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The English department is sponsors
a variety of events. This is an archive of some of those
events.
Academic Year
2004-2005
Poetry Reading
Dr. Stephen Frech
Decatur Area Arts Council
125 N. Water St. Decatur IL
6:30pm Thursday, April 22
Ernie's World of Humor Writing
Visiting Humor Writer, Ernie Witham
workshop 3-5pm SH409
reading 8:30pm Pilling Chapel
Thursday • April 14
On Thursday, April 14, Sigma Tau Delta, the English honorary is pleased to present a special workshop on humor writing and reading by Ernie Witham. He will be visiting the Creative Writing class, conducting a humor writing workshop, and speaking at Pillin Chapel in the evening.
Ernie Witham writes a humor column called "Ernie's World" for the Montecito Journal in Montecito, California and the Santa Ynez Valley Journal in Santa Ynez, California. His column is syndicated through Senior Wire News Service.
Ernie's humor has also been published in the Los Angeles Times, the Santa Barbara News-Press, various magazines, and 12 anthologies including several of the Chicken Soup series.
Dr. Mike George
English Faculty Forum
Medieval Humor
7pm Thursday • April 7
Kirkland 128
"Pull My Finger: Bodily Humor in Medieval Culture"
Humor in the Middle Ages was derived from many of the same societal elements as it is today. Mike George will take you on a journey of eating, drinking, flatulence, and sexuality as he traces bodily humor from our own culture to the thirteenth century.
Readings • Writing Workshops • Teacher Workshops • Contests
March 11-13, 2005
Millikin students, staff, faculty can register for the entire festival on the web site or in person from 5:00-6:30pm at Richards Treat University Center (RTUC)
all are invited to attend any of the scheduled public readings without registration
MU Literary Festival public readings in Lower RTUC:
7:30pm March 11, 2005
Fiction by Joe Meno
8:30pm March 11, 2005
COLLAGE Reading
5:00pm March 12, 2005
Poetry by Chuck Rybak
7:30pm March 12, 2005
Fiction by Rebecca Meacham
9:00pm March 12, 2005
Poetry SLAM
"The Writing Life"
a workshop by
Dr. Dan Guillory
Professor Emeritus of English
February 24 • 3-4pm • Mertz Room, RTUC
Dr. Dan Guillory presented a workshop from 3-4 PM on "The Writing Life," dealing with the practical aspects of creative writing as a career. He discussed using the materials of your own life, working with editors, work in progress, and finding venues for presentation and publication. He illustrated his points with concrete examples from his own work, share drafts, and generally approach writing as a lifestyle unto itself.
"Readings from a Literary Life"
a reading by
Dr. Dan Guillory
Professor Emeritus of English
February 24 • 7pm • Kirkland 128
The reading drew on over thirty years of published work and included such selections as "Song of the Egyptian Embalmer" from Benchmark; "Bel Air: The Automobile as Art Object" and "Cat Tales" from Living With Lincoln: Life and Art in the Heartland; "Bayou Boy" and "Whorehouse on the Bayou" from The Alligator Inventions; "Snow Poems" from Illinois Voices; "Being Midwestern" from In the Middle of the Middle West; "Perry County, Missouri" from When the Waters Recede: Rescue and Recovery During the Great Flood; "Billy the Barber" and "Blackberrying with Willie" from The Lincoln Poems.
Dr. Anne Matthews and Carmen Aravena
The Neurda Group Reading
Poetry of Pablo Neruda
7pm • February 16
Perkinson Music Center 110
Carmen Aravena and Anne Matthews read the poetry of Pablo Neruda (Nobel Prize Winner 1971) in Spanish and English. They also invited the students from the January 2005 Chile immersion course to read their favorite Neruda poem in both languages as well to share stories about the trip.
Pablo Neruda (Nobel Prize, 1971)
NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN READ-IN
Monday • February 7, 2005
On Monday, February 7, Millikin University students, faculty, and staff joined readers around the world in a daylong reading marathon celebrating African American literature and literacy. The event was sponsored by Millikin’s Office of Multicultural Affairs/International Student Services and the Department of English.
The schedule of events at Millikin were as follows:
8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Lower Shilling, in front of the elevator
(readings from published authors)
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Cafeteria
(more readings from published authors)
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Lower RTUC
(students, faculty, and staff read from their own original work)
For more information about Millikin’s participation in the Read-In, contact Bryant Smith, Director of Multicultural Affairs/International Student Services, at 362-6411, or Anne Matthews, Assistant Professor of English, at 420-6691. Further information about the Sixteenth National African American Read-In Chain is available on the National Council of Teachers of English web site, www.ncte.org/prog/readin
In 1990, the first African American Read-In Chain was sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English. In 1991, the National Council of Teachers of English joined in the sponsorship. The Read-In has been endorsed by the International Reading Association. Over a million readers of all ethnic groups, from 49 states, the West Indies, and African countries have participated. The goal is to make the celebration of African American literacy a traditional part of Black History Month activities.
Dr. Priscilla Meddaugh
"The Changing Face of Hate"
4pm • November 18
Shilling 317
This is the final program in our Brown V. Board of Education series, which will be held this Thursday, November 18th at 4 pm in Shilling 317.
Priscilla Meddaugh will be sharing her remarkable research in a talk entitled "The Changing Face of Hate: White Supremacy in Contemporary America."
Dr. Paul Haspel
"Gillo Pontecorvo's 1965 Film The Battle of Algiers and the Modern War on Terror"
5:30-9pm • November 11
Kirkland 128
Come see the complete film with the benefit of Dr. Haspel's cinematic and historical rather than political presentation, regarding the mistakes Western governments and armies tend to make when combatting terrorism, and the cinematic tools Pontecorvo uses to set forth that theme, among others.
 The Battle of Algiers is a forty-year-old film, and it deals with a conflict many Americans have never heard of. Yet it may be the most important film about terrorism ever made.
The questions director Gillo Pontecorvo asks about a long-ago war between France and Algeria are the same kinds of questions many Americans have asked since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001: Why and under what circumstances do insurgent groups utilize terrorist tactics? What do the members of these groups hope to gain through terrorist attacks? How can the institutions of a Western society—its government, its military—respond to frightening attacks by a seemingly invisible enemy? What responses to terrorism are more, or less, likely to be successful and why?
Many people, including the Defense Department strategists who screened The Battle of Algiers at the Pentagon before the invasion of Iraq, perceive echoes of 9/11 and the modern "war on terror" as they watch this film; and the answers Pontecorvo offers to the anxious modern viewers questions about terrorism may surprise you.
Mock Presidential Debate -- 7:00pm • October 28
Pilling Chapel
The mock Presidential debate, was held Oct. 28 at 7:00 p.m. Student “candidates” debated the topics of the legalization of marijuana, as well as if juvenile crime offenders should be tried and sentenced within the adult legal system. The mock Presidential debate was moderated by Vice President for Enrollment, Rich Dunsworth, and students comprised from various campus organizations will pose questions.
 Poe
in the Cemetery -- halloween
reading
October 27 (photos)
Mills Quad & Calvary Cemetery
On Wednesday evening, October 27, Sigma Tau Delta (English honorary) sponsored an outdoor reading of works by Edgar Allan Poe in Calvary Cemetery, next to Millikin's campus. Several English faculty and students read. Congratulations to Maureen Ritter and the leaders of Sigma Tau Delta (Theresa Wike, Katie Hammond, and faculty advisor, Sandra McKenna) for resurrecting the POE IN THE CEMETERY event last night. It was a wonderful literary gathering of about 70 students and English faculty.
Also thanks to our faculty readers: Judi Crowe, Stephen Frech, Sandra Mckenna, Michael O'Conner, Carmella Braniger (and her bell), Paul Haspel and your humble chair. I hope Carmella's chilling scream from the dramatic reading with Michael did not scare the little tykes walking around campus with bellies full of candy.
After the reading we enjoyed treats, warm cider and hot chocolate. The clouds parted over us and the lunar eclipse made a brief, somewhat mystical appearance overhead.
Please note: this reading was approved by Graceland/Fairview Funeral Home, managers of the Calvary Cemetery.
Visiting Poet, James Nave
workshop and poetry reading
Monday • Oct. 25
 On
Monday, October 25, just a week after fall break, Sigma
Tau Delta, the English honorary, and the English department
sponsored a special workshop and performance reading
of poetry by James Navé.
For over two decades, James Navé has enjoyed a national reputation as a poet and a performer (see appearance highlights). His poetry, rich with imagery, reflects a playful maturity, an intelligent curiosity, and is driven by a keen sense of narrative. His work has appeared in various publications including The North Carolina Literary Review, Asheville Poetry Review, Summit Magazine, Society of the Muse of the Southwest's yearly review, Chokecherries 1999-2003, and Jagged Edge Mountain Gear Catalogue. Of poetry he says, "It starts with the imaginative utterances in the poet's mind and continues, much as a musical score continues, long after the final draft. Poetry is meant to be read, memorized, published, put to music, and spoken out loud. Poetry is oxygen for the soul. Whenever a poets lifts a pen, the world is better off."
James Navé Web Site
A Funny Thing Happened at the Santa Barbara Writer's Conference;
lessons in humor, poetry, memoir and the writing life
Sandra Kuizin McKenna
October 6 • 7-8pm • Kirkland 128
 Sandra Kuizin McKenna is an instructor of English at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. Sandra teaches courses in writing, literature, US studies, global studies and PACE. She holds a Master’s degree in English literature from the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Sandra’s passion for reading and writing began when she was a child, and she has been writing ever since. Sandra has published several short stories and poems in the last fifteen years and is currently working on a poetry collection entitled “The Box of 64” and a memoir about her 16 years as a massage therapist with the working title: “Tales from the Table: Memoirs of a Massage Therapist.” This summer Sandra won two “excellence in writing” awards at the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference in the areas of Humor and Poetry/Memoir.
Law School Dean Visit
David Krego, Dean of the Ohio Northern University College of Law
8:30-11:30am • October 6 Shilling 316
David Krego, Dean of the Ohio Northern University College of Law, will be visiting our campus October 6. He would like to meet with any students who might be interested in attending law school. He will talk about law school in general, as well as his own school in particular. If law school is a possibility for you, you are strongly encouraged to attend. The Dean will meet with students from 8:30-10:00AM, Shilling 316. Contact Dr. Robert Money, MU's pre-law advisor if you have questions.
Debate Watch -- 7:30pm • September 30
Second floor of Shilling Hall
Mock Presidential
Debate • 7:00pm
• October 28
Pilling Chapel
The
mock Presidential debate, was held Oct. 28 at 7:00 p.m.
Student “candidates” debated the topics
of the legalization of marijuana, as well as if juvenile
crime offenders should be tried and sentenced within
the adult legal system. The mock Presidential debate
were moderated by Vice President for Enrollment, Rich
Dunsworth, and students comprised from various campus
organizations will pose questions.
Dr.
Meddaugh, Professor Tucker and Dr. Posler
organized Miilikin's first Debate Watch program!
See
the Debate Watch Web Site
Professors from the English,
communication and political science departments hosted
Millikin’s first ever “Debate Watch”
on Thursday, Sept. 30, to develop a political forum
in which students can view and discuss the presidential
debates.
9-11 Memorial Reading -- Friday, September 10
11am - 1pm • Staley Library
The tragic attacks of September 11, 2001 forever transformed the NYC skyline, but also left lasting imprints in the less tangible fabric of lives and minds. The English department and Staley Library sponsored a reading of poems, stories, essays exploring the impact and transformations that have come from 9/11.
Readers included: Dr. Randy Brooks, Dr. Paul Haspel, Librarian Susan Avery, and Librarian Barbara Bolser.
Forgotten Decatur: A Reading & Book Signing -- Tuesday, September 14
7pm • Decatur Public Library
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