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Slicing the Lemon Cake: A Self-evaluation Narrative
Part One: Teaching
I can honestly assert-and document-that I engaged in more teaching
during this academic year (1997-1998) than in any other year
of my professional life. That outcome, incidentally, was neither
planned nor anticipated. Consistent with the goals of the Department,
I made numerous small and large changes in the content and delivery
of instruction; I also devoted a great deal of time to Service
Learning, as mandated by the New Program of Student Learning (now
called the Millikin Program of Student Learning).
In outline form, I taught the following courses:
Fall 1997
EN 300 Creative Writing
EN 307 Major English Authors
IN 140 University Seminar (The Sixties)
IN 150 Critical Reading, Writing & Research ("Critter
One")
IN 491 Independent Study
EN 471 Teaching Internship
Spring 1998
EN 300 Creative Writing
EN 301 Publishing & Editing (Farm Interviews)
EN 481 Illinois Literature
IN 151 Food and Love ("Critter Two")
"The Storyteller's Story" (4 novels taught at Decatur
Public Library, sponsored by the National Council on the Aging)
Summer:
EN 307 Major English Authors
Directed Studies in Adv. Writing, Creative W. & Amer. Lit.
A few explanatory notes are in order: no class was a simple clone
of a previously offered course. EN 307, for example, featured
an entirely new section on 17th-century literature, using Peter
Ackroyd's new book, Milton in America, and at the end of
the course we had class oral reports on critical works, including
Alvin Kernan's The Death of Literature. These changes addressed
our new Departmental directives for more cultural-historical context
and use of theory as part of the pedagogy. EN 301 was a "fourth-course
equivalency" that involved a great deal of phone calls, interviewing,
and driving (my thanks to Dean Ditzler for helping to defray the
travel costs). I had yet to have a teaching intern in EN 307,
so the EN 471 was a new experience for me, as well. IN 151 was
an entirely new course, including classic texts like Plato's Symposium
and Andreas Cappellanus' Ars Amatoria, Shakespeare's
Romeo and Juliet, and pop-culture texts like The Bridges
of Madison County. The service learning component of IN 150
was also a new departure, taking a great deal of time and involving
bi-weekly visits to McKinley Court Nursing Home, research and
readings on geriatrics and "ageism," as well as individual
reports, which I shared with Mike Wakeland when he first arrived-I
believe they were some help to him during those first weeks of
orientation. Finally, the Summer EN 307 was one of the new, re-organized
classes that came about because of the new summer school protocol;
I had not planned on teaching it, and it required an entirely
new syllabus, quizzes, and tests. But it was also fun to teach
an English literature class of seven instead of twenty-seven (the
number enrolled in the fall)!
Part Two: Scholarship / Artistic Achievement
My scholarship in this academic year can nearly be summed up
with the title The Lemon Jelly Cake (The University of
Illinois Press, published January 1998), for which I wrote the
Introduction and helped with some matters of design. Now (a year
later), I can report that I have done eight separate programs
on that book, including a cake-judging on the Fourth of July!
The Springfield Journal-Register devoted no fewer than
six articles on this edition of the book, and over two thousand
copies of the book have already been sold. I was very proud to
be asked to write the Introduction in the first place, since it
both valorized and expanded my role as an Illinois writer and
critic. I also conducted a series of farm interviews and visited
many sites (including Amish ones) with students, as well as presenting
my "Voices and Visions of Illinois Authors Program"
(sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council) on four different
occasions (Springfield, Decatur, Urbana, and Rochester). I delivered
a paper at the Midwestern Modern Language Association in St. Louis
(Nov. 1998) on the topic "Verbal and Visual Imagery In Illinois
Literature: David Foster Wallace and Larry Kanfer"; I wrote,
by invitation, an article for Illinois Issues magazine
(published by the University of Illinois-Springfield) with the
title "Under the Radar: The Flourishing of Unfunded Art in
Central Illinois." Moreover, future plans include an article
commissioned for Illinois History on "The Chicago
Renaissance" and a short non-credit course on "Lincoln
and Illinois Literature" as well as plans for an immersion
course on "Midwestern Literature" and a course for the
Millikin Institute on Illinois Literature-as well as introductions
for two new editions of Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay's work (due
out April, 1999). So the culture and literature of Illinois have
been the overwhelming focus of my scholarly work.
But I have also published three chapters for Magill's Literary
Annual (one each on David Foster Wallace, Amy Clampitt, and
Maxine Kumin), an article on Cajun music for Illinois Times
newspaper, and a profoundly challenging review of The Yale
Younger Poets Anthology for Library Journal. And, significantly,
I have two entries scheduled for publication in February, 1999
in the Dictionary of Midwestern Literature (Indiana University
Press).
Finally, I participated in the Issues in Higher Education Seminar
(Summer 1998) organized by Vice President Flynn, for which I did
a presentation on "Generation X Goes to College." I
also did a short program (a special Faculty Forum) on The Lemon
Jelly Cake at the Woods (April 1998) and another one for the
SummerVue Program (June 1998). I was the featured guest on a special
half-hour program of "Illinois Edition" on WUIS-FM (University
of Illinois at Springfield, 8-14-98) that was later broadcast
statewide on the Illinois Public radio Network. I gave only one
poetry reading this year-at the 510 Gallery in honor of Women
in the Arts (Oct. 18, 1998) and a reading from my prose works
at the Illinois Authors Book Fair, Springfield, October, 1998.
In summary, I believe that AY 1997-98 was my most visible year,
professionally speaking.
Part Three: University Service
My most important service to the University, besides the obvious
ones of teaching and advising, was the Herculean effort put forth
in the selection and hiring of five new members of the Department.
I did all sorts of special conferring with the Chair as part of
this process, largely because the situation evolved that way,
and also because it was a congenial and highly effective way to
operate. I believe the results in the form of Drs. Detmer, Earley,
Sell, Gardner, and Bradway testify to the thoroughness of the
process-and to our considerable good fortune.
I also served on the Global Issues Committee and the Service Learning
Committee, although I was oftentimes unable to attend actual meetings
and contributed in a largely consultative way (weekly e-mails
and phone calls; review of documents, etc.). I was more directly
involved with the SURF Committee, on which I continue to serve.
Again, I think we enjoyed an excellent year under the leadership
of Dr. St. James
Finally, I served as the Faculty Advisor to Collage, and
I am very proud of the changes made behind the scenes, especially
balancing the budget for the first time in seven years and selecting
a first-rate staff for this year. I believe that the December,
1998 issue will be an eye-opener for everyone on campus, and I
can't wait to see it in the hands of students and faculty. We
also have a new printer contract, new paper, and a new format
overall.
Part Four: Service to the Profession
My greatest service to the profession was my acceptance of an
additional one-year term as President of the Central Illinois
Regional Planning Committee of the Illinois Humanities Council
(identified by the acronym CIRPC / IHC on the corresponding tab
of this portfolio). Besides chairing and setting the agenda for
our quarterly meetings, and administering a $5,000 annual budget,
I also presided at four special events: the debut of a film sponsored
by IHC (Weathered Secrets, Nov. 1997, Illinois State Museum,
Springfield), and three satellite-downlinks beamed directly from
the White House to the University of Illinois-Springfield (in
February, March, and April of 1998). In addition I wrote a column
for and helped to produce Humanities Connection, the tabloid
created and distributed by our Committee (which is made up of
professors, editors, and museum curators). I plan to return to
my regular status with that committee as of Jan. 1999.
My other professional activities came in the form of attending
the following conferences or professional meetings: Twentieth-Century
Literature Conference (University of Louisville, Feb. 1998, where
I chaired a session on the poetry of Allen Ginsberg); the Annual
Meeting of the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature;
and the Illinois Authors Book Fair (by invitation--Illinois State
Museum, Springfield, Oct. 1997, and 1998).
Part Five: Professional Service to the Community
My most complicated service to the community took the form of
six presentation on four different books at the Decatur Public
Library during the period from February to April, 1998 (given
other commitments, as outlined above, this period was exceedingly
difficult to schedule). The sessions were extremely beneficial
to me since the group-about 15 to 20 regulars-introduced topics
I do not normally work on (geriatrics, mourning, abuse of the
aged, nursing homes, etc). They were particularly good on close
readings of Philip Roth's masterful memoir, Patrimony.
My other regular service was that of Lector (reader of Old Testament
passages and New Testament letters) at Saint Columcile Church,
Sullivan, on a monthly basis.
Lastly, I also visited over 500 elementary school children on
a single day (Oct. 23, 1998) as part of a program of visits sponsored
by the Illinois Center for the Book. All the visits occurred in
Springfield.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my colleagues Professor Brian Mihm and
Dean Mauri Ditzler for fellowship in general and conversations
about Midwestern culture in particular.
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