Spring 2018 NewsletterUniversity of Illinois Springfield Department of English and Modern Languages

UIS English alum Courtney Cox is helping students find their voices in the composition classroom.

Cox is a doctoral student at Illinois State University’s PhD in English Studies with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition. While taking graduate classes Cox also teaches two sections of English 101: Composition as Critical Inquiry, the program’s first-year composition class.

For Cox, these classes offer a unique opportunity. In the classroom, Cox passionately subverts students’ expectations of English studies: instead of the same, tired five-paragraph essay, Cox assigns videos, podcasts, blogs, and more.

“Teaching is an enormous gift to me,” Cox said, “because I’m given the opportunity to erase the fictions that my students bring to college about writing.”

Cox belonged to the first cohort of the UIS English department’s newly revamped M.A. in digital publishing.

At UIS, Cox helped start Uproot, a national digital literary journal, and served as the managing editor for the Alchemist Review. Cox also received the English Department’s Outstanding Masters’ Thesis nomination.

“[At UIS] I was never shamed, silenced, or discouraged, which allowed me to build my passions and academic self-efficacy,” Cox said.

Cox’s advice to English majors:

“Find the people who support you and empower other people who are on the same journey as you, rather than getting caught in the danger of comparison. Learn about your writing process, how you compose best, and then work as hard as you can.”

Volume 6 Issue 2

M.A. Alum Brings Digital Pedagogies to the ClassroomAlumni Spotlight

Sigma TauInductees

Congratulations to our 2018 Sigma Tau Delta inductees!

Iyonna Boyd Marjorie Carter Linley Marcum Sarah Nestler

Nathan Schlindwein Deborah Weaver

Sigma Tau Delta is a national English honor society for high

achievement in English language, literature, and writing.

Unlike many on-campus students, Ver Hagen conducted her STARS presentation from her desk in Phoenix. She spoke with listeners and answered

audience questions about The Shadow Hero through a synchronous streaming technology.

"I really enjoyed the Q&A session because I finally got to have aconversation with a group who really cared about diverse racial representation," Ver Hagen said. After graduating in May, Ver Hagen plans to pursue a Master of Library Science with a concentration in Academic Librarianship. With this degree she hopes to increase minority representation and visibility in libraries.

Michelle Ver Hagen: "Diversity, Humor, and Educating the Masses with Gene Luen Yang's The Shadow Hero"

Ver Hagen's STARS presentation detailed author Gene Luen Yang's use of subversive racial humor and authentic minority representation in the superhero graphic narrative The Shadow Hero.

Ver Hagen said that she learned to care about representation in Dr. Lan Dong's Asian American Women class. In the class, Ver Hagen read a book that "made me feel like someone else had experienced what I had, and that feeling was nothing short of breathtaking."

Online Students Succeed at UIS

Marjorie Carter: "Humor in the Face of Injustice"

Carter's STARS presentation examined Miné Okubo's Citizen 13660's significance as a historical resource on Japanese internment camps in the United States. Carter said similarities between the book and the current political climate inspired her paper.

At the subsequent Symposium Luncheon, Carter received the 3rdplace Brookens Library Student Research award in the new Student Union Ballroom.

Although a full-time online student, Carter still feels connected to the UIS campus and English department.

"When I walked in to register I was immediately recognized by various faculty by name," Carter said. "While I attend classes online, I am still very much part of the community at UIS."

Carter has served two years on staff at The Alchemist Review, UIS' literary and visual arts journal for the University of Illinois Springfield community. She plans to attend law school after graduation in December.

Undergraduate online students Michelle Ver Hagen and Marjorie Carter presented work on race, humor, and graphic narratives at the Student Technology, Arts, and Research Symposium (STARS) on April 5.

Student Spotlight

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@UISenglish@UIScreativewriting

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Mentor, Teacher, Scholar Professor Spotlight

This endowed professorship honors Louise Schewe, a teacher and civic leader in Springfield, whose bequest to the University of Illinois foundation supports a scholar in Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Chancellor Dr. Susan Koch, Provost Dr. Dennis Papini, and Associate Professor of History Dr. Peter Shapinsky expressed Dong’s exceptional scholarship and commitment to students at the Ceremony of Investiture in January.

At the ceremony, Dong accepted a commemorative medallion and presented current research on Gene Luen Yang’s The Shadow Hero titled “The (Un)masking of the Asian American Superhero.”

“Students inspire me. I like to write about the texts I teach and teach the texts I write about,” Dong said.

Dr. Dong has previously received the University Scholar Award, the Pearson Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence, and the Faculty Excellence Award for Scholarship.

Dong earned her Ph.D. in comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and currently researches Asian-American literature and graphic narratives.

At UIS Dong teaches Asian American Women and Literature, Comics and Asian America, Folk and Fairy Tales, China to Chinese America, and Children’s and Young Adult Literature.

Alum Zach Allevi said, “Since graduating, I've had former friends and teammates ask me about what kind of professor Dr. Dong is, and if they would enjoy the course, and my response was a resounding yes!"Recent Events

Dr. Lan Dong, English and Modern Languages chair and associate professor of English, was recently recognized as the Louise Hartman Schewe and Karl Schewe Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

This semester the Shelterbelt Reading Series hosted

visiting writers Chen Chen and Shelterbelt Poetry Prize

winner Eloisa Amezcua. Amezcua's new collection, From the Inside Quietly, is available now on Amazon.

Visit our Facebook page for more information!

Written by Malavika Mujumdar and Amanda Dinardo

English and Modern LanguagesUniversity of Illinois Springfield

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Designed by Amanda Dinardo

Photo: UIS Alchemist Review Staff. Left to right: Raven Wilson, Jaana Randle, Marjorie Carter, Malavika Mujumdar, and Kayla Thomas