Pen & Ink: Notes from the Department of English, March 2013, Vol. 3, Issue 1

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MARCH 2013

Pen & Ink: Notes from the NDSU Department of English

Find us on the web: http://english.ndsu.edu

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

Greetings from the Chair,

The scholarship issue of our newsletter does not comeout until May, but from "Honor Roll" to "Alumni in Action," thiswinter issue reports on the impressive accomplishments of faculty,current undergraduate and graduate students, and alumni. Thedepartment, without question, has responded to the decade-longchallenge at NDSU to "go to the next level" in teaching, research,and service, and this year we are contributing to the efforts that willmaintain NDSU's place among the top 100 research universities inthe country.

The first two graduates of our PhD program, Melissa Vosen (2010)

and now Karen Sorenson (2013) are both employed in highereducation upon completion of their degrees, and we have highhopes that the PhD students following in their footsteps will havesimilar success. As you might imagine, a perfect placement rate is

not common among PhD programs in English. And as proud aswe are of our PhD students, we are also thrilled to haveundergraduates as accomplished as Kellam Barta and LinneaNelson winning awards and making presentations related to theirscholarship and creative writing.

Our newsletter often reports on events that have happened (see"We Were Here"), but this issue also features fliers for events thatare coming up. I hope alumni and friends of the Englishdepartment will be able to attend one or more of these events.

As always, please read this newsletter as an invitation to reconnectwith the department, a mentor, or new facultymember, or even to reach out to one of ourcurrent students and offer your congratulations.

Kevin BrooksDepartment [email protected]

PKellam BartaKellam BartaKellam BartaKellam Barta, seniorEnglish major, has been awarded the

Western Social Science Association prizefor best undergraduate paper, an

extension of his English capstone project, The Mascot Effect 2: Social Factors InfluencingPronunciation ofCoyote. Dr. Bruce Maylath, professor of English, was his capstone mentor. Bartawill receive the honor, $500 prize, and membership in the organization at WSSAs annual

conference in Denver, CO, this April. His project built upon previous findings that suggest that auniversity mascot with varying pronunciations (NDSU Bi/z/on vs. Bi/s/on) contributes to establishing and maintaining asense of local identity through specific sound features (in NDSU's case, does the middle consonant sound like a zor ans).This project, a field study in sociolinguistics, investigates a similar phenomenon at the University of South Dakota, whoseCoyotes may encode group identity based on whether or not the final syllable of the word representing the school mascot

is pronounced. In addition to demonstrating the mascot effect at USD, this project exploresthe story of the word coyote, and how social factors may have shaped its use.

Aaron KnodelAaron KnodelAaron KnodelAaron Knodel, was named West Fargos Teacher of the Yearfor 2013-14. Knodel currently teaches Debate and Argumentation I and II forgrades 10-12, Advanced Placement (AP) Junior English, and Response-to-Intervention (RTI) English IV. Although teaching both AP & RTI English can bechallenging, he says the biggest hurdle is overcoming student apathy. Coping

with students mental health, attendance, and behavioral issues along withthe normal teen angst requires a delicate approachwe try to push andinspire all of our students, but we know full well that many of them faceunfair challenges or stresses that greatly interfere with their school work.Surprised by winning the nomination, Knodel claims he does nothing unusual compared towhat every other teacher does and this recognition is a tribute to all teachers and everythingwe do together. He believes good teaching makes something challenging seem easy. Whenyou make the work fun AND meaningful, students will respond in impressive ways! Knodelgraduated from NDSU in 2001 with a degree in English Education and is now eligible for theNorth Dakota Teacher of the Year award.

Honor RollHonor RollHonor RollHonor Roll

Inside This Issue:

The Buzz 2

D. Martinson Broadside Event 3

IntroducingDr. Linda Helstern 4

Student Spotlight: Linnea Nelson 5

Alumni In Action 6

We Were Here 7

Red River Graduate Student Conf 8

Department Office:

219 Morrill Hall

Phone: 701-231-7143

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.ndsu.edu/english


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P A G E 2 P E N & I N K : N O T E S F R O M T H E N D S U D E P A R T ME N T O F E N G L I S H

PhD student Karen Sorensen has accepted a tenure track posion at Montana Tech of the University of Montana.Sorensen will be defending her dissertaon in April and moving to Bue, MT to direct their wring program andcontribute to their professional wring curriculum. Her dissertaon focuses on the rhetoric of popular scienceand is entled "Carl Sagan's Cosmos: The Rhetorical Construcon of Popular Science Mythology."

Dr. Kelly Sassis research, A Review of the Literature on Pedagogical Approaches to Nave American/AmericanIndian Literatures, was published inApplied Social Sciences: Educaon Sciences by Cambridge ScholarsPublishing, January 2013. Her research addresses the achievement gap between Nave American/AmericanIndian students and majority White students in the United States and teaching strategies to diminish the gap.Sassi was also awarded a grant from the North Dakota Humanies Council for her proposal tled, "ReadingLiterature/Viewing Art: Moby-Dick, Ahab's Wife, and the painngs of T.L. Solien." The grant will make it possibleto bring award-winning author Sena Jeter Naslund to Fargo to read from her best-selling novelAhab's Wife, orThe Stargazerduring the Plains Art Museum's exhibit of painngs by T.L. Solien in fall 2013. The grant will alsofund a panel presentaon on art, history, and literature.

Dr. Andrew Mara is the advisor for Team Restaurant one of 22 finalists in the Research and Technology Parks2013 Innovaon Challenge compeon. Team Restaurant consists of Zakia Triffi and Stephan Wegerle Johansen.The goal of their project is to make restaurant visits more enjoyable while reducing wait me by integrangmobile technology to create a more seamless service. This integrated mobile technology will contain aninteracve menu, ordering opons, assistance noficaon, entertainment menu, purchasing opons and a chanceto give feedback. Innovaon Challenge 13 showcases outstanding, innovave work of NDSU students. Teamscompete for cash prizes as they present projects that solve real-world problems, advance technology and createnew business opportunies.

Dr. Verena Theile, NDSU Assistant Professor of Early Modern Literature, is co-editor ofStaging the Supersonsof Early Modern Europe. A collecon of literary and historical essays on supersons in performance and earlymodern drama, the book will be released by Ashgate Publishing in February 2013. Theile co-authored theintroducon. Her own, single-authored essay, Early Modern Engagements with Fear, Witchcra, the Devil, andthat Damned Dr. Faustus is featured in Part 1: Early Modern Supersons: Religion, Reformaon, and theHistory of Fear.

Dr. Elizabeth Birmingham iniated the collaborave effort between NDSUs College of Arts, Humanies and SocialSciences, Fargo-Moorheads Center for Interfaith Project, and the Fargo Public Library. In doing so, NDSULibraries and the Fargo Public Libraries have been awarded a Naonal Endowment for the Humanies (NEH)Muslim Journeys Bookshelf. This collecon of books, films, and other resources will introduce the complexhistory and culture of Muslims in the United States and around the world. The libraries are two of only 842public, academic, and community college libraries across the country selected to receive this grant. Each librarywill receive 25 books, three films, and access for one year to Oxford Islamic Studies Online.

Dr. Gary Toen published two arcles. His essay, Imagining the American West in Whartons Short Ficon,was published in The Journal of the Short Story in English and examines Edith Whartons representaon of theAmerican West in her short stories, nong the negave cultural meanings she aaches to the West, includingthemes of entrapment, loss of opportunity and alienaon, parcularly for female characters. In his book

chapter, Re-Authoring the Nineteenth Century: Morrisons Beloved and Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin, inInhabited by Stories: Crical Essays on Tales Retold, Toen demonstrates how re-reading a 19th century novelabout a slave mothers experience, such as Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin, in relaon to acontemporary re-telling of a similar story, such as Toni Morrisons Beloved, highlights new ideas about raceand gender in the earlier novel.

In Dec. 2012, Drs. Miriam Mara and Kevin Brooks published their collaborave arcle, Translang health care:Stories from refugees, providers, and friends, in the journal ofRhetoric, Professional Communicaon andGlobalizaon: hp://www.rpcg.org/index.php?journal=rpcg&page=arcle&op=view&. Drawing on interviewsand parcipatory observaon, this arcle weaves stories of translang healthcare told from the perspecves ofrefugees, health care providers, and friends. The research finds friends of refugees can provide an important rolein helping with cultural and instuonal translaons, and their role should be consider as part of a culturally-centered approach to healthcare.

The BuzzDr. Robert OConnor published "Beauty or Truth: The FausanDilemma in H. Rider Haggard's She" in The Lamar Journal ofthe Humanies. His study examines the details of Haggardsnarrave that render his novel a womans Fausan tragedy,with Ayesha read not as a divinity, a female archetype, or aproto- superhero but as an extraordinary individual of fleshand blood.


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P A G E 3V O L UM E 3 , IS S U E 1 Find us on the web: http://english.ndsu.edu

STEPHEN FRECH

An NDSU Department of English Cosgrove Seminars Presentations in

conjunction with the NDSU Division of Fine Arts and Oneiros Press.

These events are free and open to the public.

Monday, March 18th

1:00 pm

Memorial Union Gallery

APOETRYREADINGINHISOWNWORDS

LIVINGWITHPOETRY2NDDAVIDMARTINSONBROADSIDEMEMORIALTuesday, March 19th

7:00 pmSpirit Room, 111 N. Broadway

StephenFrechisanassociateprofessorofEnglishatMillikinUniversity.

Hehaspublishedthreeawardwinningvolumesofpoetryandhis

fourthpoeticvolume,APalaceofStrangersIsNoCity,waspublished

byCervenaBarvaPressin2011.FrechisfounderandeditorofOneiros

Press,publisheroflimitededition,letterpresspoetrybroadsides.


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We want to know where your initiative andingenuity have taken your English degree. Plus,knowing your story can improve the curriculum forfuture students.

Send your updated story to: [email protected]

For your story, please consider including:

Your graduation year and emphasis Whether you continued for an advanced degree Your career choices and opportunities What you (or we) might do differently Current position, locale, and photo

Whats Your Story?

P A G E 4

Dr. Linda HelsternDr. Linda HelsternDr. Linda HelsternDr. Linda HelsternLike the environment, education iswithout boundaries, it knows no borders.

When Dr. Linda Helstern came to NDSUin 2004 she carried with her, lifeexperiences that blurred borders andspanned oceans. Her academicbackground literally carried her fromcoast to coast. When she was 10, herfamily moved half-way across thecountry, in the middle of winter. En routefrom a Polish-Italian suburb ofPhiladelphia to a small town in centralMinnesota, they were caught in a lakeeffect blizzard in Gary, IN, where theysomehow managed to secure the last

available hotel room in the entire town.Having been so hospitably welcomedto February in the Midwest, is it anywonder that Helstern had never crossedthe Red River until joining the NDSUEnglish faculty as an assistantprofessor?

What is truly amazing is how her familysrelocation from Philly to farm communitydidnt thwart her willingness to pick uproots in order to keep learning. Afterearning an BA in English from HamlineUniversity, she earned her MA from theUniversity of New Mexico, and thenearned her PhD from Southern Illinois

University-Carbondale,specializing in twentieth

century American/NativeAmerican literature. Whileworking for the SIUCDepartment ofEngineering, she alsostudied Native andAmerican studies at UC-Berkeley and CreativeWriting at UC-Davis. In2008 Helstern crossed theAtlantic to teach Literatureand the ChangingEnvironment at the

Maastricht Center forTransatlantic Studies where she learnedmore about the European response toglobal warming.

Along with writing, Helstern teachesAmerican literature survey, literatureand the environment, multiculturalliterature, Native American literature,and modern poetry. As a professor,Helstern suggests her classes stronglyencourage border crossing between

disciplines and cultures. This was theessence of all the professional writingpositions I have held, whether in healthcare, financial services, or engineering,and it is the basis of my literaryscholarship with its dual focus oncontemporary Native American writers.Gerald Vizenor and Louis Owens are thefocus for much of Helsterns researchand she is impressed with theirapproach to thinking about culture,speaking to a native audience, and howenvironment is a profound concern for

them. Helsterns goal is to do morethinking across cultures and bringNative literature and the environmenttogether in important ways.

Having studied, worked, and lived insouthern Illinois with her husband fortwenty years, Helstern considerssouthern Illinois home. Since spendingtwo years teaching at U of Texas-PanAmerican before coming to NDSU, forHelstern, being at NDSU means fewerborders between here and home.

IntroducingIntroducingIntroducingIntroducing

I was uprooted from a Polish-

Italian suburb of Philadelphia and

transplanted into a small town in

central Minnesotawhen I was

10in Februaryduring ablizzard.

Linda Helstern

P E N & I N K : N O T E S F R O M T H E N D S U D E P A R T ME N T O F E N G L I S H

HelsternHelsternHelsternHelsternFall 2012 Advising LuncheonFall 2012 Advising LuncheonFall 2012 Advising LuncheonFall 2012 Advising Luncheon


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P A G E 5V O L U ME 3, IS SU E 1 Find us on the web: http://english.ndsu.edu

Linnea Nelson has had an interest in fine arts, literature, and creative writing foras long as she can remember, but as high school progressed she began todevelop those interests, specifically in poetry. In 2009, Nelson attended theNorth Dakota Governors School for English Studies, an experience that Nelsondeclares revolutionized my understanding of what being an English majormeans, and also made my choice to pursue a degree in English at NDSU aneasy one. Prior to attending Governors School, Nelson anticipated earning adegree in music (as a bassoonist), but following her GS experience, she insteadbegan to seriously seek publication. Shes had the good fortune of havingseveral poems published in periodicals such as Tribeca Poetry Reviewof NewYork City and The New Writerof the UK, before and during college. Afterattending the National Poetry Slam in 2010 and meeting former U.S. PoetLaureate, Billy Collins, just a couple of months later,she realized her fascination with the art of writingwas taking a very permanent place

in her life and studies. Publication in NDSUs own literary journal, NorthernEclecta, is an annual highlight in her college career, and Nelson is delighted tobe serving as its Editor-in-Chief this year.

Nelson is also enjoying her role asVice President of NDSUs Sigma

Tau Delta chapter and is lookingforward to presenting selectionsfrom Flight From a Burning Treeachapbook she penned andpublished as her senior Capstoneprojectat the 2013 Sigma TauDelta National Conference inPortland, OR, in April 2013. Thepoems IV. Because No One HasEver Told You and V. Elegy are excerpts from the Burning Tree chapbookand are part of her planned reading in Portland.

In addition to her work on Northern Electa and Sigma Tau Delta, Nelson isalso a member of NDSUs Blue Key Honor Society, a group of junior and seniorstudents responsible for the NDSU Homecoming Bison Brevities productionand the NDSU Distinguished Educator Award. This spring, she became amember-at-large on the Board of Student Publications for NDSU whichoversees The Spectrum and Northern Eclecta. This position is giving her agreater understanding of the business side of publications.

In the fall, Nelson will betaking English coursesat Leeds MetropolitanUniversity in Leeds,England for a studyabroad experience.Planning a return to her

ancestral roots duringher stay in England,Nelson will research herancestry from the Isle ofMan and be visitingsome of the British Isles.Nelson is slated tograduate in May, 2014.Following graduation sheplans to pursue an MFAin Creative Writing.

student

Spotlight

V.V.V.V. ElegyElegyElegyElegy

When your beginning was over,

no one sought out a small, solemn boat and pair

of eager oars to sail

away and find you.

No one locked themselves up in a burning

lighthouse to watch for you.

I unlaced my boots and listened

for weeks to creaking furniture, soap

spreading itself over vital

skin, and flakes of winter slipping into

rooms where you and I had made

staggering accusations to

the human race for who knows

how long.

Our beautiful neighbor

continues to choke at his breakfast;

books and cupboards persist in

closing.

The foolish lights we considered walking

under, for the sake of breaking

the veritable world somewhat open,

still do not suggest

what exactly it is that

holds even the tallest of

mysteries together, and

still refuse

to go out.

Wherever you ended up,

I wonder if you, too, are noticing these things;

if its any easier there to get the last word

if you are still giving yourself away

in indiscernible quantities

if, there, it is also true that some people never get

old enough to do what you did.

IV.IV.IV.IV. Because No One Has Ever Told YouBecause No One Has Ever Told YouBecause No One Has Ever Told YouBecause No One Has Ever Told You

it begins like this

you walk along the bank

of a river at night talking

to your dog about the stars

& the smell of the night is with you& your breath trails

behind you

& you are brave

you have held thousands upon thousands

of things in your hands

sometimes just air

& other times you may have thought it was nothing at all

& a quietness overcomes you

that cannot be explained away

Linnea Nelson


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P A G E 6

Since graduating from the MA literature program in 2005, Ikept myself busy in advanced education. I moved on to a PhDprogram in literature at Kent State University in Ohio in 2005where I taught English courses until 2007 when I becameABD, which marked the completion of my coursework and the

qualified doctoral examinations. I continued to work on my dissertation (a law andliterature study), while earning my JD from Hamline University School of Law in2010. I began practicing law at Mansfield Tanick & Cohen P.A. in Minneapolis as anemployment and ERISA litigation lawyer, but now Im an attorney at Hellmuth &Johnson PLLC in Edina. I also teach legal research and writing, employment law,moot court, and legal studies courses at Hamline University and the University of

Minnesota Law School. I find my background and education in English and in Law to work hand inhand: A successful lawyer must have good writing skills, communication, analytical ability, and thedrive to learn every day, making my English literature background the foundation for my legal practice.I currently live in Blaine with my husband, Doug, our two-year-old son, Ethan, and our newborndaughter, Kaurie.

KrisAnn NorbyKrisAnn Norby--JahnerJahnerBlaine, MNBlaine, MN

Mitzi BrunsdaleMitzi BrunsdaleMayville, NDMayville, NDAfter graduate courses at Indiana University in mathematics, comparativeliterature, and Russian, I returned to NDSU and earned one of its firstMasters degrees in English; soon after, I married John E. Brunsdale, alsoan NDSU graduate, and became a farm wife for decades--and Im proud ofit. We raised our three daughters on our farm near Mayville, and whenthey were all in school I earned my Ph.D. at UND in English and German

under a Danforth Graduate Fellowship for Women, the only one, I think, tohave been awarded to a North Dakotan. Ive been teaching Englishcourses as a member of the Mayville State University faculty ever since.For seventeen years, I had a byline with The Houston Post, critiquing fiction and Russian dissident literature, and I alsoreviewed fiction for The Chicago Tribune and The Armchair Detective. Currently I review for The Strand Magazine andPublishers Weekly, and Im a member of the National Book Critics Circle. I write for scholarly purposes, like my criticalbook-length biographies of Sigrid Undset, Dorothy L. Sayers, and George Orwell and my study for Twayne on JamesJoyces short fiction; but I truly enjoy writing for undergraduates and general readers. I told Twayne I would get down onmy knees to do a critical biography of the Yorkshire veterinarian James Herriot, a book that was pure joy to write, andmore recently ABC-CLIO published my Gumshoes: A Dictionary of Literary Detectives and my two-volume Icons ofMystery and Crime Detectionfrom Batman to Zorro.

P E N & I N K : N O T E S F R O M T H E N D S U D E P A R T ME N T O F E N G L I S H

Anthony EllertsonAnthony EllertsonStevens Point, WIStevens Point, WII received my Masters from NDSU and then I went on to complete a PhD inRhetoric and Professional Communication at Iowa State University. I havebeen working with interactive media, games, and mobile devices for themajority of the last 12 years. My dissertation centered on an eportfolioproject using the Rich Internet Application model. After completing mydissertation at Iowa State I accepted a faculty position in the Web & DigitalMedia Development program at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.While here, I created the first games class at UWSP, and continue to teachserious and casual gaming for both the Web browser and mobile devices.In 2010, the WDMD program was placed in the Top 50 Game Designprograms in the country by the Princeton Review and Game Pro. I am currently involved in a series of grant projects witha talented staff of student developers. Our goal is to leverage our knowledge of mobile development and games towardthe creation of enhanced therapy tools and applications for children with Autism and other communicative disorders. Iam also a co-principal investigator on a series of projects with the health care industry in Wisconsin that are reimaginingin and out patient care utilizing gesture based navigation, augmented reality, RFID technologies, and other mobilesolutions.

ininAlumniAlumniAction

Action


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In early February,45 students fromthe Honors Programand the English

departmentattended a Februaryperformance of ShakespearesAs You Like It at theGuthrie Theater in Minneapolis. he annual event beganten years ago, in 2003, as an initiative of the HonorsProgram and its Student Council and has been co-organized by Dr. Paul Homan (Modern Languages) and,since 2008, Dr. Verena Theile (English). The trips, bychartered bus, have been underwritten with funds fromEnglish, Honors, and the Dean of Arts, Humanities, andSocial Sciences; these contributions have broadenedparticipation by substantially reducing ticket and travel

costs to each student. To make the most of theexperience, arrangements are made each year so that,in addition to a seeing a performance by one of thecountrys most respected theater companies, studentsare able to participate in a talk-back session with theactors following the play during which they can ask theactors questions about the play, their interpretation,the directors vision, and other aspects of theperformance. Past performances include Henry V(2009), Macbeth (2010), The Winters Tale (2011),andJulius Caesar(2012).

The English Club held a book sale in the Minard HallAnnex in early February. English Club and Sigma TauDelta also hosted an open poetry reading in the WeberReading Room in the library to commemorate BlackHistory Month. All readings were selections of AfricanAmerican Literature. Sigma Tau Delta held a bake salein early March to raise funds for members attending

the Sigma Tau Delta National Conference being held inPortland, OR in April 2013.

As registration for summerand fall courses looms rightaround the corner, theEnglish department held its2nd annual spring advisingevent themed Look intoyour Future. The looking aheadluncheon offered students a free lunchfor a priceless future. Department

advisors, professors, careerservices representatives,and area professionals wereavailable, giving studentsopportunities to see whatdirection a degree in Englishcan take them.

The Cosgrove Seminars kicked offits spring reading series to a fullhouse with the Trends in E-Publishing panel presentation held

February 28, 2013. Self-publishingelectronic books is changing theway writers gettheir work to

audiences. Writer and publisher RyanChristiansen and award-winning authorML Harveland discussed theirexperiences in electronic publishing.Christiansen is the editor andpublisher of Knuckledown Press.Harvelands self-published e-novel, The Seventh Soul,won a 2012 Indie Reader Discovery Award.

The English Department presented an Upper DivisionWriting Spring Brown Bag session in early March. Thesession was open to all, including 110/120 instructors,and the theme was Paperless Strategies in theClassroom. Presenters and topics included Dr. JoshWebster's work with Google sites, Dr. Andrew Maradiscussing Blackboard rubrics, Cody Kaiser shared hisinsights on Weebly, and Steven Hammer exploreddigital writing for audiences beyond the classroom.

P A G E 7V O L UM E 3 , IS S U E 1 Find us on the web: http://english.ndsu.edu

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P A G E 8 P E N & I N K : N O T E S F R O M T H E N D S U D E P A R T ME N T O F E N G L I S H

WWW.NDSU.EDU/ENGLISH/RRGSC/

Pen & Ink: Notes from the Department of English, March 2013, Vol. 3, Issue 1

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