January 2008-April 2008

Dr. Randy Brooks, Professor of English & Dean of Teaching and Learning, had an essay, “A Spiritual Quest Through the Haiku of Raymond Roseliep” published in Bottle Rockets, 9.1, (Wethersfield, CT), February 2008. He had six poems published in the Ash Moon Anthology: Poems on Aging in Modern English Tanka edited by Alexis Rotella and Denis M. Garrison and published by the Modern English Tanka Press, (Baltimore, MD), 2008. And he had one poem published in Gatherings: An Anthology of Amusement Parks, Carnivals, Country Fairs, and more edited by Stanford Forrester. Bottle Rockets Press (Windsor, CT), 2008. Dr. Brooks had 13 poems published in winter and spring 2008 in the following serial journals: Asahi Weekly Newspaper, 1811, (Tokyo, Japan) April, 2008; Riverbed Haiku, 1.1, (Savoy, IL) March, 2008; South by Southeast, 15.1, (Richmond, VA), February, 2008; Heron’s Nest, 10.1, (Port Townsend, WA) January, 2008; Acorn, 20, (San Francisco, CA), Winter 2008. An essay on Dr. Brooks’ poetry was published in the first issue of Riverbed Haiku magazine: “Zen Aesthetics in the Haiku of Randy Brooks and Jack Kerouac” by Joe Kramp, Riverbed Haiku, 1.1, (Savoy, IL) March, 2008.

In collaboration with student web designer, Matt Wheeler, Dr. Brooks edited and published Sky In My Teacup: Photo Haiku by Anne LB Davidson, Brooks Books, March 1, 2008. <http://www.brooksbookshaiku.com/davidson/>. He and Dr. Carmella Braniger coordinated a collaborative student project to write, edit and publish: A Web Case Book on Beloved by Toni Morrison, edited and written by students in Dr. Brangier’s EN202 Writing About Literature course and designed and published by students in Dr. Brooks’ EN301 Web Publishing course. <http://www.millikin.edu/english/beloved/>

Dr. Brooks provided keynote teaching demonstration, “The Co-creative Process of Reading and Writing: Tapping into an Imagistic Type of Thinking” at the Teaching Poetry in Grades K-12, a Workshop for Teachers, sponsored by the South Central District of Illinois Association of Teachers of English, The Illinois State Writing Project, and the Millikin University School of Education, February 23, 2008. At The Twelfth Annual Illinois Philological Association Conference, Millikin University, on April 11 he was the guest speaker at the banquet speaking on “The Transactional Art of Haiku.”

In early February Dr. Carmella Braniger, Assistant Professor of English, presented scholarship on the teaching of scriptwriting to peers at a professional meeting, Associated Writers and Writing Program’s conference (AWP) held in New York City.  Dr. Braniger was also invited by AWP to serve as a moderator for small-group discussion during the drama and fiction pedagogy forum session.  Student Pat Steadman accompanied her at this Conference. Dr. Braniger was appointed by AWP Board Members to serve on the Pedagogy Forum Committee from 2008-10.

Dr. Braniger presented at the Millikin Interdisciplinary Faculty Conference February 16. Along with Dr. Randy Brooks and Dr. Peiling Zhao, Dr. Braniger presented a panel discussion about the upcoming book chapter co-written by the panel members on Millikin’s English Department’s curriculum.   The panel was entitled “An Integrated Model of Undergraduate English Curricula.”  She also chaired a pedagogy session by Dr. Jamie Comstock and Dr. Judy Parish. Dr. Braniger’s poems, “Public Pool” and “Incision” were published in the literary journal The Dirty Napkin, Volume 1.2 in March. Audio versions of her poems are available at the online edition located at: <http://dirtynapkin.com/>.

Dr. Braniger organized Millikin University student participation in the regional Illinois Philological Association conference, held at Millikin University April 11-12.  Students involved were: Klay Baynar, Joel Booster, Allison Lingren, Aubrie Cox, Gordon Gilmore & Pat Steadman. On April 17, 2008, Dr. Braniger presented scholarship on teaching at the English Articulation Conference held at the University of Illinois in Champaign, IL.  The panel was entitled, The Challenges of Using Reflection for First-Year Writing Program Assessment, and her presentation was entitled “The Emotional Intelligence of Honors First-Year Writing Students.” On April 21, 2008, Dr. Braniger read a selection of her poems at the Blue Connection in downtown Decatur.

Dr. Lisa Klotz, Assistant Professor of English, presented her paper “It Being the Office of a Comic Poet to Imitate Justice; Plot and Probability in Volpone" at the annual meeting of the Renaissance Society of America (RSA). RSA is an organization composed of scholars from all over the world who study the European or English Renaissance in all its forms—its history, literature, art, music, languages, etc. Her paper blended research she did into the English and Venetian judicial systems and their depiction in this satiric English play, which was written by Ben Johnson in 1606.

Dr. Priscilla Meddaugh, Assistant Professor of English, recently attended two conferences, The Illinois College Press Association (ICPA) and The Central States Communication Conference. ICPA impacts her advising and teaching regarding journalism, especially with regard to current trends in the journalism industry. Additionally, ICPA provides external validation at the state level regarding the progress and development of The Decaturian, which is the only Millikin publication to be judged externally at the state level. The Decaturian competed with all campus papers in Illinois that includes some very large and prestigious schools – University of Illinois, University of Chicago and Northwestern, the latter of which has one of the top journalism programs in the country. The Decaturian staff netted nine awards, including:
Honorable mention, Sports News Story -- Lauren Krage
Third place, News Story -- Lauren Krage
Honorable mention, Spot News Photo -- Chris Linden
Second place, Sports Feature Story -- Justin Rosenberg
Third place, Sports Column -- Justin Allen
Second place, Feature Page Design -- Lauren Krage
First place, In-Depth Reporting -- Lauren Krage and Mark Beanblossom
First place, Editorial -- Dec staff/Chris Linden
Honorable mention, General Excellence

The Central States Communication Conference is the second largest communication conference in the United States. Dr. Meddaugh presented in her two primary lines of research: (1) Journalism (2) Rhetoric of Hate. She presented 3 conference papers, one on the language of intolerance at college campuses (rhetoric division); one on using humor to challenge hate, which was co-authored with a Millikin student, Dan Richards, in the communication division; and one on journalism and the infotainment culture, also co-authored with a Millikin student, Carol Colby, in the Media Studies Division.

In March, Dr. Jim Meyer, Associate Professor of English, had his article, "Awesome Mess or Good Compromise? Spelling, Linguistics, and Middle Schoolers", published in the journal Voices from the Middle, the peer-reviewed journal of the Middle Level Section of the National Council of Teachers of English. This issue was a themed issue on spelling; his article combines a linguistically-informed view of spelling with some interviews with middle school students and an examination of one middle school spelling/vocabulary textbook. On April 11, Dr. Meyer gave a presentation titled, "Multiple Genres in Thematic Units," at the Conference for Illinois Teachers of English, which was hosted by the English department at Illinois State University. There were about 45 teachers and future teachers at the presentation.

Judi Crowe, Instructor of English, attended the Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery Conference March 13-15, 2008 where she presented her paper, “Understanding the Image of the Outsider in Film/Fiction: An A“Depp”t Analysis. Her paper was based on a course she’s currently teaching, Outsiders in American Film and Fiction. The conference presentation addressed the image of Outsider in Johnny Depp films as not only illustrations of various kinds of marginalization, but also how these images define—and defy—cultural concepts of acceptability. Characters in these films tend to blur notions of stereotypes and raise questions concerning who/what is stigmatized, and why, and open up critical discussions of our values, beliefs, and biases. This was a multidisciplinary conference sponsored by Colorado State University, with approximately 200 presenters participating in focused panels. Acceptance for presentation was based on originality, relevance, and scholarship of proposed topic.

On April 11th and 12th, Millikin University hosted this year’s Illinois Philological Association Conference. Sandra McKenna, Instructor of English, was the lead organizer of this highly successful event. Faculty and students from all over the state came to present scholarly papers related to literature, rhetoric and literary creation. Millikin was well-represented by both faculty and students in discussions that covered topics from contemporary Indian literature to the failures of the five paragraph model for student essays. The Twelfth Annual Conference had the largest number of presentations since the Association became active again in 1997. [The term “philological” originally meant simply a love of learning and literature, but in the contemporary version has come to mean the study of literary texts and written records. For those who attended, it is clear that wonderful scholarship evolves from a love of learning and literature.]
Millikin faculty who presented at the conference were Purna Banerjee, Randy Brooks, banquet guest speaker, Michael George, Dan Guillory, Emeritus Professor of English, Sandra McKenna, and Peiling Zhao.

Millikin students who presented at the conference were Klay Baynar, Brian Blankenship, Joel Booster, Sarah Corso, Aubrie Cox, Phil Crim, Jeremy Davault, Stacey Fackler, Gordon Gilmore, Allison Lingren, Christine Paul, Natalie Perfetti, Shaunessy Quinn, Kelle Sills, Patrick Steadman, and Jessie Whalen.

October 2007-January 2008

In October 2007, Dr. Carmella Braniger, Assistant Professor of English, presented
the paper Positioning First-Year Writing Students as Knowledge Makers for The Purpose(s) of English: A Conference on the Future of English Studies at the University of Illinois, Springfield, IL. She participated in the panel session, An Integrated Model of Undergraduate English Curricula along with department colleagues, Dr. Randy Brooks, Professor of English and Dr. Peiling Zhao, Assistant Professor of English. During Fall 2007, Dr. Braniger also had two poems accepted for publication in the literary magazine The Dirty Napkin.

Dr. Randy Brooks, Professor of English and Dean of Teaching and Learning, had 7 poems published in the fall of 2007 in the following literary journals: Acorn, 20, (San Francisco, CA); Dirty Napkin, 1.1, (Philadelphia, PA); and Season’s Greeting Broadside [Lake Theme], (Baltimore, MD). He had 2 poems published in the following anthologies: Lanterns: A Firefly Anthology, Bottle Rockets Press (Windsor, CT), and Flower of Another Country: Haiku Society of America Member’s Anthology 2007, (New York, NY).

Judi Crowe, Assistant Professor of English, has a paper entitled “Understanding the Image of the Outsider in Film/Fiction: An A’Depp’T Approach”, that has been accepted for presentation at the annual Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery Conference at Colorado State University in Pueblo, CO in May 2008.

Dr. Anne Matthews, Assistant Professor of English, spent the fall semester on sabbatical, conducting research into the teaching and writing of autoethnographies. The conference paper she presented at the College English Association (CEA) conference in April was accepted in September for publication in the organization’s peer-reviewed online journal, The CEA Forum. Entitled “Autoethnographies and Ethics: First-Year Writing Students, Identity, and Action,” Dr. Matthews examines her students’ written work both in the context of autoethnographic theory and the MPSL. Dr. Matthews’s sabbatical research led to another successful proposal for a conference presentation: she will return to the CEA to give a paper on how at-risk students at Millikin use autoethnographies to articulate their academic identities.

Dr. Jim Meyer, Associate Professor of English, had an article, "Questioning middle school lore: Developing innovative research activities," appear in The Journal of the New England League of Middle Schools, Volume XVII, Number 2, Spring 2007, pages 20-24.

Dr. Randy Brooks, Professor of English and Dean of Teaching and Learning, was elected to serve on the Executive Board of the Haiku Society of America as the Electronic Media Officer. He is the web editor and designer of the society web site located at: <http://www.hsa-haiku.org/>. He also serves on the Board of the American Haiku Archives. He is the designer of the American Haiku Archives web site, which promotes the support and use of the American Haiku Archives located at the California State Library, (Sacramento, CA). <http://www.americanhaikuarchives.org/>

Dana Williams, Instructor of English, is now the volunteer organizer of the Champaign Area Recreation for Everyone. This is an online family group that creates community connections. Currently the group has over 60 families involved from all around Central Illinois.

Dr. Randy Brooks, Professor of English and Dean of Teaching and Learning, presented “Centralizing Publishing in Undergraduate English Curricula” at The Purpose(s) of English: A Conference on the Future of English Studies, University of Illinois, (Springfield, IL), October 20, 2007.

Dr. Jim Meyer, Associate Professor of English, presented "Multiple Genres in Middle School: Increasing Language Arts Skills in Thematic Units," at Crafting Better Reading, Talking, Thinking: A Reading Workshop, offered by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English Central and Illinois Valley Districts, in Normal, Illinois, during September 2007. Dr. Meyer also organized a group presentation, "A Framework for Effective Long-term Professional Development: Teacher Inquiry Groups" at the Illinois Principals Association, Peoria, during October 2007. Other members of the group were Ellen Spycher, Illinois State University, and Shawn Hoffmann and Jan Wirsing, Trinity Lutheran School, Bloomington. Dr. Meyer presented a paper entitled "Supporting Both New and Seasoned Teachers Through Teacher Inquiry Groups," with Ellen Spycher and Carey Applegate from Illinois State University; at the Conference on English Leadership annual convention, in New York, November 2007.

July-September 2007

Dr. Randy Brooks, Professor of English and Dean of Teaching and Learning, had 20 poems published in summer and fall 2007 in the following literary journals: Red Lights, Modern English Tanka, and the Electronic Poetry Network. Two of his poems were published in Sixty Sunflowers: The Tanka Society of America Member’s Anthology for 2006-2007 published by Modern English Tanka Press in July, and 15 poems were accepted for publication in the forthcoming Belonging Anthology.

Dr. Carmella Braniger, Coordinator of CWRR, Dr. Peiling Zhao, Assistant Professor of English, and Dr. Brooks co-authored a chapter on “Redefining the Undergraduate English Writing Major: An Integrated Approach at a Small Comprehensive University,” which will be published in Advance(d) Composition: Undergraduate Majors and the Future of the Discipline by Utah State University Press.

Assistant Professor of English, Dr. Anne Matthews’ article, “Autoethnographies and Ethics: Stories from the ‘Other’ Side,” will appear in the Winter/Spring 2007 (36.1) issue of The CEA Forum, the online journal of the College English Association.  The article was first presented as a paper at last spring’s CEA conference in New Orleans.  Dr. Matthews is on sabbatical this semester, researching the ways at-risk first-year composition students use autoethnographies to develop an academic identity.

Dr. Jim Meyer, Associate Professor of English, had the article “The 'Other' Literature: Bringing Nonfiction Texts into Our Classrooms,” published in the IATE Newsletter 44(2) (Fall 2007): 7-9.

Dr. Randy Brooks, Professor of English and Dean of Teaching and Learning, led a community workshop on Japanese haiku at the Decatur Area Arts Council Experience Japan: Family Day, (Decatur, IL), in June 2007.

Dr. Randy Brooks, Professor of English and Dean of Teaching and Learning, presented an essay, “Haiku Personae of Raymond Roseliep: Bridging Walden Pond and Bashô’s Pond” at the Haiku North America 2007 Conference (Winston-Salem, NC), August 16, 2007. He also served as a member of the Book Review Panel at the Haiku Society of America conference in Portland, Oregon on June 30, 2007.

In June, Judith Crowe, Assistant Professor of English, attended the 7th annual Diversity Conference at Richland Community College, “The Power of Community,” which addressed issues of diversity in the classroom and the professional world, as well as strategies for preparing our students for a more globalized environment.

Sandra McKenna, Instructor of English, attended the Taos Writing Salon in July 2007 and presented a portion of a “work in progress” entitled “Women Under the Influence,” a compilation of poetry related to women of myth, the Bible and history. In September, she presented an all day workshop in Springfield entitled “Playing with Poetry,” an exploration of poetry as a means of discovering identity.

Dr. Jim Meyer, Associate Professor of English, presented “On Beyond Transitive and Intransitive: Subcategorization, English Syntax, and Creative Language,” at the Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar National Conference, in Fairfield, Connecticut, during July 2007.