The 8-foot replica of the Ad Astra statue in McPherson, Kansas. Photo by the author. What do you think of when you imagine the Topeka skyline? Can you easily call to mind the figure that commands the sky? That figure is a 22 foot-tall sculpture of a Native American holding a bow and shooting an … Continue reading Undergrad Student Spotlight: Cheyenne White
Jaime DeTour and her major professor, Associate Professor Carol Franko The success of The Hunger Games and the Divergent series has led to the publication of many other young adult dystopian novels. While fictional dystopian societies can inspire movements for political change, such as the use of the iconic red handmaid’s uniform from The Handmaid’s … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Jaime DeTour
Office discoveries, as Dr. Michael Donnelly, Emeritus Associate Professor, cleaned out his office after 45 years of service to K-State. (Photo: August 7, 2017) Can you identify all of the technologies in the photo above? Have you taught with one or more of them? While assisting Emeritus Associate Professor Michael Donnelly this summer, as he … Continue reading Teaching with Technology through the Years
It's the spookiest time of year: You know, when undergraduates are trying to decide whether or not they should pursue graduate studies. At Kansas State, we have an M.A. program, and we've done a lot to make sure that our grad students receive financial support (most of our graduate students are also GTAs), opportunities for intellectual growth … Continue reading No, This Skeleton Did Not Prep for the GRE: On Applying to Grad School in English
It’s the time of the year for jack-o’-lanterns, bonfires, trick-or-treating, and costume parties! In celebration of Halloween, some of Kansas State University’s faculty suggest books that frighten and books that brighten (not all of our recommendations are scary). Happy Halloween! Elizabeth Dodd on Colson Whitehead’s Zone One (2011) We’re losing daylight fast. The weeks around … Continue reading Eleven Halloween Tales to Give You the Chills!
As a grad student in English, I chose the Cultural Studies Track because I am a conservative evangelical Christian. Wait, what? On the surface, this pairing may seem contradictory since Christians have the reputation for being judgmental, homophobic, and generally narrow-minded whereas cultural studies embraces diversity of all kinds. I believe, however, that real Christianity … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Grace Ure
Books may furnish a room, but it’s the shelves that provide the key to happiness. Where books give you all the intensive pleasures of reading and analysis, bookshelves offer the calmer joys of meditation and reflection. Let your eyes drift over the titles, the play of colors, the passing moments of nostalgia or recollection … Continue reading Shelfie Thursday: Kimball Smith
Professors Lisa Tatonetti (left) and Tanya González (right) turn to literature — by writers such as Frederick Douglass, Gloria Anzaldúato, and Mohsin Hamid — to help fight against bigotry. Trying to write anything about diversity in Manhattan, Kansas, at the current political moment seems impossible. Last week, there were incidents of homophobic chalking and reports across our community of … Continue reading Pages of Resistance
I am a Philosophy Major and English Minor in my third year of college. I have received an undergraduate research grant from K-State's College of Arts and Sciences for my research project, which I am working on under the guidance of Dr. Lisa Tatonetti. My research is focused on the rhetoric of the “alt-right” towards … Continue reading Undergrad Student Spotlight: Samuel Leyba
When Miguel Cervantes (left), the Chicago star of Hamilton, appeared at Kansas State on October 2, Daniel Gillespie was there. Sometimes even photo ops count as research. Of course I'm not throwing away my shot: The success of Hamilton (2016) has created a movement of academic awareness and scholarship about recent Broadway musicals that I hope to be involved with every step … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Daniel Gillespie
K-State English 