WSU Vancouver English

04/25/2023

Dear Friends,

I hope that you can join us tomorrow, April 26, at VDEN 129 (Vancouver campus), 2:30-4:00PM for Professor Carol Siegel’s retirement party.

A Lawrentian, Victorian, Cultural, and Feminist scholar with formidable knowledge in gender and sexuality studies, Carol started her distinguished career at WSU Vancouver in Fall 1990, a year after the Vancouver campus was formally established. She was awarded early tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in 1994. Six years later, she was promoted to full professor. Carol's outstanding research record includes six monographs, eleven edited books or journal issues, thirty-five journal articles or book chapters, and her work as the co-founder and co-editor of Rhizomes, an interdisciplinary journal featuring experimental approaches to cultural studies. Her many contributions to WSU range from developing the Humanities and English programs and introducing Women’s, Cultural, and Asian American Studies courses at Vancouver, to helping helped build the American Studies program in Pullman. Honors accorded to Carol include Distinguished Professor, Woman of Distinction, Mentor of the Year, Buchanan Distinguished Professorship, and Outstanding Support for Graduate Students as well as Gay, Le***an, and Bisexual Students awards. Washington State University, the Vancouver Campus, English Department, and the College of Arts and Sciences are grateful to Carol for her thirty-three years of distinguished service.

05/02/2017

English Students Please Note:

At the request of students, English is making space for a book exchange this coming Friday, May 5, from 10 am to 2 p.m. in the Writing Center in VLIB 203.

Bring used books from any of your English courses and exchange them with other students for texts that you may need for coming semesters or simply want to read for your own pleasure. If you're unable to attend during these hours, you're welcome to send a proxy to exchange books on your behalf.

List of texts that faculty will adopt/re-use in their courses will be made available at the Writing Center on Friday.

04/28/2017

Congratulations English Graduates!

With Desiree Hellegers, Thabiti Lewis, Kandy S. Robertson, Regina McMenomy, Carol Siegel, Wendy Dasler Johnson, Pavithra Narayanan

04/20/2017

Celebrating accomplishments of our English majors! Congratulations Class of 2016-2017!
With Wendy Dasler Johnson, Desiree Hellegers, Carol Siegel, Kandy S. Robertson, Thabiti Lewis, Regina McMenomy, Sky Wilson, Meagan Lobnitz, Howard Aaron, Jodi Stevens, Steve Massart, Amber Strother, Ryan House, Craig Buchner, Billy Merck, Wendy Olson, Leonard Orr, and Pavithra Narayanan

03/09/2017

In his talk “Global Literatures, ‘Globalectics,’ and Emancipatory Interdisciplinarity,” Dr. Azfar Hussain examined the politics of global literature and the politics of interdisciplinarity using Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o’s term “globalectics.” Ngũgĩ’s concept of globalectics, which combines the global and the dialectical, embraces ideas of equality and interconnectedness; it is a way of thinking and relating to the world, particularly in the era of globalization; and it offers a way of reading global literature. Dr. Hussain framed his talk around Shakespeare’s character Caliban in The Tempest. He started by reading a few of his Haiku poems “dedicated to Caliban,” and went on to explain that in a world of unequal power relations, the race-class conflicts between Prospero and Caliban reflect sites of struggles between those who seek to govern and “discipline” in the Foucauldian sense and those who resist such oppressive disciplinarians and institutions. The speaker illustrated that in postcolonial theory, Caliban’s words, "You taught me language, and my profit on't is, I know how to curse," have become an anti-colonial apparatus for “talking and striking back,” while Caliban’s struggles symbolize efforts to not only challenge antagonistic and imperialist forces but to also effect social change, a change that will lead to “total liberation.” Weaving together readings of Caliban by scholars from Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Caribbean, Dr. Hussain demonstrated that it is such comparative epistemological analyses that embody the concept of interdisciplinarity. The 30-minute talk was followed by an interesting, intellectual q&a session.
Dr. Hussain’s talk offered a useful and necessary methodological framework to understand:
1. Courses and disciplines need not be compartmentalized; integrating what they learn in different classes, students could adopt different approaches in their readings of course material and make systemic connections between knowledge gained in classrooms and the world.
2. Interdisciplinarity is not an end, but a means to an end; it is a trope that enables interactions, integration, and synthesizing. The practice of interdisciplinarity does not erase unequal structures. But it could be a tool for resisting oppressive powers, provided we know how to use it correctly.
3. Global is not merely a random collection of pieces, texts, or authors from different parts of the world. A global approach takes into account historically produced global phenomenon, such as capitalism, imperialism/colonialism, racism, and patriarchy; it considers unequal global structures in order to see how they affect practices, institutions, and lives.

02/06/2017

Students note:
"Death in the Afternoon" is a Cornell publication with an international, intercollegiate, and interdisciplinary focus. What sets this magazine apart from most other on-campus magazines is our goal to feature the voices of students from across the globe: we plan to accept submissions in any language and from any school. We will include texts from a variety of genres, including: short stories, flash fiction, poetry, screenplays, and personal essays. Another major component of the magazine will be translation studies; non-English pieces will be accompanied by a translation by the author themselves or a collaborator. Artwork will also be an important part of the magazine; we plan to have artists and writers collaborate to have art that goes with written texts--though standalone artwork will be featured as well. Death in the Afternoon will represent the intersection between different cultures, genres, and mediums and we hope to feature diverse talents and reach a diverse audience.

They ACCEPT: Flash fiction, short stories, poetry, screenplays, creative nonfiction, 2-D artwork, original works in non-English languages (accompanied by an English translation)

*SUBMISSION GUIDELINES*: Email [email protected] with the subject line “DITA Submission: [Genre].” In the body of your email, be sure to include your name, email address, and university. Attach the document to your email. Do *NOT* include your name in the attachment! (No limit to the number of submissions, though please send a separate email for each submission.)

*PAGE LIMITS* (Times New Roman, 12-font, single space):

· Flash fiction: 1 p
· Short story: 5 pp
· Screenplay: 5 pp (preferably one short scene)
· Poetry: 2 pp
· Creative nonfiction: 3 pp

12/13/2016

"At last, some good news! In this informative study, James English brings a much-needed sociological perspective to current debates on the state of literary studies. Embracing a global viewpoint and offering some eye-opening statistics, he persuasively shows why the future of English literature is far healthier and more hopeful than its doomsayers have predicted."
—Rita Felski, University of Virginia

The Global Future of English Studiespresents a succinct, carefully documented assessment of the current state and future trajectory of English studies around the world. Compiles data on student enrollments, faculty hiring, and financing in English studies around the world including China, home t...

10/26/2016

Paul Beatty becomes the first US author to win the Man Booker Prize with his racial satire The Sellout.

10/18/2016

English is #24. :)

Many of the highest-paying entry-level jobs are tied to engineering and technology majors.

04/22/2016

Join us to congratulate graduating English majors -
Reception - Thursday, April 28, 2016, at the Writing Center, 4-4:30 pm

With Wendy Dasler Johnson, Desiree Hellegers, Kandy S. Robertson, Carol Siegel, Thabiti Lewis, Wendy Olson, Leonard Orr, Howard Aaron, Sky Wilson, Meagan Lobnitz, Pavithra Narayanan

04/19/2016

Congratulations to our 2015-2016 award winning English graduates:
Brandon McClellan - Academic Excellence Award for Outstanding Research in English
Kristanna Eveland - Academic Excellence Award for Outstanding English Major
Teresa Fine Whittington - Academic Achievement Award for Outstanding English Major

04/18/2016

A hearty shout-out to Howard Aaron for organizing yet another splendid Professional Creative Writers Series. Speakers included The Pander Brothers, Steven Rea, Phillip Margolin, Judith Barrington, Sallie Tisdale, and Zarah Moeggenberg. The spring semester series, which brings university and community members together, is one of the special features of the English program.
Howard is an English Instructor at WSU Vancouver where he teaches creative writing and professional technical writing. He has a Bachelor's Degree in English and Cinema from the University of Southern California and an MFA from the University of Iowa.