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ASU English Home > Alumni & Visitors > Newsletter English Department Alumni Online Community Department of English Alumni E-letter, Fall 2008 edition (sent 10/7/08) Dear Department of English Alumnus:
We hope you’re weathering the recent economic meltdown alright; perhaps this issue of E-letter can distract you from that news enough to keep you from wallowing in despair! It would certainly make us feel better to hear from you—in the form of what-did-you-do-with-your-English-degree?—via a short alumni questionnaire. Please take just a moment to give us your very valuable feedback (click here for more info.). All the best to you. In this issue of E-letter:
ASU English Seeks Alumni Input on Life after Graduation As part of an on-going commitment to improve the quality of programs in the Department of English, we have developed an alumni survey. Your experience at ASU will guide us our efforts to provide the best education for our students. We regard the student’s experience after he or she has left ASU to be as important as the experience in the classroom. Your feedback will help us understand the extent to which the Department of English has prepared individuals for the challenges they encounter after graduation. We thank you for taking the time to complete this short survey. To complete the survey, please visit this link: http://www.asu.edu/clas/english/alumni/alumquestions.html —Gregory Castle, Professor, Department of English The Scoop--Your Fellow ASU English Graduates What are ASU English alumni up to these days? Each issue we highlight at least five outstanding graduates in English and give briefs about their recent accomplishments. Read on for details:
E-Dialogue: An Alumni Question and Answer Session Shakespeare, Rhetoric, and Manatees: An Interview with Vernon Guy Dickson Vernon Guy Dickson received his PhD in English in 2007. His dissertation was entitled "Emulation Hath a Thousand Sons." Emulation, Rhetoric, and Social Decorum in Renaissance Drama. He is an Assistant Professor at Florida International University, located in Miami. Dickson works at the smaller Biscayne Bay campus in North Miami, halfway to Fort Lauderdale, near his tropical home. Sheila Luna: You had other job offers in 2007. What drew you to Florida International University? Vernon Guy Dickson: FIU, a Research I university, offered me a low teaching load and meaningful research support, so it was the best opportunity for me to be able to see my current work into published book form. Also, they specifically hired me to teach graduate and undergraduate courses in rhetoric and literature, which is very exciting. My other offers were much narrower in terms of teaching, generally either literature or rhetoric exclusively, and were not at research-focused universities. FIU is a metropolitan university that is embedded in the community and has access to the kinds of students, resources, and lifestyle that I enjoy. It is also a newer university (one of the youngest Research I universities). Having been at the ASU Polytechnic campus, I truly value the active sense of a university as a work-in-progress where I can make a difference. ASUP also made me excited about being officially based at the smaller Biscayne Bay campus, about 20-30 minutes from FIU’s main campus. The Biscayne Bay campus is literally on the bay (with the best campus view I have ever seen). There are manatees and other sea life just yards from where I teach classes. It is so refreshing to take the long way, by the bay, or to take a quick break on a balcony to overlook the water. SL: What types of courses are you teaching? VGD: In my first semester, I taught Renaissance Rhetorics in Drama, a graduate special topics course in my dissertation area. I also taught Texts and Contexts, which delved deeper into selected British texts before 1660. Since then I have taught courses in Shakespeare, Renaissance drama, writing, and rhetoric, and in the future I will be teaching graduate courses in composition, history of rhetoric, and rhetorical theory. FIU uses a customized version of ASU Faculty Emeritus John Ramage’s Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, so I felt right at home from day one. SL: What accomplishments are you proud of since you graduated from ASU? VGD: I am recently very excited to see my third (and to me most important) publication due out next summer in Renaissance Quarterly, which is a top-tier journal. In addition, my book prospectus is almost completed. I am proud to have created an Early Modern Writing Group, a monthly workshop that included students from other departments. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, but it has been a very worthwhile and stimulating endeavor, which has led to some excellent meetings. The biggest accomplishment may simply be surviving the transition, finding a home with a good community and excellent schools, and raising three children in a new location away from family. This last year has taken a bigger toll than I expected. But it feels good to finally be settled and enjoying a community of friends. SL: How do you like living in the Sunshine State? Are you afraid of hurricanes? VGD: Aside from being too far away from our extended family, we really enjoy it. Yes, hurricanes are pretty scary. Luckily, we’ve only seen the edges of the major storms so far. However, the deep stress of watching the pinwheels of doom heading straight for the little dot of Miami or Fort Lauderdale is a bit intimidating and at times engrossing. We have several contingency plans in place, but hope we will never need them! This area is beautiful, lush, and alive. My wife refers to Florida as Jurassic Park. We still haven’t adjusted to tropical storms, but we love living near the ocean. We also love all the natural growth and life here: lizards of all types just in our own yard (as well as frogs, toads, and even small snakes), tons of tropical birds, and an abundance of diverse plant-life. There is also a gorgeous wildlife preserve near our home. It is quite different from the Arizona, though we do miss the desert vistas. SL: Do you have any recent publications and or presentations? VGD: Things have been going quite well for me in this regard. During my move to FIU, I had an article on Oroonoko come out in Studies in English. Last summer I finished an article on Titus Andronicus, which is due out next summer in Renaissance Quarterly. This is the first publication from my dissertation and is the last of the three articles I did for my portfolio. Many thanks to my committee for helping to make my portfolio experience a positive and meaningful one! During the past year, I’ve had the chance to present aspects of my book-in-progress at conferences of the Rhetoric Society of America and Shakespeare Association of America. I have also been invited to present at the Graduate English Association here at FIU this semester. SL: What does your current research involve? VGD: My obsession, really, is emulation, especially concerning rhetorical imitation in relation to the English stage. I believe that the playwrights were embedded in a culture of rhetoric and emulation, and they commented on these interrelated cultures within their plays, embodying ideas of the period, often to critique the too esoteric theories of the times. SL: What are your goals for the future? VGD: The number one goal is to bring my current book to print. Aside from achieving tenure (which honestly feels fairly all-consuming at times), I look forward to working on future projects that will help continue to build up Florida International University. I love being able to contribute to the development of new programs. We are currently growing our graduate program in innovative ways, building new writing centers, and linking English more firmly to university goals. Aside from this, I hope to find time to be with my family, finish some home improvement projects, and do a bit of gardening here in Florida. —Sheila Luna, Graduate Studies Coordinator, Department of English Call for Art: Come Home to English Call for Visual Artists in all Visual Media! For the English Art & Archives Gallery, a non-juried exhibit (details below) as part of ASU English’s Homecoming 2008 events. The gallery accepts visual arts in any media. Loaned pieces will be well cared for and the display monitored during open hours by department staff. Download exhibit application: http://www.asu.edu/clas/english/homecoming Deadline for applications: October 22, 2008 More information: Margo.Arroyo@asu.edu English Welcomes You “Home” November 2008 We hope the activities we’ve planned offer a chance to reminisce & re-connect. All events take place at the ASU Tempe campus and are free of charge and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. More information: http://www.asu.edu/english/homecoming Come Home to English 2008—November 10-15, 2008 Art & Archives Gallery—Monday, Nov. 10-Friday, Nov. 14
Gallery Vernissage: Meet the Artists—Monday, Nov. 10
Out of the Pocket:
(A)Wake for Milton—Wednesday, Nov. 12
"Medieval Edens: Sex, Death, and Power in Paradise”
Midnight in the Garden—Friday, Nov. 14
Block Party—Saturday, Nov. 15
—Kristen LaRue, Outreach Program Coordinator, Department of English ASU English to Hire Eleven New Faculty for 2009-2010 This year, the Department of English continues to strengthen and grow our focus on literatures, languages, and discourses in these concentration areas: Borderlands; Cultural and Cross-Cultural Encounters; and Technologies. Toward that end, we are indeed pleased to announce eleven searches for the following positions:
We expect to hire a significant number of new faculty members the following year as well. Clearly, this is an exciting time in our department and at Arizona State University as this infusion of new resources re-invigorates an already strong community of teacher-scholar-citizens. Details about all of our job advertisements are on the Department of English website at www.asu.edu/clas/english/employment.html. To speak with the Department Chair about our programs or to discuss any of these open positions, please call (480) 965-3168, or e-mail: neal.lester@asu.edu. —Neal A. Lester, Professor and Chair, Department of English Information about each event can be obtained by clicking on the link provided, or contacting Kristen.LaRue@asu.edu.
October 13, 2008
October 17, 2008
October 18, 2008
October 19, 2008
October 22, 2008
October 24-25, 2008
October 28, 2008
November 3, 2008
November 7, 2008
November 10, 2008
November 11, 2008
November 12, 2008
November 13, 2008
November 14, 2008
November 15, 2008
November 17, 2008
November 18, 2008
November 19, 2008
November 21, 2008
December 5, 2008
December 9, 2008
December 11, 2008
February 11, 2009
February 12-14, 2009
February 18-21, 2009
March 3, 2009
March 23, 2009
ASU English Events OUTSIDE the Phoenix Metro Area October 24, 2008
October 25, 2008
October 31, 2008
November 1, 2008
February 11-14, 2009
March 27-28, 2009
Notes Do you have an idea, a comment, or an update to share? Please send us news of your latest brainstorms and worldly endeavors—we want to brag about you! Was this email forwarded to you by the Alumni Association or another friend? Let us know and we’ll be sure to add you to our listserv. Is this not the best place to reach you? If the email address we have for you is not the most current, please send us the newest. Also, if you have an ASU email account but will be leaving the university soon, be sure to give us a non-ASU address so that we can keep in touch! Attention Alums: Be sure to let us know if you have changed positions, published books or articles, or won awards so that we can accurately track placements and record alumni achievements on the department website. |
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