Spring Preview

Spring Lilacs in Manhattan, KS (2022) Welcome to the spring semester! We hope that you are keeping well and safe as 2023 gets underway. Here are some of the events -- some online only, some HyFlex, some only in person -- that we're looking forward to in the months ahead. Please join us for community, … Continue reading Spring Preview

How to Build a Hopeful Future: Reject Citizenship

A scene from the epilogue of Mockingjay, Part 2 Today we share the fourth of six pieces of public writing selected for publication from an assignment in ENGL 801 “Graduate Studies in English” -- and the first selection from Section A of ENGL 801, taught this fall by Cameron Leader-Picone: a piece of public scholarship … Continue reading How to Build a Hopeful Future: Reject Citizenship

Secular Nightmares: Mental Health and the Absence of God in Parker Finn’s Smile

Promotional image for Parker Finn's 2022 film Smile Today we share the third of six pieces of public writing selected for publication from an assignment in ENGL 801 “Graduate Studies in English”: a piece of public scholarship (700-1,000 words) which tailors an academic paper and its scholarly intervention of 10-12 pages for a general-interest audience. … Continue reading Secular Nightmares: Mental Health and the Absence of God in Parker Finn’s Smile

Alumni Spotlight: Lisa Sisley

Lisa Sisley (BA '92) Congratulations to Lisa Sisley (BA '92) on her retirement this month from New Boston Creative Group! As the New Boston team announced last month, "Nearly 17 years ago, Lisa Sisley helped found New Boston Creative Group LLC with Kristin Brighton and Susan Religa. Since then, Lisa has served our community, helped … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Lisa Sisley

Can YA Fiction Predict the Future? Political Mimicry in Kiera Cass’s The Selection Series

Original illustration by author Kiera Cass of her characters America and Maxon from Happily Ever After: Companion to the Selection Series (2015) Today we share the second of six pieces of public writing selected for publication from an assignment in ENGL 801 “Graduate Studies in English”: a piece of public scholarship (700-1,000 words) which tailors … Continue reading Can YA Fiction Predict the Future? Political Mimicry in Kiera Cass’s The Selection Series

Learning, Unlearning, and the Freedom to Read

On December 10, 2022, University Distinguished Professor Phil Nel provided the commencement address for the College of Arts and Sciences at Kansas State University. Below is the text of his speech. Many thanks to Phil for allowing us to share it here. (You can view his presentation through the university’s archived video at 16:00.) Good … Continue reading Learning, Unlearning, and the Freedom to Read

Signs, Signs, Everywhere…The Hidden Depth of Japanese Signs in Spirited Away

From Spirited Away (2002) In ENGL 801 "Graduate Studies in English," a required course for incoming M.A. students, we have always asked our graduate students to develop an original contribution to a current scholarly conversation about a literary or cultural text. Starting in 2020, we added a final writing assignment: we asked our graduate students … Continue reading Signs, Signs, Everywhere…The Hidden Depth of Japanese Signs in Spirited Away

November 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover image for The SAGE Encyclopedia of Filipina/x/o American Studies (SAGE, 2022), where Tom Sarmiento has published under the letter M “Midwest, Filipina/x/o Americans in the.”  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, … Continue reading November 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity