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The newsletter of the Student Association of Graduates in
English (SAGE) SAGE Advice |
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Fall 2003
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Inside this issue: |
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Announcements
2Cs Meeting
AWP Conference
Feminist Discussion
Group |
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The First Words of a Brave New Administration On behalf of the 2003-04 executive board of SAGE, we would
like congratulate everyone for surviving another summer in the trenches and
welcome the approach of autumn’s azure skies. SAGE looks forward to the Fall
Semester with promise, new ideas and the continuation of already proud and
successful traditions.
These are preliminary goals for our consideration; we welcome input on these and other suggestions that you may have. We feel that your involvement is crucial to our administration and its success.
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The Central Renaissance Conference is a
graduate student’s dream: instruction without tuition. The conference
will be held September 19-20 at KU. Students and faculty may attend any
session free of charge on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday at the
Lawrence Holiday Inn. Over 70 papers will be presented in the regular
sessions. Topics will comprise a regular feast of Renaissance interests:
dramatic performance, Spenser, Milton, Shakespeare, food, Paracelsus,
French literature, Early Modern women and gender, music, art, German
literature, and Historicism and authorship. Dr. Hardin, director of the
conference, says that he likes the interdisciplinary approach because
“you can drop in on a session of religious controversy” or Montaigne.
The conference has almost anything to suit your tastes. In addition, Dr. David Cressy of Ohio State University will present “Print, Censorship, and Satire on the Eve of |
Areopagitica” during another free event
sponsored by the English Department on Friday at 6:30 PM in the Spencer
Museum of Art. Cressy’s former credits include work on literacy,
customs, and religion in Tudor England, and his current project is
“England on the Edge: The Revolutions before the Revolution, 1640-1642.” Eating will require money, however. For only $30, you can participate in the Friday wine reception, Saturday morning breakfast, and Saturday lunch. Really, not a bad deal. Contact Hardin for a registration form and give him your check, made payable to the English Department. September 5 is the preferred deadline. Honestly, is this an opportunity you can afford to miss? Check out the schedule at http://spencer.lib.edu/crc/index.htm. |
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“101 Things to Do With Your English Degree” Alternatives to Teaching at the College Level
It never fails to happen. Any time I visit my relatives, or make a new acquaintance, the question invariably occurs: “What on earth are you planning to do with your English degree?” Why, teach at the college level, of course (that is, if the professional student thing doesn’t work out). But as I talk to the graduate students around me, I learn everyday that there are so many more things that one can do with an English degree. In this issue, we talk with Emily Donnelli, Assistant Director of the KU Writing Center, about “Professional Writing Consultation.”
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Professional Writing Consultation What does it look like? Writing consultants are hired by businesses, non-profit organizations, and individuals to assist in any number of writing tasks. These can range from presentations to grant applications to executive reports. Additionally, writing consultants are often asked to prepare teaching modules for groups on topics such as effective business writing, writing for the web, specialized writing (like legal discourse), grammar and mechanics, etc. Consultants devise an hourly rate based on their experience and expertise. What does it take? Professional writing consultants need highly developed writing, research, and teaching abilities. Consultants must be sensitive to various rhetorical contexts and demands and have the ability to modify their writing styles to suit the purposes of a given project. Apart from writing skills, being a professional consultant takes the interpersonal skills necessary to talk to diverse clientele—that is, to negotiate mutually satisfying goals and timelines and to stay in contact throughout the life of the project. The work also requires networking with other professionals (i.e. building a client base and mechanisms for referral). Time |
management skills help
professional consultants handle multiple writing projects and devise work
plans that allow them to meet deadlines. Equipping yourself for this
position may also include developing expertise in a certain type of
discourse, electronic media or presentation format. What are some of the most challenging aspects of this work? Negotiating goals and staying in contact with clientele (to get additional information, clarify project parameters, etc.) can induce headaches, especially when the writing consultant and client have limited time. Consultants have to spend a great deal of time building the foundation for the rest of the work—this not only takes a very detail-oriented mindset, it also requires communicating a clear philosophy for how you will do the work (in particular, how solitary or collaborative the process will be). How can I get started? Get in contact with other writing consultants (some people to consider: Amy Devitt, Emily Donnelli, Michele Eodice, and Jeff Fouquet). Test the waters by becoming a writing consultant at the KU Writing Center (see writing.ku.edu) for details. Consider taking a course in grant writing, or professional writing in general. Sending some letters of inquiry to local businesses or non-profits, as well as volunteering your time and writing talents to an organization you would like to become a part of, are also good ways to start out. |
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Executive Committee Co-Presidents: Joe Sommers & Samantha Parkes Secretary: Aaron Profitt Treasurer: Brian Harries First-Year Liaison: Ilona Hutson SAGE Representatives and Other Officers Advisory Committee: Matthew Candelaria & Nathan Wall FSE Committee: Emily Donnelli, Tiffany DeJaynes, & Kip Smilie Graduate Assembly Representative: Corinee Guy |
Graduate Committee:
Becky Miller, Lisa St. Ledger, & Mary Wharff
GTA/Lecturers Committee: Jennifer Floray-Balke & Brooke Stokley Finan Lecturers/Readers Committee: Karla Knutson, Stacy Stephens, & Mike Stigman Library Committee: Emily Wicktor SAGE Advice Editor: Kristin Bovaird-Abbo SAGE Web Master: Kristin Bovaird-Abbo SAGE Events Committee: Beth Lagaron & Mindi McMann |
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Teaching Tips—Using the Internet By Kristin Bovaird-Abbo A few semesters ago, while grading essays, I came across a phrase that made me pause. It was witty and well-written, and completely unlike anything this particular student had turned in before. Yet where could I find proof that this well-turned phrase had been lifted from another source? Why, the Internet, of course! Within moments, I had the original copy before me; with the push of a button, I had printed off solid evidence of plagiarism. Ever since then, I've occasionally run brief phrases through various search engines. I usually use Yahoo!, but Google works as well. The trick is to use phrases that are peculiar enough that you don't have 100,000 hits returned to you (although we all know that as graduate students, we have plenty of time on our hands!). Take the word "surreal," for instance. It's not exactly a word one hears everyday. Of course, we've all had those students who like to use their thesauri religiously to make themselves sound smarter, so it's reasonable that a student might have chosen "surreal" over the more ordinary "strange" or "weird." We can usually identify such uses because either the word is not an exact fit in meaning, or it stands out like a sore thumb when compared to the rest of their vocabulary choice. Equally likely is the possibility that the essayist is an art student, for example, and is able to competently use this word. But every now and then, something just isn't right. While I always hope that the student has merely caught me by surprise, it's nice to be able to type in a few words and moments later, have the results. No doubt, Turnitin.com is a great resource--but the headaches and hassles of asking students to turn in disks or other forms of electronic copies! But that's not the only way in which I use the Internet to get by in the classroom. This past year, I taught Introduction to Drama for the first time. While I had some experience designing my own syllabus for English 203, I wasn't quite sure as to what needed to be covered in this |
type of survey course. Once
again, I pulled my chair up to my computer, and launched my browser.
Sure enough, once I entered "Introduction to Drama," I found multitudes
of syllabi. Of course, many more hits were returned than I could look
at, but after looking at a few different syllabi, I had a better idea of
what I was doing. I've also found it helpful to see how others approach the same material in the classroom. For example, if I type in "Agamemnon" and "discussion questions" (or "study questions"), I might find discussion notes, ideas for activities, or potential essay topics. It's a fast, convenient way to supplement whatever material I already have. A word of caution, though - don't just copy someone else's assignment. Find some way to make it your own. Use it to supplement your own knowledge. A lot of times, I will have some ideas about what issues are of importance in a text--after a brief search online, I can see how others view the same text. That way, I can offer competing interpretations to my students. One problem with straight copying: once I copied an assignment from the web on citations--it was already late and I still had other homework to do. But the next day, a few minutes after my students had started in on the assignment, they began posing questions about citations that I had never encountered before--all kinds of obscure examples! While it's certainly acceptable to admit to your students that you don't have an answer for them, when it concerns an assignment that you have asked them to do, it can make you look rather stupid. At least, that's how I felt. Another word of caution--pay attention to the URL. I constantly encounter students who insist that just because something is in print, or it is on the Internet, it must be valid information. Make sure that the site is a valid one. Often course material will be placed on an instructor's web page, or on the publisher's companion web site. Just be aware. These are just a few ways that the Internet has made my life more manageable. Of course, I still frequent the library often--but there's just something about being alone in the stacks late at night... |
| SAGE Creative Readings! |
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SAGE is looking
for readers for the Fall Creative Reading Series. If you write poetry,
drama, fiction, creative/personal essays, or any combination of these,
please consider joining us. It's a fun, comfortable venue in which to
share your work. We're looking for graduate students and instructors,
first-time readers and old pros.
The first reading will take place on Saturday, October 4, at 8:00 p.m. (location TBA), and the second one will be held on Saturday, November 22, at 8:00 p.m. (location TBA). If you'd like to participate, or simply want more information about this event, please contact Beth Lagaron at 864-2538 or blagaron@juno.com. |
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| Conference News |
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On September 26, Amy Cummins will be presenting work from her
dissertation in a conference session she has organized for the Second
International Conference of the Society for the Study of American Women
Writers. The panel session is “Education Reform and Women’s Writing in the
Antebellum United States,” and Amy’s presentation focuses on the connections
between the education reform movements and American women’s domestic
novels. Amy also urges other scholars to consider joining SSAWW. Full
information is online at
http://www.unl.edu/legacy/SSAWW1.html
Emily Donnelli has recently had two collaboratively-written articles
accepted for publication:
- Donnelli, Emily and Kristen Garrison. “Every Body Counts: Tapping Multiple Voices in Writing Center Assessment.” Forthcoming in Academic Exchange Quarterly.
- Harper, M. Todd, Emily Donnelli, Frank Farmer. “Wayward Inventions: He(u)retical Experiments in Theorizing Service-Learning.” Forthcoming in JAC.
Tiffany DeJaynes, Moira Ozias, and Emily Donnelli will also be presenting at the International Writing Centers Association Conference in October. Emily’s paper is titled, “Teacher, Student, Tutor, Other: Envisioning Other Addressees for the Tutoring Moment.” Moira and Tiffany’s co-written paper is titled, “Teacher as Addressee: An Experimental Dialogue.”
Joe Sommers will present his paper, “Othering ‘Them’ in Order to Make Room for ‘Us:’ Chesnutt’s Subversive Narrator in ‘The Wife of His Youth’” at the CNYCLL conference in October.
Ann Volin, Anjali Nerlekar and Jill Zasadny presented papers at the University of London in July. The conference was “The Condition of the Subject” and Jill’s paper, “Working the Weak Muscle,” discussed learning AGAINST our strengths, that is, not by what is easiest but by what is hardest for us. It was largely about differences of gender in the classroom and that if society is going in an opposite direction of male dominance (and our society is) then we are disadvantaging our male students to let them learn in a way no longer privileged.
Kristin Bovaird-Abbo will present her paper, “Lancelot and Timias: Influences of Malory on Spenser” at the Central Renaissance Conference in September.
A panel of medievalists will travel to the 18th International Conference on Medievalism in October: Jennifer Floray-Balke (“Gender and Power: The Impact of Misplaced Spiritual Authority in Medieval Films”), Kristin Bovaird-Abbo (“Medieval Blondes and Modern Brunettes: Guinevere’s Hair in Arthurian Film”), and Rebecca Miller (“Beowulf is a Breast Man: Female Agency and Masculine Identity in Beowulf”) will present in the panel appropriately titled “Gender, Film and Medievalism.”
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Upcoming SAGE
Events |