April 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Several English Department faculty, graduate students, and alumni presented at the Popular Culture/American Culture Association Conference in San Antonio, TX, 5-8 April 2023. 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 … Continue reading April 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

From Gendered Blood to Magical Silver: Student Symposium on Asian American Lit

Michele Janette's ENGL 680 "Asian American Literature" class (May 2023) You know how it is: you have these great conversations, read these fabulous books, discover these new ideas, and write this great paper, and only your professor sees it before it vanishes into last year's folder on your laptop, or into the inaccessible corners of … Continue reading From Gendered Blood to Magical Silver: Student Symposium on Asian American Lit

Rebury, Repatriate, Reclaim: Rhetoric of the “Salina Burial Pit”

Postcard of a roadside sign for the Indian Burial Pit near Salina, Kansas, c. 1950-1960. Courtesy of the Kansas Historical Society's Kansas Memory online archive. As the academic year comes to a close, today we share the final piece of public writing selected for publication from an assignment in ENGL 801 “Graduate Studies in English” … Continue reading Rebury, Repatriate, Reclaim: Rhetoric of the “Salina Burial Pit”

Found Object: 2023 M.A. Projects

Location: Social media.Object: Project Titles,  graduating M.A. students.Observations: 1) Each spring, for many years, we have displayed the M.A. Project and Thesis titles of our graduating M.A. students at our annual spring Awards Banquet.  2) This year, even as we've resumed an in-person awards celebration, we're continuing our new (Covid-inspired) tradition: with the help of … Continue reading Found Object: 2023 M.A. Projects

2022-2023 Annual Awards

Irises in bloom in Manhattan, KS ~ early evening, April 2023 Our annual awards celebration was back in person for the first time since 2019, now that the height of the COVID pandemic has passed and we could gather with greater safety. Rather than the sit-down banquet from the pre-COVID days, we opted for a … Continue reading 2022-2023 Annual Awards

Faculty Spotlight: James Machor

Professor Emeritus James (Jim) Machor during a presentation on Mark Twain at the English Department’s 2016 Fall Colloquium In 2008, a special issue of Time magazine called Mark Twain “the most widely known literary figure on the planet,” dubbing him America’s “first literary superstar.” Despite their journalistic hyperbole, such comments testify to Twain’s hypercanonical status … Continue reading Faculty Spotlight: James Machor

March 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover image for Jim Machor's new book The Mercurial Mark Twain(s): Reception, History and Iconic Authorship (Routledge, 2023) 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 below.  Want to catch … Continue reading March 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

February 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover image for Issue 108 of Quarterly West (2023), where Traci Brimhall's poem "Will & Testament" appears 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 below.  Want to catch up … Continue reading February 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Location, Location, Location: On the Trail of The Learning Tree

Visiting the Gordon Parks Museum in Fort Scott: Undergraduate research assistant Natassja Norwood (BA '25), Museum Director Kirk Sharp, Stephen Antwi (MA '24), and Ademola Adefolano (MA '24) (25 Feb 2023) We spent last Saturday afternoon hunting down a barn. Not just any barn. This was the barn where Gordon Parks shot a pivotal scene … Continue reading Location, Location, Location: On the Trail of The Learning Tree

AFTLS and Love Letters to Romeo and Juliet

Faculty and graduate student presenters bask in a K-State purple glow of success following their lightning talks (11 Feb 2023) On Saturday, February 11, in McCain Auditorium's Kirmser Hall, faculty and graduate students shared a series of lightning talks, "Love Letters to Romeo and Juliet," in advance of the performance of Shakespeare's play that same … Continue reading AFTLS and Love Letters to Romeo and Juliet