Millikin offers three English majors—writing, literature,
and English Education—each emphasizing an innovative
contemporary approach of learning by reflective action.
We celebrate student performance as writers, readers, and
teachers of English—offering an educational journey
through great works of the past, exploring intriguing writings
of the present, and preparing students to write, edit, publish
or teach in the future. See our Majors
page for details.
HILARITY ENSUES, a Comedy in Two Acts by Brian A. Blankenship, was performed as a staged reading on the campus of Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois at 5:00pm Tuesday, May 6, 2008 under the direction of the student playwright, Brian A. Blankenship. (K128)
Hilarity Ensues a comedy in two acts
by
Brian A. Blankenship
5:00 PM • Tuesday • May 6, 2008
Kirkland 128
HILARITY ENSUES was written during the Fall of 2007 through the Spring of 2008 at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. The script was intended as a project of the James Millikin Scholars Program, the thesis being an experiment into discovering the motivations and objectives of characters of the dramatic farce. The project was overseen by Honors Program Director Dr. Michael O’Connor and Project Advisor Dr. Randy Brooks.
2008 Honors & Awards
On April 24, 2008, several English students and two faculty member were honored with awards at the 2008 Awards Convocation.
Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award
Dr. Anne Matthews
Alpha Lamba Delta Outstanding Teaching Award
for first year teaching
Dr. Carmella Braniger
Outstanding JMS Honors Educator Award for teaching in the JMS honors program
Dr. Michael O'Conner
University Scovill Prize
for outstanding scholarship, personality & citizenship
Lauren A. Krage
Dr. Grace Conant Writing Award
for literary creation
Brian A. Blankenship
John J. Wright
Blake W. Bergeson
Dr. Grace Conant Writing Award
for literary interpretation
Sarah E. Corso
Klay A. Baynar
Conant English Department Award
for an English senior with the highest GPA
planning graduate study
Patrick J. Steadman
Conant Society Achievment Awards
for outstanding English majors
Brian A. Blankenship, Sarah E. Corso, Lauren A. Krage
Outstanding Journalism Award
for outstanding service to the Decaturian
Galen C. Broaddus
Web Case Book Published
Each fall semester, students in the EN202 Writing About Literature class create book of critical essays on a single work of literature. This "Case Study" approach employs a variety of critical approaches and perspectives. For the last two years, the resulting publication has been an online Web Case Study Book.
This web case book was written by students at Millikin enrolled in English 202 Writing About Literature taught by Dr. Carmella Braniger. Web site design by a team of students in EN301 Web Publishing taught by Dr. Randy Brooks. See the web site at:
Bronze Man Books is proud to announce the release of a third chapbook:
Simple Universal by Jeff Allen. Decatur, IL: Bronze Man Books, 2008. ISBN: 978-09787441-8-2. $10 & $2.50 postage.
Written by Millikin alumni, Jeff Allen, Simple Universal features six poems and a short story. It also features the artwork of Millikin University student, Lauren Wika. Jeff Allen recently graduated from Millikin University with a degree in Music Business. While at Millikin, Allen was published in numerous issues of Collage, the university’s literary magazine. Dr. Stephen Frech writes in his preface of the book that Allen “doesn’t rest at emotion or felt experience. He always finds a way to push further, to pose questions about how we and how the speakers of these poems might behave in response to those feelings.” Allen’s book pushes readers to not be limited in their knowledge of the world, and it creates a unique lens with which to view the world. —Patrick Steadman
Millikin Alums Launch a New Literary Journal
Jeremy C. Ellis '03 and some friends have started an online literary journal called Dirty Napkin. The staff is 3/5 Millikin English alums including Jeremy, Tim Rhomberg '05, and Katie Schmid '06, along with a friend of mine from the East Coast, and a woman we met from a journal in Michigan. They are looking for submissions for the first issue. To learn more about us, check out the journal web site: http://dirtynapkin.com
English Alum News
Aaron Bynum graduated from Millikin University in 2007 with a major
in writing. At Millikin he was one of the founding editors of Bronze Man Books. Aaron is now
Assistant Editor for Arborist News, a bimonthly (6 times a year) magazine published by the International Society of Arboriculture, located in Champaign, Illinois. He is currently in training to become the Managing Editor.
Maureen Ritter, class of 2006, writes that she has started teaching English at Grayslake Central High School in Grayslake, IL, up by the Wisconsin border. She will teach Freshman Language Arts and Senior British Literature. She also will be coaching a new speech team. Way to go Maureen!
Millikin’s English department often features student writing and research which is published as web sites. In 2007-2008, we had significant new web site publications including:
Millikin English and Art majors have joined forces to found a new student publishing company, Bronze Man Books. See the new web site for more details.
Bronze Man Books is open for submissions of chapbooks & book proposals. BMB is also currently open for submissions to the Millikin University Haiku Anthology.
English Faculty
News
See the latest faculty news of publications, community service, conference publications and accomplishments by Millikin's English faculty at English Faculty News.
Millikin University’s English department is receiving attention for its innovative curriculum that extends the Millikin’s integration of theory and practice into the English-Writing major.
Millikin University English faculty have been frequent presenters at national and regional conferences sharing the news about its innovative curriculum. Due to the growing reputation of its undergraduate writing major, the Millikin English department was invited to submit a chapter to a forthcoming book, Advance(d) Composition: Undergraduate Majors and the Future of the Discipline, to be published by Utah State University Press in 2008.
