UM-Flint English

Many thanks to Eva Sandoval, writing in Matador:

The question people usually ask the English major after “What are you going to do with that?” is generally “Does it pay?” It’s an appallingly rude question. My suspicion has long been that the question arises out of the asker’s need to comfort themselves that selling out was, indeed, the right choice. But I digress.
Fine. I myself make a little money. Each year I make more. Not that it’s any of your business. If I gave a crap about being rich I’d have become an investment banker…or a high class call girl.
Do I love what I do? Yes. And I loved being an English major. . . .

You can read more here.

Congratulations to the Class of 2012!  We’re proud of your accomplishments and we hope that you’ll stay in touch with us. Let us know where you’re headed in the comments section.

Here are just a few highlights of our graduating students:

• Roger Austin (MA in English Language & Literature) was accepted to the PhD program in English at  Georgia State University.
• Ja’Nel Jameson (BA in English) received the Commitment to Service award from Michigan Campus Compact.
• Zea Miller (MA in English Language & Literature) was accepted to the PhD program in English at Purdue University.
• Jennifer N. Ross (BA in English and History, Honors Program) is a recipient of the Maize & Blue Distinguished Scholar Award.
• Audra Walter (BA in English) has been hired as a teacher at the Institute of Reading Development to teach in the Institute’s summer reading programs.

And here are a few of our class projects from this semester.

• Class blog from Tom Foster’s ENG 527 – Contemporary Irish Fiction
• Video of about the Flint Poetry Map from Stephanie Carpenter’s ENG 296 – Creative Writing

In these posts you’ve learned that English Department faculty listen to music, see movies, and even watch tv.  Beyond those things, though, how do we like to spend our time?  We thought you’d never ask!  Just read below to find out the unbelievable truth.  All things must pass, and with this post WATPA? says farewell until the fall.  Thanks for looking, and have a great summer!

Fred Svoboda:  Hiking, Cycling, Dog Training (Golden Retriever), Travel, Reading.

Janelle Wiess:  Besides reading, I also enjoy running (I do compete, but I have no interest in running a marathon), yoga,  and playing the organ/piano.  I used to scrapbook, but now I just make photo books on Shutterfly.

Stephanie Roach:  Going to the movies and live theatre performances; Reading books (particularly debut novels, preferably ocean-side)

Cathy Akers-Jordan:  1. Counted cross-stitch.  2. Puzzles (Sudoku, crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, puzzle-based computer games, etc.).  3. Research about Titanic, The Lord of the Rings, and Egyptology.  4. Writing about stuff I read (Seriously, I spend most of my time reading!).  5. Watching Eagle Cam

Brian Boggs:  My hobby time is limited, but I would say that it is politics. Not only do I hold a position in the community in which I reside (which has me going to meeting and events regularly), but I also like to follow local, state, and national politics. It is a hobby and community service.

Stephanie Irwin-Booms:  We like to make beer, wine, and mead at home. We play a lot of board games on the weekend; Dominion, Ticket to Ride, Lost Cities, and Taj Mahal are a few many people have never heard of.  Gaming has come a long way since Monopoly and Sorry.  If have time or energy, I read or play video games but these days, not much of either one.

John Pendell:  Running.

Jacob Blumner:  Beyond Reading and grading: Ha ha ha. In no particular order, biking, hiking, woodwork, sewing, scuba diving, fishing, camping, running around the yard playing various forms of tag, really just about anything considered “outdoors.”

Kazuko Hiramatsu:  knitting scarves; needle felting; baking; playing video games, the ukulele, and piano.

Steve Bernstein: music (listening to it, playing it, seeing it live), travel, cooking, running, reading.

Students in The University of Michigan-Flint’s introduction to creative writing classes will be holding a mobile poetry reading in downtown Flint during the Flint Art Walk on April 13.

Entitled “The Poetry Map of Flint”, the event combines a guided tour of downtown Flint with poetry inspired by the city’s buildings and historical sites. The poems were written by students in UM-Flint assistant professor Stephanie Carpenter’s creative writing class. In addition, assistant professor Joe Reinsel’s design studio class has created a brochure depicting the Poetry Map route with its accompanying poems.

“The Poetry Map is a means of connecting writers at UM-Flint with the Flint community,” Carpenter says. “Students have also been involved in every aspect of event planning.”

Poetry Map tours will begin at 6pm and run periodically throughout the evening. The starting point will be the Flint Local 432 (124 W. First Street). Tours will be led by Carpenter’s students, who will read poems aloud at each designated site.

“Despite the image Flint has taken on in the wake of the automotive fallout, we want to show the public that it’s still an engaging, lively place to be,” UM-Flint student Paul Fulkerson says. “We hope to do just that with this literary effort.”

Find us on Facebook for more information. Please come along and show your support!

[Post by Paul Fulkerson]

English faculty and alumni at The Cork

Zea Miller (MA 2011), has been accepted into the PhD program in Theory and Cultural Studies at Purdue University. Zea will be joining recent graduate, Kelsey Ronan (BA English 2009), who is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing there.

Zea’s paper, “Decriminalizing the Lawless Moor”, was also recently accepted for the Monstrous Geographies conference at the Mansfield College of Oxford.

Looking for an online MA program in English? We need your help!

The English Department is investigating the possibility of an online Master of Arts in English Language and Literature. If you would like to assist us in our exploration, please follow the link and take the survey of prospective student attitudes about an online MA program:

http://umflint.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1ZYpr9hDuCzt8dC

We truly appreciate your assistance. Many thanks!

Remember us?  We’re English Department faculty, and we can’t resist telling you more about ourselves, especially in mildly embarrassing ways.  This time around, respondents were asked to identify their favorite tv programming of yesteryear, along with what kind of trash they might be caught watching during an idle moment now.  Do English teachers watch tv while they grade?  We’ll never tell . . .

Tom Foster
Then
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show—explains a lot, doesn’t it? Hey, Rock, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat! My go-to when students don’t understand postmodernism.
Columbo—the first incarnation. It broke the rules for detective/mystery shows.
The Nero Wolfe Mysteries—Timothy Hutton with an ensemble cast playing different suspects and victims every week, a sort of whodunit repertory company.
Kung Fu—again, the original run. Faux-Eastern mysticism, Western tropes, slo-mo violence. I could cite Then Came Bronson as an alternative mysterious-stranger series, but that may be weirder.
The Prisoner. Patrick McGoohan. Dystopian weirdness. Just because.

NOW
White Collar
Covert Affairs—the only show ever in which I knew the star as a toddler
Royal Pains—Monk with a stethoscope. Hey, I like some of the USA short series
This Old House—weak scripts but good action, esp. with nail guns

Fred Svoboda
All-time
An Age of Kings (1960). Shakespeare history plays in chronological order covering 86 years, Richard II to Richard III.
Get Smart (1965-70). Comic parody of James Bond.
Mary Tyler Moore (1970-77). Young, single woman in a TV producer job faces the humor of women’s move into the work force.
Bob Newhart Show (1972-78). Misadventures of dull Chicago psychologist and his droll, beautiful elementary teacher wife.
Hill Street Blues (1981-87). Prototype of current character-driven ensemble cop shows.
Now
Project Runway People doing fashion design, something really, really difficult. This can be fascinating.
Mythbusters Guys blowing up things, mostly, in the cause of science. What could be better?
American Experience PBS documentaries on topics relevant to the American Literature student.
NOVA  Great PBS science series. “Things eating things.”
Downton Abbey BBC production of life in an English manor house just before, during and after WWI. Soap opera for the literate.

Stephanie Carpenter
When it comes to TV, I follow the advice of Paris Hilton: “Eat only fast food or the most fabulous food.”
All-time favorite shows: The Wire, Friday Night Lights, Deadwood, Twin Peaks

Things I watch now: Justified, The Bachelor/ette,  Jersey Shore, Mad Men, Downton Abbey

Steve Bernstein
All time: The Wire, Seinfeld, Veronica Mars, Da Vinci’s Inquest, The Dick Van Dyke Show
Now: The Daily Show, Modern Family, Mad Men, Chopped, Damages

Janelle Wiess
In terms of all time favorite shows, I have always enjoyed MASH and Seinfeld. It doesn’t matter if I have already seen the episode. I will watch it again.
Several shows that I watch regularly are The Mentalist, Big Bang Theory, Grey’s Anatomy, and Storage Wars. I don’t care for any other crime dramas (NCIS or Law and Order) because I can usually figure out “whodunnit” early on and the puns are just really bad.

Stephanie Roach
All-time  Presented alphabetically: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Sports Night, Soap, Veronica Mars
Now Presented alphabetically: Castle, Fringe, Glee, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family

Cathy Akers-Jordan
All-time  1. Star Trek (The Original Series)  2. Lost 3. Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) 4. Monk 5. MASH
Now  1. Castle 2. The Big Bang Theory 3. Mystery! (Sherlock and Inspector Lewis are my faves) 4. The Closer 5. Rizzoli and Isles

Jake Blumner
All-time: Simpsons and Family Guy and Daily Show and Lost.
Now?  Diego, Dora, Mike the Knight, Bones, and whatever Helen turns on.

Brian Boggs
All time TV favorites – Frasier, House, The Mentalist, Castle, and Will and Grace
Now – My time is limited to new episodes of the House, The Mentalist, and Castle – I have a thing for mysteries and puzzles.

John Pendell
All-time favorites: The Office (UK Version) , Taxi, St. Elsewhere, Law and Order, Six Feet Under
Currently watching:  Downton Abbey, Parenthood, Modern Family, The Mentalist, 30 Rock

Kazuko Hiramatsu
All-time MASH, Star Trek, Northern Exposure,  Doc Martin, Lost
Now Psych, White Collar, Castle, New Girl, The Voice

Stephanie Irwin-Booms
My favorite all time shows are Seinfeld, Six feet Under, Battlestar Galactica, and The Sopranos.
My favorite current shows are Once upon a time, True Blood, Dexter, Big Bang Theory, and American Pickers. I love anything science fiction but the older I get, the more time I spend on the History and Science channels.  I don’t watch very many shows that other women like.

Like us on  Facebook!  We’ll be posting links to language-related news, posting announcements about advising and class scheduling, and sharing program and research updates.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/UM-Flint-Linguistics-Program/262274937157609

 Want to Teach College English?

Come and hear from recent UM-Flint MA program in English alumni who are now teaching in the colleges of Eastern Michigan:  Carrie McAllister, Samuel Murchie, Leila Tarakji, Pamela Todoroff, and Shanisha Harmon.

January 18th

6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

310 French Hall

All are welcome. Light refreshments will be provided. If you have questions, please contact Vickie Larsen at vlarsen@umflint.edu.

Cover design by Allison Fortino

Qua, the University of Michigan-Flint’s literary and fine arts journal, is now accepting submissions of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction for our winter 2012 issue. We invite submissions from Flint community members as well as University of Michigan-Flint students.

Writers’ Guidelines:

Qua accepts submissions of original, previously unpublished fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from University of Michigan-Flint students and Flint community members.

For fiction and nonfiction, preference is given to pieces of 5000 words or less. Longer pieces may be considered for publication on Qua’s website.

All submissions should be sent as MS Word attachments to qua.journal@gmail.com. Please include your name and the title(s) of your pieces in the body of your email. Be sure to remove your name from the pieces themselves. As we are a small campus community, all submissions will be read anonymously.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

Sample copies of Qua may be obtained at no cost from the University of Michigan-Flint English Department (326 French Hall).

The deadline for consideration in our fall issue is February 10, 2012.

Questions can be directed to qua.journal@gmail.com.