Welcome to the WCU English Department home page.The English major program teaches students to analyze the literary and other texts of their culture from a conscious and critical point of view, gives students the advantage of considerable experience in writing, and introduces students to an understanding of the workings of language.
Student Announcements
The Test of Writing Competency will be administered on January 23, 2009, in the Main Hall Auditorium (room 168) from 4:15-7:00pm. Registration is not necessary.
Please bring (1) Lined paper with no spiral edges, (2) Pen with dark ink (black or blue); and (3) Photo ID. Dictionaries are allowed.
EAPSU Undergraduate Conference Friday, April 3, 2009. All undergraduate paper proposals welcome. Check out the call for papers. (EASPU stands for English Association of the Pennsylvania State Universities)
Recent Faculty Accomplishments
Mary Buckalew and Diane Dougherty published "Staff Development: What We Learned in Amish Country" in the December 2008 issue of the journal Pennyslvania Educational Leadership (vol. 28, issue 1).
Mary Buckalew and Patty Koeller conducted the workshop "Reaping the Rewards of Working with Young Authors" at the NCTE conference in November 2008. Their workshop was part of the Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Program and addressed opportunities for examining approaches to planning and organizing work with young writers and readers -- and their parents.
Juanita Comfort is featured in the latest issue (Fall 2008) of What's New in Academic Affairs for representing West Chester University's English Department during her faculty exchange trip to the University of Silesia.
Andrea Fishman and Barb Giorgio conducted the workshop "Developing and Sustaining Dynamic School Partnerships" at the NCTE conference in November 2008. Their workshop was a part of the Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Program.
Ayan Ganagopadhyay presented the paper, "The W/hole and History and/or the Imperfectability of the World: Performing Time in the Works of Susan Lori-Parks and Tony Kushner" at the American Drama Conference, hosted by St. Francis College in Brookly, NY, and sponsored by the Arthur Miller Journal. The conference took place in November 2008.
Graham MacPhee acted as academic consultant for a report for JEL Research on "The Changing Face of the Culture of Excessive Consumption in the US."
Graham is also featured in the latest issue (Fall 2008) of What's New in Academic Affairs for his founding of the Transnational Research Group for interested faculty on campus.
Laura Renzi-Keener received a $1,500 grant from ALAN (the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents, a sub-group of NCTE) for her LGBT resource project for teachers.
Welcome New English Department Faculty!
Elizabeth Nolen received her PhD in English Literature from Indiana University, Bloomington (IN), and she has taught at IU, Goldey Beacom College, University of Delaware, and West Chester University. She has been awarded the ‘Favorite Teacher Award’ seven times by the WCU Honors Student Association. Her scholarship interests include gothic fiction, women’s literature, film criticism, and popular literature and culture. She has several publications and numerous conference presentations on subjects in these areas.
Laura Renzi-Keener received her PhD in English Education from The Ohio State University and has taught at OSU and Central Michigan University. She has also taught high school English and History. Her research interests include the influence of teachers’ beliefs and community interests on literature instruction in high school classrooms. She has given numerous scholarly presentations on these and related topics, including self-censorship and using literature to discuss issues of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation in the classroom.
Jeff Sommers received his PhD in English from New York University and has taught at Miami University Middletown (Ohio), University of Cincinnati, and Allegany (MD) Community College. He has received two teaching awards, both at Miami U. Most recently, he has been Acting Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Miami University Middletown. His area of scholarly expertise is style and composition, and he has published and presented extensively on subjects in these areas, particularly as pertains to teaching English at the college level.
Kuhio Walters is a doctoral candidate, ABD, in English at the University of New Hampshire and has taught at UNH as well as at California State University, Fresno. His scholarship focuses on composition studies and ethnography, and he has been exploring the use of photography in composition in his research. He has published a book chapter and given a number of conference presentations based on this work.
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