Lindecamp Earns Degree; Reception Planned

Kari Lindecamp, Administrative Assistant for the Departments of English, Foreign Languages, Philosophy, and Religion, has earned her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Educational Technology from the Ashland University College of Education. We will celebrate in the second-floor faculty lounge in Bixler Hall on Monday, October 2 from 3:00-4:00.

When asked what her favorite project was from the program, Lindecamp responded, 

My favorite project from my program was definitely the Capstone course. For this course, I designed a pilot program for an online writing center for incarcerated students in Ashland's prison program. I created an entire website to showcase my research and the development of the online writing center. My web design for the center houses asynchronous tutoring, online resources, videos, web lessons, research support and training, tutor training and professional development, blogging ideas, website development, grammar help, editing and proofreading skills, and examples of great writing.

She added the following thoughts on how the degree enriched her life: 

The Capstone course and my entire M.Ed. educational journey as a whole taught me that life-long learning is one of the most important aspects of our time here on earth. While I do have an end game in sight since I've earned my degree, my love of learning and my drive to succeed will always continue. My former boss used to say, "Find out what is important and then do it." Mother Teresa said, "Do small things with great love." I think I will follow both examples.

Congratulations, Kari! We are proud of you!

MFA Intern Finds Creative Community at Summer Residency

By Julia Swanson-Hines, Creative Writing and English major

I spent my freshman year interning for Cassandra Brown, the administrative director of the Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing. As someone double-majoring in English and Creative Writing with an interest in pursuing publishing as a career, I valued my internship greatly. As such, when Cassy asked whether I would be willing to intern during the MFA residency, I of course said yes.

Fast-forward a few months, and the air is thick and moist, the air-conditioning in my dorm room broken, and I begin to wonder whether I made a smart decision. My fellow interns and others quickly learn how incompatible heat/humidity and I are, but luckily, the Ronk lecture hall in Schar is heavily air-conditioned, and while others shiver or turn blue, I finally reach a stable inner temperature that allows me to focus on the words leaving the lips of faculty, students, and visiting writers alike.

God, am I glad I reach that stability, because the creativity, advice, and wisdom are enough to clog my pores. I buy a notebook within the first few days simply to allow all that I’m learning to find a home for good because the file cabinets in my head are simply overwhelmed. I write poetry at the end of each day, so filled with creativity and the demand to create after the craft seminars that give me tools to expand characterization or ponder point of view choice--after being surrounded by people who care about the same thing as me; we all want to create a piece of decent creative work, whether it be nonfiction, poetry, or fiction. This atmosphere is easily the thing I appreciate the most.

Possibly the second best or worst aspect of interning at the residency are the airport runs. I am not the type to enjoy the hectic rush of I-71 or the Cleveland airport. I’m the girl who has her aux cord plugged into her phone purely to have Google maps resonate through the speakers so she has a lesser chance of making the wrong turns. However, the great thing about the drive is that it’s an hour away, which makes for an hour with either a student, faculty member, or visiting writer--the chance to pick at the brains of geniuses or at least gain a greater insight into graduate school for something I’m passionate about. Whether it’s a midnight run that turns out to be the busiest time at the airport or taking a highly-talented author to a nearby Five Guys for dinner, every time, it’s an adventure worth embarking upon.

The MFA residency is a boiling melting pot (in literal heat, but also symbolically) of creativity and knowledge, and for anyone interested in any sort of creative outlet (though, of course, especially writing), interning at the residency is a great opportunity to learn from dozens of talented people and having them at your disposal for about two weeks. It’s an inspiring experience, and I look forward to interning at many more in my future.

Student Finds the "Real Stories" in English Department Internship

By Bethany Meadows, English and Integrated Language Arts Education major, Creative Writing and Public Relations minor

Bethany Meadows (left) confers with fellow intern Emily Wirtz during the MFA residency

From May to August, I have had the privilege to be an intern for Ashland University’s Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing, which is home to a creative nonfiction journal, River Teeth, and the Ashland Poetry Press. Much of my summer was spent behind the scenes working on the logistics of these three departments.

One of the biggest tasks to pull off logistically was preparing and executing the MFA’s summer residency. Since the MFA is a low-residency program, the students spend most of the year online. However, for two weeks in July, they all come to Ashland’s campus to have on-site classes, workshops, and readings.

This residency became the highlight of my summer. There were faculty, students, visiting authors, and visiting editors all in one place; what more could I, as an English major, want! The faculty’s lectures about the craft of writing, the faculty readings of their own published work, and the visiting authors, such as Terry Tempest Williams, Rebecca Makkai, and Dexter Booth, were all fantastic experiences.

However, in these short two weeks, I was not only surrounded by people who wrote stories, but also people who became the stories for me. For example, I drove two of our faculty members from the airports to Ashland. In the time with them, they cared about me and my interests and connected them to their own experiences, both personal and professional. These conversations allowed me to see beyond their published pages and their lectures because they were the person behind the words—the person that cared about their readers.

Not only were my connections with the MFA faculty becoming the real stories, but so were all my experiences with the MFA students and interns. Over the course of two weeks, I am honored to have become friends with many of them through eating meals together, playing games, having long conversations about life, and so much more. This experiences have allowed me to forge lifelong connections with other people that care about both me and writing. Throughout the two weeks, these connections with the MFA community will be forever ingrained in my memory and in my heart.