Spring Preview

Though today’s ice and snow remind us that winter is still at hand, the start of the semester promises springtime ahead!

Here are some of the events that we’re looking forward to in the coming months:

~ Associate Professor Abby Knoblauch launches our Spring Colloquia Series on Wednesday, February 13. Abby is back from her fall semester sabbatical with a lecture titled “Do I Look Fat in This Essay?” at 3:30pm in Union 227. Then, join us on Wednesday, March 20 at 3:30pm in the Union Cottonwood Room for “Blessed Fruits: Readings and Implications of Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.” Organized by the Graduate Track in British and American Literature, this event will feature a selection of short (~5 mins) “lightning talks” by faculty and graduate students on a variety of topics connected to Atwood’s novel. Our Spring Colloquia series concludes with our annual Graduate Literature Symposium, featuring three presentations by current M.A. students, on Wednesday, April 24, at 3:30pm in Union Wildcat Chamber.

~ Our Visiting Writers Series brings two authors to campus this spring. First up is fiction writer Laura Moriarty on Friday, February 22 at 3:30pm in Union Wildcat Chamber. We then look forward to hosting fiction writer Jamel Brinkley on Friday, March 22 at 3:30pm in the same location.

~ Year 2 of the renewed Driptorch Creative Performance Series continues on Friday, February 15 at 7:00pm at Arrow Coffee. Featured writers include Teresa Milbrodt, Jacqueline Boucher, and Ryan Ellis (M.A. ’19) — and, if you’d like to contribute, too, bring something to read for the open mic portion of the evening.

~ Our annual Cultural Studies Symposium is in its 27th year, maintaining its track record as the longest running Cultural Studies event in the country. This year, we host Lisa Lowe, who begins her appointment this month at Yale University as the Samuel Knight Professor of American Studies. Lowe’s award-winning scholarship focuses on colonialism and immigration, and she is currently completing a book on “Metaphors of Globalization” (Duke University Press). Lowe will present her lecture at 4:00pm on Friday March 1, location TBA.

~ The year-long celebration for the 150th Anniversary of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women continues this spring under the guidance of two international Alcott experts, our very own Greg Eiselein and Anne Phillips. Stay tuned for details about a marathon reading of Little Women! In the meantime, mark your calendar for Saturday, February 9 at 2:00pm for a reading group discussion of Alcott’s novel at the Manhattan Public Library — and bookmark the weekly blog, Little Women 150, to learn more about Little Women from scholars and fans.

Keep up to date on all events at our online calendar, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for photos and recaps — and check back here each week for highlights of research and creative activity from our faculty and students, perspectives from our alumni, glimpses into the department’s past, and plans for its future.

— Karin Westman, Department Head