MuchNews from the English DepartmentAdoFall 2015 • Volume 8, Issue 1 The New Genesius Theater is Shared by University Community by Justin Sines Etty, brought in from New York by the Jewish Theater Performances Studies Department. 2015-2016 Productions The English Department Death of a Salesman By Arthur Miller alongside the Lexicon October 1-18 Literary Magazine Premieres XXXIX utilized the new space to Written and directed by students host their Coffee House December 2-5 Reading Series and Open A Midsummer Night’s Dream Mic Poetry Readings. By William Shakespeare February 4-21 The theater has also been The Consorts able to accommodate By Tim Ruppert April 7-16 ore than thirty theater performances, the musical needs of the WORLD PREMIERE campus as well. The Music School recently Mhalf dozen music events, a handful One Acts for Charity of open houses, a few poetry readings, held two of their Jazz Chamber Concerts in Written and directed by students April 23 and a dedication ceremony—it has been the building in addition to the numerous a busy first semester in the new Genesius one-day only presentations. Spotlight All shows Thursday-Saturday begin at 8 p.m., and Theater. After 103 years, the University’s Musical Theater Group, the campus’s Sunday shows begin at 2 p.m., in the Genesius student organization dedicated to musical Theater and are FREE with Duquesne ID, Carlow ID, Red Masquers finally have a home to call or Red Masquers Card. their own. They have moved from Old Main, theater, made the use of the building to to the University Union, to Rockwell Hall, present Stephen Sondheim’s Company for TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED BY: two weekends in November. An eight-piece emailing [email protected] or through and now to the first stand-alone theater brownpapertickets.com/event/2426275. Duquesne’s campus has seen. This new pit orchestra accompanied the fourteen- member cast, yet the group managed to For more information visit duqredmasquers.com theater is pushing everyone to new heights or send an e-mail to [email protected]. of professionalism. utilize the 40’ by 60’ room to seat over one hundred audience members. And at the end that the building is utilized for rehearsals The Genesius Theater is a state of the art of semester, Encore Show Choir morphed the room to suit their twenty-five dancers for productions that are presented in the black box model that is fully flexible to black box, by the Red Masquers, Spotlight, accommodate every one of its users’ needs. and singers performing to songs like Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ Encore, students’ directing projects, the Featuring up to 120 movable seats, 105 Gemini Children’s Theater, the Summer new lighting instruments, and over twice Company, and the Pittsburgh New Works the lighting capacity of its predecessor, We have not even begun to list the other uses for the building, like multiple Festival. There has not been a day when the theater is a technician’s dream. We someone was not utilizing the building. have been able to adapt the room to the hours of Theater Arts classes that the large set of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Genesius Theater hosts on a weekly basis: Introduction to Theater, acting classes, The Genesius Theater has not only been Salesman produced by the University’s a great asset to the Theater Arts program Red Masquers, yet it is still small enough to directing and history of theater classes. And keep the intimacy of the one-woman show who can forget about the hours upon hours continued on pg. 5, see Genesius IN THIS ISSUE: FOR QUESTIONS OR SUBMISSIONS, CONTACT: Alumni Updates ..................................... 2 Teaching in Rome .................................. 6 Nora McBurney Faculty News .......................................... 3 Visiting Speaker .................................... 7 Administrative Assistant Department News ................................. 5 Poetry Reading ...................................... 7 English Department Professors Receive Awards ............... 5 Graduate Updates ................................. 8 [email protected] Study Abroad ......................................... 6 412.396.6420 AlumniUpdates Cami Agan (Ph.D. 1997) presented on grasped editorial principles and superb of Sentimentality,” is included in the Teaching Jane Austen in Linda Troost’s content notes speak to the dedication, forthcoming Cambridge History 20th- panel at the ASECS Conference in Los diligence, and sound sense of the editorial Century American Women’s Poetry (2016). Angeles, where she spent some magical team.” moments with Laura Engel. She also published two chapters—“Lúthien Tinúivel Bill Racicot (Ph.D. 2010) has signed a book and Bodily Desire in the Lay of Leithian” in Christine Cusick (Ph.D. 2002) is Associate contract with McFarland Publishing to Perilous and Fair; Women in the Life and Professor of English and Director of publish a book on dream visions as used Works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Ed Leslie Donovan the Honors Program at Seton Hill in 19th and early 20th century fiction. The and Janet B Croft, 2015, and “Tolkien University. She was recently the invited book is set to be published in 2018. Immersion; Why a Summer Class on Plenary Speaker at the National Meeting of Tolkien Works” in Approaches to Teaching the American Conference for Irish Studies Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Other in Chicago and the Keynote Speaker at the Beth Buhot Runquist (Ph.D. 2011) accepted Works. MLA press—and “Hearkening to Ireland and Ecocriticism Conference at a position as Assistant Director of the the Other: a Certeauvian Reading of The University College Cork, Ireland. Christine Writing Center at Seton Hill University. Ainulindalë,” a journal article appearing in has been awarded a Moore Institute Visiting Mythlore, Winter 2015. Fellowship at the National University of Ireland Galway. Her coedited collection Emily Rutter (Ph.D. 2014) published Cami plans to attend the ASECS in Unfolding Landscapes: Tim Robinson, “‘Isolated Togetherness’: Archival Pittsburgh in March 2016 and hopes to visit Culture and Environment will be published Performances in Harmony Holiday’s Negro the department with Sue Howard, Laura from Manchester University Press in League Baseball” in Studies in American Engel, et al!!! February 2015. Culture 38.1 (Fall 2015). Additionally, her essay “‘the story usually being’: Revising the Posthumous Legacy of Huddie Ledbetter Amy Criniti Phillips (Ph.D. 2011) is a Robert Craven (M.A. 2015) accepted a job as in Tyehimba Jess’s leadbelly” was recently committee member for First Folio! a campaign organizer for the environmental awarded the South Atlantic Review Best The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare: advocacy non-profit PennEnvironment, Essay Prize for 2014. A Traveling Exhibition, which is the working on demonstrating grassroots Folger Shakespeare Library’s 2016 lending support for climate action, specifically exhibition of an original First Folio edition carbon emissions regulations. Ellen McGrath Smith’s (Ph.D. 2002) of William Shakespeare’s plays. Wheeling first full-length collection of poetry was Jesuit University’s English and Fine Arts published this past fall by the West End Department has teamed with West Liberty Jesse Gipko (Ph.D. 2014) was promoted to Press; Nobody’s Jackknife, explores yoga University, Oglebay Institute, and Ohio Professor of English and Program Chair of and alcoholism in a range of forms, and County Public Library to submit a winning Liberal Arts and Humanities at Belmont can be ordered through the University bid for Wheeling to be West Virginia’s host College. Jesse also had an article accepted— of New Mexico Press or via her website city for the First Folio. The exhibition will “The Road: Cormac McCarthy and the ellenmcgrathsmith.com. Recent poem take place in Wheeling from 12 May - 12 Death of the American Road Narrative”— publications by Ellen also appear in the June 2016, just after the 400th anniversary which will appear in the Spring 2016 issue inaugural issue of The Pittsburgh Poetry of Shakespeare’s death on April 23, 1616. of Response: The Digital Journal of Popular Review, Ghost Town, and Tinderbox Amy is also collaborating with John Culture Scholarship. Poetry, as well as two anthologies: Poems Lane and the Red Masquers to host a live for Jerry: A Tribute to Gerald Stern (Caliban performance of A Midsummer Night’s Books) and the forthcoming Rabbit Ears: Dream, which will be performed at Melissa Girard (B.A. 1998) is the recipient of TV Poems (New York Quarterly Books). Duquesne in February, at the exhibition. an NEH Faculty Fellowship for 2015-16 for her current book project, Lines of Feeling: Modernist Women’s Poetry and the Jeff Stoyanoff (Ph.D. 2015)accepted a Anthony Cuda (B.A. 1998) was awarded the Problem of Sentimentality. She is Assistant position as Assistant Professor of Medieval 2015 Modernist Studies Association Book Professor of English at Loyola University Studies at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Prize at the MSA Conference in Boston this Maryland and received her Ph.D. from the Alabama. Additionally, he had his past November for his work on the second University of Illinois. article—“Beginnings and Endings: Narrative volume of an eight volume edition of the Framing in Confessio Amantis” —published Complete Prose of T.S. Eliot. Anthony Melissa’s research interests are in modern in volume 79.3-4 of the South Atlantic worked with the general editor, Ronald poetry and poetics and gender and sexuality Review. Schuchard, to create what the MSA called studies. Her publications on women’s