April 2025 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover for Beyond Little Women: Essays on the Secondary Works of Louisa May Alcott (Palgrave MacMillan, 2025), which includes an essay by Greg Eiselein.  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 2025 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Shakespeare and Fun

Professor Emeritus Don Hedrick shares highlights from his recently released book Shakespeare and Fun: The Birth of Entertainment Value (Bloomsbury, 2025) On Friday May 9, faculty, students, alumni, colleagues, family, and friends gathered to celebrate the release of Professor Emeritus Don Hedrick's new book Shakespeare and Fun: The Birth of Entertainment Value -- a long-awaited … Continue reading Shakespeare and Fun

Found Object: 2025 M.A. Projects

Location: Social media.Object: Project Titles,  graduating M.A. students.Observations: 1) Each spring, for many years, we displayed the M.A. Project and Thesis titles of our graduating M.A. students at our annual spring Awards Banquet.  2) For the past few years, we have continued a newer tradition: with the help of our 2025 Graduate Program Assistant Mary … Continue reading Found Object: 2025 M.A. Projects

Dungeons & Dragons: From Satanism to Stranger Things

Fire D20 Dice (Image by Carlee Kime) 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 last fall by Cameron Leader-Picone: a piece of public scholarship (700-1,000 words) which tailors … Continue reading Dungeons & Dragons: From Satanism to Stranger Things

2024-2025 Annual Awards

Program for the 2024-2025 Annual Awards Celebration Earlier this evening we gathered at the Alumni Center and online to celebrate the success of students and faculty. As we have since 2023, we exchanged the sit-down banquet from the pre-COVID days for a less formal reception which allowed for more conversation -- and an earlier evening. … Continue reading 2024-2025 Annual Awards

PCA Conference 2025

MA students attend the 2025 Popular Culture Association Conference in New Orleans, LA (April 2025) Last week, ten graduate students from our M.A. program traveled by car to New Orleans to present at the 2025 Popular Culture Association (PCA) conference. Below they share highlights from their presentations and their experience at the conference. Many thanks … Continue reading PCA Conference 2025

March 2025 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

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 on past successes or to find future announcements? Visit our archive of monthly newsletters Reading Matters as … Continue reading March 2025 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

February 2025 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover for Barnaby, Vol. 5 (Fantographics, 2025), edited by Phil Nel.  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 on past successes or to find … Continue reading February 2025 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Sarcasm at the End of the World

Screenshot from Final Fantasy VII with a fake dialog box generated using FFVII UI 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 last fall by Cameron Leader-Picone: … Continue reading Sarcasm at the End of the World

From the Archive: 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. Since our blog debuted in 2017, we have published 500+ posts.  While some of you may have been with us from the start (thank you, loyal readers!), others may have … Continue reading From the Archive: Rebury, Repatriate, Reclaim: Rhetoric of the “Salina Burial Pit”