Department of English Newsletter March 2019

Upcoming Department Events

Publications & Acceptances

Julia Schleck and Marco Abel’s essay on academic freedom, “Academic Freedom, Radical Hospitality, and the Necessity of Counterspeech”, was published in the winter 2019 issue of AAUP’s Academe online. They also added a post, “Speaking Back When the University is Attacked”, as a follow-up on Academe’s blog.

Cover of SYNTHETIC CINEMAWheeler Winston Dixon has just published a new book, Synthetic Cinema: The 21st Century Movie Machine, the first book to posit a theory of “synthetic cinema,” the cinema of the contemporary film industry that dominates the medium across genres and budgets, dealing with comic book and fantasy films, fan input from Comic-Con, as well as offering inside technical information on how these films are made.

Cover of TRANSGENDER CINEMAGwendolyn Audrey Foster and Wheeler Winston Dixon are pleased to announce the publication of the latest book in their series Quick Takes: Movies and Popular Culture, Transgender Cinema by Rebecca Bell-Metereau, from Rutgers University Press. This is the 12th volume in the Quick Takes series. An early review notes that “Transgender Cinema is a superb advance on her early, ground-breaking book, Hollywood Androgyny—it’s a scrupulously researched, lucid, major contribution to the study of cinema and gender studies more generally. Timely and both politically and artistically important, it deserves the widest possible readership.” —James Naremore, author of Charles Burnett: A Cinema of Symbolic Knowledge

Gabriel Houck’s writing exercise, “Atomizing Authenticity: Free-Agent Detail and Authoritative Fiction”, has been accepted for publication in the anthology Vanguard: Exercises for the Creative Writing Classroom. His short story, “Tyrant Birds,” will appear in the Spring 2019 issue of Salamander, and his story, “Fist,” will appear in the upcoming issue of Cream City Review.

Patrick T. Randolph (PIESL) published Increasing ELL Comfort With Writing: Observation Journals in TESOL Connections. This piece looks at how Randolph’s unique form of observation journals help ELLs assimilate into their host culture and develop a better understanding of their target language. It also details the various kinds of observations and ways to avoid pitfalls when making cultural- and language-based observations.

Jessica Poli has new poems recently published in Hot Metal Bridge, IDK Magazine , and Nightjar Review. She will also be presenting her paper, “‘Confusion fall—’: Destruction, Ruin, and Lavinia’s Final Words in Titus Andronicus” at UNL’s No Limits Conference on March 8.

Conferences, Readings, Workshops & Presentations

Grace Bauer was one of three finalists for the position of Nebraska State Poet. On February 25th, she read at the State Capital, along with fellow finalist, Steve Langan, at the inaugural event for Matt Mason, who was selected as Nebraska State Poet.

Wheeler Winston Dixon has a one person show of  his recent video work streaming on Salto TV, a Dutch web television network. This retrospective work debuted on February 9, 2019, and is permanently available for streaming.

Frame grab from LEISURE TIMEGwendolyn Audrey Foster participated in the Feminist Art Project Workshop & Panel at the National Women’s Caucus for Art Conference in New York City, February 15 - 16. Foster’s video installation In Art We Trust, a four channel study in digital abstraction, premiered at LACDA (Los Angeles Center for Digital Art), and runs from February 14 through March 9th, in the Glitch program, curated by Rex Bruce. Foster’s short films, No Personal Checks, Kiki’s Film and Séance for Hilma screened at Kino Climates in Belgrade, Serbia on February 22. Foster’s The Leisure Class was an Official Selection of Wake America! A Two Year Anniversary of Cinematic Resistance. The festival and screening was held at MoHA in Austin, Texas on January 22, 2019.

Nikoleta Dubjelová and Patrick RandolphPatrick T. Randolph and Nikoleta Dubjelová, a graduate student in Applied and Environmental Geology at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, currently studying at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, gave two presentations at the 2019 MALT Colloquium at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Their talks were “Observation Journals: Inspiring ELLs to Embrace Life Through Writing” and “Using Embodied Semantics to Cheerfully Help ELLs Acquire Vocabulary.” Dubjelová was the first UNL exchange student to present at this annual Nebraska event.

Randolph also gave four presentations at the 2019 ITBE Convention in Chicago, IL. His talks were “Using Body-Based Components to Effectively Teach Vocabulary, “ELL Read-a-Thons: Actively Performing and Embodying the Written Word, “The Positive Effects of Physical Exercise on Language Learning, and “Observation Journals: Inspiring ELLs to Embrace Life.” Randolph is the first TESOL member to give four talks at the ITBE Convention.

Guy Reynolds gave a paper at the 47th Annual Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900, held at the University of Louisville on February 22, 2019: “Cather, the Senses, and the Transformation of the Late-Victorian Body.”

Activities, Accolades, & Grants

Patrick T. Randolph’s book with Paul McPherron, Cat Got Your Tongue?: Recent Research and Classroom Practices for Teaching Idioms to English Learners Around the World was selected by Ohio’s Department of Education as one of two books on idioms for the state’s Model Curriculum for English Language Arts.

Randolph was also awarded the 2019 Professional Development Award by the Illinois TESOL and Bilingual Education Board. He received this competitive award at the 2019 ITBE Convention in Chicago, IL.

Pascha Sotolongo Stevenson has received a recognition for outstanding teaching in UNL’s Honors Program.

Have news or noteworthy happenings to share?

The Department of English encourages our faculty and current students to submit stories about their activities and publications of note by filling out the Department Newsletter Submission Form.