VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2 OCTOBER 4, 2017 Contact us at: [email protected] Web: www.sandiego.edu/cas/english Facebook: www.facebook.com/USDEnglish Instagram: USDEnglish Important Dates Oct 5: Full Moon English Dept Announcements Oct 5: Cropper Series: Maggie Nelson Oct 9: Indigenous Peo- Cropper Series: Maggie Nelson ple's Day Oct 10: English Career Our first event of the year in our Lindsay and Other Workshop J. Cropper Memorial Writers Series is Maggie True Ab- Oct 16: Memorial Poetry Nelson, nonfiction writer! stractions. Her poetry titles include Something Bright, Reading Then Holes and Jane: A Murder (finalist for the PEN/ Thursday, Oct. 5, 12:30 p.m.: Barrie Martha Albrand Art of the Memoir). In 2016, Nelson Oct 20: Fall Academic Cropper Memorial Lecture on the Craft Holiday (no classes) was awarded a MacArthur “genius” Fellowship. She of Creative Writing: Nonfiction writer has also been the recipient of a Oct 26-Nov 2: Shake- and poet, Maggie Nelson; in the Uni- speare’s “Henry V” Guggenheim Fellowship in Non- versity Center Forum C, 12:30 p.m. fiction, an NEA in Poetry, an In- Oct 31: Halloween Thursday, Oct. 5, 6 p.m.: Lindsay J. novative Literature Fellowship Nov 1: All Saints’ Day Cropper Memorial Writers Series, non- from Creative Capital, and an Arts Nov 2: All Souls’ Day fiction reading: Maggie Nelson; in Writers Fellowship from the Andy Warren Auditorium, MRH; Q&A and Nov 4: Full Moon Warhol Foundation. She holds a dessert reception following the reading Ph.D. in English Literature from Nov 5: Daylight Saving the Graduate Center of the City Time ends Maggie Nel- University of New York, and has son is the author of nine books, many of taught literature, writing, criticism Inside this issue: which have become and theory at the New School, cult classics defying Pratt Institute, and Wesleyan Uni- English Dept 1 categorization. Her versity. She is on the faculty at the nonfiction titles University of Southern California. Student News 6 include the National You can read an excerpt from Nelson’s most recent book, The Student Career 8 Book Critics Circle Award Argonauts, here: https:// www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/ Alumni News 10 winner and New York Times best- seller The Argonauts; The Art of bookworm/maggie-nelson-the-argonauts/ excerpt-from-the-argonauts. FacultyNews 11 Cruelty: A Reckoning (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year); Both events are free and open to the pub- Other Announce. 13 Bluets (named by Bookforum as one lic. Looking forward to seeing you there! of the top 10 best books of the past 20 years); The Red Parts; and Women, the New York School, PAGE 2 ENGLISH DEPT NEWSLETTER English Dept Announcements Workshop: “Your Future in English: What Can I Do with This Major?” All students invited, regardless of major. Please join us on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Serra Hall, Room 209 for the English De- partment’s Fall Career Event! Katie Freedman and Kelsey Shultz of the Career Development Center will conduct a hands -on, interactive workshop —bring your laptop— on how to begin right away to develop action steps to achieve your goals, practice strategies to explore potential career paths, and start connecting with alumni so that you can keep the conversation going. The workshop affords an opportunity to learn how some of your peers already plan to parlay English studies into a lucrative and rewarding career. You will also learn some useful information about how to earn academic units while gaining valuable work experi- ence. Dr. Tim Randell, Professor of Practice for Careers and Sponsored by the English Department and the Career Devel- Internships for the English Department, will share information opment Center and hosted by Sigma Tau Delta, the workshop is about the department’s internship offerings and upcoming open to all students: English Majors/Minors, undeclareds, or opportunities. In addition, USD’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, anyone thinking of switching majors. Refreshments will be pro- the English honor society, will share information on their own vided —free donuts! professional development projects, including their work on The For more information on this event, please contact: Alcalá Review, and on how to join the society. [email protected]. English Dept. Open House dents who are involved in English De- All English Majors, Minors, and Tuesday October 24, 12:30 pm, in the Writing partment groups, such as Sigma Tau prospective students are wel- Center (Founders 190B). Delta (our honors society), Alcala Re- come! Please join us to see what is happening in the view (our literary journal) and our Writ- Department, and to have lunch. This is a chance to ing Center tutors. This is a chance to prepare for Spring registration: you can meet facul- find out about internship opportunities, ty and hear about the courses they will be teaching and to seek academic advising, general next semester. This is a chance to meet other stu- socializing, and burritos. “DELICIOUS AUTUMN! MY VERY SOUL IS WEDDED TO IT, AND IF I WERE A BIRD I WOULD FLY ABOUT THE EARTH SEEKING THE SUCCESSIVE AUTUMNS.” –GEORGE ELIOT PAGE 3 ENGLISH DEPT NEWSLETTER English Dept Announcements The New First Year Writing Featured in The Vista Article Reprinted from The USD Vista, Sept. 24, 2017 According to Werstler, to help accom- that good writing varies based on New year, new core curriculum. This fall, plish these goals, professors have control context and rhetorical situations,” the University of San Diego introduced an over the content in their FYW class. Moulder said. “Students come in updated core curriculum for first-year stu- “They can choose what they want the thinking that there’s one way to write dents. The new core curriculum requires students to study,.[Learning outcomes are] well. And there’s nothing further fewer classes to graduate than the previous very much dependent on what the faculty is from the truth. So what transfers out core. trying to get the student to get out of the is a deep knowledge of how different Within the new core is the “Written class, while at the same time implementing discourses of writing vary based on Communication” requirement, which fea- this new curriculum for FYW,” Werstler different disciplines, different dis- tures a new course that all first-years must said. courses, different genres.” take: First Year Writing (FYW). FYW re- Amanda Moulder, Writing Program Di- Along with the varying themes in placed ENGL 121, Composition and Litera- rector and assistant professor in the Depart- the FYW classes, students also read ture. While some believe the new class and ment of English, shared that all professors various types of literature. Smith’s curriculum will improve overall writing and teaching the course have gone through a class, focused on border relationships, workshop. engages with a lot of articles on cur- “[The workshop is] to rent events, specifically about Presi- get them to think deeply dent Obama and President Trump about the learning out- and their roles in the national dis- comes and changes to the course. course,” Moulder said. In class, Skalecki has been reading She added that a big poems by Emily Dickinson, essays by aspect of changing the Montaigne, and the opera Tales of core was the ability for Hoffmann and Bradeen will read two professors who don’t novels during the semester. It seems work in the English de- as if every FYW class varies not only partment to teach FYW. in theme, but in structure as well. reading comprehension, others like first-year “[The core change] opened the course up Werstler explained why there are Amelia Smith deem it unnecessary. so that they could get taught by people in so many different types of literature “There doesn’t seem to be a true purpose different disciplines,” Moulder said. This taught in FYW. “What these courses to the class,” Smith said. course is still located in the English depart- are meant to do is give [first years] The USD Fall 2017 core curriculum out- ment, but other people can apply to and get confidence to understand that writing lines the learning outcomes for students in trained to teach it if they want to.” continued on Page 4 this new course. As stated on USD’s web- Each class is meant to have a focus. site, the outcomes include “writing effective- Amelia Smith’s class focuses on relations ly in multiple discourses by distinguishing between the U.S.- Mexico border. and responding to rhetorical contexts,” and “I like the topic we’re discussing, being “writing clearly and fluently, with few errors from the Midwest,” Smith said. “I’m from “LIFE STARTS in syntax and grammar.” Kansas City, Missouri and it’s very interest- ALL OVER AGAIN Hugo Werstler, Executive Assistant of ing to see how immigration affects San Die- WHEN IT the Writing Program, explained that when go and specifically Tijuana.” GETS CRISP the college decided to revamp the core cur- The purpose for having various focuses IN THE FALL.” riculum, they did so with the goal of helping is to expand students’ minds in terms of incoming students to be more well-rounded. what they think of as ‘good writing.’ —F. SCOTT “Looking into [the new core], we saw a Moulder believes this skill will be imperative FITZGERALD definite need to implement stronger writing for first-years as they transition into their courses,” Werstler said. “We wanted fresh- upper-division courses. men to come out of their freshmen year with “Students will compare enough different a better understanding of how to write.” discourses to come away with the concept PAGE 4 ENGLISH DEPT NEWSLETTER English Dept Announcements continued from Page 3 “I wish we were able to choose be- likely begin to shape into one that has a clear- isn’t so narrow-minded,” Werstler said.