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
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”
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
Irises in bloom in Manhattan, KS ~ early evening, April 2023 Our annual awards celebration was back in person for the first time since 2019, now that the height of the COVID pandemic has passed and we could gather with greater safety. Rather than the sit-down banquet from the pre-COVID days, we opted for a … Continue reading 2022-2023 Annual Awards
Steven Tolson (MA '10) In 2022, I was invited to speak on an alumni panel to current K-State English students and faculty. What follows is an adapted version of that discussion. How did I end up in Kansas? My partner and I applied to Master's programs all over the country, and K-State gave us the … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Steven Tolson
Screenshot of the Comp/Rhet virtual reunion (21 April 2023) One of the benefits of not having a Ph.D. program is we’re able to focus on our M.A. students, getting to know them well as scholars and as people. The downside, of course, is that after two years, they move on to other opportunities. Many of … Continue reading Comp/Rhet Virtual Reunion
Don Hedrick and Katy Karlin at their joint retirement celebration at the K-State Alumni Center (26 April 2023) On Wednesday April 26, we gathered at the Alumni Center, with concurrent live-stream, to celebrate the contributions of Don Hedrick and Katy Karlin, two of our faculty members who are retiring this May after, respectively, 47 … Continue reading Our Thanks to Don Hedrick and Katy Karlin
Cooling Bierock surrounded by undergraduates Claire Adamyk, Chase Bauman, Melaina Gross, Jolyon Griffith, Sarah Hemenway, Anna Jirak, Bella Lane, Olivia McComb, Reagan Montgomery, Hailey Rush, Zyler Wyman, Rachel Zimmerman together with Jeanette Rohleder, Elisa Karkle, and Steffi Dippold, instructor for ENGL 210 “Honors English: How to Cook a Raccoon: The Memory Work of Cookbook Collections” … Continue reading Scrumptious Kansan Krauts: English Students Bake Bierock with Bakery Science
Professor Emeritus James (Jim) Machor during a presentation on Mark Twain at the English Department’s 2016 Fall Colloquium In 2008, a special issue of Time magazine called Mark Twain “the most widely known literary figure on the planet,” dubbing him America’s “first literary superstar.” Despite their journalistic hyperbole, such comments testify to Twain’s hypercanonical status … Continue reading Faculty Spotlight: James Machor
Justin Dickinson (BA '23) Over spring break, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Costa Rica with Tanya Gonzalez and Rebecca Paz for our Latin(x) Literature course, ENGL 389. The trip was service-work oriented and was geared toward first-generation students and first-time travelers abroad. I had never left the country before the trip, but … Continue reading Undergrad Student Spotlight: Justin Dickinson
K-State English 