Teacher Induction Includes Integrated Language Arts Majors

Zoe Jenkins, Morgan Phillips, Corinne Spisz, Liz Bucci, and Sydney Ross after English 406: 17th c. Lit. class. Not pictured: Bethany Meadows

Six Integrated Language Arts majors "completed all the requirements to admission into the teacher education program," as Dr. Carla Abreu-Ellis, Director of the Field Office in the College of Education, explained at the fall 2017 Teacher Induction Ceremony. The ceremony, which welcomed majors in all educational specialties into the program, was held November 14 in the Ronk Lecture Hall in the Dwight Schar COE building. Dr. Jason Ellis, Co-Chair of the Teacher Education Department, noted, "It's a nice milestone." Referring to each candidate entering his or her signature into a ledger dating back to 1998, Ellis added, "It's a piece of history." Each candidate received a certificate as well as a pewter pin engraved with an image of the Schar COE building. The English Department inductees are as follows: 
                                              

Bethany Meadows

Elizabeth Bucci

Zoe Jenkins

Morgan Phillips

Sydney Ross

Corinne Spisz

Congratulations to these future educators!

Sigma Tau Delta Welcomes Inductees

 

Susanna Savage, Sara Ludwig, Zoe Jenkins, Darion Holmes, Sydney Ross, Schuyler Kunkel, and Jakob Demers

On November 16, seven students were inducted into the Alpha Beta Phi chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society. Congratulations to the new members listed below:

Jakob Demers

Darion Holmes

Zoe Jenkins

Schuyler Kunkel

Sara Ludwig

Sydney Ross

Susanna Savage

Faculty advisor Dr. Hilary Donatini welcomed the group, noting this this was her tenth year advising the chapter at AU. Co-President Bethany Meadows then explained how students could become involved in our chapter activities. Co-President Corinne Spisz gave a heartfelt introduction to the speaker, Dr. Russell Weaver, whom the inductees chose for the event. Dr. Weaver explored his reasons for teaching and studying literature before leading a thought-provoking discussion of Emily Dickinson's poem, "My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun." While taking photos after the ceremony, it was discovered that the mother of inductee Sydney Ross had Dr. Weaver for a class when she attended AU in the 1990s! 

Dr. Weaver expresses his passion for literature.

Teaching two generations: Suzann Ross and daughter Sydney both took Dr. Weaver's classes at AU!

 

Fall Poetry Workshop Set for November 18

On November 18, 2017, Ashland University and the Ashland Poetry Press will present a one-day poetry workshop on the campus of Ashland University. Workshop leaders will be Columbus-area poet Charlene Fix and Ashland Poetry Press director/editor Deborah Fleming. The event also includes a reading by the presenters and an opportunity for participants to share their own poetry in an open-mic event.

Registration is $25. RSVP by Monday, November 13, as space is limited. Open to poets of all levels, including students. This is an opportunity to get feedback on your work and connect with other poets in the area.

For more details, contact Cassandra Brown at 419.289.5098 or email cbrown44@ashland.edu.

Schedule of Events

• 9 a.m. Check-In and Coffee/Light Refreshments - Schar College of Education Central Lobby
• 10 a.m.-Noon Workshops - Schar College of Education
• Noon-1:30 p.m. Lunch Break
• 1:30-3:00 p.m. Reading and Q&A Charlene Fix, Deborah Fleming
• 3-4 p.m. Social Hour with Snacks - Schar College of Education Central Lobby
• 4-5 p.m. Open-Mic - Schar College of Education, Ronk Lecture Hall

Register Here!

Creative Writing Major Encounters Ashland's Poetic Legacy in the Snyder Collection

By Jakob Demers, English and Creative Writing major

Libraries are a sum of knowledge, a bank vault of ideas. A university's library is even more so, specific and concise in order to cater to the various needs of faculty and undergraduates. On the fifth floor of the Ashland University library is a space that meets these requirements but is set apart. From its olive-colored walls and inviting rug to the wooden bookshelf housing the Snyder Poetry Collection, it feels less like a library and more like a slice of home. For the English Department, of course, it kind of is. Dedicated to the memory of long-serving English professor Richard Snyder, the walls contain no less than six pictures of the man at various points throughout his tenure. Appropriately enough for the co-founder of both Ashland University's Creative Writing major and the Ashland Poetry Press, his wit and warmth are preserved in multiple forms within this nook. A case that sits in the left hand corner displays Snyder's own words, both in the form of poetry and correspondence chronicling the start of his employment at Ashland. 

The shelves meanwhile are armed with a startling variety. Poems by Lisa Mueller and Grace Paley sit across from those by William Carlos Williams and Joseph Brodsky. Embossed with its identification as a Snyder poetry collection piece are Jay Wright's Transfigurations collected poems. In its 1981 binding, the complete poems of Anne Sexton has also earned its spot. Perhaps the most fascinating thing about this seemingly timeless corner is the knowledge that Snyder's legacy continues and endures. The historical brilliance of this corner flows through into the current English department. The Snyder Poetry Prize has been active since 1997 and recently awarded to poet and professor at Goucher College Elizabeth Spires. The Ashland Poetry Press continues to operate out of the English Department with a full editorial board. The Creative Writing Major thrives as its students involve themselves with all things literature. The Snyder Poetry Collection is not simply a piece of history, it is very much a piece of the present: a place where the past and future - founder and legatee - become one.