This Week in English | October 28 – November 3, 2024
Adams Leads Student Trip to Fredericton
This past weekend, Oct. 25-27, Assistant Professor Hollie Adams and Associate Professor Mark McLaughlin (of the History Department) took a group of fifteen students, including five graduate students from the English Department, on a field trip to Fredericton, New Brunswick. The students, some of whom are taking Adams’s ENG 536: Studies in Canadian Literature, spent the weekend touring the campus of the University of New Brunswick, strolling the stalls of the famous Boyce Farmers Market, participating in a historical/folkloric walking tour of downtown Fredericton, checking out the world-class art at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, and experiencing Canadian culture in the form of poutine and bloody caesars. The field trip was sponsored by the Canadian-American Center, the Stephen E. King Chair, and the McGillicuddy Humanities Center. We include a picture below.
On Campus Voting on Wednesday
For Orono residents, there will be early voting on campus on Wednesday, October 30 in the Collins Center for the Arts from 9-4. This is also a time that students and others living in Orono can get registered.
The Town of Orono strongly encourages folks to vote early to avoid long lines or other problems voting on Election Day, next Tuesday, November 5.
Early voting is also still available by other means. If you live in Orono, you may vote early at the town office. If you don’t live in Orono, check with your town office for details or see resources below for information. Bangor voters may vote early in person at the Civic Center from 8 am to 6 pm until October 31. The Civic Center is also where Bangor residents vote on election day.
Students who live in another state and do not have an absentee ballot can register to vote in Maine at the same time they vote.
Maine Public Shares Talty Clip on Instagram
Maine Public posted a great snippet from Morgan Talty’s recent conversation with Bill Nemitz at Bull Moose to Instagram the other day. The whole conversation can be seen on the Maine Public YouTube channel here.
Writing Center Hosts Grammar Jeopardy
On October 23, the team at UMaine’s Office of Research and Development paid a visit to the Writing Center for a round of “Grammar Jeopardy” with the students in Paige Mitchell’s ENG 395. We include a picture below. As Writing Center Director Mitchell says about the lead-up to the event: ”Our interns are having a lot of fun learning about grammar (I’ve never put that into a sentence before), and we’re designing a fun activity that we can offer to other groups, faculty and classrooms alike.”
College Composition Updates
On October 29, Kaytlin Black will lead off our professional learning workshop series in the Writing Center. Her workshop, “Restorative Teaching Practices in College Composition,” will run from 2-3pm.
On November 1, the College Composition program will hold its second calibration session.
What’s Happening in College Composition Classes
Cam Barone reports in from her English 101 section:
Last week in my Eng 101 class, my class read Yvonne Lee’s “Toward an Understanding of the Multidirectional Nature of Family Literacy Development.” After a brief conversation centering the questions below, we embarked on creating our own literacy maps:
- How do your multidirectional literacy practices align with the explanation Yvonne Lee gives within her text and/or further develop our understanding of the term?
- How does your explanation of multidirectional literacy relate, or differ?
- What passage(s) from Lee’s text might help provide context for your claims/experiences?
- What other types of literacy can we consider that were NOT mentioned? Be sure to explain your reasoning as to how/why our definition of multidirectional literacy practices can include the types of literacy you mention in your reply.
- What questions do you have about multidirectional literacy practices after reading Lee’s text?
After we created our literacy maps, we took advantage of our crayons and paper and began to concept map our drafts of our second academic essay. This week we will continue working on those drafts, engaging in peer review, and holding small group workshops!
MA Student Knirnschild Performs with University Orchestra on Sunday
Second year MA student Jacqueline Knirnschild will play oboe when the University Orchestra performs this Sunday, November 3, between 2-3:30pm, in the Minsky Recital Hall. The program will include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 (also known as the Pastoral Symphony), selections from Jay Lerner’s Camelot, and Saint-Saëns’ Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila. More information here.
Library of Congress Opportunity through Sigma Tau Delta
The Library of Congress is now accepting applications for its in-person and remote summer Junior Fellows Program, an incredible opportunity for students to gain direct experience working with analog and digital collections and supporting the services of the world’s largest, all-inclusive library.
As a Junior Fellow, you will get the chance to:
- Dive into rare collections and artifacts.
- Work on one of seventeen exciting, high-impact projects.
- Build professional skills and expand your network.
This 10-week paid internship is open to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as recent graduates. If you are enthusiastic about research, preservation, or public service, this is the internship for you!
The deadline to apply is Sunday, November 17, 2024. Successful applicants must be US citizens.
Learn more and apply now via the Library of Congress. It is important that you mention your affiliation with Sigma Tau Delta in your application. If you have any questions about the internship, please contact: juniorfellows@loc.gov.
New Writing Series: Dawn Lundy Martin Rescheduled for November 14, Babak Lakghomi on November 7
Unforeseen circumstances forced the cancellation of last week’s New Writing Series event, but happily we have been able to reschedule with the poet Dawn Lundy Martin for a new date on November 7 at 4:30pm. Jennifer Moxley will introduce the author and host the Q&A with the audience to follow.
The Series is off this week in observation of Halloween (sort of), but resumes on November 7 with Babak Lakghomi, who will be introduced by Greg Howard. An updated poster is included below.
Other authors featured this fall will include Daisy Fried (introduced by Steve Evans), and Nick Rees Gardner (introduced by Morgan Talty).
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