August 2021

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

We are more than halfway through August and classes begin next week. I know you are busy working on your syllabi and courses.  I thought I’d share with you some COVID-related FAQ pertinent to the start of the semester.  Please see the attached document, which contains information from the recent Town Hall meeting and other sources. I hope this information is helpful.  Also, please see today’s email from  Academic Affairs about “Faculty Classroom Guidance during Pandemic.”

I want to remind you about our English Department Coffee Hour on Zoom this Friday (8/20) from 11-12.   I hope you will join your colleagues in reconnecting after what I hope has been a renewing summer for you. Our first official Department Meeting will be September 3 on Zoom from 11-12:30. Check your Google Calendar for the Zoom links. 

As a reminder, if you need a supply of masks, cleaning wipes, and hand sanitizer, please let Angie know on the spreadsheet she set up.  She and Monica are distributing requested supplies this week.

KUDOS

Christine Arvidson’s poem “In Front of Yer Face” is going to be a part of Charlotte Shout’s “Of Earth and Sky” event this fall. To learn more: https://www.charlotteshout.com/events/detail/of-earth-and-sky

Aaron Gywn recent novel All God’s Children has been nominated for the 2022 International Dublin Literary Award.

Jeffrey Leak published an essay titled “Celebrity and Transitions in Black Masculinity at the Turn of the Century” in African American Literature in Transition, 1900–1910. Vol. 7. Ed. Shirley Moody-Turner. New York: Cambridge University Press, May 2021.

Juan Meneses accepted an invitation to be a member of the advisory board of Posseible: Journal of Philosophy, an Ankara University journal.

Congratulations to the above faculty!  Your continued achievements are an inspiration to all of us.

Best wishes for a successful and safe semester. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Paula