Spring 2008 Newsletter

• Fun events
• Secondary Ed Portfolios
• English Club
• Scholarship winners
• Grad school news
• Faculty travels
• "Universal Advising" in effect
• File for graduation EARLY
• Shakespeare's birthday party
• Baby news

Fun events

The English Department's Honors & Scholarships Committee will be hosting a celebration of Sigma Tau Delta inductees, honors thesis writers, and scholarship winners Wednesday, April 16, 12:30 pm in the South Room of the Faculty Center. Refreshments will be served. Please plan to attend!...The annual Creative Writing Celebration and Reading from Honors and M.A. Theses in Creative Writing is Thursday, May 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge of Roberts Hall. All are welcome.

Secondary Ed Portfolios

Secondary Ed students need to pass a portfolio requirement before student teaching (in the practicum semester). Details available from your advisor or from the English Department office. This portfolio includes papers, so PLEASE do not discard any of your returned essays. The deadline for portfolio submission this term is April 21, 4:00 pm in the English department office.

English Club

The English Club has been meeting regularly, usually on Wednesdays, 12:30-2, in CL 265 or 255-check with the department secretary for location if you can't find them. The club is "an informational and social organization for anyone interested in reading, writing, and teaching. English Club membership is open to all students enrolled at Rhode Island College and particularly emphasizes English majors and minors." They have several events coming up, too. Email the organizers at englishclub@so.ric.edu to get on the email list.

Scholarship winners

This year's scholarship and award winners are Diane Long Medeiros, the Amy Thompson Award in Children's Literature; Brandon Scotti, the Donald F. Lyons Scholarship; John Mansmann, the John Salesses Award; and Austin Allen, the Faculty Writing Awards for BOTH critical and creative portfolios. Congratulations to them all! The Ducey Award winners and Sigma Tau Delta inductees will be announced at the awards celebration (see "fun events" elsewhere in the newsletter) and listed in the next newsletter.

Grad school news

A number of our alums, seniors, and MA students have been accepted to graduate programs around the country. Rob Albanese, a RIC alum with an MA in popular culture from Bowling Green State University, has taught as an adjunct in English and film for several years. He is moving on to the PhD program in American Studies at the University of Iowa, supported by a very prestigious Presidential fellowship....Jessica Crane is weighing several good offers from PhD programs in English, including one from Oregon and a Presidential fellowship (four years at $20,000/year plus tuition) at Temple University....Toni Fellela, a 2005 RIC grad, is finishing her MA in English at UConn in May and has been accepted to their PhD program...Lindsay Wells has been accepted into the MA in English/Creative Writing program at Temple University....John Russo has been accepted into the English MA program at the University of Akron.

Faculty travels

Pamela Benson, who is on leave this term, is spending the first part of April in Italy on a research trip...Jean Brown, on sabbatical this term, is heading off soon on a research trip to England and Scotland, where she will be interviewing several writers of adolescent literature... Vince Bohlinger, Joan Dagle, and K. Kalinak were in Philadelphia March 6-9 giving papers at the annual conference of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. Prof. Bohlinger's topic was "Printing a Legend: Film History According to Pravda upon the 15th Anniversary of Soviet Cinema"; Prof. Dagle's topic was "Filming the 'New Woman': The Athletic Girl and the Typist"; and Prof. Kalinak's topic was "Early Interfaces in Image and Sound." In addition to presenting their papers, attending other panels, meeting colleagues, browsing through the book exhibit, and engaging in other academic business, the conference offered Professors Bohlinger, Dagle, and Kalinak a chance to get together on Friday evening for a "department dinner" in a cozy bistro in one of Philly's historic districts...Marjorie Roemer, Jennifer Cook, Meg Carroll, Karen Pfeil, and Karen Paley are participating in the Conference on College Composition and Communication in New Orleans during the first week of April...Maureen Reddy will be joining other chairs of English departments from around the country in Morgantown, WV, for the June conference of the Associated Departments of English...Vince Bohlinger has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to participate in a faculty research seminar this summer at the New York Public Library. He will be working with other scholars from around the country in the fields of history, political science, literature, and film to explore issues in "Russian and Soviet Visual Cultures, 1860-1935."

"Universal Advising" in effect

The Department of English piloted the universal advising program for the College this past fall (for spring 2008 registration). For fall 2008 registration-which opened March 31---the program is College-wide. What that means is that no student will be able to register until meeting with his/her advisor. All majors have now been assigned advisors (check on PeopleSoft for yours). Advisors have been contacting their advisees via RIC email (so it is CRITICAL that you use your RIC address and check it frequently) with available office hours, but some students still haven't responded. You need to meet with your advisor to plan your fall schedule and to discuss your degree progress, at which point your advisor will unblock your registration.

File for graduation EARLY

The Records Office recommends that students file their intention to graduate at least two semesters before planned graduation. That gives you time to resolve any problems that an audit of your record by the Recorder/Advisor may turn up. If you plan to graduate in May 2009, you should file NOW.
Go to www.ric.edu/recordsoffice/graduation.php for instructions on how to file for graduation online via RIConnect.

Shakespeare's birthday party

Sigma Tau Delta and the English Club are hosting a party to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday. Period costume encouraged but not required. April 23, 12:30 pm, in CL 255.

Baby news

The English Department welcomed a new addition on March 19, when Zubeda Jalalzai gave birth to her third child, a girl. Dr. Jalalzai and her husband, Dan Moos, have named the baby Imani Moos Jalalzai.