Hi guys! My name is Drew Elizabeth Davis and I’m a junior at Kansas State University. I spent the past few months studying in Alicante, Spain, but unfortunately my time abroad had to be cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. The past few weeks have been extremely difficult, but I’m very thankful to … Continue reading From Studying Abroad to Flattening the Curve
Like teachers around the world, English Department faculty at Kansas State find ourselves having to rethink our approach to our classes in order to provide meaningful instruction. I am missing the main thing that brings me joy in teaching: the real life presence of my students. I wanted to allay their anxiety and motivate … Continue reading On Teaching During a Pandemic: Exploring Creativity
— Karin Westman, Department Head
In the weeks ahead, we'll be sharing ideas for living through our current cultural moment of social distancing, self-isolation, and mediated communications. For now, though, as we prepare to teach remotely in response to the spread of Covid-19, we offer a look at recent faculty, student, and alumni achievements in research, scholarship, and creative activity. … Continue reading February 2020 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity
Monday was the 116th birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss. That morning, the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) emailed to ask if I would be willing to talk about Seuss live that afternoon on their Here and Now program. I said I would be glad to, and we had a pre-interview telephone chat. About 40 … Continue reading To Avoid Covid 19, Here’s What You Can Do; or, Seuss versus Coronavirus, a New Kind of Flu
Who is a better moral guide: Caroline Ingalls or Marmee March? Who is a better scientist: Victor Frankenstein or Lemuel Gulliver? You decide! This March, the Alpha Theta Eta chapter of Sigma Tau Delta is hosting a four-conference paperback book "tournament." Our conference categories are American, British, Global, and Young Adult/Children's literature. We hope … Continue reading Paperback Pandemonium 2020; or, The English Major’s March Madness
Last week I took students in my ENGL 388 "Asian American Literatures" class to our campus art museum, the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art. We had the chance to go behind the scenes and look at beautiful and powerful artwork by Roger Shimomura and Yoonmi Nam. This artwork complemented our reading of Miné Okubo’s … Continue reading At the Beach Museum of Art with ENGL 388 “Asian American Literatures”
A couple of weeks ago, I climbed into my bright blue Ford Focus, filled up the gas tank (thank you English Department!), and turned on a murder podcast to pass the time for the three-hour drive to Argonia, Kansas. Located about an hour southwest of Wichita, Argonia dominated national news in 1887 when the small … Continue reading “Kansas Women Have Done It”: Visiting America’s First Woman Mayor in Argonia, Kansas
Would you be able to survive the year 1607 as an early colonist? Last Friday (February 14), undergraduate students enrolled in ENGL 381 "American Survey I" with Associate Professor Steffi Dippold took a field trip to the Flint Hills Discovery Center to answer that question. "American Adventure," on exhibit until May 10 in the Tallgrass … Continue reading Surviving 1607
The conversation surrounding diversity in children’s and adolescent literature has been growing for decades -- despite little change in the publishing industry -- with readers, writers, and educators clamoring for more stories from, about, and for underrepresented groups, such as the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, and people of color. This movement also opens the … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Molly L. Burt
