— Karin Westman, Department Head
Found Object: Hedrick’s Revels
Blessed Fruits
Our second colloquium of the 2019 spring semester took us back to the future. Organized by Associate Professor Wendy Matlock for the Graduate Track in Literature, “Blessed Fruits: Readings and Implications of Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale” featured short, five-minute “lightning” talks by faculty and students on Atwood's novel and its adaptations. As the highlights below … Continue reading Blessed Fruits
“Fresh Threads of Connection”: Blogging the Victorians
One thing that struck me as I combed through our 2017 Graduate Alumni data last spring was how many graduates from our M.A. program currently have jobs that require them to write for the web in some way or other. For some alumni, their main professional responsibility is web content or social media management. For … Continue reading “Fresh Threads of Connection”: Blogging the Victorians
Spring Preview
Though today's ice and snow remind us that winter is still at hand, the start of the semester promises springtime ahead! Here are some of the events that we're looking forward to in the coming months: ~ Associate Professor Abby Knoblauch launches our Spring Colloquia Series on Wednesday, February 13. Abby is back from her … Continue reading Spring Preview
Three Questions with K-State English: Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”
In our second "Three Questions with K-State English" video, Anne Longmuir, Naomi Wood, and Mark Crosby discuss the enduring appeal of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cErKkzztxNw&feature=youtu.be
Arts and Sciences X 1
On December 8, 2018, Professor Don Hedrick provided the commencement address for the College of Arts and Sciences at Kansas State University, following on receipt of the 2017 Gaches Lifetime Teaching Award from the College. Below is the text of his speech. Many thanks to Don for allowing us to share it here. (You … Continue reading Arts and Sciences X 1
Speak, Materialities: When Book Objects Themselves Have Power of Memory
“Mnemosyne, one must admit, has shown herself to be a very careless girl.” Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory July 2017. During a research trip to special collections at the University of Edinburgh (thank you, Bibliographic Society of America!), I came across a small miracle: an extraordinary little book arrived when I asked to see The Indian Primer, … Continue reading Speak, Materialities: When Book Objects Themselves Have Power of Memory
The Great American Read: Jane Austen
“It is a truth universally acknowledged”: so begins Jane Austen’s most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice, recently voted the fourth most popular in PBS’s The Great American Read. Composed in the soporific Hampshire hamlet of Steventon during the years 179–, submitted and, with no little astonishment to the author, rejected under the title First Impressions, … Continue reading The Great American Read: Jane Austen
Grad Student Spotlight: Cailin Roles
The autumn before I started grad school, I read Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman. I wasn't sure how to feel about the end of the novel, in which the protagonist bakes and eats a cake that looks like herself, so I searched databases to find what critics were saying. As I quickly realized, very few people have … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Cailin Roles
“Blessed be the fruit”: Adaptations and Appropriations of The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale has received many accolades. Among others, it was nominated for the Booker Prize and won the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Now our Graduate Track in British and American Literature has selected it as our focus for the 2018-2019 academic year, following on last year’s celebration of the bicentenary … Continue reading “Blessed be the fruit”: Adaptations and Appropriations of The Handmaid’s Tale
