multidisciplinary history of the Comics Studies field, including educators, theorists, historians, critics, institutions, and publications. This watershed book is intended as a resource for graduate study and “anyone writing a comics-related literature review.”
Kim Young has a poem forthcoming in TriQuarterly. And her new manuscript, Tigers, was a finalist for the Jake Adam York Poetry Prize.