2021-2022 Annual Awards

Lilacs in bloom in Manhattan, KS ~ early evening, April 2022 This first weekend in May would usually find us at the Alumni Center for dinner, conversation, and celebration. We always look forward to recognizing our award winners at our Annual Awards Banquet. However, as it did the past two years, the continuing presence of … Continue reading 2021-2022 Annual Awards

April 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover for the edited collection Screening #MeToo, where Katy Karlin's work appears.   Each month during the academic year, we assemble a newsletter of the department's recent publications, presentations, announcements, and awards. As we enter a third year living with COVID-19, we continue to direct energies towards teaching our courses and to supporting others during … Continue reading April 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Grad Student Spotlight: Jorden Schoenhofer

The concept of my M.A. project, the beginning of a Y.A. novel titled Mirrored Mirage, started on a patio with fireflies glinting on and off in the distance. My dog rolled freely in the coolness of the grass, while a gentle wind encased me with the haunting screams of the summer cicadas. Their tones became a choir … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Jorden Schoenhofer

March 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover for the edited collection Little Women at 150, where Greg Eiselein's work appears.   Each month during the academic year, we assemble a newsletter of the department's recent publications, presentations, announcements, and awards. As we enter a third year living with COVID-19, we continue to direct energies towards teaching our courses and to supporting … Continue reading March 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Grad Student Spotlight: Hannah Rollison

Hannah Rolllison (MA '22) I came to the K-State M.A. program in English not knowing what to expect or what my future held. My drive as a lifelong learner led me here, but as a first-generation student, I had no idea what it meant to be in a Master’s program or if I deserved my … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Hannah Rollison

February 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Image from Anuja Madan's article “‘I Am Not an Animal’: Vikram Balagopal’s Psychologization of Hanuman in Simian” in the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics (2022) showing Hanuman reconfigured as a gelada baboon.   Each month during the academic year, we assemble a newsletter of the department's recent publications, presentations, announcements, and awards. As we … Continue reading February 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

#Shakespeare After Shakespeare

On Friday, February 18th, the Literature Track hosted a pre-show event in conjunction with the Manhattan Arts Center’s production of The Book of Will. First staged in 2018 and written by Laurie Gunderson, The Book of Will shows how friendship, not scholarship, motivated Shakespeare’s actor-friends to gather all his plays into a single collection seven … Continue reading #Shakespeare After Shakespeare

Winter 2021-2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover for Karma Animalia (Social Justice Anthologies, 2022) by Ania Payne   Each month during the academic year, we assemble a newsletter of the department's recent publications, presentations, announcements, and awards. As we begin a third year living with COVID-19, we continue to direct energies towards teaching our courses and to supporting others during the … Continue reading Winter 2021-2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Move over Afropolitans, We are Going Old School

(Photo by Hongqi Zhang) If you post a question like “Who is African?” on Twitter, your timeline will immediately become bombarded both with hot takes about what constitutes the African identity on one hand and a big earful of insults from individuals who don’t think that the question should exist at all. Yet, no matter … Continue reading Move over Afropolitans, We are Going Old School

Bless Your Heart, Regionalism and Southern Literature Just Ain’t the Same Thing

Kudzu Vines (photo) Southern Literature: the hallowed playground of venerated authors such William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and Flannery O’Connor. Their novels and short stories have created such a comprehensive and detailed landscape that when we revisit texts such as The Sound and the Fury or Wise Blood, our minds cannot help but conjure images of … Continue reading Bless Your Heart, Regionalism and Southern Literature Just Ain’t the Same Thing