SCHOOL OF ENGLISH AND MEDIA STUDIES NEWSLETTER Issue 1.1 Thom Conroy, Editor Welcome to the School of English and Media Studies Community Welcome to the first edition of the first School of English and Media Studies Newsletter. Those of us who take and teach papers in the School of English and Media Studies belong to a diverse and exciting community. With all the new changes, growth, and opportunities happening in the School of late, all of us in English and Media Studies decided it was high time to celebrate and chronicle the accomplishments of our community. As you’ll see in looking over this first edition of the School Newsletter, there is much to celebrate in the School itself. We’d also like to hear what you have to share as a student in the School of English and Media Studies, and we invite readers of this newsletter to email us with news of their Massey- related accomplishments and milestones at [email protected]. We’d also welcome any comments you have on the newsletter itself. This publication is a celebration of the community we share, and your input is a valuable part of that community. New People, New Papers We are fortunate to begin 2008 with a clutch of new staff members and the approved proposals for two new and exciting papers in 2009. Dr Ian Huffer is our new lecturer in Media Studies in Palmerston North. Ian specialises in film and has come to us from the University of Sussex in the UK. He is currently teaching in 154.222 The Art of the Film, and in Semester Two he will be teaching 154.303 Hollywood Cinema. Dr Jane Simon is also new in Media Studies. Jane has come from the University of Sydney, and many of you will already have come across her in 154.101 Introduction to Media Studies. In Semester Two she will be teaching 154.311 Working with New Media: Histories, Technologies, Practices. Dr Rebecca Bishop has moved from Palmerston North to a lectureship in Media Studies on our Wellington Campus. Those of you based in Wellington will have come across Rebecca in 154.101 Introduction to Media Studies. We are also delighted to welcome Dr Kim Worthington, who is already familiar to a number of you, to a permanent lectureship in Palmerston North. Kim is teaching in 139.139 Introduction to English Studies, our 100- and 200-level fiction papers, and in Semester Two this year she will be teaching 139.352 Postcolonial Literature. Two new paper offerings have been added to the internal teaching schedule for Semester Two on the Wellington campus: 154.202 Advertising and Society and 154.311 Working with New Media: Histories, Technologies, Practices. We also have two brand new papers coming on stream in 2009. Plan ahead now so that you can enrol in these exciting new offerings! In Semester Two of 2009, Professor Dick Corballis will offer 139.254 Irish Literature extramurally and internally at Palmerston North. Semester Two of 2009 will also see the introduction of 139.327 Creative Non-fiction by Dr Ingrid Horrocks. This paper will be offered internally in Wellington only in 2009. Check the English and Media Studies website later in the year for more details on these new papers http://ems.massey.ac.nz. The Manawatu International One-Act Playwriting Competition 2008 This year the first Manawatu International One-Act Playwriting Competition was sponsored by the Massey Arts Committee and the School of English and Media Studies. The competition, which accepts scripts from all over the world, will run every other year and award cash and performance prizes to the top six one-act scripts. The performances will take place at the biennial Festival of New Arts, a series of performances showcasing new art at various venues in Palmerston North. The playwright Stuart Hoar judged the 2008 Manawatu International One-Act Playwriting Competition. Hoar was struck by the range of subjects and the diversity of the plays that he read. Playwrights were asked to write under the theme of ‘New World’ and to present material that had an experimental edge. Hoar, who also teaches 139.323 Media Scriptwriting in Massey’s School of English and Media Studies, said that the winning six were all of completely different tone and structure, yet they all came to grips with the ‘New World’ theme in their different ways. Despite the fact that this is the first time that the playwriting competition has run, it attracted 33 entries from New Zealand and overseas. Writers from Britain and Australia are represented in the final selection. The six prizewinners were: First place, Div Collins; Second Place, Denis Edwards; Third Place, Jan Watts; Fourth Place, Peta Tait; Fifth Place, Renee Liang; Sixth Place, Lesley Martin. Hear New Zealand’s Finest Authors at Writers Read Every year the School of English and Media Studies holds an exciting series of literary readings entitled Writers Read. This year the series will be held at two venues – the Palmerston North City Library and on the Wellington Massey campus. Writers Read is a series of readings featuring some of New Zealand’s best writers. Past readers include Bill Manhire, Elizabeth Knox, Owen Marshall, Fiona Farrell, and Vincent O’Sullivan. The 2008 series was kicked off in late April with a reading at the Palmerston North City Library by The School of English and Media Studies Visiting Literary Artist. This year we’re proud to have Christchurch poet, short-fiction and young adult novelist, James Norcliffe, in residence. The series will continue with a reading in Wellington on 22 May by novelist Mary McCallum, author of The Blue (Penguin, 2007). Mary is currently tutoring for Massey, both internally in Wellington, and extramurally on the first year creative writing paper. The other readers in this year’s series will be poet Elizabeth Smith, Sydney-based writer of creative nonfiction, Martin Edmond, and Maori novelist James George. For a full description of all Writers Read events, including venues details and times, please see: http://ems.massey.ac.nz/massey/depart/cohss/schools/school-of-english-and-media-studies/school- news/writers-read.cfm Staff in the Spotlight An Interview with Dr John Muirhead Q: John, you’ve been teaching in the School of English and Media Studies for thirty-one years now. What would you say has changed the most about students in that time? A: When I first began with the School of English and Media Studies in 1977, the majority of my students were internal; now the majority are extramural. Many of these students enrol in papers in the School of English and Media Studies as part of a career change or for personal fulfilment. I think they bring a high level of commitment to their studies. That is also true, I think, of our smaller internal classes; with the extra cost of study, the majority are here because they choose positively to study with us, not as a deferral of entry to the world of work. Q: What defines your approach to teaching online? What do you think is most important when teaching in an extramural environment? A: When I started teaching at Massey, nobody had computers. Now we must think carefully about the delivery of our papers online, especially to students with whom we have limited opportunity for face- to-face contact. An online environment offers the potential to do more than just create a virtual learning community for our classes through the use of discussion forums and so on; we’re beginning to look at how we might actually teach students through this medium. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to students beginning their studies this year, what would it be? A: Be patient. I think studying literature – which is my main area of teaching – is like watching a photograph being developed. The picture emerges slowly; the effect and meaning of a poem is not always to be absorbed at first glance. Look again. That’s my one piece of advice, but here’s a second. Keep an open mind. I remember having to take an Old English paper in university. I dreaded the thought of it, but in the end, I was fascinated. For me, the texts we encounter in English and Media Studies have our common humanity as their subject, whatever the differences in period, cultures, and expressive forms. That’s a subject it’s impossible to tire of, I think. Semester Two Papers If you haven’t made your decisions about Semester Two, here’s what’s available (for more information see our website http://ems.massey.ac.nz): Extramural 139.105 Fiction 139.229 Writing Poetry: Love, Loss and Looking Around 139.251 Mid-Twentieth Century Aotearoa/NZ Literature 139.361 The Literature of Women 154.103 Seeing Through the Media 154.201 Television Studies 154.205 Popular Music Studies 154.228 Media History 154.303 Hollywood Cinema 154.311 Working with New Media: Histories, Technologies, Practices Internal – Palmerston North 139.104 Drama in Performance 139.105 Fiction 139.107 Written Communication 139.201 Love and Revenge in Shakespeare’s England 139.209 Speaking: Theory and Practice 139.229 Writing Poetry: Love, Loss and Looking Around 139.352 Postcolonial Literature 139.361 The Literature of Women 154.103 Seeing Through the Media 154.201 Television Studies 154.228 Media History 154.303 Hollywood Cinema 154.304 Media Practice II 154.311 Working with New Media: Histories, Technologies, Practices Internal – Wellington 139.107 Written Communication 139.226 Life Writing 139.326 Travel Writing 154.202 Advertising and Society 154.203 Popular Culture and the Media 154.205 Popular Music Studies 154.311 Working with New Media: Histories, Technologies, Practices Survey Question For extramural students, and internal students who take some papers in the extramural mode: do you prefer single- or double-semester extramural papers? Let us know (with a brief reason, if you wish) by hitting reply or emailing [email protected] .