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English Department Faculty News 2011-2012 During the 2011-2012 academic year, the faculty participated in the following activites and/or received the following honors/appointments: Dr. Virginia Brackett received the Missouri Community Engagement Professional of the Year award in September, 2011. Dr. Emily Donnelli, Associate Professor of English and CETL director, has been invited by Missouri Campus Compact to extend her Engaged Faculty Fellowship to AY 2011-2012. She will serve as editor for the 2012 edition of the peer-reviewed Journal of Public Scholarship in Higher Education. Donnelli also earned the 2011Missouri Excellence in Community-Based Teaching and Scholarship award in September, 2011. English Department Faculty News 2010-2011 During the 2010-2011 academic year, the following faculty presented original research at national and international conferences: Dr. Steve Atkinson - International Congress on Medieval Studies Dr. Virginia Brackett - The Northeast Modern Language Association Conference Dr. Emily Donnelli - Convention of the Conference on College Composition and Communication Gavin Harper - Far West Popular Culture Conference Dr. Lolly Ockerstrom - The International Virginia Woolf Conference Brian Shawver - Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference Dr. Dees Stallings - The MAWCA Conference During the 2010-2011 academic year, the following publications by faculty appeared: Brian Shawver, Associate Professor of English: a short story, "Filth," appeared in the January edition of Green Mountain Review. Dr. Virginia Brackett, Associate Professor of English and department chair: entries titled " 'The Necklace ' by Guy du Maupassant" in Masterplots, 4th Edition (November 2010) and "Sandra Cisneros" in Blackwell's Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction (January 2011).
During the 2010-2011 academic year, the faculty participated in the following activites and/or received the following honors/appointments: Brian Shawver, Associate Professor of English, presented a four-session writing workshop titled "A Closer Look at Novel Writing" at the Writers Place in Kansas City during June, 2011. Dr. Virginia Brackett, Associate Professor of English and department chair, presented a workshop on the topic, "Publishing your Writing" at the Wyandotte Public Library in Kansas City, KS in August, 2011 . Dr. Emily Donnelli, Associate Professor of English and CETL director, received the 2010 Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, presented at Honors Convocation on April 20, 2011. Dr. Jane Wood, Associate Professor of English, has been appointed Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The department looks forward to working with her in this new relationship. However, we'll miss her as a department member. Kudos, Dr. Wood! Dr. Lolly Ockerstrom, Associate Professor of English, was selected to serve as Managing Editor for the journal CETL Insight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching. Dr. Ockerstrom also received acceptance from Bloomsbury Heritage Pamphlets for her proposal for a monograph on the topic of Virginia Woolf and the Spanish Civil War. Dr. Dennis Okerstrom, Professor of English, has learned that his book, The Final Mission of Bottoms Up: A World War II Pilot's Story has been accepted for publication by the University of Missouri Press. Brian Shawver, Associate Professor of English, received an advance contract from the University Press of New England for his book tentatively titled A Fiction Writer's Language. Dr. Virginia Brackett, Associate Professor of English and department chair, was selected to receive the 2010 Pittsburg State University Kenneth K. Bateman Outstanding Alumni Award. The award was presented at Homecoming in October. English Department Faculty News 2009-2010 Dr. Virginia Brackett, Associate Professor of English and department chair, received the 2010 Distinguished Humanities Faculty Award, presented at Honors Convocation on April 21, 2010. Dr. Emily Donnelli, Associate Professor of English and CETL director, has been selected through a competitive process to serve as the first Missouri Campus Compact Engaged Faculty Fellow and Co-Editor of the newly created Missouri Journal of Public Scholarship in Higher Education. Dr. Jane Wood, Associate Professor of English and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is the editor of a newly released book, The Theme of Peace and War in Virginia Woolf’s War Writings (Edwin Mellon Press, New York, Canada, and the UK). Woolf scholar Karen L. Levenback has written the introduction to the collection of twelve scholarly essays. Included among them is “‘What else can a gnat on a blade of grass do?’: Thinking of War, Writing of Peace,” by Dr. Lolly Ockerstrom, Assistant Professor of English at Park. Ockerstrom’s essay examines trauma in the war writing of Virginia Woolf and Vera Brittain. |
English Department Faculty News 2009-2010
Jane Wood and Lolly Ockerstrom chaired panels and gave presentations at the 40th Annual Northeast Modern Language Association Convention in Boston Feb. 26th -- March 1st, 2009. Jane Wood presented "Perusing the Menu: the Gendered Politics of Travel and Dining," and she also proposed and chaired a session titled, "Literary Modernism and Modern Art: Intersections of Creativity." Lolly Ockerstrom presented "Palimpsest, Pastiche, and Pastel: Writing War in Stein, Picasso, H.D., and Dove" on the Literary Modernism Panel, and she also proposed, and chaired the panel, "Wordsworth, Social Responsibility, and Pedagogy."
Jane Wood, Ph.D., received the “Outstanding Online Course Developer” award from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Dr. Wood, associate professor and chair of the English Department, was honored at a luncheon March 4, 2009. Dr. Dennis Okerstrom presented "The Inner Side of Laughter: The Humor Of Mark Twain" on Tuesday, February 17th at 6:30 at the Central Library as part of Kansas City Public Library series "Twain and His Times." The library is celebrating the life and work of Mark Twain throughout the month of February with a free series of events.
Jane Wood kicked-off the Kansas City Public Library series "Twain and His Times" with her presentation, "Not So Innocent Abroad: The Travels of Mark Twain," on Monday, Feb. 9th at 6:30 at the Central Library. The library is celebrating the life and work of Mark Twain throughout the month of February with a free series of events. Dennis Okerstrom will be presenting the next event in the series with "The Inner Side of Laugher: The Humor Of Mark Twain" on Tuesday, February 17th at 6:30 at the Central Library. Please join us for Dr. Okerstrom's presentation.
British Poetry Companion Book Garners Award for Brackett Brackett featured in Pittsburg State University online newsletter
English Faculty present scholarly papers at the 18th Annual International Viriginia Woolf Society Conference at the University of Denver. From left to right: Dr. Virginia Brackett, Dr. Jane Wood, Dr. Lolly Ockerstrom
"Landscapes of Literature": Study Abroad in Northern EnglandSeven Park students accompanied Lolly Ockerstrom, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of English to the English Lake District in Cumbria, northern England in July on a study abroad course, "Landscapes of Literature: Rambling and Reading with the Wordsworths and the Brontės." The group spent two weeks visiting sites important to poet William Wordsworth in the Lake District, including Dove Cottage in Grasmere; the Wordsworth childhood home in Cockermouth; and Rydal Mount in Rydal, where Wordsworth spent his final and more prosperous years. Hawkshead Grammar School, which Wordsworth and his brother attended, was a favorite with the students. It was founded in 1585 under a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I. At the new Jervis Center, the Wordsworth Archives in Grasmere, the students listened to a talk on Wordsworth by author and Wordsworth scholar, Pamela Woof, President of the Wordsworth Trust, which had been especially prepared for Park students. Park University students Loretta Baker, Amelia Brandt, Laura Cornett, Davis Noble, Adenike Orekoya, Jaimie Robeson, and Tammy Russo hiked the fells, including Easdale Tarn on the Coast to Coast Walk above Grasmere, and the prehistoric Castlerigg Stone Circle in Keswick. The group also walked trails around Grasmere Lake; Loughrigg Tarn; and the "Coffin Trail" that connects Rydal Mount and Dove Cottage. While in England, students read poetry, wrote in their journals, and enjoyed conversations with English hikers on trails and during dinner at the Glenthorne Country Guest House, where the group stayed in Grasmere. The group was thoroughly engaged in English culture—so much so, no one complained about the rain (and in fact, never seemed to notice it). Even "the last herd in Grasmere" became a familiar sight, and the students grew fond of the last cows to be walked daily from their farm about a mile from the guesthouse to pasture, with Lakeland collies nipping at their heels to keep them on track. The entire experience was quintessentially English, including 4:00 o'clock tea every day, and ample opportunity to interact with English people. While in Cumbria, the group also visited Hill Top, the farm of Beatrix Potter (author of the famous Peter Rabbit books for children), near Sawry, not far from Hawkshead. The final days of the trip were spent in Haworth, Yorkshire, the home of the Brontė sisters on a bleak moor very different from the lush and dramatic landscapes of the Lake District. They hiked across the rugged Yorkshire moors to Top Withins, the ruins of the stone house that inspired Emily Brontė's novel, Wuthering Heights. Angela Markley-Peterson from the Office of International Affairs and Education accompanied the group during the first week; Keith Snyder from the Academic Support Center also travelled with the group. This Study Abroad course will be offered again in the summer of 2009. For more information, contact the Office of International Affairs and Education, Herr House 4, at Park, or see Dr. Ockerstrom at 321 Copley.
Associate Professor Dennis Okerstrom is honored with the Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, established by Dr. Manuchari Ebadi, a Park University Alumnus. Dr. Okerstrom is pictured above with Park University's President, Dr. Beverley Byers-Pevitts.
Department Chair, Associate Professor Jane Wood, was honored with the 2008 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Outstanding Department Chair Award. From left to right, President Beverley Byers-Pevitts, Jane Wood, and Dr. Amber Dailey, Associate Professor and Director of CETL (Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning). --------------------------------- University Resources |
