English Department colloquium is Friday
The second event in the English Department Colloquium Series is a student panel presentation on the topic "The Joys and Challenges of Literary Research." Led by a panel of two undergraduate English majors and two graduate English students, this presentation will be held from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, in the O'Shaughnessy Room, Room 108, O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center. Light refreshments will be served.
English majors, Brynn Bauer and Cortney Dirks, will share their experiences conducting interdisciplinary research at the undergraduate level. They first will describe their course-based research and then share their experience working independently on cultural studies projects during the summer of 2006.
Bauer's project, funded by the Young Scholars program, is titled "Imprisoned Women and the Woman Question: Elizabeth Fry and Emily Brontë." This interdisciplinary essay provides original analysis of the role of the woman prisoner in Victorian society, both as a subject of philanthropic concern and as a trope for all spiritually imprisoned women in Victorian society.
Dirks' project, funded by the Luann Dummer Center for Women, is titled "Eating Disorders: An Examination Through Three Lenses." This interdisciplinary project addresses an important women's health issue: anorexia nervosa. Her project sheds new light on this pressing concern via three genres: documentary film, creative writing and literary-historical analysis.
Master of arts in English students, Erin Huebner Gloege and Gary Zaugg, will share their experiences conducting research at the graduate level. Huebner Gloege’s research centers on Susan Glaspell's play "Trifles" (1916). She explores how the play provides affirmation of a childless woman at a time when motherhood was the primary and valued role of every woman. In addition to focusing on the role of language and images that reaffirm this interpretation, Huebner Gloege also has researched the recent criticism on Glaspell's work and the history of the play's performance, publication and recognition.
Zaugg’s research analyzes a published transcript of the 1789 trial of a young woman named Alice Clifton. Through this analysis, Zaugg explores issues of justice, gender, status and the evolution of infanticide laws in early America.
Here is the full colloquium schedule for the remainder of the 2006-2007 academic year:
Fall semester 2006
- Oct. 20: Student panel, "The Joys and Challenges of Literary Research," Cortney Dirks, Brynn Bauer, Gary Zaugg and Erin Huebner Gloege
- Nov. 17: Dr. Tom Redshaw, "Researching Liam Miller's Dolmen Press"
Spring semester 2007
- Feb. 16: Faculty-student panel, "Generating Enthusiasm in the English Program," Dr. Brenda Powell, Jacob Paro, Brian Timmerman and Lissi Danielson
- March 9: Dr. Erica Frisicaro, "Square Pegs, Round Whole? New Literacies and the Structure of English Studies"
- April 20: Dr. Joan Piorkowski, "Drama of the Ordinary: Writing about the Sachsenhausen SS"
Questions about the colloquium series can be directed to the English Department, (651) 962-5600.
