Chair: Kent Baxter
Notes compiled by: Kate Haake
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Announcements
The dean’s office is soliciting nominations for the following: Faculty Senate, 2 year term; Academic Grievance and Grade Appeals, 2 year term; College Personnel Committee, 2 year term (also one replacement needed for Fall 2019 semester), associate or full professor only; College Sabbatical Committee, 2 year term, associate or full professor only. Faculty willing to serve in these important capacities should notify Kent Baxter, via email, by Monday, April 15.
English 412: Literary Magazine was delighted to host Jessica Ceballos Y Campbell on April 3 for a conversation about activist publishing and community building, co-sponsored by the College of Humanities.
The Northridge Review celebrated the launch of its Spring 2019 issue, constructed entirely in our new Book Arts Lab, on Friday, April 5, and a good time was had by all. Now the deadline for submissions to our Fall 2019 issue is fast approaching. Recognized nationally as an award-winning student magazine, the NR has launched the careers of many distinguished CSUN alumni, whose work first appeared in its pages. Please help spread the word! Work may be submitted a at https://thenorthridgereview.submittable.com/submit. The deadline is April 15.
Susana Marcelo and Sean Pessin led a blackout and cut-up poetry workshop in the Oviatt Library to celebrate Poetry Month on April 10.
Another important deadline that will soon be upon us is is for our spring department awards will fast be upon us, so please get your nominations and letters in order and please encourage your students to apply! More information, including eligibility requirements and application procedures, may be found at https://www.csun.edu/humanities/english/english-department-awards—spring-2019. Questions may be directed to Dr. Leilani Hall, 2018-19 Chair of the Awards Committee (leilani.hall@csun.edu) or Dr. Kent Baxter, Chair of the Department of English (kent.baxter@csun.edu). Unless otherwise specified, the deadline for all awards is Friday, April 26, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. The spring awards include the following.
UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS
The Linda Nichols Joseph English Merit Scholarship: In memory of Linda Nichols Joseph, an English major who graduated cum laude from CSUN in 1981, up to two prizes of $2,000 will be awarded this spring to undergraduate English majors who have demonstrated excellence in their studies.
The Lesley Johnstone Memorial Award: In honor of Lesley Johnstone, a professor of English at CSUN from 1965 to 2010 who specialized in Eighteenth-Century British Literature and who loved and cherished nature, a prize of $500 will be given to a student who is the author of the best written work on some aspect of the natural world or environment.
The Robert apRoberts English Honors Essay Prize: To commemorate Robert apRoberts, Professor Emeritus and founder of the Honors Program, an annual prize of $250 will be awarded to the English Honors student whose paper completed in the Honors Revision Seminar (497A) is judged to be the best submitted during that academic year.
The William L. Wilson Award: In memory of William L. Wilson, a career Army officer who taught high school for many years upon his retirement from the U.S. Army, a scholarship of $1,600 will be given to an English major who plans to teach at the secondary level. The scholarship recognizes and encourages students who work diligently to get their degrees and achieve their career potential in spite of additional obligations such as work or family.
GRADUATE AWARDS
The Professor Mitchell Marcus Prize in English: In memory of Mitchell Marcus, a former Professor in the Department (1958-1983), a prize of $4,000 will be awarded each spring semester to the graduate student whose achievements in the study of English are considered by the faculty as the most distinguished.
The Mahlon Gaumer Award: In honor of Mahlon Gaumer, a professor of English at CSUN from 1969-1997 who specialized in linguistics and Medieval literature, an award of $500 will be given to a graduate student who is the author of the best critical essay on English literature—with emphasis on the use of language.
The Harry Finestone Award in English: In honor of Harry Finestone, a gifted teacher and innovative administrator at CSUN from 1962-1983, an award of $750 will be given each year to the graduate student with the most distinguished essay in the study of literature completed in the department’s capstone graduate seminar, ENGL 698D.
The Irene Clark Scholarship for Rhetoric and Composition: This award provides $500 for a paper written by a Department of English graduate student on a topic in rhetoric and composition during the 2017-2019 academic year.
The Angeline Olliff Memorial Scholarship: In memory of Angeline Olliff, a former graduate student and teaching associate in the Department of English, a $250 scholarship will be awarded in spring 2019 to a Rhetoric and Composition graduate student or a Teaching Associate in any specialization (creative writing, literature, rhetoric and composition).
UNDERGRADUATE/GRADUATE AWARD
The Deborah Averill Award in Creative Writing: In memory of Deborah Averill–poet, alum, and colleague–an award of $250 will be awarded to a female student who has had more than a one-year absence from school and returned after overcoming obstacles.