We Do Not Have Middle Names

Cover to the Penguin Classics Edition of America Is in the Heart (Artwork by Sarah Gonzales) Today we share the final piece of public writing selected for publication from an assignment in ENGL 801 “Graduate Studies in English” — and the third selection from Section A of ENGL 801, taught this fall by Cameron Leader-Picone: … Continue reading We Do Not Have Middle Names

Bringing Blake’s Illuminated Books to Life

Viewing prints of William Blake's illustrated poetry in Hale Library's Special Collections Nestled on the top floor of Hale, Special Collections welcomes brave wanderers (and ENGL 362 "British Survey II" classes). The subject of the day’s undertaking on February 19? William Blake. After a quick—and well-deserved—plug from the archivists, we were off! (For those wondering, … Continue reading Bringing Blake’s Illuminated Books to Life

Maybe We’re All Bottoms!

Screenshot from the film Bottoms (2023) Today we share the fifth of six pieces of public writing selected for publication from an assignment in ENGL 801 “Graduate Studies in English” — and the second selection from Section A of ENGL 801, taught this fall by Cameron Leader-Picone: a piece of public scholarship (700-1,000 words) which … Continue reading Maybe We’re All Bottoms!

The “Pretty” Trap

Photo: “Woman Putting on Red Lipstick” by Vitaly Gorbachev. 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 The “Pretty” Trap

What Happens to Childless Mothers?

Copies of The Lovely Bones, including the Chinese translation, "蘇西的世界," wait to be read. 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 … Continue reading What Happens to Childless Mothers?

Resting in Peace: Why Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Keeps Sharon Tate Away from the Action

Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 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 an academic paper and its scholarly intervention of 10-12 pages … Continue reading Resting in Peace: Why Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Keeps Sharon Tate Away from the Action

Mina Harker is More Than Just a Love Interest

Photo collage of letters and documents for Dracula (LegendaryTalesEdit) 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: … Continue reading Mina Harker is More Than Just a Love Interest

Materialist Approaches in ENGL 220

Students from the K-State First Year Seminar course ENGL 220 "Fiction into Film" visit the Beach Museum to see the exhibition on "Women Artists in the Era of Second Wave Feminism" This semester, I’ve had the great opportunity to teach ENGL 220 “Fiction into Film” as a First-Year Seminar, where we read literary texts and … Continue reading Materialist Approaches in ENGL 220

From the Archive: Halloween Horror: The Tell-Tale Heart

Image Credit: Goodreads Since our blog debuted in 2017, we have published 400+ 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 periodically some of the posts that have garnered a lot of views or that address … Continue reading From the Archive: Halloween Horror: The Tell-Tale Heart

A Sense of Place for Midwesterners of Color: A Podcast from ENGL 650

For Fall 2023, I’m teaching ENGL 650 "Readings in 20th- & 21st-Century American Literature" as “Multiethnic Literatures of the Midwest.” Centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Midwestern stories and authors, the course invites us to explore our perceptions and misconceptions about America’s heartland and to discover the rich diversity of the region. In … Continue reading A Sense of Place for Midwesterners of Color: A Podcast from ENGL 650