College of Arts and Sciences

Fall 2010 News & Events

Fall 2010 Student News
  • Nov 15-18: Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society students raised $279 with a bake sale and a Pie-the-Professor-in-the-Face contest. Assistant Professor Tim Helwig was the lucky recipient of a pie-in-the-face. Thanks to everyone who supported their fund raising efforts!
  • Oct 22-23: Twelve English Education students attended the Illinois Association for Teachers of English (IATE) conference in Rockford, IL. Three students were also presenters at the conference. Kristin Dragos, now a graduate student, and Gianna Valentine, who is currently completing student teaching, gave a presentation educating teachers about various technologies they can use in the classroom. Lorie Rude, currently finishing student teaching as well, presented on the use of drama in the classroom.
  • Oct 22-23: The Seventh Annual English Graduate Organization Conference was held. The conference, which featured Amy Earhart (Texas A&M), was entitled “Humanities in the Digital Age.” Both WIU graduate students and faculty participated in the event.
  • Aug 30: Kelsey Yoder has been awarded the Sigma Tau Delta Rectangle's Herbert L. Hughes Best Short Story Award for her story "At Your Service," to be published in the Rectangle's 2011 issue. Kelsey’s story was selected from hundreds of submissions. Congratulations to Kelsey on this prestigious award!
  • Aug 12: Congratulations to Kelsey Yoder, whose story "At Your Service" will appear in the 2011 Issue of The Sigma Tau Delta Rectangle
  • June 1: We are very sad to hear of the death of English major Lyndsey Manuel. our best wishes to her friends and family.
Fall 2010 Faculty News
  • Congratulations to Bradley Dilger and Neil Baird! Their URC grant proposal will be funded next year. The project is entitled "Transfer @ Transfer: Ease, Negotiation and Writing in the Major."
  • Mohammad Siddiqi has won the CAS Excellence in Multicultural Teaching Award. Congratulations Mohammad!
  • Journalism instructor and Director of Student Publications at WIU Rich Moreno newest book is out now, Illinois Curiosities. The 304-page book highlights more than 175 of the state’s most unusual places, ranging from the world’s largest laundromat (in Berwyn) to a tree that some believe resembles Jesus holding a lamb (the so-called “Jesus Tree” in Quincy). Moreno’s book asks questions like, “What was the cause of more than 200 fires that afflicted one house (without electricity) 12 miles south of Macomb in just one week in 1948?”
  • Shazia Rahman’s article “Land, Water, and Food: Eco-cosmopolitan Feminist Praxis in Sabiha Sumar’s Khamosh Pani” was accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture. Soon afterwards, her article “Karachi, Turtles, and the Materiality of Place: Pakistani Eco-cosmopolitanism in Uzma Aslam Khan’s Trespassing” was accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment.
  • Everett Hamner received a summer research stipend, 2011.
  • Timothy Helwig received a faculty summer stipend award
  • Christine Iwanicki: Presented "Working on the Border in the Writing Classroom" at the Thomas R. Watson Conference in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Louisville, and presented "The Cartography of Technology in the Classroom: Mapping New Destinations through Border Pedagogy," at the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Conference (RMMLA) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
  • Amy Patrick Mossman: Researched and wrote ASLE's (Assoc. for the Study of Literature and Environment) proposal for the organization's Executive Council to make the organization and its biennial conferences more sustainable: "A More Sustainable ASLE: Goals and Objectives," and received a summer stipend for 2011 to work on "Incorporating Sustainability across the Curriculum: Development of Educator Training Workshops for WIU and the West-Central Illinois Region."
  • Bonnie Sonnek: Re-elected Illinois Association of Teachers of English (IATE) Western Region representative, and Coordinated travel and attendance (12 English Ed. students) to the IATE Conference in Rockford, IL on October 22-23 (and then fell ill). Four students presented at the conference, and another English Education Coordinator brought two of her students and said we were her inspiration. Students networked with public school teachers and attended session and keynote speakers.
  • Oct 19: Spring 2011 Course Descriptions (pdf) now available!
  • Oct 13: Roberta Di Carmine, Associate Professor in English and Journalism, is one of six faculty members named as the 2010 Provost's Award of Excellence Winners. Dr. Di Carmine will receive the Provost's Award for Internationalizing the Campus. Recipients will be recognized for their achievements at a 3:30 p.m. reception Wednesday, Oct. 13 in the University Union Lamoine Room.
  • Oct 1: Dr. Mark Mossman has been selected as chair of the department of English & Journalism. Congratulations Mark!
  • Sept 15: Professor Amy Patrick Mossman will present "Sustainability Across the Curriculum from Brainstorm to Action: Realizing Our Education and Outreach Goals" during the Sustainability Brownbag Series from 12:30-1:30pm, Malpass Library, 3rd Floor West.
  • Sept. 7-8: Professor Knight will deliver the 8th annual John Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecture at the Macomb campus Sept. 7 and the Moline campus Sept. 8: “I Read the News Today: Oh, Boy -- Journalism, Empathy & the Liberal Arts.”
  • July 22: Roberta Di Carmine delivered a paper at the "Fifth International Conference on the Arts in Society," at the University of Sydney, Australia, July 22-25, 2010. The title of her paper is: "History and Italian Colonial Cinema (1920s-1940s)." At the conference, she was interviewed by Stefano Campolo for SBS, Australia’s Multicultural and Multilingual Broadcaster.
  • June: Roberta Di Carmine signed a contract with Blackwell Publishing for a chapter to appear in the upcoming book, "A Companion to Film Comedy," edited by Joanna Rapf and Andrew Horton. She also published an article, “Matteo Garrone: A New Voice in Italian Cinema,” in "Wide Screen." (n. 2)
  • June 11: Congratulations to Bill Knight, selected as the 2010 Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecturer.
  • May 25-30: Mark Mossman reviewed paper proposals for the upcoming annual conference of the Association of Higher Education to be held in Indianapolis, IN in November.
  • May 8: Four E&J professors will soon earn tenure and/or promotion: Roberta DiCarmine (tenure & promotion to Associate Professor), Mark Mossman (promotion to Professor), Amy Patrick (promotion to Associate Professor), and Erika Wurth (promotion to Associate Professor).
Fall 2010 Events
  • Dec 23-Jan 2: University Closed.
  • Dec 20-Jan 17: Semester Break.
  • Dec. 17-18: Commencement Weekend Details.
  • Dec 15: Student reading, 7-9 pm, West Central Illinois Arts Center (25 East Side Square). Students read from their own creative work, or listen to others do so.  Reception at Shiloh’s afterward.
  • Dec 13-17: Final exam week.
  • Dec 8: Department Meeting, 12-1 pm, Simpkins 014.
  • Dec 8: Film Club screening, Garwood Hall 10, 7:00 pm, Nothing Like the Holidays, 2008—PG-13—98mins & The Facts of Life, 1960—NR—103mins and Delicatessen.
  • Dec 4: Journalism through NABJ is hosting a banquet in honor of the late Dameris Bagwell, a former student.
  • Dec 4: Department Get-Together, Mossman house, 4-8pm (open house).
  • Dec 3: College of Arts and Sciences Holiday Awards Reception, 4-6 pm, Lamoine Room, University Union.
  • Dec 1: Part three of a series on the graphic novel, Leslie F. Malpass Library room 180, 12-1 pm. read more
  • Dec 1: Film Club special event film screening introduced by Professor Bill Knight. Cookies and drinks will be provided. Garwood Hall 10, 7:00 pm, Carol for another Christmas.
  • Nov 22 - 26: Fall Break, no classes.
  • Nov 15-18: Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society bake sale. First floor of Simpkins Hall from 10 am - 2 pm each day.
  • Nov 18: "Plain Folk: Multiplicity and the Non-Fiction Film." An evening with filmmaker Mark Alan Dial. Screening and Roundtable Discussion, 7-9 pm at the Sandburg Theater in the University Union. Sponsored by the Department of English and Journalism with assistance from The Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs.
  • Nov 17: Film Club screening, Garwood Hall 10, 7 pm, Beat Street, 1984—PG—106mins & Victor/ Victoria, 1982—PG—133mins.
  • Nov 11: Longtime Chicago journalist, Patrick Olsen, who shared in the Tribune’s 2001 staff Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on the airline industry will visit a few classes and take part in a Brown Bag It Q&A with free pizza and soda. 12:30 pm, Simpkins 327.
  • Nov 10: Visiting Speaker, Judi Ketteler "Busting the Myth of the Starving Author: Making a Living as a Freelance Writer". Q&A at 4 pm in the University Writing Center, Simpkins 343. Lecture at 7 pm in the Multicultural Center's Multipurpose room.
  • Nov 4: Elements meeting in the Student Lounge (SI 025) at 5 pm.
  • Nov 4: Part two of a series on the graphic novel, Leslie F. Malpass Library room 180, 12-1 pm. Featuring Dr. Marjorie Allison, Associate Professor, Department of English and Journalism. read more
  • Nov 3: Film Club screening, Garwood Hall 10, 7:00 pm, Rolling Stones: Stones in Exile, 2010—TV-MA—63mins & Kurt & Courtney, 1997—R—95mins.
  • Oct 22-23: English Graduate Organization Annual Conference, Humanities in the Digital Age, keynote Amy Earhart (tentative, specifics TBD).
  • Oct 20-21: Case Visiting Writer Pinckney Benedict
    • Wednesday, Oct 20: Interview and Q&A, 4:00 pm, Simpkins 341 (Writing Center).
    • Thursday, Oct 21: Reading and book signing, 7:30 pm, Sandburg Theater in the University Union.
  • Oct 20: Department Meeting, Simpkins 014, 12:00 pm.
  • Oct 20: Film Club screening, Garwood Hall 10, 7:00 pm, The Machine Girl, 2008—NR—96mins, Japanese & Trick or Treat, 2008—R—82mins.
  • Oct 18: The Fall Journalism Day will feature St. Louis magazine writer, author, documentary writer and educator John F. Knoll (left) as a lunchtime guest speaker. read more at Journalism's e-news.
  • Oct 18: The Liberal Arts and Sciences Student Organization at WIU-QC will host a free pre-lecture meal for all interested undergraduate and graduate students before attending a free lecture by noted environmentalist Bill McKibben at Augustana College. Drop-in meal begins at 5:30 pm at Rock Island's "Pizza and Subs"; lecture is from 7:30-9:30 pm at Augustana's Denkmann Memorial Hall/Wallenberg Hall. Contact Everett Hamner, e-hamner@wiu.edu, for more details.
  • Oct 6: The first of a three part series on the graphic novel, Leslie F. Malpass Library room 180, 12-1 pm. Discussion lead by Dr. Christopher Morrow, Assistant Professor, Department of English and Journalism. read more
  • Oct 6: Film Club screening, Garwood Hall 10, 7:00 pm, Food, INC., 2008—PG—94mins & Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids, 2004—R—85mins.
  • Sept 29: Moline Public Library's Big Read Program presents a panel discussion on Intellectual Freedom and Ray Bradbury's _Fahrenheit 451_. Everett Hamner will moderate a conversation with professors from WIU-QC, Augustana College, and St. Ambrose College, as well as leaders from the FIGGE Museum and the River City Music Experience. 7:30 pm, Moline Public Library.
  • Sept 22: Department meeting with Chair candidate, Mark Mossman, Simpkins 014, 3:30-4:30.
  • Sep 22: Film Club screening, Garwood Hall 10, 7:00 pm, No Impact Man: The Documentary, 2009—NR—90mins & Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices, 2005—NR—97mins.
  • Sept 21: Professor Amy Patrick Mossman will present "Sustainability Across the Curriculum from Brainstorm to Action: Realizing Our Education and Outreach Goals" during the Sustainability Brownbag Series from 12:30-1:30pm, Malpass Library, 3rd Floor West.
  • Sept 21: Department meeting with Chair candidate, Joan Livingston-Webber, Simpkins 014, 3:30-4:30.
  • Sep 15: “Whistleblowers” panel discussion, Malpass Library 180, 11:45am-1:15 pm.
  • Sep 9: Magliocco lecture: Sandra Jamieson, 7:00-8:00 pm, Morgan 109
  • Sept. 7-8: Professor Knight will deliver the 8th annual John Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecture at the Macomb campus Sept. 7 and the Moline campus Sept. 8: “I Read the News Today: Oh, Boy -- Journalism, Empathy & the Liberal Arts.”
  • Sep 6: Labor Day; no classes.
  • Sept 2: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) will meet Thursday September 2 at 7:00 pm in the Simpkins Student Lounge, room 25. All current members should plan to attend and bring other English Education majors along!
  • Sep 2: Reception for the 2010 Elements creative magazine, 5:00-7:00 pm, 410 E. Summit St (home of Dr. Erika Wurth)
  • Sept 1: Graduate program orientation for new graduate students. Simpkins 014, 12:30-2:30 pm.
  • Aug 30: The English Graduate Organization (EGO) has extended the CFP deadline until October 1. Details are available at the conference website.
  • Aug 30: Department meeting with President Goldfarb, 12:00 pm, Simpkins 014
  • Aug 25: EGO will begin its weekly meetings today at 4:00 pm, 341 Simpkins Hall Writing Center.
  • Aug 23: Classes Begin.
  • Aug 19: Fall faculty assembly, University Union Ballroom.