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

Release Party for Aaron Burch’s Year of the Buffalo

On Tuesday night, we held a Zoom release party for Aaron Burch and his debut novel, Year of the Buffalo, the first book from American Buffalo Books, a brand-new independent press affiliated with Kansas State's English Department. We did all the usual book-release things: we heard Aaron read (excellently) from his new book (also excellent), … Continue reading Release Party for Aaron Burch’s Year of the Buffalo

October 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover image for B is for Baldwin: An Alphabet Tour of the Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature (U of Florida Press, 2022), where Anuja Madan has published “A is for Anglophone.”  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 … Continue reading October 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Research and Road Trips: K-State English, the Western Literature Association, and the Road to Sante Fe

Four Kansas State University professors (Valerie Padilla Carroll, Michele Janette, Mary Kohn, and Lisa Tatonetti) and three students (Bailey Britton, Meghan Luttrell, and Kinsley Searles) attended the 56th annual Western Literature Association (WLA) conference, which took place in Santa Fe, New Mexico last week, October 19-22. The conference, “Palimpsests and Western Literatures: The Layered Spaces … Continue reading Research and Road Trips: K-State English, the Western Literature Association, and the Road to Sante Fe

From the Archive: Taylor Swift’s evermore (Emily Dickinson’s Version)

Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson (left) and Ella Hunt as Sue Gilbert (right) in Dickinson (image: Apple TV+) Since our blog debuted in 2017, we have published 300+ posts.  While some of you may have been with us from the start (thank you, loyal readers!), others may have joined us more recently. So, we're highlighting … Continue reading From the Archive: Taylor Swift’s evermore (Emily Dickinson’s Version)

September 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover image for The Material Culture of Writing, edited by Cydney Alexis and colleague Hannah J. Rule (Utah State UP, 2022)   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, and creative activity outlined … Continue reading September 2022 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Kansas State Indigenous Peoples Day

Prairie Band Potawatomi Chairman Zeke Rupnick, Chairman of the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas Lester Randall, and Communications Director of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska Olivia Brien speak at the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Day Conference (10 October 2022) Monday, October 10, 2022 was Indigenous Peoples Day. At Kansas State, it was the seventh year that the … Continue reading Kansas State Indigenous Peoples Day

Grad Student Spotlight: Fereshteh Majdi

A photo from Twitter shows a woman setting fire to her headscarf during a protest in Tehran on Monday, Sept 19, 2022. Source: BBC From the very first day of school, we have been told that police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a country to ensure citizens' safety, health, and possessions. Now … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Fereshteh Majdi

Poetic Postal Routes in ENGL 763

Letters to sections of the day's reading in ENGL 763 This semester I am teaching ENGL 763 "Creative Writing Workshop: Poetry," our graduate poetry workshop in which we read collections of contemporary poetry to study craft elements we can emulate. We often use the space outside our classroom and have different craft stations so we … Continue reading Poetic Postal Routes in ENGL 763