ENGL 287 "Great Books" (Spring 2024) The Spring ‘24 in-person section of English 287 “Great Books” asked the question, “What Makes a Great Book?” We read novels, a short story, a graphic memoir, and a collection of poetry, and students wrote final papers addressed to a specific audience that explained what made one of those … Continue reading What Makes a Great Book? Answers in Infographic Arguments
Andi Schubert (MA '16) at Cambridge One or Two Things I Learned for Sure at the KSU English Department (After Dorothy Allison’s Two or Three Things I Know for Sure) There’s one or two things I learnt for sure at KSU, and one of them is that I can cry. It’s not something I … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Andi Schubert
Cover for Anne Longmuir’s John Ruskin and the Victorian Woman Writer (Routledge, 2025) Art galleries are not just great places for first dates, they’re also great places to observe other people on first dates. It’s November 2021 and the Omicron variant is racing through Britain, like much of the rest of the world. I’m on … Continue reading Faculty Spotlight: Anne Longmuir
Banned Books Week 2024 (Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association) As I feel the nostalgic and contemplative air of Fall take affect on me, I reach for my well-loved copy of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. Vuong’s introspective and evocative prose transcends me into a world of understanding oneself through the … Continue reading Recognizing Banned Books Week 2024 at K-State
Location: Department digital archivesObject: Photo of Professor Naomi Wood, 24 September 2014, reading from Shel Silverstein's Falling Up for Banned Books Week 2014 (photo by Hannah Hunsinger for The Collegian)Observations: 1) Next week (Sept 22-28, 2024) brings the American Library Association's Banned Books Week -- a week, as the ALA's website explains, that "brings together … Continue reading Found Object: Banned Books Week 2014
Photo collage of letters and documents for Dracula (LegendaryTalesEdit) Since our blog debuted in 2017, we have published 500+ posts. While some of you may have been with us from the start (thank you, loyal readers!), others may have joined us more recently. So, we're highlighting periodically some of the posts that have garnered a … Continue reading From the Archive: Mina Harker is More Than Just a Love Interest
Location: 2nd Floor, English Counseling Services BuildingObject: Whiteboard (September 2024)Observations: 1) Since last academic year, the whiteboard on the 2nd floor of ECS has continued to pose questions, ask for opinions, and prompt stories. 2) For the past week, it has been collecting favorite fall activities. 3) From outdoor adventures ("Hiking!!!" and "Sitting around a … Continue reading Found Object: Pleasures of Fall
Katie Alberston (BA '27, Business Administration) What makes a great book? One answer to this compelling and controversial question holds that any work of art that unites materials (in literature that is words, in painting pigment, in architecture bricks and boards) and meaning (ideas, pictures, structures) qualifies. Katie Albertson (BA '27, Business Administration) found that … Continue reading Immersive Poetry: An Honors Project from English 287 “Great Books”
Ferris wheels and funnel cakes. Showing goats and eating hotdogs. Live music and prize vegetables. These are some of the big draws for the Kansas State Fair, held every September in Hutchinson, KS. But these are also great subjects for poems. This year at the Kansas State Fair, there will be 20 poems about displays … Continue reading Poetry Harvest: Poems at the State Fair
Cover for Anne Longmuir's John Ruskin and the Victorian Woman Writer (Routledge, 2025) Each month during the academic year, we assemble a newsletter of the department's recent publications, presentations, announcements, and awards. The issue for September showcases a greater range of research, scholarship, and creative activity that our faculty and students have shared beyond Kansas … Continue reading Summer 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity
