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On Wednesday, March 14, more than 50 people gathered in Union 227 to share perspectives on recent news stories concerning the author Sherman Alexie, such as the one published with NPR on social media, such as the one by Deborah Miranda. Faculty, staff, administrators, and students from across Kansas State University, as well as local … Continue reading Complicated Conversations
When New York University Professor Fred Moten, a renowned literary theorist and poet, came to speak at Kansas State last month as part of the 27th Annual Cultural Studies Symposium, he stressed that he wasn't going to give a typical lecture. Instead, he called his talk “The Anassignment Letters,” which stems from his ongoing dialogue … Continue reading Fred Moten’s Anassignment Letters
Image: "Wakanda Forever" (Marvel Studios, Disney) I saw Ryan Coogler's Black Panther (2018) with a few friends on the night it was released. Going to the premiere of a film that has long been anticipated can be quite exciting, especially when the film is as good as Black Panther was. At the end of the film, … Continue reading A Review of Black Panther
The Kansas State English Department celebrated Valentine's Day in the traditional way — you know, by talking about a creature with a stolen heart. In five short talks marking the bicentennial of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, K-State graduate students and faculty members expressed their love for this groundbreaking work, examined the book's ongoing cultural resonance, and … Continue reading Love Letters to Mary Shelley
As a person, I spend most of my time watching way too much television and reading way too much fanfiction. As a scholar…I do pretty much the exact same thing. Most of my research centers around how young people (and particularly young people with marginalized identities) are represented in YA literature and on television, … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Mandy Moore
The 8-foot replica of the Ad Astra statue in McPherson, Kansas. Photo by the author. What do you think of when you imagine the Topeka skyline? Can you easily call to mind the figure that commands the sky? That figure is a 22 foot-tall sculpture of a Native American holding a bow and shooting an … Continue reading Undergrad Student Spotlight: Cheyenne White
Jaime DeTour and her major professor, Associate Professor Carol Franko The success of The Hunger Games and the Divergent series has led to the publication of many other young adult dystopian novels. While fictional dystopian societies can inspire movements for political change, such as the use of the iconic red handmaid’s uniform from The Handmaid’s … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Jaime DeTour
As a grad student in English, I chose the Cultural Studies Track because I am a conservative evangelical Christian. Wait, what? On the surface, this pairing may seem contradictory since Christians have the reputation for being judgmental, homophobic, and generally narrow-minded whereas cultural studies embraces diversity of all kinds. I believe, however, that real Christianity … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Grace Ure
Professors Lisa Tatonetti (left) and Tanya González (right) turn to literature — by writers such as Frederick Douglass, Gloria Anzaldúato, and Mohsin Hamid — to help fight against bigotry. Trying to write anything about diversity in Manhattan, Kansas, at the current political moment seems impossible. Last week, there were incidents of homophobic chalking and reports across our community of … Continue reading Pages of Resistance
Nineteen new graduate students joined the Kansas State English Department this fall. They came from California and Kansas and Illinois and Missouri. They came to read books and take names. (We promise they will never run out of books.) From left, Latrice Ferguson, Karla Larrañaga, Katie Hall, and Alyssa Cook. Name: Latrice Ferguson Hometown: Chicago … Continue reading Meet the New Grad Students
