Fall Preview

Kansas wheat photographed by David Mayes for Kansas State Research and Extension, 2016. The Fall 2023 semester is underway -- and it sure is toasty here in the Little Apple! Kudos to the students, faculty, and staff who are navigating record-setting heat as classes begin, and we'll look forward to temps below 100 degrees in … Continue reading Fall Preview

Alumni Spotlight: Ashley Brown Morris

Ashley Brown Morris (BA '09, MA '12) I began my love affair with the K-State English Department in during the fall 2005 semester as an undergraduate freshman student. I came to K-State without knowing what I wanted to major in but knowing that I had always loved my English classes. This love only grew, and, … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Ashley Brown Morris

Remembering James Armagost

We recently learned about the passing of Dr. James (Jim) Armagost (1941-2023), faculty emeritus in Speech who had an active presence in our English Department for many years before his retirement in 2000. A professor of Linguistics, Jim taught introductory and advanced courses in the field during his 27 years at K-State for his home … Continue reading Remembering James Armagost

You Need to Snog a Lot of Frogs to Find a Tolerable Prince

"The Frog Prince" by Scott Gustafson (2003, 2023) Did you know that fairy tales are teaching our youth the dangers of premarital sex? The Wolf that stalks Little Red Riding Hood is trying to deflower her, Beauty spends her story taming the Beast’s masculine sexual aggression. Animalistic tendencies are painted in a purely violent manner, … Continue reading You Need to Snog a Lot of Frogs to Find a Tolerable Prince

April 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Several English Department faculty, graduate students, and alumni presented at the Popular Culture/American Culture Association Conference in San Antonio, TX, 5-8 April 2023. Each month during the academic year, we assemble a newsletter of the department's recent publications, presentations, announcements, and awards. We're happy to recognize the recent successes in research, scholarship, and creative activity … Continue reading April 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

From Gendered Blood to Magical Silver: Student Symposium on Asian American Lit

Michele Janette's ENGL 680 "Asian American Literature" class (May 2023) You know how it is: you have these great conversations, read these fabulous books, discover these new ideas, and write this great paper, and only your professor sees it before it vanishes into last year's folder on your laptop, or into the inaccessible corners of … Continue reading From Gendered Blood to Magical Silver: Student Symposium on Asian American Lit

Ask Yourself the Best Questions

On May 13, 2023, Traci Brimhall, Professor of English and Poet Laureate of Kansas, provided the commencement address for the College of Arts and Sciences at Kansas State University. Below is the text of her speech. Many thanks to Traci for allowing us to share it here. (You can view her presentation through the university’s … Continue reading Ask Yourself the Best Questions

Rebury, Repatriate, Reclaim: Rhetoric of the “Salina Burial Pit”

Postcard of a roadside sign for the Indian Burial Pit near Salina, Kansas, c. 1950-1960. Courtesy of the Kansas Historical Society's Kansas Memory online archive. As the academic year comes to a close, today we share the final piece of public writing selected for publication from an assignment in ENGL 801 “Graduate Studies in English” … Continue reading Rebury, Repatriate, Reclaim: Rhetoric of the “Salina Burial Pit”

Found Object: 2023 M.A. Projects

Location: Social media.Object: Project Titles,  graduating M.A. students.Observations: 1) Each spring, for many years, we have displayed the M.A. Project and Thesis titles of our graduating M.A. students at our annual spring Awards Banquet.  2) This year, even as we've resumed an in-person awards celebration, we're continuing our new (Covid-inspired) tradition: with the help of … Continue reading Found Object: 2023 M.A. Projects