Newsworthy: Milla Chappell Named 2005 Varian C. Burkhardt Award Winner

Second-year MA student Milla Chappell has been named the Varian C. Burkhardt Graduate Student Award winner for 2005.

The award -- named for Varian Carpenter Burkhardt, a long-time resident of Auburn who taught English and also wrote under the pen name Varian Feare -- recognizes a rising second-year MA student whose academic record during his or her first year is the most outstanding of that entering class.

“I never expected to get this award because there are so many other master's students who do such a good job and work hard," Chappell said. "I was, of course, very surprised but also very honored. I'm very thankful for it.”

A monetary gift of $600 accompanies the Burkhardt Award. In addition, Chappell's name will join those of previous recipients of the Burkhardt Award engraved on a plaque in the departmental office, and she will be honored at the Annual Spring English Department Reception.

"On behalf of the Graduate Studies Committee and the graduate faculty, we offer Milla a warm commendation for her excellent performance in her first year of study," said Dr. Hilary Wyss, the Coordinator of Graduate Studies. "We look forward to her continued success in the MA program here at Auburn and beyond."

Chappell, who earned a BA in English from Auburn, will graduate with her MA degree this Spring and is currently in the process of applying to PhD programs in English. She plans to use the money from the Burkhardt award to fund her on-campus visits to different schools.

To see other 2004-05 award winners, visit the Department's Scholarship and Awards page.

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TODAY - Not Just Desserts Series -"Inquirys on Scottish Heritage in the American South" - 7 pm - 217 Foy Union

September is Scottish American Heritage Month and, in celebration of this, the Center for Diversity and Race Relations will be presenting "Inquirys on Scottish Heritage in the American South" as part of the "Not Just Desserts" series.

The lecture will take place in Foy Union Room 217 (Exhibit Hall) from 7 to 8:30 pm. Refreshments will be served and a book-signing session will follow the lecture.

Dr. Celeste Ray, Professor of Anthropology at University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, will explore how Highland Scottish themes and lore merge with southern regional myths and identities to produce a unique style of commemoration and a complex sense of identity for Scottish Americans in the South. She offers an original and insightful examination of what it means to be Scottish in America.

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September 26 - English Club: Applying for Graduate School in English - 3 pm - HC 3104

The English Club and Sigma Tau Delta will host a faculty panel discussion and question and answer session on applying to graduate school (MA, MFA, MTPC, or PhD) in English. The discussion will be Monday, September 26 at 3 pm in Haley 3104.

English Department faculty members Penny Ingram, Keith Gibson, Hilary Wyss, and Cedrick May will be on hand to talk about the application process, choosing graduate programs, taking the GRE, acquiring letters of recommendation, and much more.

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September 27 - Lecture - “From the African Loom to the American Quilt” - 4 pm - JCSM

Dr. Gladys-Marie Fry, one of the nation's leading authorities on African American textiles, is giving a free lecture at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art on September 27 at 4 pm. A reception and book signing of Stitched from the Soul will follow the lecture in the museum café and rotunda.

Dr. Fry developed two groundbreaking exhibitions on African American quilting -- Man Made: African-American Men and Quilting Traditions and Stitched From the Soul: Slave Quilts from the Ante-Bellum South. Trained as a folklorist, Dr. Fry is the author of several books and articles and is Professor Emerita at the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.

The lecture is sponsored by The AU Center for Arts and Humanities and Alabama Center for the Book, the English Department, Auburn Hillel, and Gee's Bend in Context with AU Women's Studies.

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September 28 - Department Faculty Meeting - 3 pm - HC 3104

A Department faculty meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 28 at 3 pm in 3104 Haley Center. The topic of the meeting will be assessment.

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September 30 - Open House for Alumni - 3 pm - 9030 HC

The Department of English will host an Open House for alumni, Friday, September 30 in 9030 Haley Center. Plan to stop by to meet members of the Advisory Council as well as faculty and students in the English Department.

For more information on the Advisory Council, see the updated Alumni News.

Please send an email to the students you keep in touch with asking them to Send A Note. Or, email Betsy Smith their email addresses and she will contact them for you.

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October 1 - Tailgate Party

The College of Liberal Arts will host a tailgate party, Saturday, October 1 before the Auburn-South Carolina game. Live music and free food will be provided.

The event will start 2 hours before the game in the Dean's Club parking lot on the corner of Duncan and Samford next to the Telfair Peet Theater. For more information, contact Wendy Bonner at 844-1483.

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October 3 - English Hour - "God and the Classroom: Teaching Religious Texts in the Heart of Dixie" - 3:30 pm - HC 3104

Phillip Beard and James Truman will be running a panel discussion on engaging with theological and religious matters in the classroom, particularly in the World Literature classroom.

The discussion will be from 3 to 5 pm in Haley 3104. Any member of the Department interested in participating should contact Phillip Beard or James Truman.

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October 4, 5 - Haley Center Poetry Project 2005 - 10 am to 2 pm - Haley Center Courtyard

All students, faculty, staff, and other friends of poetry are cordially invited to participate in the Haley Center Poetry Project for Fall 2005, sponsored by the Department of English, Sigma Tau Delta, the English Club, and the AU Bookstore.

This semester, readings are scheduled for October 4 and 5, from 10 am to 2 pm each day. There will be opportunities for as many as 50 readers to take part in this public outdoor event, which will be held in the Haley Center courtyard (outside the AU Bookstore). As always, refreshments will be served.

The format will be similar to previous Poetry Projects; each reader will be allotted about 10 minutes to read the poetry of her or his choice. Readers are welcome to read poetry from any time period and/or language, famous or obscure, old or new, original or shamelessly imitative.

If you'd like to be a reader in the Haley Center Poetry Project, please indicate your interest by calling Jim Ryan at 844-9092, by email to Jim Ryan or Chris Forhan, or by signing the lists posted outside HC 9092.

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October 12 - "Not Just Desserts" series presents Sally O'Driscoll

"Word on the Street:18th-Century Pamphlets and the Language of Gender," a talk by Sally O'Driscoll of Fairfield University will be given as part of the "Not Just Desserts" series at noon, October 12, in the RBD library auditorium. The visit is sponsored by the Center for Diversity and Race Relations, the RBD Library, Women's Studies, the Stevens Fund, and the Gay and Lesbian Caucus.

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October 15 - Call for Graduate Student Essay Submissions

Blackwell Publisher's new online journal and reference resource, Literature Compass, invites submissions for the graduate essay prize. Prizes will be awarded to essays in each of nine literature sections. Each section winner will receive $200 of free Blackwell books and have their article published on Literature Compass. The deadline for submissions is October 15. For details about the contest and the kinds of essays they are seeking, visit their website.

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Michael Smith Selected to Read at NY Public Library

Michael Smith has been selected by the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses to read at the NY Public Library as part of the "Periodically Speaking" series.

The event is on October 11 and the theme is "Looking." Smith will be reading "Anywhere," a story published with the Summerset Review.

Periodically Speaking will take place in the beautiful DeWitt Wallace Periodicals Room of the New York Public Library's main branch on the second Tuesdays of October, November, and December 2005. Each reading will be centered around a theme and will feature one writer from each of three magazines.

Each event will include a 15-20 minute reading from one poet, one fiction writer, and one essayist or creative non-fiction writer. Each writer will be introduced by their respective magazine editor/publisher, thus highlighting the important role that these individuals play in bringing new writers to the public.

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Nick Boone's "Blurb" Appears in Elements of Argument

Nick Boone had a "blurb" published on the back cover of the much-used textbook Elements of Argument. 

The publishing company Bedford/St. Martin's sent out a survey via email and promised a $100 check to anyone who would fully participate in the survey by detailing how they used Elements of Argument in the classroom.  

It took Nick four hours to fill out the survey, but it was worth it. One of his comments was selected by Bedford/St. Martin's to be used on the back cover of the Elements of Argument 8th edition, and he did receive his $100 payment.

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First Symposium Series Lecture a Success

The first English Symposium Series Lecture of 2005, featuring Jack Selzer, Professor of English and Associate Dean for Graduate and Undergraduate Studies at Penn State University, was very successful.

Selzer spoke to a large crowd on September 19 in the RBD Library Auditorium. His lecture discussed rhetorical criticism and then showed how that approach can open up texts as various as a novel by John Dos Passos, an argument in the Wall Street Journal, and a visual argument about gender.

Earlier in the day, students and faculty were able to meet and talk with Selzer in small groups in the English Center and during lunch. Click to view a slideshow of photos.

The next English Symposium Series lecture is scheduled for October 20, when poet Thomas Lux will read from his poetry. Among his works are The Cradle Place, The Street of Clocks, and New and Selected Poems, 1975-1995.

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To include an item in The English Channel, submit text items by Tuesday at 4 pm for publication Wednesday. Submit items by email to Will Brinkley or Betsy Smith or put the information in their mailbox. Please check your submission for accuracy and completion—all calendar items and meeting announcements must include the date, time, and location of the event.

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Last updated September 21, 2005

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Department of English
9030 Haley Center
Auburn University, AL 36849-5203
Phone (334) 844-4620
FAX (334) 844-9027
© 2005 Department of English at Auburn University. All rights reserved.

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