English Department Graduating Senior Spotlight: Part Three

The department wishes its graduating seniors the best as they apply for jobs and begin the exciting transition to the next chapter of their lives! This post is the third installment in a series to spotlight these seniors, who generously shared their favorite memory of being a major in the English Department and their post-graduation plans.

Naomi Sims is a double major in Creative Writing and Political science with minors in English and Philosophy. She reflects, "I have many great memories. But I loved doing a weekly reading with Dr. Weaver. We spent a year reading Wuthering Heights, and a year reading Moby Dick. I would read part of it out loud and I cried through the entire last chapter of Moby Dick. I also have a vivid memory of sitting in Joe's office and talking about writing and how we take care of the characters we create." After graduation, she plans to "move back to Dallas and work for my parents' company, Fusion Productions, a film and television production company."

Alyssa Ferrell is and Integrated Language Arts major. "My favorite memory of the English department is reading Slaughterhouse-Five in Dr. Waterman’s class. I loved how everyone was trying so hard to make sense out of such a crazy novel! After graduation, I intend to find a job teaching in a local high school."

Additional graduates include Liz Bucci, an Integrated Language Arts major, and Morgan Phillips, also an Integrated Language Arts major. 

This concludes the multi-post series spotlighting the English Department's May graduates. Congratulations to all!

Visiting Chinese Scholars Wrap Up the Semester with English Department Colleagues

Three professors from Jinzhong University in Shanxi, China spent the spring semester as visiting scholars in the English Department which entailed attending undergraduate English courses for the full semester as part of their research into the pedagogy of teaching literature and writing. Junfang (Cathy) Li attended Dr. Jayne Waterman's course on the Short Story (ENG 304), Dr. Sharleen Mondal's course on African American Literature (ENG 309), and Dr. Hilary Donatini's course on the English Renaissance (ENG 404). Fangfang (Ava) Chen attended Dr. Maura Grady's Composition II course (ENG 102). Zhiyu (Charlie) Song attended Dr. Maura Grady's course on Literature and Film (ENG 371).  At the final department meeting of the year on April 17, the scholars shared their impressions of the teaching they had observed and also shared information about their own teaching at Jinzhong University. 

Pictured above are Junfang (Cathy) Li, Zhiyu (Charlie) Song, and Fangfang (Ava) Chen.

AU English faculty with their visiting colleagues from Jinzhong University.

AU faculty and students enjoyed the presence of these scholars in their classrooms and would welcome future collaborations with them and their university.

English Department Graduating Senior Spotlight: Part Two

The department wishes its graduating seniors the best as they apply for jobs and begin the exciting transition to the next chapter of their lives! This post is the second installment in a series to spotlight these seniors, who generously shared their favorite memory of being a major in the English Department and their post-graduation plans.

Jordan Martin is an English major with minors in Marketing, Public Relations, and Spanish. She reflects, "I love Dr. Weaver's courses. I have taken five of his courses over the past four years, and each class has challenged me to improve my analytical skills. I plan to work as a grant writer for a not-for-profit organization."

Zoe Jenkins is an Integrated Language Arts major with a minor in Online Teaching and Instructional Technology. "One of my favorite courses was the Jane Austen seminar with Dr. Weaver. I am currently applying for ELA teaching positions, and I hope to be a teacher in a nearby school district."

Kelsey Wade is a double major in English and Creative Writing. "My favorite memory during my time in the English department was when I was in the Creative fiction/Non-fiction workshop. I was able to get great feedback that helped me grow as a writer. My post-graduation plans include finding a local job working with editing and spending some time travelling and seeing what the world has to offer."

The department congratulates these graduating seniors on their many accomplishments and is grateful for their contributions to our department and campus!

English Department Graduating Senior Spotlight: Part One

The department wishes its graduating seniors the best as they apply for jobs and begin the exciting transition to the next chapter of their lives! This post is the first installment in a series to spotlight these seniors, who generously shared their favorite memory of being a major in the English Department and their post-graduation plans.

Sydney Ross is an Integrated Language Arts major. "My favorite memory would have to be getting initiated into Sigma Tau Delta or when we read The Los Angeles Diaries by James Brown with Dr. Mackall. He made ENG 351: Adv. Comp. a great experience for me by opening my eyes to new styles of writing. Also, he made discussing the writing interesting by using his wit and humor to make class enjoyable. I plan to find a teaching position as a middle school Language Arts teacher in a good community! If that does not work out, I plan to look at graduate school in the fall."

Amber Pope is triple major in Political Science, History, and English. She recalls her favorite memory as "working on my Thesis project with Dr. Weaver and the discussions we had over Greek Literature together." After graduation, her plans include "possibly attending graduate school to study library sciences a year after graduation."

Andrew Potosky is a Creative Writing major and History minor. "My favorite memory was probably when I got to showcase some of my ideas before my fellow students. I enjoyed listening to their ideas, as well, to see just what people were working on. I plan to be a writer, and might work with a museum." Andrew generously offers his gratitude to the department: "Thank you for the opportunity to study with you here!"

Sarah Rayman is a double major in English and Philosophy with a minor in Political Science. Reflecting back on her time at Ashland, Sarah's favorite memory of the department is "any class with Linda Joyce Brown or Jayne Waterman: discussion was always cultivated so well and I left knowing more that I thought I did before! I always enjoyed coming up with creative paper topics and finding quotes to back up my claim, even when I felt it was a stretch! They always made literature such a JOY to be a part of and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to work with them! My plan for graduation is to move to Chicago for my new job with the Alpha Phi Foundation! I recently accepted a position as their Chapter Giving Coordinator!"

Morgan McCarthy is an English major and Political Science minor. "I have many favorite memories, but one of my favorite memories, which I was reminded of during my exit interview, was relating the eggplant emoji to the poem To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell in Seventeenth Century Literature. After graduation, I plan on going to law school next year, where I will study family law. I'm the mean time, I will be working at one of the jobs I've sent my application to."

Congratulations to these soon-to-be graduates! The department is fortunate to have enjoyed their contributions, both academically and through the energy each individual student has brought to their professors and fellow students through their unique presence at Ashland. 

Dr. Deborah Fleming Reads from New Book

Dr. Deborah Fleming reading from her new book, Resurrection of the Wild

On April 16, an audience of students, faculty, and community members gathered to hear Dr. Deborah Fleming read from Resurrection of the Wild: Meditations on Ohio's Natural Landscape. The collection of essays, published by Kent State University Press, is described in full here. Congratulations, Dr. Fleming!

Ellie Jensen, Kellie Pleshinger, and Sara Ludwig Recognized at AU Academic Honors Convocation

On Sunday, April 14, Ashland University held its annual Honors Convocation to recognize outstanding students and faculty. Each year, the department's faculty vote to honor an outstanding sophomore, junior, and senior. The students chosen for this high honor are subsequently recognized at the University-wide Convocation. This year's recipients were as follows:

Outstanding Sophomore: Ellie Jensen (Integrated Language Arts major)
Outstanding Junior: Kellie Pleshinger (Creative Writing and Digital Media Production double major)
Outstanding Senior: Sara Ludwig (English and Creative Writing double major)

The department congratulates these students for their exceptional academic performance, including not only their graded work but also their consistent contributions in their classes and in the overall life of the department. 

Kellie Pleshinger, Ellie Jensen, and Sara Ludwig are pictured following their recognition at the Convocation

Dr. Deborah Fleming Honored with AU Excellence in Scholarship Award

On Sunday, April 14, Ashland University held its annual Honors Convocation to recognize outstanding students and faculty. Dr. Deborah Fleming, Professor of English, was honored with the 2019 Excellence in Scholarship Award for her outstanding record of scholarly achievement. 

Dr. Fleming’s research interests include Anglo-Irish literature, environmental studies, and modern poetry, especially the work of William Butler Yeats, Robinson Jeffers, and Eamon Grennan.   After earning her PhD in English at Ohio State University in 1985, she published “A man who does not exist”:  The Irish Peasant in the Work of W. B. Yeats and J. M. Synge with the University of Michigan Press and articles on Yeats, Jeffers, Grennan, Orwell, and Aldo Leopold.  In 2015 she published Towers of Myth and Stone:  Yeats’s Influence on Robinson Jeffers with the University of South Carolina Press.  She has edited two collections of essays published by Locust Hill Press, Learning the Trade:  W. B. Yeats and Contemporary Poetry and W. B. Yeats and Postcolonialism.  She has published two collections of poetry, Morning, Winter Solstice (Vineyard, 2012) and Into a New Country (Cherry Grove, 2016) and two chapbooks by Finishing Line Press, Migrations (2005) and Source of the River (2018). In 2014 she published a novel, Without Leave (Black Mountain Press), winner of the Asheville Award, and in 2019 a collection of environmental essays, Resurrection of the Wild: Meditations on Ohio’s Natural Landscape with Kent State University Press.  She has received awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Council of Learned Societies.  Three of her poems have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes.  Currently she is Editor and Director of the Ashland Poetry Press.

The department is delighted that Dr. Fleming has been recognized with this high honor for her significant contributions in both scholarly and creative work.

Naomi Sims Presents Her Research at AU Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Symposium

On Tuesday, April 9, Creative Writing and Political Science double major Naomi Sims shared her research at Ashland University's College of Arts and Sciences tenth annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) Symposium. Sims' faculty sponsor was Dr. Maura Grady. Sims' abstract for her presentation, as it appears in the URCA 2019 booklet, reads

The Relationship of Artificial Intelligence and Humanity: Andy, the Analysis of a Screenplay

Artificial Intelligence (AI) was once an idea only found in science-fiction. True AI, or Artificial Intelligence that is sentient, self-aware, and possesses a will, has not manifested yet but research suggests that the technology is fast approaching. The script explores the relationship between humanity and AI and the political implications of true AI in human communities. The screenplay follows the story of Andy, the world’s most advanced Android (the Android YSeries), as he struggles to navigate relationships, exercise his autonomy, and embrace his humanity while working for a space tourism company where he is part of the mission team that is sending a spaceship full of tourists to catch a ride on Halley’s Comet. I chose to explore this topic through film as opposed to more formal academic mediums because film provokes thought and introspection by placing the viewer in the shoes of a character. Generally, AI is portrayed in very negative and terrifying ways in film. While that is one possibility, I am exploring the option of an AI that is not driven to destroy humanity but wants to be human. What would that look like? What rights should they have? How should we treat them? These are some philosophical, moral, and political questions I seek to answer by creating a fictional world and exploring what those relationships could look like. The oral presentation will consist of a synopsis of the screenplay and discussion of the process and research that informed the creative decisions taken in the script.

Naomi Sims presenting her research at the Symposium

Naomi Sims with her faculty mentor, Dr. Maura Grady

The department congratulates Sims on her valuable contribution to undergraduate research at Ashland University. 

Shelby Aulger Presents Her Research at AU Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Symposium

On Tuesday, April 9, Ashland University's College of Arts and Sciences held its tenth annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) Symposium. This day-long event included student oral presentations and poster/exhibition sessions from a diverse range of disciplines within the College. Each URCA student worked with a faculty mentor, not only on their project, but also to submit their abstract for consideration in the Symposium and to prepare for their session once their abstract had been accepted through a formal review process by Ashland University faculty.

Among this year's English Department students presenting at URCA was Integrated Language Arts major Shelby Aulger, whose faculty mentor was Dr. Sharleen Mondal. Aulger's abstract for her presentation, as it appears in the URCA 2019 booklet, reads

Defining What is Natural: Gender Issues of Dominance and Control Within Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston’s 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God marks, for many scholars, the end of the Harlem Renaissance. Arriving just seventeen years after suffrage for women was granted by the Nineteenth Amendment, her work directly confronts gender issues of her time. Prior literary consideration has often focused on the novel’s significant exploration of race and of gender in terms of infidelity and individuality. This study expands upon that work by analyzing how Hurston confronts patriarchal power structures through her vast symbolism and colorful metaphorical language. The presentation will examine the use of mules, pear trees, and checkers to highlight the status of women in the 1930’s—including stereotypes, domestic roles, and sexuality— as well as the violence and dominance of men. Hurston also often hints at the idea that what is deemed “natural” is in fact, far from what she supposed it to be. This presentation also addresses Hurston’s skillful use of contrast, comparisons to the natural world, and connections to the distribution of power in social conventions and under patriarchy to discuss the idea that what society deems to be natural is often determined by those in power. That determination, as Hurston reveals, was used to mar the natural world as she perceived its original state to be. 

Aulger reflected on what drew her to this project, noting that

I started this project as an Honors Contract Course for ENG 314, after rediscovering a fondness for Hurston's work that first began in high school. I appreciate the colorful, often metaphorical language and the subtleties with which Hurston writes; thus, her works have always resonated with me. In its beginnings, the project merely focused on gender issues in the novel, but I worked to narrow my scope to examine the idea of defining natural social interaction and the ways that Hurston uses this concept to address gender inequality and toxic masculinity. I would say that this project was meaningful to me in my own quest to explore literary and historical opinions on gender inequality, as well as in helping to rekindle my admiration for Hurston's work. I feel that this endeavor also allowed me to explore the novel on a much deeper and more significant level than ever before.

The department congratulates Aulger on her successful presentation and appreciates her rich contribution to undergraduate literary studies research at Ashland University.

Shelby Aulger presenting her research at the Symposium

Shelby Aulger with her faculty mentor, Dr. Sharleen Mondal

Ashland Poetry Press Celebrates 50th Anniversary with Reading by Mark Jarman

On Monday, April 8, the Ashland Poetry Press celebrated its 50th anniversary with a reading by esteemed poet and Vanderbilt University Centennial Professor of English Mark Jarman. Prior to the reading, Dr. Deborah Fleming, Director and Editor of the Press, shared a presentation detailing the Press's history, including black-and-white photographs from the operation's pre-digital days and some of the most memorable and prestigious occasions in which the Press has been involved. Dr. Jennifer Rathbun, Associate Editor, discussed the Press's new translation series.

In addition to reading several poems, Professor Jarman offered opportunities for audience members to ask questions and also engaged several undergraduate Creative Writing majors in conversation about their work. The department was honored to mark the Press's anniversary with his visit.

Department Faculty/Student Outing to See Baskerville

On April 3, Sigma Tau Delta, the English honorary society, sponsored a faculty/staff pizza party and subsequent outing to see the AU Theatre Department's production of Baskerville on opening night. Held in the smaller and more intimate Studio Theatre, the show featured five performers who played over forty characters in a comedic portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic tale. The department is grateful to Sigma Tau Delta for providing an opportunity for pleasant fellowship between faculty and students!

Faculty and students in the Coburn Art Gallery, which adjoins the Studio Theatre, after the performance

Snyder Prize Upcoming Deadline

The Ashland Poetry Press announced in January that the Press was accepting applications for the 2019 Snyder Prize; the deadline for submissions is April 30.

The final judge for the Snyder Prize is the esteemed Maggie Smith:

Maggie Smith is the author of three books of poetry: Good Bones (Tupelo Press, 2017); The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison (2015); and Lamp of the Body (Red Hen Press, 2005). Smith is also the author of three prizewinning chapbooks. Her poems are widely published and anthologized, appearing in Best American Poetry, the New York Times, Tin House, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, Virginia Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. In 2016 her poem “Good Bones” went viral internationally and has been translated into nearly a dozen languages. Public Radio International called it “the official poem of 2016.”

The winner of the Snyder Prize will have their manuscript published by Ashland Poetry Press, will receive 50 copies, and will be awarded $1,000. Submission guidelines can be found here.