College of Arts and Sciences

Spring 2010 News & Events

  • June 9: Dead Filmmakers Society Summer Film Series
  • June 7: Summer first four-week session begins (through July 2).
  • June 7: Summer eight-week session begins (through July 30).
  • June 1: We are very sad to hear of the death of English major Lyndsey Manuel. Our best wishes to her friends and family.
  • May 31: Memorial Day: No Classes, University Closed.
  • May 17: Summer pre-session begins (through June 4).
  • May 16: WIU-Quad Cities Commencement, I Wireless Center, 1:00pm.
  • May 15: Undergraduate Commencement, Western Hall, 4:30pm.
  • May 14: Graduate Commencement, Western Hall, 5:30pm.
  • May 13: Creative writing students’ reading. Cafe Aroma, 8-10:00pm.
  • May 10-14: Final Exam Week.
  • May 6: English Graduate Organization, University Writing Center, 4:00pm.
  • May 6: Memorial tree dedication (for Viktor Kemper and other WIU staff), east of Simpkins, 11:00am.
  • May 5: Thesis colloquium. Simpkins 341, 4:30pm.
  • May 5: Spring potluck lunch and retirement party for Randy Smith. Simpkins 020, 11:30-2:00pm.
  • Apr 30: Sigma Tau Delta Teacher Appreciation, Simpkins 025, 11:00am-2:00pm.
  • Apr 28: Department Awards Night, Multicultural Center, 4:30pm.
  • Apr 26: Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society induction ceremony, Helwig residence, 5:30pm.
  • Apr 26: MA thesis defense: Michael Baumann. Simpkins 014, 2:00pm.
  • Apr 21: Faculty reading: Magdelyn Helwig and Erika Wurth, Multicultural Center, 7:00pm.
  • Apr 21: Faculty/staff reception for incoming chair Derek Royal, Inselhaus, 4:30pm.
  • Apr 21: English Graduate Organization, Simpkins 341, 4:00pm.
  • Apr 21: Faculty interest meeting, LAS courses, Simpkins 025, 3:15pm.
  • Apr 16: Public reading of Emily Dickinson’s poetry. East side of Malpass Library, 1:00pm.
  • Apr 15: Faculty colloquium: Bill Knight, “Canon Fodder: Carl Sandburg’s Advice to Journalists.” Multicultural Center Board Room, 11:00am.
  • Apr 14: Sigma Tau Delta Meeting and Elections, Simpkins 025, 4:15pm.
  • Apr 14: Writing faculty meeting, Simpkins 020, 3:00pm.
  • Apr 12: Deadline for Creative Writing awards.
  • Apr 10: NCTE Spring Conference, Simpkins ground floor, 8:00am-5:00pm.
  • Apr 9: Faculty research group. Wine Sellers, 3:00pm.
  • Apr 8: Faculty colloquium: Mark Mossman, "Irish Girls Gone Wild: Disability, Gender, and the Construction of Celtic Sentiment." Room change: Simpkins 327 027, 4:00pm.
  • Apr 1: Deadline for Graduate Program awards & fellowships.
  • Apr 1: Reading, Case Writer-In-Residence David Treuer. University Union Lincoln Room, 7:30pm.
  • Mar 31: Journalism scholarship dinner featuring Onion writer Kurt Luchs, Old Dairy, 7:00pm.
  • Apr 1: “Journalism & Humor: from Mark Twain to Jon Stewart”, Onion writer Kurt Luchs, Union Sandburg Theater, noon.
  • Mar 31: “Hamlet’s Machine,” Dr. Howard Marchitello, Rutgers University-Camden. University Union Lincoln Room, 7:00pm.
  • Mar 31: Q&A, Case Writer-In-Residence David Treuer. University Writing Center, 4:30pm.
  • Mar 31: Writing faculty meeting, Simpkins 020, 3:00pm.
  • Mar 25: EGO thesis roundtable. Simpkins 027, 4:00pm.
  • Mar 25: "Waiting on a Train" Author James McCommons to Give Honors Anniversary Address
  • Mar 24: Faculty search event, Simpkins 027, 3:00pm.
  • Mar 24: Journalism Beyond Print, Malpass Library 180, 11:45am.
  • Mar 15-19: Spring Break; no classes.
  • Mar 12: E&J faculty research group, Wine Sellers, 3:00pm.
  • Mar 11: NCTE meeting, Simpkins 025, 6:00pm.
  • Mar 10: Journalism Day - Todd Frankel, “Breaking Away From the Pack,” University Union Sandburg Theatre, 7:00pm.
  • Mar 10: Faculty reading: Merrill Cole and Charles McLeod, Multicultural Center, 7:00pm.
  • Mar 10: Workshop by Todd Frankel: “How to Tell Compelling Stories on Deadline.” Western Courier offices, Heating Plant Annex, 4:30pm.
  • Mar 10: EGO meeting, Simpkins 341, 4:15pm.
  • Mar 05: EGO presents "Critical and Creative Ekphrasis: A Symposium on Writing the Visual". University Art Gallery, 3:00pm.
  • Mar 05: Deadline to apply for 2010-11 department scholarships.
  • Mar 03: EGO meeting, Simpkins 341, 4:15pm.
  • Mar 01: Women's Art Exhibit, 'Honoring Our Mothers' Project Display and Reception (English Majors Featured)
  • Feb 25: Charlie Wheeler, Public Affairs Reporting Program at UIS, Simpkins 019, 11:00am.
  • Feb 24: EGO meeting, Simpkins 341, 4:15pm.
  • Feb 19: Faculty search event, Simpkins 027, 3:00pm.
  • Feb 18: NCTE, with Career Services guest speaker, Simpkins 025, 6:00pm.
  • Feb 18: Faculty search event, Tillman 301D/QC 114, 3:30pm.
  • Feb 17: EGO meeting, Simpkins 341, 4:15pm.
  • Feb 12: Lincoln’s Birthday; no classes.
  • Feb 11: Workshop: Using Western Online. Simpkins 321, 1:30pm.
  • Feb 10: Workshop: Using Western Online. Simpkins 319, 3:30pm.
  • Feb 9: Faculty search event, Simpkins 020, 3:30pm.
  • Feb 8: Faculty search event, Tillman 301D/QC 114, 3:00pm.
  • Feb 5: Faculty search event, Simpkins 027, 3:00pm.
  • Feb 5: Faculty search event, Simpkins 014, 11:00am.
  • Feb 5: NCTE Book Sale, Simpkins 025, 9:00am-3:00pm.
  • Feb 4: Workshop: Intro to Simpkins computer labs. Simpkins 321, 3:30pm.
  • Feb 4: NCTE Book Sale, Simpkins 025, 9:00am-3:00pm.
  • Feb 3: EGO meeting, Simpkins 341, 4:15pm.
  • Feb 3: Workshop: Intro to Simpkins computer labs. Simpkins 319, 3:30pm.
  • Feb 3: NCTE Book Sale, Simpkins 025, 9:00am-3:00pm.
  • Feb 2: Faculty search event, Simpkins 020, 3:30pm.
  • Feb 2: NCTE Book Sale, Simpkins 025, 9:00am-3:00pm.
  • Feb 1: Faculty search event, Tillman 301D/QC 114, 3:00pm.
  • Jan 29: Faculty search event, Simpkins 027, 3:00pm.
  • Jan 29: Faculty search event, Simpkins 014, 10:00am.
  • Jan 27: EGO meeting, Simpkins 341, 4:00pm.
  • Jan 26: Faculty search event, Simpkins 027, 3:30pm.
  • Jan 25: Faculty search event, Tillman 301D/QC 114, 3:00pm.
  • Jan 25: Deadline to submit essays for the Leland Essay Contest.
  • Jan 21: Our search for an assistant professor of world literature has been put on hold.
  • Jan 19: Classes Begin.

Faculty News

  • June 11: Congratulations to Bill Knight, selected as the 2010 Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecturer.
  • 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).
  • April 28: 15 years - Diana Allen, Kathleen Balderson, English & Journalism; 10 years - Clara Carrigan, English & Journalism, Christina Wherley, English & Journalism
  • Apr 28: Lisa Barr mentored three students for Undergraduate Research Day: Kaley Rowe, Julie Watkins, and Jesse Patridge.
  • Apr 23: Bill Knight’s Galesburg Zephyr newspaper column “Illinois can handle detainees” has been named one of North America’s top 12 opinion pieces by the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
  • Apr 21: Mark Mossman’s essay “Academic Capitalism and the New Humanities MA” has been selected for summer 2010 review by the PMLA editorial board.
  • Apr 16: Charles McLeod has been chosen "Best Professor on Campus" by the Western Courier.
  • Apr 16: Tim Helwig has been awarded a 2010-2011 short-term visiting research fellowship from the Library Company of Philadelphia.
  • Apr 14: Roberta Di Carmine has won the College of Arts & Sciences Award for Internationalizing the Campus.
  • Apr 6: Everett Hamner presented “Defining American Religion” at the Young Scholars in American Religion Conference in Indianapolis.
  • Apr 5: Charles McLeod, Barbara Ashwood-Gegas, and Peggy Otto were nominated for this year’s Honoring Our Professors of Excellence (HOPE) awards.
  • Apr 5: Roberta Di Carmine published “Teaching Students to Challenge the Status Quo: Recognizing Oppression in African Film“ in The Councilor 71.1.
  • Apr 4: Dan Malachuk published “William James at Chocorua: A Northern Forest Philosopher” in Nature and Culture in the Northern Forest: Region, Heritage, and Environment in the Rural Northeast (U of Iowa P, 2010).
  • Apr 3: Merrill Cole has been awarded a Senior Fulbright Research Grant to Germany to develop his project, “Lust Murder Sex Dolls and Other Weimar Monstrosities: Anita Berber, Sebastian Droste, and Hanna Höch in Inflation-Era Berlin.”
  • Apr 2: Charles McLeod has had three short stories accepted for publication: “Settlers of Unassigned Lands,” by South Dakota Review, “The State Bird of Minnesota,” by Michigan Quarterly Review, and “Microclimates,” by Post Road.
  • Mar 30: Mark Mossman’s essay “Sensation and the Body: Disability and the Victorian Sensation Novel.” was accepted for publication in A Companion to Sensation Fiction, ed. Pamela Gilbert (Blackwell, 2011).
  • Mar 25: Chris Morrow presented “Not So Happy Few: Anti-Militarism in Dekker’s The Shoemaker“s Holiday” at the College English Association Conference in San Antonio. His essay also received “The James R. (Dick) Bennett Award for Literature and Peace.”
  • Mar 20: Carol Bollin chaired “Still Writing in The Centers: Reconsidering Current Practics in Writing Center Pedagogy” at the Conference on College Composition & Communication (CCCC) in Louisville, KY.
  • Mar 18: Neil Baird presented “Undergraduate Ethnographies of Digital Communities: Methodological Adaptation in Studies of World of Warcraft and Second Life” at the Conference on College Composition & Communication (CCCC) in Louisville, KY.
  • Mar 18: Bradley Dilger presented “Mutualizing the Mix” at the Conference on College Composition & Communication (CCCC) in Louisville, KY.
  • Mar 15: Shazia Rahman has been selected as the College of Arts and Sciences’ Gonfalonier for undergraduate commencement.
  • Mar 11: Everett Hamner published “Filmmaking Beyond the Film Classroom” in Religion and American History.
  • Mar 11: Congratulations to our eleven faculty members who earned Professional Achievement Awards: David Banash, Merrill Cole, Roberta DiCarmine, Bradley Dilger, Everett Hamner, Dan Malachuk, Chris Morrow, Mark Mossman, Amy Patrick, Shazia Rahman, and Bonnie Sonnek.
  • Mar 4: English Professor Emeritus Janice Welsch to Participate in 10th Annual Civil Rights Pilgrimage
  • Mar 1: Bradley Dilger’s essay "Beyond Star Flashes: The Elements of Web 2.0 Style" was published in Computers & Composition.
  • Jan 12: Lisa Barr’s “Missing Stories From The Streets: Why Wasn’t the Pittsburgh G-20 Police Riot Better Covered?” was published in the January/February issue of The Humanist.