Tribbey's Got a Brand New Book

Wrinkle and Mechanism. Click here to check it out. The video below is unrelated except that inspired the title of this post. And it's cool.

East Central University Modernist Colloquia: A Showcase of Student Research

Please join us in HM 347 for the ECU English and Languages Modernist Colloquia December 2, 3, and 6^th from 1-2pm. The members of the ENG 4543 Senior Seminar have been working hard developing their original research projects, many of them inspired by the archive trip to Tulsa University’s Special Collections. Please plan to attend one or all three days of presentations. Refreshments will be provided. Please contact rnichlsn@ecok.edu for more information.

Schedule of Presentations

Monday December 2: Modernist Nationalisms and the War at Home

Jennifer Wingard        “Bringing Irish Nationalism into the Modernist Movement”

Molly Trimmer           “Nationalist Narrators: A Study of British and Indian Nationalist Poets”

Marc Ruhnke              “Contextualizing the Princess Beatrice Camp Magazine”

Rodney Weaverling    “The Colonizer and the Oriental: Identities within Kipling and Forester”

Wednesday December 4: Modernist Influences

Robert Darling            “The Postcolonial Mansfield and Naipaul”

Kerri Wheat    “Lewis Carroll and Stevie Smith: An Influence on a Modernist Poet”

Amria Norman            “The Little Review and Ezra Pound”

Friday December 6: New Readings of A Passage to India

Emily Roberts  “Passage to India: Testing Relationships”

Jessie Randall  “Adela and The Cave”

Amber Huffman “A Peek through a Passage and the Bridge that Binds”

Can Pride and Prejudice Help This Bride?

"The Wedding Party" (ca. 1905) by Henri Rousseau

"A few weeks ago, Mark brought our attention to some current research indicating that reading literature increases empathy.

"Nice to know that if we need some relationship counseling, we can look to it as well. See the entertaining link below. :-)

"Jane Austen's classic is 200 years old, but longtime spouses and relationship experts alike stand by the principles it presents."

Click here to read more.
Thank you, Dr. McMahon, for the heads up.

Society just isn’t what it used to be (an excerpt)

"The Indians giving a talk to Colonel Bouquet . . . in Oct. 1764" by Benjamin West

I have certain strong bias, but often times I find myself divided on how I feel on a matter. I will feel strongly on one side, and quickly feel stuck in between because I can see both sides. It is a constant struggle, and makes it hard to blend in sometimes. I don’t feel like I belong sometimes, the “real American” views don’t fit mine. Who’s to say who is American or not? Like in the poem “I, Too”; “They’ll see how beautiful I am/And be ashamed--/I, too, am America” (lines 16-18). I am not political or religious, and I tend to lean more towards the artsy side. The constant fight with religion tires me, especially living in the “Bible Belt”. There is nothing wrong with religion, but didn’t the pilgrims come here to escape exactly what some people are doing now? It’s sad to me that something like religion can be turned ugly. There is so much corruption … As for American culture, we have done a lot. The industries we created, the Native American history and culture, jazz music, all sorts of amazing things to be proud of. How we are such a diverse nation is amazing, if only we could embrace it. There are so many amazing cultures to our history, yet we try to hide it behind sexual appeal instead. Everything is so focused on perfection we make ourselves miserable. Girls are taught to almost be ashamed of their natural feelings where boys are taught to embrace them. Then these girls grow into adults where sexual appeal is almost necessary. Our whole country if full of mixed signals and lessons that always contradict each other.

Ashley Bean

Loving Diversity One Step at A Time: My Story

By Jesse Wright
Ethnic Literature
Cultural Identification Paper, Excerpt

"Self-Portrait with Family" (1915) by Heorhiy Narbut

The final area of life that has really influenced me comes down to some of my understandings of culture that have been greatly challenged. I grew up in a home of white Americans, in suburbs full of white Americans. My first exposure to diversity really didn’t occur until elementary school, when I was going to a school in the middle of the longest running desegregation in history. I was in a place where people were forcing themselves to love others of different colors and beliefs, and I do firmly believe that that experience distorted my understanding of race relations and interaction. As I grew up, I saw people who feigned love for others, only to hate them behind their backs, all because of the color of their skin. I had to learn from my family and others that true love for another individual comes from within, and that it has no skin color. I did not have any preconceived notions of how to handle people of other cultures, I was just taught to love and love unconditionally. This lesson came after leaving Louisiana, and I am so glad I was able to learn it. Another part of that lesson was coming to the understanding that racism is still alive and well in a lot of areas in America. As it turns out, we really never were truly free from the plague of hate and race frustration. I hope that lessons I’ve learned will hit others as they have hit me, hopefully helping them to understand how good it feels to love truly and compassionately.

English and Language Department vs. The Congress and Cable News?

"The Death of general Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775" by John Trumbull (1786)

In an article published today in the New York Times, Stanley Fish gives a shout out to philosopher Martha Nussbaum and the endorsement of love, patriotism, empathy and sentimental culture in her new book “Political Emotions: Why Love Matters For Justice,”  Click here to read more.

Cocktails and Chekhov

Portrait of Anton Chekhov (1886) by Isaac Levitan

The New York Times reports:

"A new study found that reading literary fiction leads to better performance on tests of empathy, social perception and emotional intelligence."

Click here to read more.

Thanks for the heads up, Dr. Walling.

The Great Drenching Picnic of 2013

Dr. Murphy: "Thanks to all who came to the picnic! Nearly 50 people! And you're welcome for the rain!

Thanks, Grillmaster Murphy; Thanks, Literati;  Thanks, Pigskins; Thanks to all who contributed food and drinks; And thanks, rain!

Coming attractions:
Improvised Shakespeare on Thursday, September 26th at 7:30 in the Ataloa.

Based on one audience suggestion (a title for a play that has yet to be written) The Improvised Shakespeare creates a fully improvised play in Elizabethan style. Each of the players has brushed up on his “thee’s” “thou’s” to bring you an evening of off-the-cuff comedy using the language and themes of William Shakespeare. Any hour could be filled with power struggles, star-crossed lovers, sprites, kings, queens, princesses, sword-play, rhyming couplets, asides, insults, persons in disguise and all that we’ve come to expect from the pen of the Great Bard. The night could reveal a tragedy, comedy, or history. Nothing is planned-out, rehearsed, or written. Each play is completely improvised, so each play is entirely new!

Poetry reading on Tuesday, October 8th at 3:30 in the Chalmers Herman, featuring Megan Thompson, our newest faculty member. Following her reading, there will be an open mic.

The Picnic Approacheth

"Picnic" (1914-1915) by Maurice Prendergast

Hi all,

Literati is hosting the Welcome Back Picnic again. We’ll supply the meat, and we’d like people to bring side dishes.  We’re working with STD on helping with paper supplies and buns.

I’ll leave a sign up in 301 for people to sign up for food, so you’ll know what other people are bringing.

Bring games, too, if you can!

Robin Murphy

English and Languages Annual Recognition Ceremony

The English and Languages Department's Annual Recognition Ceremony was held in the Oklahoma Room at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 30th.

Awards and Scholarships

Daisy Moore Duvall Scholarship:  Kelsey Jackson

Wanita Danley Centennial English Honors Scholarship: Jaime Worden

Margaret (Peggy) Nims Writing Scholarship:  Noelle Hurt

Young Family Scholarship:  Jessie Randall

Reed Loving Watt Scholarship:  Felicia Doyle

Geraldine Burns Award:  Noelle Hurt

Outstanding Student Teacher:  Cody Stephens

Senior Portfolio Award:  Lindsey Dugan

LeMoine Blake Crabtree Outstanding Student of Russian:  Ashley Cardwell

Gary and Linda Travel and Study in Russia and Ukraine Scholarship: Trevor Spradling and Yin Lai

Paul Hughes Award: Nathan Steinman

Eleanor Waner Dedmon Spanish Scholarship:  Heather Truett (Byng High)

Ozella Waner English Scholarship:  Mary Dixon (Ada High)

Sara Randall Memorial Scholarship:  Macy McDonald

Higgenbotham Scholarship:  Michael Womack

Criswell Memorial Scholarship:  Jaime Worden

ACTR National Post-Secondary Scholar Laureate:  Ashley Cardwell.

Best Essay Awards

Best Essay in a Humanities Course:  Cayla Odom, “Endearingly Deceptive: The Merit of the Unreliable” (Responding to Literature, Dr. Hada)

Best Essay in a Literature Course:  Noelle Hurt, “‘Til Death Do Us Part:  Idealism in All the Pretty Horses” (American Literature since Whitman, Dr. Hada) and Lindsey Dugan, “Examples of the Relationship Between Music and Mortality” (Existential Literature, Dr. McMahon)

Best Creative Writing in a Freshman/Sophomore-Level Course:  Teresa Buretta, “Life Is But a Dream” (Introduction to Creative Writing, Dr. Walling)

Best Essay in a Writing Course:  Noelle Hurt, “What’s a Teacher to Do?” (Composing Theories, Dr. Davis)

Best Essay in a Language Course:  Jaime Worden, “Critical Period, Genie, and Language Learning’” (Introduction to Linguistics, Dr. Benton)

Good times for Dr. Tribbey

Crop from scan of generic Thai calendar of type printed in bulk to be stapled to advertising posters

Dr. Tribbey published 15 poems in April.  For a sampling, visit Truck and Experiential-Experimental Literature.  And look for more to come soon in Di-Verse City Anthology 2013.

Congratulations, Dr. Tribbey!

Sunnie Day

"Miracle of the Newborn Child" (1511) by Titian

Dr. Mark Walling writes:  "Sunnie Smith had her baby. She and Sophia are doing fine."

A Good Week for Noelle Hurt

Two days, two causes for celebration.  First this, from Dr. Teresa Rothrock:

1. "Congratulations to Noelle Hurt, who has been selected as the ECU recipient of the OCTE’s  Geraldine Burns Award for Excellence in English Studies.

"Many years ago, the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English created this award to honor Ms. Geraldine Burns, a former Oklahoma Teacher of the Year in public schools.  After serving as an officer in the OCTE since 1966, she retired from teaching in 1988. This award honors the contributions of one teacher’s outstanding career in public school English classes by recognizing the promise in future public school English teachers.  One undergraduate student from each institution of higher education in Oklahoma receives the award each year, which includes an certificate, a one-year membership in OCTE, an open seat on the OCTE Executive Board, and free registration to the conference and luncheon.

"This year’s pool of candidates was particularly competitive!  The final decision, however, was based on evaluation by the English Dept. faculty, nominees’ GPA, and their demonstration of teaching skills (e.g., internship, OLAF, etc.).  Noelle will be recognized at the OCTE Spring Conference (April 3, 2013; see octe.ecok.edu) as well as at the awards banquets and ceremonies of the Department of English and Languages and the Department of Education. 

2. Then this, from Dr. Robin Murphy:
"Noelle’s conference presentation paper from last November made it into the proceeding publication."

“'CONGRATULATIONS Noelle! Your submission has been accepted by the Scissor TALE Review committee for publication in their upcoming special Language and Linguistics Student Conference proceedings issue.'”

Hada Goes Old School

The Paul Hughes Memorial Writing Award

Hughes emceeing a radio broadcast from
 the rim of the Grand Canyon (1940s)

The Department of English and Languages announces the 2013 Paul Hughes Memorial Writing Award, an annual creative writing competition open to all East Central University students. Any form of creative writing, including poetry, fiction, drama, teleplay, screenplay, and creative nonfiction, is eligible for consideration. Submissions will be accepted in the English department, Horace Mann 301 or Horace Mann 317, until Monday, April 1. Students may also email entries to mwalling@ecok.edu. This deadline will be strictly enforced. Students may submit a total of five individual works. Individual prose submissions may not exceed 10,000 words. Cash prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place. Last year, the awards were $200, $100, and $50. 

Born in Roff, Paul Hughes attended Ada High School and earned his B.A. with honors from East Central in 1936. At ECU, Hughes served as president of the senior class, editor of the campus newspaper, and captain of the debate team. At age 27, Hughes published his first novel, Retreat From Rostov, with Random House. He went on to publish 15 other books, including Challenge at Changsa (Macmillan), Jeff (John Day), and The Salisbury Story (Univ. of Arizona Press), and numerous short stories in magazines such as Collier's, Seventeen, Woman's Home Companion, Vogue, and Liberty. After a brief term as night editor of the Ada Evening News, Hughes began a long career with KTAR Radio and Television, becoming one of the most recognizable air personalities in Arizona. In 1971, he gave the ECU commencement address and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Submitted manuscripts for the award should be neatly typed. Prose should be double-spaced. Poetry should be single-spaced except to separate stanzas. Each work should have a cover page listing the author's name, title of the work, classification (senior. . .), major, address, telephone number, and email address. Notification will be delivered to the email address. The author's name should not appear on the manuscript. Entries will not be returned.

Dr. Mark Walling
Professor
Dept. of English and Languages
East Central University
Ada, OK 74820
(580) 559-5440

Scholarship Merienda: Today at 2 p.m.

"The Meal" (1891) by Paul Gaugin 

Who? Students are invited to the forthcoming Faculty Scholarship Merienda, which will occur Monday, March 4, 2pm -3:45 ish in the North Lounge.

What? Approximately 5-8 faculty members from the department will present their current research and/or creative projects to their colleagues and students in attendance in a casual workshop to receive constructive feedback and inspiration.

Why? We believe students would benefit from listening to these discussions, and we welcome feedback from all audience members, including you.

STD Outbreak on Friday, February 22

"He sprang upon the old woman and ate her up" by Gustave Dore (1832-1883)

Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society, will be having its second meeting of the spring semester tomorrow at 2 p.m. on Friday, February 22nd in the Tower Room in the University Center (that’s the room in the southeast corner of the second floor). 

We will be discussing poetic retellings of fairy tales, provided for us by Drs. Peters and Nicholson-Weir.

Whether you are an STD frequent flier or you’ve never had the pleasure of attending one of our meetings, we hope you’ll find a way to work us into your schedule if you enjoy talking about fiction, poetry, drama, film, ideas, and other topics of literary interest.  And if you know someone who is not on this mailing list but might like to be—English major or not, invite them to give STD a try in February. 

Hope to see you there!

Dr. Steve Benton

Dr. Joshua Grasso (faculty co-sponsors)

February 19: Open Mic Night!

Dr. Murphy writes:

"Literati will be sponsoring a poetry/creative writing reading tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb 19 @ 3:30 for all faculty and students.  Please feel free to come by the NEW Library Student Lounge [that's the photo on the right below--Ed.] to participate or just listen.

"Several of our students will be reading, I’ll be reading some of my favorite poems and flash fiction (and maybe a few poems of my own) and I invite you all to come participate, too.

"It’s a cool venue, at 3:30, so not too late, and should be chock full of fun!

"It’s open mic, so just show up!"

February 14th: This Time, It's Personal

Student Teachers: Save the Date!

February 10: Hada at the Depot

You are invited to the Depot in Norman, Sunday, February 10 for a poetry reading by our own Dr. Ken Hada. For details, go to:http://www.pasnorman.org/programs/poetry.

If you click on this link above, this is part of what you will find:

Second Sunday Poetry Features Ken Hada February 10

Last Updated on Saturday, 02 February 2013 14:36

Award winning poet Ken Hada will read from his recent work at the February 10 Second Sunday Poetry Reading in the Norman Depot, 200 South Jones. The free reading begins at 2:00 pm. All are welcome.

In his “poignant poems, Hada probes the natural and human worlds with equal candor, forcefulness, and literary artistry. His canvas is broad, and he paints it with rare compassion, grit, and unblinking emotional honesty” says Larry D. Thomas, 2008 Texas Poet Laureate.

Hada was raised in rural settings in Oklahoma and Arkansas where he first developed his passion for the outdoors, for flyfishing, canoeing, kayaking and all other kinds of activities that define human interdependence with nature. This association defines much of his poetry. His research interests and creative writing both increasingly merge in the areas of nature writing and ecology concerns, regionalism and the American west.

Ken Hada’s five poetry collections include National Western Heritage Award-winning Spare Parts, and The River White: A Confluence of Brush & Quill (a collaborative effort with his brother Duane’s plein aire watercolors.) Both of these titles were finalists for the Oklahoma Book Award, and Spare Parts was featured four times on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac. Most recently Ken collaborated with his son’s guitar compositions to release a cd titled Like Father, Like Son: A Narrative in Poetry & Guitar.
Ken contributes regularly to a poetry blog at vacpoetry.org/three and often publishes poems in regional journals. He is also a frequent reader of his work at venues around the country. Ken completed his PhD at The University of Texas in Arlington, and is a professor at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma where he directs the annual Scissortail Creative Writing Festival.

The nature photographs of George Williams on exhibit in the Depot Gallery can be enjoyed while attending the reading.

Second Sunday Poetry Readings are a program of The Performing Arts Studio providing a monthly venue for selected regional poets to share their work. Former Oklahoma Poet Laureate and Oklahoma Book Award winner Carl Sennhenn hosts.

February 7: Learn How to Cover Your Letters

The ECU Writing Center presents

Cover Letter and Résumé Workshop

Thursday, 7 February 2013, 4:00-5:00 pm

Faust Hall 159

STD Outbreak on Friday, January 25

"Laundresses carrying linen," (ca. 1876) by Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society, will be having its first outbreak of the spring semester tomorrow at 2 p.m. on Friday, January 25th in the Tower Room in the University Center (that’s the room in the southeast corner of the second floor).

Dr. Nicholson-Weir

We will be discussing the poetry of Eavan Boland with Dr. Rebecca Nicholson-Weir. “Boland,” Nicholson-Weir tells us, “is a contemporary Irish poet, and a sequence of her poems in Outside History engages with some paintings (like Degas's laundresses [see above]) and mythology (like Leda and the swan). I think it would be fun for students to consider these poems alongside the paintings.” We agree!

Whether you are an STD frequent flier or you’ve never had the pleasure of attending one of our meetings, we hope you’ll find a way to work us into your schedule if you enjoy talking about fiction, poetry, drama, film, ideas, and other topics of literary interest—whether you are an English major or not. We are especially hopeful that some of our new faculty members will turn out to see what we are about. And if you know someone who is not on this mailing list but might like to be, invite them to give STD a try in January.

Hope to see you there!

Dr. Steve Benton
Dr. Joshua Grasso (faculty co-sponsors)

A Portrait of a Lady on Sunday, January 27

"A young woman seated at the virginals" (1672)
by Johannes Vermeer

You are invited:

Sunday,
January 27,
3pm

Ada Arts & Heritage Center
(400 S. Rennie)

“A Portrait of a Lady” – a program in music, art, poetry and storytelling

Thank you, Dr. Hada, for the heads up.