Karra Shimabukuro Publishes Advice on How to Thrive in Graduate School

PhD student Karra Shimabukuro has written a guest post for Grad Hacker, a resource for grad students. Karra’s post deals with how to “thrive” and not just survive in graduate school. It can be found here: http://www.gradhacker.org/2014/03/31/thrive-not-survive/

Cris Elder Selected as UNM Teaching Fellow

Dr. Cristyn L. Elder has been selected by UNM's Center for Teaching Excellence as one of eight faculty from across the disciplines to be a UNM Teaching Fellow during the 2014-15 Academic Year. Fellows will investigate carefully-defined teaching challenges by examining the latest research on teaching and learning in one's discipline, design a teaching innovation, and collect and evaluate evidence of student learning. Dr. Elder aims to work with faculty outside the English Department in an effort to increase undergraduate student success in designated "killer courses" (i.e., those with high fail rates). Specifically, Dr. Elder will be working with faculty in designing and implementing scaffolded class activities and writing assignments that align with disciplinary course content in an effort to help students successfully address course goals and learning outcomes while developing their writing skills. Dr. Elder's overall research question is the following: Does an increased focus on writing as it relates to course content improve students’ success rate in the course?

Oliver Baker admitted to the School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University

Oliver Baker, a PhD student in American Literary Studies, has been admitted to the School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University!

A six-week summer program, the School of Criticism and Theory was founded in 1976 by a group of leading literary scholars in the conviction that an understanding of theory is fundamental to humanistic studies. The SCT offers faculty members and advanced graduate students in the humanities and social sciences a chance to work with preeminent figures in critical thought — exploring debates in and across literary studies, political theory, history, philosophy, art, and anthropology; examining the role of ideological and cultural movements; and reassessing theoretical approaches that have emerged over the last fifty years.  More information about SCT is available here: http://sct.cornell.edu/

Congratulations to Oliver—we are thrilled that he will be representing the UNM Department of English at SCT!

Christopher Bartlett admitted to Boston University’s graduate program in Literary Studies

UNM English major Christopher Bartlett has been admitted to Boston University’s MA/PhD program in English and American Literature! Chris has received a full graduate fellowship from Boston University, and he will begin graduate study this fall. He is currently finishing an Undergraduate Honors Thesis in the English Department here at UNM, under the supervisions of Prof. Daniel Worden, titled “‘An Exercise in Telemachry’: David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest and Intergenerational Conversation.”

Congratulation to Chris!

Vicente Ximenes Reception, Friday March 28th

We hope that you can attend the Dr. Vicente Ximenes reception this Friday March 28th at the Chicana and Chicano Studies and Southwest Hispanic Research Institute building at 1829 Sigma Chi Rd NE from 3pm-4:30 pm. There will be food and drink and a memorial arranged for Dr. Ximenes. The reception is sponsored by UNM's Chicana and Chicano Studies Program, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of English Language and Literature, and Southwest Hispanic Research Institute. 

For more information about Dr. Ximenes, to pay tribute to his legacy, or to donate to the Vicente Ximenes Scholarship in Public Rhetoric and Community literacy, visit http://www.unm.edu/~wac/scholarships/vicente-ximenes-scholarship.html.

Joseph Bartolotta presents on Rhetoric and Literacy Thursday, March 27, 12:30 pm

UNM Department of English Language & Literature
Spring 2014 Colloquium Series
 
Joseph Bartolotta
Lecturer, Rhetoric & Writing Program
UNM Department of English Language & Literature

Thursday, March 27, 2014
12:30 p.m.
English Department Lounge
2nd Floor, Humanities

Dr. Bartolotta’s research focuses on the intersections of rhetoric and literacy. The questions that drive his research are: How and where do people learn rhetorical strategies? Further, how is rhetorical acuity related to literacy training? Joseph recently defended his dissertation titled “Laboring Literacy: Rhetoric, Language, and Sponsors of Literacy in Workers’ Education in the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union 1914-1939,” which is concerned with non-academic literacy in a professional context and argues that the acquisition of literacy itself constitutes a rhetorical act, as learners are trained by literacy standards that urge a certain rhetorical interaction with existing power structures.

Emilee Howland-Davis into a Bright Future

Emilee Howland-Davis has been accepted into the English PhD program at the University of Missouri at Columbia with a full assistantship and two fellowships: the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Supplemental Graduate Fellowship, as well as the English Department Fellowship. Emilee will continue studying Arthurian Literature in the context of magic. We will miss you, Emilee, and wish you all the best. Dr. Obermeier