Last week I took students in my ENGL 388 "Asian American Literatures" class to our campus art museum, the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art. We had the chance to go behind the scenes and look at beautiful and powerful artwork by Roger Shimomura and Yoonmi Nam. This artwork complemented our reading of Miné Okubo’s … Continue reading At the Beach Museum of Art with ENGL 388 “Asian American Literatures”
A couple of weeks ago, I climbed into my bright blue Ford Focus, filled up the gas tank (thank you English Department!), and turned on a murder podcast to pass the time for the three-hour drive to Argonia, Kansas. Located about an hour southwest of Wichita, Argonia dominated national news in 1887 when the small … Continue reading “Kansas Women Have Done It”: Visiting America’s First Woman Mayor in Argonia, Kansas
Would you be able to survive the year 1607 as an early colonist? Last Friday (February 14), undergraduate students enrolled in ENGL 381 "American Survey I" with Associate Professor Steffi Dippold took a field trip to the Flint Hills Discovery Center to answer that question. "American Adventure," on exhibit until May 10 in the Tallgrass … Continue reading Surviving 1607
The conversation surrounding diversity in children’s and adolescent literature has been growing for decades -- despite little change in the publishing industry -- with readers, writers, and educators clamoring for more stories from, about, and for underrepresented groups, such as the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, and people of color. This movement also opens the … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Molly L. Burt
On the eve of St. Valentine's Day, we decided to serve up some counter programming. We asked members and friends of the K-State English Department to share a book they truly despise, inspired in part by the conversation about American Dirt, a No. 1 bestseller, that has been rightfully panned for its inaccuracies, its cultural … Continue reading The Books We Hate
In summer 2019, I was reading a myriad of folks on Twitter talking syllabi and assignments. The conversations were invigorating, and I was especially attracted to a syllabus that Dave Gaertner, a brilliant assistant professor in First Nations and Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia, put together for a course on digital literacies. … Continue reading On Photo Essays and the Sharing of Knowledge: In Praise of New Assignments
I love the library, but it is possible the library doesn’t love me back. Two weeks after I was hired to be the communications student for K-State Libraries, Hale Library caught on fire and was shut down for repairs for an indefinite amount of time. I definitely expected to receive an email telling me that … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Brenna Leahy
As promised in the posts from last September, October, November, and December, 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 … Continue reading Winter 2019-2020 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity
The landscape of western Kansas is perhaps best known for two things: wide fields and tall elevators. While eerie fields have had plenty of great moments in gothic fiction, the towering grain elevators that stand guard over them have received considerably less literary attention. My M.A. thesis, titled “Son of the Devil,” is a gothic … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Nick Cady
"Now that I live in Boston for grad school and Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of Little Women was just nominated for Best Picture, it seemed an ideal time to return to Concord and Little Women": This week, as the awards season bestows accolades and throws shade at the most recent adaptation of Alcott's Little Women, … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Macy Davis
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