An English Focus

Tusculum College Student Support Services has opened a new writing center. English faculty and Tusculum English students are working as tutors in this center located in Virginia Hall.

We inducted officers and graduates into the TC chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the International Honors Society. Inducted were: President John Cage, VP Tamara Wynn, Secretary Amanda Kyker, Treasurer Jena Breckenridge, and Historian Zachary Smith. Upcoming graduates were Sancia Warren (a December grad!) and Ashley Faust (soon to graduate, along with John, Amanda, Tamara, and Jena!)

Recently, Amanda Kyker and I went to Abingdon, VA where we participated in a three-day technology-in-teaching conference. The purpose of the conference is to encourage faculty members to incorporate useful technologies into their classroom and to provide faculty-student teams ideas and resources to make this incorporation possible. We studied podcasting and digital video design, and we played around in second life. Amanda and I were particularly interested in the use of digital video assignments and the project that we will now be working on for the next several months will be centered around replacing (some) traditional paper assignments with digital video assignments. So be prepared English Majors–you may be required to do one of these with us soon!

American literature class looking at books at the Andrew Johnson Museum

Dr. Nancy Thomas took 13 students to see Shakespeare this weekend at the recreated Blackfriars Playhouse in Stauton, Virginia. Dr. Reid and Dr. Olsen helped drive; our new VP for Admissions, Jacquelyn Elliott, helped with getting tickets and reservations. Thank you! We had a great time and saw Othello, As You Like It and Macbeth. Plus, we had a tour of the playhouse by one of the actors and a lecture by the director. And walking around Staunton inbetween all the plays was fun too. Our new professor, Dr. Sheila Morton, joined us, which gave us all a chance to talk with her. The van trip wasn’t too bad. Miranda survived (pregnant even) and everyone chatted. Here are some of our photos…

Hi all and welcome to a new school year! We are starting, as traditional, with a pizza party next Tuesday night, September 29. Please come and hear about what is going on this year in the department. We’ll gather on the library terrace.

Dr. Sheila Morton is new to our faculty and just received her Ph.D. Congratulations Sheila! You also have a new opportunity–to join the International English Honors Society. Just ask if your gpa qualifies you. The ESO officers (English Student Organization) will introduce themselves and this year’s activities. We have new courses to take–in film, American Modernism, Food and Lit., and others. Dr. Richard Greenfield and Professor Wayne Thomas will discuss goings on with the Pioneer student newspaper and with the Tusculum Review. Trips are being planned!

So come join us. And if you are visiting this site, please email me and say hello. Taimi
(Dr. Taimi Olsen, department chair, tolsen@tusculum.edu)

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2005-2006 Curtis ’28 and Billie Owens Literary Prize:

The winners were:
Fiction: Anup Kaphle for “Aama’s Rice Pudding”.
Non-fiction: Yvonne Daniel for “Flying with the Eagles”
Poetry: Jacki Ewing – four poems: “Afrikaan,” “Pennance,”
“Coal Bucket Cakes,” and “Appalachian Winter”.
Honorable mention: Poetry
Eliza Land for “Signs of Honesty” and “Bullet Casings.”
Anup Kaphle for “Morning on the Ganges”
Yvonne Daniel for “Censored Snapshots”
All Tusculum College students are encouraged to enter this yearly writing contest. Poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction entries are collected after winter break. Contact Dr. Richard Greenfield or Professor Wayne Thomas for more information!

The 2nd Annual Undergraduate Literature and Writing Conference will be held on Saturday, March 18, 2006, at Tusculum College’s Chalmers Conference Center in Niswonger Commons. A call for papers is forthcoming. For more information, contact Kim Mullins of the English Student Organization at kmullins_2003@yahoo.com or their faculty sponsor, Professor Richard Greenfield at rgreenfield@tusculum.edu. Look here for further information on the conference.

The Academic Fair on Thursday, October 27, 11:00 a.m. to­ 1:00 p.m. in the Chalmers Conference Room, will provide students who are exploring their options in various majors with the opportunity to meet with students and faculty from the English Department. We’ll be able to talk about the opportunites to work on the newspaper and the literary review as well as provide some insight into the kinds of classes the students could expect to take as English majors. Come by and see us!

This weblog will be used by Tusculum College faculty members to post information about the English department for prospective and current students and others interested in the activites of the department.