Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 4

english THE

PERIPATETIC
OBSERVER

SUNY-
GENESEO
DEPARTMENT
OF ENGLISH

VOLUME 9
WINTER
2009

Welles Hall, home of the English Department

Students, Faculty, and Alumni Together Maintain Our Special Community


kind of career from teaching to law to students who talk to me inquire about
A note from the Department public relations, in every kind of place that area.
chair, Richard Finkelstein from New York to California to Kabul. Because SUNY tuition remains low
They are eager to hear that Geneseo and because the College and the De-
When I meet with high school stu- has maintained commitments both to partment are committed to diversity of all
dents who are applying to Geneseo and excellence and to access. I am happy to kinds, access to Geneseo remains much
thinking about majoring in English, I fre- tell people yes to both. as it was many years ago. A significant
quently ask them where else they are In the English Department, excel- proportion of our students still come from
applying and what draws them to our lence is visible in the range and depth of families in which they are the first gen-
College. Perhaps the response I hear our program. Our students study British eration to attend college. Merit scholar-
most often is that they have heard Gene- literature and cultural history from the shipsincluding several for English ma-
seo has the strongest English Department Anglo-Saxon era to the present; Ameri- jors endowed by graduates of the De-
of the SUNY colleges and one of the can literature from the earliest written partmentsupplement Geneseo financial
strongest in the state, including both pub- records in North America to the present; aid. The Department itself provides sup-
lic and private institutions. These students and literature written in English from all port services to students whose aca-
recognize that our English Department over the world, including the Caribbean, demic preparation (cont. on page two)
not only offers a first-rate education, but India, Africa, and nations of the far East.
that we have also built a strong, suppor- We now routinely teach perhaps 200
tive community like those found in the
best small liberal arts colleges nation-
years more of American writing than
was the case when many of you were
in this issue:
wide. students here. We have kept the curricu-
That we are able to do so is thanks lum up to date by integrating into departmental awards 2
to the hard work of our entire communi- courses the best writers and filmmakers
tyour 22 faculty members, several part- from the contemporary English speaking keep in touch 2
time instructors, our first-rate students, world. Almost every student majoring in
our staff, and the alumni and friends English now graduates with a Creative
alumni update 3
who support us. Graduates from whom
Ive heard are applying the skills gained
Writing course. Our new major track in
Creative Writing is bursting at the seams.
introducing Dr. Gillian Paku 4
from their Geneseo education to every Almost half of the potential first-year
The Peripatetic Observer Winter 2009 Page 2

English Club members are a vital


part of the community of literary 2008 Awards:
scholars at Geneseo.

Here are a few of this


years student awards
and scholarships

1. The William T. Beauchamp


Literature Award.
Ann Nicodemi received this annual
$250 award presented to an outstand-
ing senior English student.

2. The Rita K. Gollin Award for


Excellence in American Literature.
This graduating senior award was
shared by Sara May and Leah Sop-
chack. To be eligible for considera-
tion, recipients must demonstrate excel-
lent work in the study of American
literatures.

3. The Don Watt Memorial


A Letter from the Chair (continued from page one) Scholarship.
has left them with the need for added help in writing and planning. Everyone of our Anne Semel received this scholarship,
faculty members spends long hours in one-to-one meetings with students about their established by friends and colleagues
work, their aspirations, and even internship and job applications. This kind of per- of the the former Chair and Professor.
sonal attention is time-consuming but satisfying because the loyalty of our graduates is It rewards a student who demonstrates
our best reward. a strong academic record as well as a
Despite these challenging economic times, I hope you will nonetheless be able to history of having to work to support
support the kind of access to excellence and commitment to every student that has her- or himself in college.
been our Department tradition. Alumni contributions designated to the Department
have supported student scholarships and awards, as well as events that help guide 4. The Natalie Selser Freed Memorial
students through their time on campus and into their careers beyond. Your support Scholarship.
maintains excellence by providing us with opportunities to bring to campus writers and Patrick Morgan received this award,
scholars whose presence both enriches our students and joins them to networks that granted to the junior English major
help them to gain their goals. with the highest grade point average
During the last year I have had many notes from people whose time at Geneseo within the major. It is funded by Pro-
long precedes my own and from others I once knew well. Please keep sending your e- fessor Walter Freed in loving memory
mails. The quality of your memories and your activities are our best measures of suc- of his mother.
cess.

Sincerely, finkelst@geneseo.edu

Keep in touch. Let us know about your accomplishments.


Email us at englishalumni@geneseo.edu, or fill out the information below. GREAT Day 2008
At this years Geneseo Recognizing
Name: Excellence, Achievement, and Talent
Address: Day (22 April) more than ten student
panels featured critical papers, recita-
City/State/Zip:
tions, and creative readings in English
Email: language and literature. Topics in-
Year of graduation: cluded Chaucer and Malory, Genesee
Valley Agri/Culture, Willa Cather,
Your information:
Shakespeare and Centrifugal Forces,
Cinematic Representations of Global
Warming, and D.H. Lawrences
Women in Love.
Send to: Dept. of English, SUNY-Geneseo, 1 College Circle, Geneseo NY 14454-1401
The Peripatetic Observer Winter 2009 Page 3

Alumni News ceived a Masters degree in Irish Studies


at Trinity College, Dublin. On 9 October 2008, Jody Swilky, Pro-
Lauren Stiver Brown (2006) is married, fessor of English at Drake University,
has moved to Buffalo from Florida, and Dean of Residential Living Celia Easton introduced a campus showing of A Little
is thinking of attending graduate school. reports that Diane Allen O Heron (1991) Salsa on the Prairie: The Changing
completed her Ph.D. Her dissertation Character of Perry, Iowa (2006), a
Daniela Aguel Di Merlo (2005) and Greg examined the confessions of 19th- and documentary film he wrote and co-
Fisher (2005) have moved from Uru- 20th-centuries addicts and alcoholics. produced. It explores the changes that
guay to Santiago de Chile, Chile. She OHeron is a community college profes- took place in Perry in the early 1990s
hopes to work at the local university sor. when the complexion of a once pre-
while Greg continues his work as a web dominantly white community shifted
designer and computer programmer. Molly Smith-Metzler (2000) is visiting dramatically after an influx of Latino
playwright-in-residence this year at New workers and their families arrived to
Marie Bonarski (2002) earned a Mas- Yorks Julliard School, working directly work at the local meat-packing plant.
ters in Public policy from Duke Univer- with the programs directors, Marsha After the viewing, Dr. Swilky led a dis-
sity in May 2008. She recently started Norman (Pulitzer Prize winner for Night cussion with students and faculty. The
work as Advocacy and Communications Mother) and Christopher Durang (Sister films website can be visited here:
Editor for a non-governmental research Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You). www.littlesalsaontheprairie.com
organization, funded in part by the
United Nations, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Linda Nagel Meyer (1972) is a freelance After working for five years in childrens
copywriter and instructor of Lettering libraries, Wendi Hoffenberg (2000)
Michael Faitell (2005) recently received and Design at Erie Community College. made the leap and has been a law
his Masters from the College of Saint Meyer is a Roycroft artisan specializing librarian in New York City for the last
Rose in Albany, NY. He is an adjunct in calligraphy. She writes: I have many two years. wenalhof@yahoo.com
instructor in English and has modeled a fond memories of my years at Geneseo.
course on Geneseos popular ENGL341, I was part of the second years program David Vickers (1987), now a lawyer in
The Romantic Hero, often taught by Pro- with the University of Nottingham -- a private practice, visited campus on
fessor Eugene Stelzig. Faitells message totally wonderful experience! Thanks to alumni weekend and met with students
to Stelzig: Thanks for being a great Hans Gottschalks encouragement, I interested in law careers. Vickers, who
professor and such an influence on my went on to do a M.A. in English at Indi- also taught Spanish and English, re-
academic career. ana University of Pennsylvania. She ceived an M.A. from Bread Loaf, and
later worked as a copywriter for several graduated from Syracuse University Law
Professor Caroline Woidat reports that newspapers, including the Buffalo News. School.
Katherine Fusco (2002) has successfully
defended her Ph.D. dissertation at Van- Allison Moonitz (2003) is a librarian in George Wilkerson (1964) has been in-
derbilt University. Fusco studied the Ocean City, New Jersey. volved recently with SUNY-Geneseos
function of time and narrative in both Alumni Connection for Excellence, a
silent film and naturalist novels from the Carey Daniels (2002) received a M.F.A. mentoring program sponsored by the
progressive era; she will lecture at Van- in playwriting in 2005 from Western colleges Access Opportunity Programs.
derbilt while she enters the academic Michigan University where she also According to Wilkerson, todays AOP
job market. taught freshmen composition. Two of her students are quite similar to those who
plays have been published: Heathers attended the college during the 1960s.
Jodi Perelman (1996) is a licensed psy- Breasts appeared in the e-zine Arm- Were it not for free tuition and a liberal
chotherapist with a private practice in chair Citizen, and Hands for Toast was admissions policy, many of us would
San Francisco. Her website is published in the anthology, The Art of never have attended college, he notes.
www.jodiperelman.com, and she wel- the One Act (2007). Her first play, Despite poor grades in high school, a
comes virtual visits. She married Brad Metal Militia was produced in 2003 at significant number of us went on to earn
Shapiro on 30 July 2005. the Ypsilon Theatre in Prague, Czech advanced degrees and achieve a great
Republic, where she studied as part of a deal of success in a wide variety of
William Brewer, a lawyer and magis- summer writing workshop at Charles roles. One of the Geneseos first re-
trate in West Georgia, has recently be- University. Im working, writing, always cipients of the B.A. in English, Wilkerson
gun playing the string bass. I took it reading, and enjoying life in Peoria [Illi- went on to receive a Masters in English
up a year ago, and perform with a local nois] with my partner Dave, two cats, (Syracuse) and Ph.D. in Higher Educa-
Irish group and occasionally get called and six fish (two of whom are named tion (University of Texas).
to fill in with country and bluegrass Gogo and Didi), she writes. She has
players, he writes. Its like a second spent the last year working as the box Joanne Williams (2006) teaches 10th-
adulthood. Brewer was among Profes- office manager for the Peoria Symphony grade English in Charlotte, North Caro-
sor Herzmans very first students at Orchestra. Daniels presently writes a lina, while she earns her certification.
Geneseo. local, independent comic book, Noctur-
nal Static, about college life for students Karyn (Ferner) Hunt (2000) wishes to
Andrew Kay (2005) is currently in the of the supernatural and paranormal. correct our error in the last newsletter
Ph.D. program in English at the Univer- and remind everyone that her current
sity of Wisconsin. He previously re- Matt Mozian (1997) practices law in email is: karynhunt@gmail.com.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
The Peripatetic Observer Winter 2009 Page 4

of New Zealand universities. According legally and politically, and how it affects
Meet Professor Gillian Paku to Paku, this gave me the fairly unusual our perception of canonized literature
idea (for New Zealand) of looking to the and self-conscious authorship. She is
This year Gillian Paku joins the Eng- United States for graduate school--and also about to join with another scholar in
lish department as an Assistant Professor these same faculty members prepared attempting to organize some of the
specializing in Eighteenth-Century British her for the American academic rite-of- eighteenth-century material on Google
literature. passage known as the Graduate Record books, which she hopes to incorporate
Paku grew up in a small town in Examinations. regularly into classroom work.
Paku received her Ph.D. from Har- Professor Paku will be responsible
vard University, where she attended on a for teaching ENGL313, Eighteenth-
Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship. While Century British Literature, among other
in Cambridge, she kept very busy. I offerings in her speciality. In the spring,
split my time between a dissertation on I'm teaching Samuel Johnson as my con-
the way anonymity is a paradoxical but tribution to his tercentenary celebra-
deliberate strategy for famous tions, she says. Much of the pleasure
eighteenth-century British writers to of teaching the eighteenth century comes
make a name for themselves, a lot of from meeting head-on the perception
teaching (mainly in the 18th-century and that the texts are old-fashioned in their
British survey courses), involvement in morality and coldly rational, and helping
English graduate student and interna- students to see instead that much of what
tional student affairs, and being at home seems very modern or post-modern to us
with the three children I had in grad was present even as authors first thought
Gillian Paku school, she reports. of themselves as professionals, or as
Dr. Paku s research and publication novels and periodicals first became
New Zealand and has undergraduate continues her work on authorial anonym- widely recognized--and not at all self-
degrees in both German and English ity. This autumn she participated in a evident--genres.
literatures from the University of Otago semester-long seminar at Washington
in Dunedin. While an undergraduate, D.C.s Folger Shakespeare Library. The
she noticed the growing presence of seminar, titled Anonymity, explored the
American professors among the faculty ways in which anonymity has developed

NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE

PAID
SUNY-GENESEO
Geneseo, NY 14454
1 COLLEGE CIRCLE
Permit No. 1
GENESEO, NY 14454-1401
english

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi