Desiree Schippers, Rising Professional

Deborah Murray accompanied Desiree Schippers (BA '19) to the award ceremony where Desiree received a 2025 Rising Professional Award. On March 27, 2025, along with ten other alumni, Desiree Schippers, 2019 B.A. in English/creative writing, with a secondary major in gerontology, was recognized by the College of Health and Human Sciences as a rising professional. … Continue reading Desiree Schippers, Rising Professional

From the Archive: Undergrad Student Spotlight: Desiree Schippers

Desiree Schippers (BA ’19) at work behind the camera. 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 joined us more recently. So, we're highlighting periodically some of the posts that have garnered a … Continue reading From the Archive: Undergrad Student Spotlight: Desiree Schippers

Poets on the Plains

In her role as Kansas Poet Laureate, Traci Brimhall is launching Poets on the Plains. Produced by High Plains Public Radio (HPPR), the series will explore a sense of people and place through poetry. I love poetry on the page, but I also love hearing it spoken aloud. That is, after all, its origin as … Continue reading Poets on the Plains

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

Location: Temporary

Image: mapyourtravels.com 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 first 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 an academic paper … Continue reading Location: Temporary

Alumni Spotlight: Kim Peek

Kim Peek (MA '10) As a kid growing up on a pig farm in southern Illinois, I didn’t know much of the world outside my hometown, but that didn’t stop me from imagining it. In elementary school, I wrote chapter books about haunted houses with magical powers or girls going on solo adventures around the … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Kim Peek

Winter 2024-2025 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover for Songs of Innocence by William Blake (Bodleian Library Publishing, 2024, distributed by University of Chicago Press), with an introduction by Mark Crosby.  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 … Continue reading Winter 2024-2025 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Spring Preview

Spring flowers in Manhattan, KS (2024) Welcome to the spring semester! We hope that you are keeping warm and safe as 2025 gets underway. Here are some of the events that we're looking forward to in the months ahead. Please join us for community, creativity, and conversation! All are free but online access requires advance … Continue reading Spring Preview

Remembering Jonathan Holden

University Distinguished Professor Emeritus Jonathan Holden On December 20, 2024, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus Jonathan Holden passed away. (His obituary is available here.) I had the good fortune to know Jonathan as a colleague in the Department of English since my arrival in 2000. When I became Department Head in 2007, I enjoyed learning even … Continue reading Remembering Jonathan Holden

November 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover for Philip Nel's new book How to Draw the World: Harold and the Purple Crayon and the Making of a Children's Classic (Oxford UP, 2024). 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 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity