The Art and Craft of Literary Analysis

Among the outstanding students in Elementary Education who have pursued our relatively new minor in Children’s and Adolescent Literature and Culture, Katie Buhler (BS '20, Education) is especially impressive. In Professor Naomi Wood’s ENGL 384 “Multicultural Children’s Literature,” Professor Wendy Matlock’s ENGL 445 “Romance and Fairy Tales,” and my ENGL 355 “Literature for Children” and … Continue reading The Art and Craft of Literary Analysis

November 2019 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

As promised in the posts from September, October, and last month, here's our next installment of faculty, student, and alumni achievements in research, scholarship, and creative activity. Looking to catch up on past success or to find future announcements? Visit our archive of Reading Matters, our monthly newsletter. Have news to report? Email us at … Continue reading November 2019 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Alumni Spotlight: Melissa Prescott

  For the past two and a half years, I have and continue to serve a dual role at a small private school as a special needs teacher and behavior therapist for students with severe autism among other medical conditions. While the teaching component is a clear parallel to my time as a GTA with … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Melissa Prescott

Undergrad Student Spotlight: Lillian Brownlee

“Remembering is not a passionate or dispassionate retelling of a reality that is no more, but a new birth of the past, when time goes in reverse. Above all it is creativity.” ~ Svetlana Alexievich, The Unwomanly Face of War (xvii) I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and paused at a National Geographic photo … Continue reading Undergrad Student Spotlight: Lillian Brownlee

Remembering Truman Capote at Kansas State

On November 19, 1959, Truman Capote and Harper Lee visited Kansas State, initiating a connection between Capote and the university we can trace through the archives. As a 2011 news release about K-State Libraries's Special Collections explains, "Capote visited K-State several times while writing for the New Yorker magazine on the Clutter family murders in … Continue reading Remembering Truman Capote at Kansas State

The Heartland of U.S. Empire: Tracing the Midwest’s Connections to U.S. Imperialism in the Philippines and to Filipinx Diaspora

The Midwest is not the first place you might think of to study U.S. empire in the Philippines and diasporic Filipinx culture. Its relational unexpectedness positions it as structurally queer to Philippine and diasporic Filipinx geographies, ontologies, and epistemologies. And yet, as Filipinx American cultural studies scholar Sarita See provocatively asserts, “America’s heartland is riven … Continue reading The Heartland of U.S. Empire: Tracing the Midwest’s Connections to U.S. Imperialism in the Philippines and to Filipinx Diaspora

October 2019 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

As promised in the posts from September and last month, here's our next installment of faculty, student, and alumni achievements in research, scholarship, and creative activity. Looking to catch up on past success or to find future announcements? Visit our archive of Reading Matters, our monthly newsletter. Have news to report? Email us at english@ksu.edu. … Continue reading October 2019 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Out from Under His Eye: A Discussion of Margaret Atwood’s Dystopia

Last week on October 29, the Literature Track held an event at The Dusty Bookshelf celebrating the recent publication of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments — the long-awaited sequel to her 1985 dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. Both novels are set in an alternative present where the United States is overthrown by the authoritarian theocracy Gilead, … Continue reading Out from Under His Eye: A Discussion of Margaret Atwood’s Dystopia

Grad Student Spotlight: Katie Cline

My Master’s Project explores the complex relationships and tensions between cats, women, gender, knowledge, sexuality, and independence in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series in the context of other 20th century fantasy novels. So, why cats? Cats have been connected to women—and, especially, to witches—in literature for centuries, and my project interprets cats in Harry Potter … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Katie Cline