Juan Reyes, an Instructor in the English Department, is conducting a trip to Chile with students at the University of Alabama next summer. Reyes was born in Ecuador and moved to West New York, NJ when he was five years old. Before earning his MFA at The University of Alabama, he earned his BE and BS from NYU. Reyes is very complimentary of the English program at Alabama. “The English department has been awesome, and I got a scholarship for […]
Tag: Spring 2014 Newsletter
Study Abroad: Ireland
Assistant Professor James McNaughton has been an influential member of the faculty at The University of Alabama since 2007. He devotes much of his time at the university to teaching modernist and Irish literature. Professor James McNaughton has played a key role in expanding the horizons of his students by creating the UA in Ireland study abroad program. McNaughton states that he started this study abroad program “to provide UA students immersion in Irish academic life and culture.” Keeping true […]
The Humane Society, Dogs, and Dog Culture with Wendy Rawlings
Wendy Rawlings has worked with the Humane Society of West Alabama for the last ten years but tells me that it isn’t “a glamorous job.” “They live in a house [in] a residential neighborhood,” she says, laughing, “you can imagine how thrilled the neighbors are.” The house keeps fifteen to sixteen dogs at any given time. Every day, one volunteer is responsible for making sure the dogs are fed and given water. The dogs are let out in playgroups. Rawlings […]
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A Classroom with No Walls
The world of online courses can be tricky. People take online courses due to scheduling conflicts such as work and family obligations. They cannot devote specific time every week to sit through a lecture. Because of this, students of these courses are often left with just a list of assignments to complete and a textbook to read. One teacher decided to use interactive technology to help her class learn and to help engage her students. Andrea Barton created an online […]
English MFA Alumna Molly Dowd: Putting Her Degree to Work
Molly Dowd spent much of high school playing field hockey in tiny Fairfield, Pennsylvania, a town near Gettysburg. Her journey from that small town to advising athletes on the most prestigious college football team in the nation undoubtedly took some u-turns and last-minute stops. Perhaps the most important turn in that journey was being a Master’s of Fine Arts student at the University of Alabama. While paving her way to Alabama at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Penn., graduating […]
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What We’re Writing
Lauren S. Cardon: After publishing my monograph in December 2012, I began work on a new project, tentatively entitled “Democratic Fashion”: Women’s Clothing and Social Mobility in American Literature. I employ the term “democratic fashion” to convey the expression of American ideals of freedom and democracy through the American fashion industry, as reflected in the accessibility of fashion to all citizens, in fashion’s facilitation of individual self-expression or “personal style,” and in the comfort and ease of the clothes themselves, […]
What We’re Reading
Kirstin Bone: I decided to take this semester for a bit of fun reading (being fresh out of grad school, my brain has appreciated the mental vacation). In that spirit, I have been reading Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series throughout the semester. The series has surprised me: I had expected it to be light reading I could breeze through without a worry, and boy was I wrong! Riordan manages to weave a lot of complex mythology, including imagery from Euripides’ Medea, […]
Jennie Vaughn: Ph.D. Candidate
How did you get you decide to attend UA? I was finishing my Masters in Secondary Education at Jacksonville State University when I decided that I’d like to pursue a PhD. Working in middle and high schools made me realize I wanted to try teaching at the university level. I enjoyed teaching high school and middle school, but I also enjoyed having time for my own research and writing. A PhD in English was more appealing than a PhD in […]
Brock Guthrie: English Instructor
Brock Guthrie grew up in the acutely hip Athens, Ohio, received his B.A. and M.A. in English from Ohio University and his M.F.A. in poetry from Louisiana State University. His poems have been published in Cimarron Review, Iron Horse, Los Angeles Review, New Ohio Review, Southern Review, and elsewhere, and his first book, Contemplative Man, is forthcoming from Sibling Rivalry Press. He’s an Instructor of English at the University of Alabama and is the founding faculty adviser to the UA Club Golf team, who in their […]
Dr. Andrew Crank: English Professor
The University of Alabama is pleased to welcome Dr. James “Andy” Crank to the English Department’s roster of esteemed faculty members. His unique perspective and knowledge of southern literature and culture will be valuable assets for the growing number of southern studies faculty at the university. His research on the South should open new areas of discussion for teachers and students. Dr. Crank comes to us from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he received much acknowledgement for his […]