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English Alumni
This page features news
and announcements about English department alumni. We will report
the results of surveys, news from our alumni, and feature different
alumni.
Young Alumni is Assistant Editor
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.
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
To see Jeremy's freelance developer web site, visit Wonk Development at: http://wonkdevelopment.com/
Graduate Receives Newspaper for Graduation
Gift
Liz Luttrell graduated from Millikin University
in 2005 and immediately became the editor of The Herald-Star,
a weekly newspaper published in Edinburg and Stonington, Illinois.
The newspaper was published, edited and printed using letterpress
and linotype production methods for the last 46 years by Liz's
grandparents, Glenn and Margaret Luttrell. In the Fall 2004 Senior
Writing Portfolio course, Liz worked with her grandparents to
redesign the newspaper for computer-aided publication. With the
June 9, 2005 issue Liz became the new editor and implemented the
new design.
Alum Becomes Journalism Professor
Julie D. O'Reilly (maiden name Julie Stevenson)
graduated from Millikin University in 1993 with a double major
in writing and communication. She completed her Ph.D. in Communication
from Bowling Green State University in May 2005. Julie is now
Assistant Professor of Communication and Theatre Arts at Heidelberg
College where she is teaching public speaking, intro to journalism,
and a journalism workshop. She is also advisor for the student
newspaper.
If you are a Millikin
English alumni, send us your updates, photos and news. Use our
web-based alumni profile form.
We are also interested
in stories, memoirs and histories of English studies at Millikin
University. For example, we would like to know more about the
Conant Society (formerly English Society) which was formed at
MU on December 12, 1920. Send us your stories and memories for
this web site.
See
our English Alumni Profiles
web page.
email address: jennyspinner@mac.com
What are you doing now?
I'm Assistant Professor English at St. Joseph's University
in Philadelphia.
What were your favorite courses at Millikin?
Oh, I was a real Terry Shepherd groupie so I liked just
about any class she taught. But I also enjoyed American
Literature with Brian Mihm. He taught me to read carefully.
Honestly, I still have nightmares sometimes in which I'm
trying to remember the color of some girl's bow in some
story on page 367 of the Norton Anthology of American Literature.
One of my best memories, though, is traveling to Indiana
University with my still dearest friend Emily Dunlap Loach.
We were doing research on Sylvia Plath, a writer introduced
to us by Dr. Shepherd. One of us opened an archival box
at the library and there, inside, was Plath's pony tail!
Emily and I went on to graduate school together at Penn
State and we actually built a shrine to Plath in our apartment.
How English studies at Millikin made a difference in your
life?
I loved the faculty. I loved that they were smart, and
energetic, and that they pushed me to excel. They were my
earliest models for teaching. And I loved my peer group,
equally smart and energetic. We learned a lot, but we had
a great time, too. Sadly, one of us abandoned the faith
and got an MBA, but I'll let him tell his own story.
What's recent news in your life?
I have a two-year-old and this is my first year as a full-time
professor. Remembering to brush my hair in the morning is
an accomplishment. I did just record a commentary for NPR's
All Things Considered, which I do on ocassion. That's
fun. I never thought I would enjoy radio, but it's a perfect
medium for the short lyrical essay.
Recommended reading pf a favorite book?
I imagine if you asked a doctor, "what's your favorite
organ?", you would get a response similar to the one
I'm about to give: I love them all. (Honestly, I have a
terrible time answering such questions.) I'll name essayists,
as a place to start. Anne Fadiman is one of my favorites,
especially her collection Ex Libris. For tried and
true, though, I'd have to say Virginia Woolf. I recently
re-read her Common Reader essays and I was blown
away by her rich prose. I read a lot of contemporary poetry,
though, too, and my favorite poet right now is Mark Doty.
That man can work an image.
Suggestions for current and future English majors at Millikin?
Get involved. And then, just when you think you're too
involved, get involved some more. By the time I left Millikin,
I had experience as a journalist, as a literary magazine
editor, as a TV reporter, as a PR writer, and as a scholar.
I knew what I didn't want to do (TV, PR) and what I did
(write, teach, research) |
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Check
out our most recent graduating class of English majors.
We had an excellent class of 20 graduates in May of 2004.
See our 2004 graduates.
See
the web page featuring 2003 graduates and senior
reviews of their Millikin English studies. (Some are
featured in the photo to the right.)
Alumni,
send us updates—new addresses, new jobs, new publications,
great books to read for our alumni
profiles web site. Send your news to:
Dr.
Randy Brooks or complete the alumni
profile form. |
Where are you now?
I'm currently a Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition
at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I'm teaching six
credits of composition classes, and am involved in the design
and implementation of a pilot course for at-risk writers
in our composition program.
Why was being a writing major at Millikin a good choice
for you?
The writing major was so useful for me as a writer who
had no idea what I wanted to do with my writing. Getting
to dabble in creative writing of all kinds (from haiku to
creative non-fiction), in publishing, and in writing theory
helped me decide what I enjoyed doing the most, and it also
helped me pull the experiences in all of these areas together
into one solid focus for my career.
Your favorite English class or activity at Millikin?
I loved every haiku class with Dr. Brooks, and Dr. DeJoy's
Applied Writing Theory class brought me to where I am today.
How English studies made a difference in your life?
English studies has challenged me to live my life in critically
reflective ways, and for this reason, to never tire of learning.
I'll never in one lifetime be able to read all the books
that I'll want to, even though I'm getting paid to do so;
this, for me, is what keeps life interesting.
Recommend a good book?
For anyone interested in teaching writing, I'd currently
recommend: bell hooks' Teaching to Transgress, Roz
Ivanic's Writing and Identity, Gee, Hull and Lankshear's
The New Work Order, and Nancy DeJoy's Process
This!
Advice for current English students?
Carefully look at the relationship between what you're
reading and writing about and what's happening around you
and in your own life. Learning to see the relationship between
reading, writing, and what I was learning and teaching myself
(inside *and* outside of school) helped me find a place
for my life in English studies that I'm constantly challenged
by, and that I never lose interest in. |
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