Dr. Deborah Fleming's Forthcoming Book: Resurrection of the Wild

Dr. Deborah Fleming's forthcoming book, Resurrection of the Wild: Meditations on Ohio's Natural Landscape, is slated to appear in April 2019 from The Kent State University Press. The book is comprised of fourteen connected essays which the press describes as

lyrical meditations [that] delve into life on Fleming’s farm, the impacts of the mining and drilling industries, fox hunting, homesteading families, the lives of agriculturalist Louis Bromfield and John Chapman (better known as Johnny Appleseed), and Ohio’s Amish community. Fleming finds that our very concept of freedom must be redefined to include preservation and respect for the natural world. Ultimately, Resurrection of the Wild becomes a compelling argument for the importance of ecological preservation in Ohio, and Fleming’s perspective will resonate with readers both within and beyond this “forgotten” state’s borders. 

Acclaim for Dr. Fleming's book includes a blurb by esteemed essayist Scott Russell Sanders. Fleming has also been invited as one of 60 authors to be featured at the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment's conference at the University of California, Davis in June 2019. She will also represent River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative and Ashland Poetry Press at a book fair at Lakeland Community College later this month and will conduct a workshop on fiction for students from several community colleges.

Resurrection of the Wild is only the latest contribution by Dr. Fleming to her considerable body of work. Dr. Fleming is an equestrian, mountain climber, and organic gardener who writes poetry, fiction, essays, and works of scholarship. The recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Council of Learned Societies, and Ashland University, she has published books on Yeats, Jeffers, and Synge and has edited two collections of essays on Yeats. Three of her poems have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes.

Sigma Tau Delta Members Organize Writing Workshop for Local Girl Scouts

On November 8, Sigma Tau Delta members invited local Girl Scouts to campus for a writing workshop during which participants engaged in story-telling and collaborative writing. Nine young writers were in attendance to hone their creative skills. 

Senior Integrated Language Arts (ILA) major Zoe Jenkins reflects that "This event was meaningful to me because I will be teaching students how to write someday. Even though these girls were much younger than the students I will teach, it was rewarding to see how excited they were to write. Their responses were really creative." Junior Creative Writing and English major Emily Beaver, who also helped facilitate the event, had this to share: "As an English major, this event was meaningful to me because when I was their age, I was always writing or drawing stories. I loved having the opportunity to be included in their excitement for writing and to even feel like a child again." Asked what the most memorable thing about the workshop was for her, Beaver replied that it was "seeing how enthusiastic the girls were while they were writing and sharing their stories."

Zoe Jenkins assists participants during the workshop.

Dr. Maura Grady Gives AU Book Talk on The Shawshank Experience: Tracking the History of the World's Favorite Movie

Dr. Maura Grady delivered a talk on November 6 on her book, The Shawshank Experience: Tracking the History of the World's Favorite Movie (Palgrave, 2016), which she co-authored with Dr. Tony Magistrale (Professor of English, University of Vermont). As noted in the Ashland University official press release, the book

features an in-depth analysis of the world’s most popular movie, The Shawshank Redemption, delving into issues such as: the significance of race in the film, its cinematic debt to earlier genres, the gothic influences at work in the movie, and the representation of Andy’s poster art as cross-gendered signifiers. In addition to exploring the film and novella from which it was adapted, this book also traces the history of the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, which served as the film’s central location, and its relationship to the movie’s fictional Shawshank Prison. The last chapter examines why this film has remained both a popular and critical success, inspiring diverse fan bases on the Internet and the evolution of the Shawshank Trail, fourteen of the film’s actual site locations that have become a major tourist attraction in central Ohio.

 
In addition to her published work on the film, Dr. Grady is an innovative teacher who has involved Ashland undergraduates in research on film tourism in the local area. She teaches the popular screenwriting course for the department and has also engaged students deeply regarding issues of prison reform through her use of the Reacting to the Past game in her classes.

Creative Writing Major Jackson Schultz Attends Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Workshop in Utah

Sophomore Creative Writing and Geology dual major Jackson Schultz recently attended a three-day workshop in Bryce Canyon, Utah as part of his role as co-editor of the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (UReCA) journal, a publication associated with the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC). Schultz had this to say about the workshop in Ashland University's official press release about the event:

Our team of 18 editors and three faculty advisers met in Bryce Canyon, Utah, for a three-day workshop, also referred to as the UReCA Bootcamp...The retreat is a valuable part of the UReCA experience, solidifying the team and setting up the success of the next issue. The team tent-camped, hiked and spent long hours reviewing and fine tuning UReCA to maintain momentum and improve systems such as soliciting, marketing, Web site design, selection rubrics and the editorial process.

The students next gathered at the recent national NCHC conference in Boston (November 7-11), celebrating the most recent issue of UReCA, which invites all undergraduates currently enrolled to submit work according to the journal's submission guidelines.