California State University, Dominguez Hills...The positive feedback ... Faculty Focus Dr. Timothy Chin By Terri Fleming-Dright Credits 12 14 10-11 9 Newsletter Staff/ 16 Contributors

May 2016 Volume 2, Issue 1

English DepartmentNewsletter

California State University, Dominguez Hills

English Undergraduate Mixer and Career Event

Author Walter Mosley Remembers Watts Rebellion at 2016 Eliet Lecture

Department Awards and Honors

Third Annual English Language Conference

Department Events

Pushing Yourself Outside of Your Comfort Zone: A Student Research Day Narrative

EGA HIghlights Fall 2015-Spring 2016

From Panic to Print--Enjambed’s Yearlong Journey into Fruition

Graduate Degree Completions

Student Highlights

Message from the Chair

Part-time Faculty Highlight:Nancy Armstrong-Sanchez

Interview with Dr. Siskanna Naynaha

Faculty Funnies

Emeritus Faculty Highlight: An Afternoon with Andrea

Faculty FocusA year has passed since the last English Department Newsletter was published. The 2015-2016 academic year has been a busy one as students, faculty, and staff vigorously pursued their individual and collective goals. There were challenges, of course, but plenty of successes as well. The central mission of the English Department is to deliver high- quality instruction in English composition, literature, linguistics, and rhetoric. It takes all of the constituents of the department working together to accomplish this mission—our capable and dedicated office staff working

hard to keep things running smoothly and supporting faculty and students in a myriad of ways, full- and part-time faculty teaching a wide range of courses with both passion and skill, and students applying themselves academically while often juggling work and family obligations at the same time. Our success can be measured, first and foremost, by the many students who meet their writing benchmarks through our composition courses, complete the B.A. in Literature, English Education, and Linguistics, and the M.A. in Literature and Teaching English as a Second Language. It is also measured by the significant research and scholarship that our faculty and students carry out, the recognition and awards they garner for that work, and the stimulating extra-curricular activities and vibrant sense of community that characterizes the English Department.

In Summer 2015, our attention and energies were focused on the thirty plus sections of Early Start English we ran for newly admitted first-year students. For nearly seven hundred students, their first academic experience at Dominguez Hills consisted of the ESE 88 or ESE 99 class they took as part of their Summer Bridge Academy experience. In addition to allowing the students to fulfill the

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PagesMESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRIn this issue...

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Part-time Faculty Highlight: Nancy Armstrong Sanchez

Nancy Armstrong Sanchez has been an instructor at CSUDH for fifteen years. She began her time here in the Anthropology Department before she moved to the English Department. Now she teaches in both, but her background is in linguistics. She says she was “born a linguist” because of her Sicilian mother and San Pedro’s diverse linguistic environment. Her current interest in the field of Disability Studies evolved out of work she did with a friend who had dyslexia during college. She began helping her friend with essays in the Disabled Student Services computer lab and found that other students wanted her help also. The time she spent working with these students gave her insight into the disabled community. Later, while she was working on her Master’s thesis, she realized that the community was more diverse than she thought, and that she was also a member because of a chronic illness. Three years into her teaching career at CSUDH she had an opportunity to teach a course on Disability Studies in the Anthropology department as the larger field of Disability Studies was developing. Nancy believes in “teaching content as way of shaping the conversation in an English class.” This helped her to introduce the topic of Disability Studies into the English classroom. According to Nancy, students are very receptive to the more practical applications of this field of study. The positive feedback she received from students and their interest in Disability Studies and the disabled led her to head a Disability Awareness Month. That early experience caused her to change the focus of the conference and conversation; she moved from disability “awareness” to acceptance. This change in language places an emphasis on equality in the tone of the conversation between the disabled and non-disabled communities. For Nancy and many others in the disabled community, acceptance means inclusion. This year’s CSUDH Disability Conference, which Nancy organized, coincided (continued on page 7)

Faculty Focus

Dr. Timothy Chin

By Terri Fleming-Dright

Credits

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Table of Contents

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Faculty Focus

Chancellor’s Early Start mandate and progress more quickly toward their baccalaureate degrees, our ESE classes offered these first-year students intensive reading and writing instruction through an innovative textual studies approach that uses multi-genre and multi-modal pedagogies to engage students. Instruction was delivered by a talented group of both tenure-track and adjunct faculty as well as a dedicated cadre of supplemental instruction leaders (SILs). The majority (upwards of 90%) of the Summer Bridge students passed their ESE classes and were subsequently ready for the next level of composition in the fall. Summer Bridge Academy, which represents a collaboration of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Divisions, is definitely a resource- and labor-intensive undertaking, but one well worth the effort in terms of the payoff in student success and progress towards degree. As I write this message, we are gearing up for similar numbers of first-year students who will benefit from our Early Start English classes in Summer Bridge 2016. In Fall 2015, the English Department piloted six sections of Stretch Composition. ENG 108 (Fall term) and ENG 109 (Spring term) constitute a sequence of cohorted classes that are the equivalent of ENG 110 (Freshman Composition 1), but “stretched” out over two semesters rather than one. By completing the sequence, students fulfill one of the remediation courses (ENG 099) as well as Freshman Composition 1. ENG 108 and ENG 109 both carry baccalaureate credit. So while most of the Summer Bridge students who took ESE 88 in Summer 2015 enrolled in ENG 099 in the Fall term, a number took ENG 108 in the Fall and ENG 109 in the Spring. We plan to scale up our offerings of Stretch Composition slightly in AY 2016-2017—from six to ten sections.

We also welcomed a new faculty member in Fall 2016. Dr. Siskanna Naynaha joined the English Department as Associate Professor of English and assumed her position as Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Coordinator. As the WAC Coordinator, a university-wide position, Dr. Naynaha is responsible for developing and implementing a range of initiatives and activities aimed at strengthening writing instruction across the university, including reinvigorating the Writing Intensive Course program, holding WAC-related Faculty Development workshops, and instituting a WAC Faculty Fellows program. Dr. Naynaha’s efforts have already had a significant impact in terms of creating a more pervasive culture of writing on the DH campus.

The English Department awarded the first Doris I. Walker Trailblazer Scholarship to graduate student Andres Lara, in Fall 2015. The scholarship is awarded in honor of Doris Walker, a southern California-based writer, journalist, historian, and teacher. Congratulations to Andy! Current English graduate students are encouraged to apply for the 2016 award. Information on the Walker Scholarship is available on the English Department Webpage. The Department also hosted an English Undergraduate Mixer and Career Event in the Fall term. English faculty and majors in English Literature, English Education, and Linguistics mixed, mingled, and got to know each other better. In addition, three

alums—Lauryn Peña, Anthony Watanabe, and Ashley Dester—came back to campus to share the different paths they’ve taken since completing the English major and the many ways in which they are applying the knowledge and skills they learned. Their successes underscore the value and usefulness of the English degree and we hope to host more events like this in the coming year.

The high point of the Spring 2016 term, and perhaps the entire academic year, was undoubtedly the annual Pat Eliet Lecture. Walter Mosley, one of the most prolific and iconic practitioners of the crime fiction genre, gave this year’s Eliet lecture. Although he is best known for his “Easy” Rawlings series (Devil in a Blue Dress, etc.), Walter Mosley is the author or more than forty books that span multiple genres, including speculative fiction, young adult literature, and nonfiction. Despite the undeniably international scope of his reputation, the Eliet Lecture was particularly interested in highlighting the L.A.-based roots of Walter Mosley’s career. Mosley’s visit was tied into the campus’ year-long commemoration of the Watt’s Rebellion; very appropriately, Mosley read from Little Scarlet, a novel that afforded a glimpse of the 1965 riots from the main character’s perspective. Mosley’s talk was very well attended, drawing an admiring and appreciative audience from across the campus, as well as alumni and the surrounding community.

Any account of the year’s highlights would definitely have to include the publication of the latest issue of Enjambed, the English Department sponsored literary magazine. A labor of love, Enjambed is brought into being by a dedicated group of graduate students and their faculty advisor, and features poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and artwork from students across the campus. Be sure to peruse the 2016 issue; copies are available in the English Department office while they last.

As usual, English majors were well represented among the winners of the Student Research Day competition. Tory Russo, Andy Lara, Jose Gonzalez, and Melvianne Andersen all took awards in their respective categories. In addition, the English Department swept this year’s Presidential Awards: Christine Walker, 2016 Presidential Award for Outstanding Student; Dr. Jane J. Lee, 2016 Presidential Award for Advisor of the Year; EGA (English Graduate Association), 2016 Presidential Award for Outstanding Student Organization.

Finally, a number of faculty changes deserve mention. A couple of long-time adjunct faculty, Ann Ross and Kay Ice, retired this year after serving the department with great dedication and distinction. We wish them well in this new phase of their lives. We also look forward to Dr. Andrew Kalaidjian joining the English Department in Fall 2016 as a new Assistant Professor. Dr. Kalaidjian received his Ph.D. from U.C. Santa Barbara in 2015. His research investigates environmental aesthetics and activism in 20th-and 21st-century British and Anglophone literature. Dr. Kaladjian will be teaching a variety of classes, including Modern British literature, World Literature, and Poetry.

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR (cont.)

CSUDH English Department Newsletter | 3

1. Tell us about your background before coming to CSUDH.

This is a longish story, but the story also feels relevant to the question so I hope you’ll bear with me. I come from a family of migrant farmworkers, which is how I ended up being born in eastern Oregon and growing up in southwestern Idaho where the economy is still largely agriculturally based. It’s also a pretty homogeneous area, though it is much more diverse now than it was when I was young. Growing up there, I was deeply influenced by my experiences as a Mexican girl from a Spanish-speaking family in a vastly white, English-only educational system. Though I loved books, reading, and writing (in fact, as a child I imagined that I would be a poet one day), for years I was bombarded with the message that I didn’t belong, that school wasn’t the place for me or for people like me. You know, the K-12 system is difficult enough for many young people with its constant pressure toward normative socialization, and eventually the negative messages about my own abilities took their toll. Ultimately I dropped out of high school as a result.

After that, though, I found that I still craved new knowledge, new ideas, new and better understandings of the beautiful, terrible world where I live, and that craving eventually drove me to enroll in college courses. My journey toward that first degree was winding (which I think speaks to the importance of allowing students the time and space to find their own intellectual paths), but my interest in the educational experiences of students like me became increasingly acute—students who are Othered in the system by virtue of their class backgrounds or home languages or perceived “race.” As a master’s student at Boise State University and a doctoral student at Washington State University, I watched Chicanx students struggle, stop out, and drop out due to obstacles and experiences similar to the ones I had faced as a student. That led directly to my research focus on Latinx and African American students in higher education, particularly in college English courses. My current research follows the same trajectory, so I’m working on a book on the political economy of English composition, including my

special interest in how that political economy both implicates and impacts students of color, students from diverse linguistic backgrounds, and students from communities grappling with the legacy of chronic structural poverty. Since completing my PhD, I’ve spent my professional career seeking out opportunities to apply my research and the knowledge I’ve gained to make concrete, positive changes in those students’ educational experiences, which is a social justice issue I take very seriously. That journey led me from Boise State and Washington State University to the University of Connecticut on the East Coast, then to Lane Community College back on the West Coast, and finally here to CSU Dominguez Hills, which I am thrilled to now call my home.

2. How are you adjusting to life in California?

I love L.A.! What is not to love about this place? Okay, there’s the obnoxious traffic, but I’ve managed to arrange my life in such a way that I minimize the amount of time I spend on SoCal highways. It’s a trade-off, though, because I am enamored with the density of history, art, and entertainment opportunities in the greater Los Angeles area. I also go hiking or to the beach with my kids almost every weekend, so I’m able to stay connected with nature and with the earth, which is necessary for me to maintain a sense of equilibrium. I love the sun, I love the ocean breezes, I love the diversity of people, languages, cultures, foods. I love the gritty city and the glitter when the sun goes down. It’s just a perfect fit for me, and I couldn’t be happier that I made the move. I’ve never lived in California before, but in a strange way Los Angeles feels like coming home to me.

3. What is your favorite book and why?

This is, of course, an impossible question to answer, and I’m tempted to just leave it at that. However, in the spirit of providing a printable response, I’ll say this: I suppose I’m polyamorous when it comes to my love for books, but there are a few that have unquestionably changed my life. Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldúa; Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde; This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color edited by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa; and Beloved by Toni Morrison. You can see the direction in which my tastes run. Oh, but the books I’m leaving out! (This is really quite painful.) To me, the best books are intellectually expansive, linguistically exquisite, and spiritually lush. They give and give to their readers endlessly, and so they become, word-by-word and line-by-line, woven with your very beingness in some ineffable way. They are utterly unforgettable. That is why I love these books, among many, many others.

4. What are your main research and teaching interests?

I believe that active, passionate engagement with life can help us build a more just and beautiful world for everyone, so I try to teach students how to actively, passionately engage with the material of their own lives. In the technologized hyperspeed of contemporary life, it’s easy, and often comfortable, to simply allow life—including education—to just happen to us. Paying strict attention, slowing down, asking questions and especially critical questions about both the mundane and momentous details of our lives is harder. I can do this in any course, but my areas of specialty are obviously writing/composition, rhetoric and especially cultural rhetorics, Latina/o literature, and African American literature.

My research arises from the same impulse, and my most recent projects focus on issues related to social justice in American higher education. Specifically, right now I’m working on one

INTERVIEW WITH Dr. Siskanna Naynaha

Faculty Focus

By Dr. Jane J. Lee


journal article on Latinxs in U.S. community colleges, and in particular how the community college system needs to change conventional approaches to assessment in order to serve Latinx students, a fast-growing segment of the community college student population, both ethically and effectively. I also have a book project on the political economy of composition and rhetoric nearing completion.

5. Could you tell us a little about what you hope to accomplish with the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program at DH?

Perhaps predictably, at the micro-level I hope to help faculty integrate writing and writing instruction into their courses in ways that are both productive and effective without increasing their already overburdened workloads, and I hope to help students become more successful and sophisticated writers during their time at Dominguez Hills. At the macro-level, I want to change the world. That’s not too tall an order, is it? Seriously though, you know, in the past WAC has been accused of perpetuating some of the worst hegemonic impulses of the larger field of comp/rhet and English education in general. Working with faculty and students here at DH, I hope to help build a Writing Across the Curriculum program that is true to the history and roots of the institution itself—one that increases

social justice simultaneously as it helps students flourish and grow as writers, because I don’t see the point of the latter without attending to the former. Writing is a powerful tool, and its power has been recognized as well as feared from the time writing as a technology became accessible to the masses. See, for example, the state response to writings by Galileo, Emma Goldman, Dostoyevsky, Antonio Gramsci, and so on. I envision a WAC Program at Dominguez Hills that teaches to students grow in their power and also helps them to use their powers for good.

6. What is one surprising/shocking/exciting thing only a few people know about you?

I love to run! (I realize this is likely not surprising, shocking, or exciting, but it’s all I’ve got.) I’ve completed a number of half-marathons, a full marathon, and one 50K off-road race. I savor the quiet solitude of a nice long trail run, partly because it helps me to literally work out problems or puzzles or challenges I might be facing, but also because spending time alone with the earth and sky is just deeply healing. I’ve been trying to come back from a knee injury I sustained while running a few years back, and having two young children plus a full-time job doesn’t leave much time for training, but I definitely hope to spend a lot more time out there on the trails in the near future.

Department Events

English Undergraduate Mixer and Career Event

CSUDH English majors got a look into the future last October during the first English Undergraduate Mixer and Career Event. The event gave English majors a chance to socialize with one another, get to know department faculty, and see what recent graduates of the program are now doing with their degrees from CSUDH. Sponsored by the Department Events Committee, the Event encouraged students to consider a broad range of career possibilities for those with English degrees.

After socializing—and enjoying some free food, courtesy of the English Department—students heard briefly from four speakers who could give first-hand evidence of the value and flexibility of an English degree. The first speaker was Kathy Kim, Internship Specialist at the CSUDH Career Center. Ms. Kim gave students valuable advice on seeking out internships and other professionalizing opportunities while still an undergraduate, laying the groundwork for a smooth transition to a career after graduation. She also invited students, at any point in their degree program, to make use of the Career Center services here on campus.

The final three speakers were all recent graduates of the CSUDH English Department, and their experiences showed students the wide variety of educational and career paths open to them after completing their BA. Ashley Dester, ELA 12/AP Literature Teacher at Alliance William Carol Ouchi High School in Los Angeles, gave students a personal view of a career in education and how she transitioned from student to teacher. Lauryn Peña showed

students how the critical thinking and writing skills of an English major can also lead to a very different route, entering the business world, by talking about her experience as a Business Analyst for Pacific Life. Anthony Watanabe, MSW, School of Social Work at CSU Long Beach, shared his story about entering his professional field and how his training in English has helped prepare him for new educational and professional challenges. All three speakers then talked individually with students to answer their questions and help form professional network connections.

Students who attended the event—ranging from freshmen new to CSUDH and the major all the way to seniors and graduate students—got a valuable perspective on how adaptable and useful a degree in English can be. One student in attendance, Naomi Cahill, commented afterward on the value of the Event: “I learned about the benefits of internships and was inspired to pursue one. I am learning a lot in my advertising internship and am able to apply the writing skills I have learned in my English courses to a real life scenario.” The success of this Mixer and Career Event will lead to more opportunities for the Department to welcome alumni back to campus to share their experiences with students.

Faculty Focus

By Dr. Kimberly Huth


Bad HaikusBy Jennifer Henriquez

Ruggedly handsomeAnd fiendishly witty, too:

Style over substance

Yesterday’s donuts—The students in my classes—

Both are stale and glazed

With each passing yearMy cultural referencesFail more; I just suck

A stupid question?Some say there is no such thing;

They’ve not taught syntax

Dr. Jane J. LeeAssistant Professor

of English

Dr. Edward ZoernerProfessor of English

Excited in talkI gesticulate wildly

And chalk goes soaring.

Tittering studentsForesee grades in their futures

And humor my jokes.

Riddled with errorsWax your papers confusing

Plant face on my desk.

Haiku – willow treesand a weeping student’s pleas –

in sev’nteen morae.

“Why is this a B?I don’t ever get a B;I’m an A student!”

Practice makes perfect,

but failing five 350’smakes you pluperfect.

“Do I have to know

ev’rything you taught today?”“No, you don’t, unless … “

Why do I still teach?

I hope to learn today whatI do not yet know.

Dr. Burckhard Mohr, Professor of English

Dr. Helen Oesterheld, Associate Professor

of English

that spring seminar6:45 comes...and goes

we hold the circle

Best ‘mad student’ note:“Dear Miss Teacher Lady, Why...”

You can guess the rest.

Dr. Jon Hauss, Associate Professor

of English

Grad Class

Dealing out questionsTo fifteen poker faces:

The House always wins.

Arnold J. Adler, Adjunct Professor of

English

Time passes, and how:dogs now dine on internet;

aunts’ old printers die.

Essays flower, withneologisms blooming.Shadow on the brow.

Dean Ramser, Adjunct Professor of

English

Is this your writing?Most of it, I think, except for

Words which my girlfriend copied

Fragment, Run-on, Verb Tense Shift Red ink flowers and blossoms Salty water smears comments

MLA, APA, and

Chicago Styles format You choose, but choose right or else.

Voice, Tone, Setting, Theme, Oh man, do we gotta write

Academically, again?

I posed a queryAnd then forgot the answer

Good thing Blanca knew

Cultural divideDeepening each year; you

don’tKnow of Eartha Kitt?

Flash drive left at home

Shuck and jive seventy fiveWaste your tax dollars

I’m glad to be a profI truly love my students

(just in legal ways)

Syntax is the kingI am a worthless vassal

Be my fellow serf

Faculty Funnies

Last year, I asked professors from the English Department to share their literary candidates for a game of Date, Marry, and Kill: Literary Edition. Simply put, their responses were hysterical. However, this year I wanted to provide a challenge that would highlight our professors’ creativity, and of course, hilarity. Their task was simple: write bad haikus about your teaching philosophies or memorable teaching ex-periences. To say the least, I think some professors were inspired. Please enjoy their—in some cases,


Emeritus Faculty Highlight: An Afternoon

with AndreaBy Dr. Jon Hauss

She breezed in wearing capri pants, linen halter, and a vaguely arch smile, draping herself provocatively across—Wait. That’s another interview.

Dr. Andrea White, now Emeritus Professor of English, retired from our department in Spring 2014, by which time she had become for me an admired colleague and mentor and, I’m glad to say, a good friend. She and her husband Buddy joined my wife Jennifer and me at our Ventura home a couple of weeks ago for Sunday dinner. An avid gardener, Andrea brought stacks of fresh chard, scallions, a bag of oranges, and a bottle of good red wine for the occasion.

It proved a happy afternoon, filled with animated conversation, good food, and a long walk on the beach, during which Andrea offered these answers to my questions on life since retirement:

JH: When I first began work here at Dominguez Hills, you were driving down to Irvine certain nights of the week to hear Jacques Derrida lecture. What do you remember most about those nights?

AW: In those early post-9/11 years, he was talking about The Beast and the Sovereign, how both are “above the law.” The sovereignty of the nation-state and its foundations had grown out of a discussion of the rights of a sovereign power over the life and death of its subjects (capital punishment), which seemed appropriate in the appearance of Homeland Security and the concerns with the sovereignty of the law over us and the rights of government over the private citizen’s freedoms.

But in the new term he wanted to think about the questions of animal life, the subjugation of “beast” by “man.” The first items on his extensive recommended bibliography were Biblical and all, from Genesis to Daniel, concerned great behemoths, from the creation of the “great whales” to the slaying of the leviathan, and from the divine breaking of the heads of the dragons in the water to the sovereignty of the beasts in Daniel’s dream.

These seminars and others convinced me that he had sat at—or perhaps conducted—many Passover seders and understood that all teaching and learning sessions begin with questions. He always began with questions. He spoke less to a topic that he had already figured out than to framing a discussion (based on huge reading lists one could/should have already read) that might lead to some tentative answers. That was exciting—we were on this journey together. It’s also true that I could grasp only a concept here and there, sometimes a phrase, a word, an idea would emerge, and even though his speaking was for me more clear than his writing, I was still at sea much of the time. Even so, it somehow wasn’t discouraging; it was exciting. The seminar room was always crowded to the rafters. And the first time I saw him, there was the surprising discovery of his personal qualities: very “French,” a gentilhomme, especially when some of us would go up to him afterwards with an inane question or two that he never dismissed but treated seriously, with warmth and courtesy and even (Gallic) charm.

I always talked about these ongoing seminars to my 545 students and encouraged them to make the trip down the 405, telling them that this was a rare opportunity to be in the presence not just of one of the twentieth century’s most important philosophers, but

in the charged and lively atmosphere of learning. I was really pleased when I saw one of my students at those seminars, now and then, and I could see a kind of infection had taken place.

JH: Speaking of students, I know you’re teaching a Humanities course this term. How does it feel getting back in the classroom?

AW: The Humanities course has been good, especially being back in the classroom and dealing with material very interesting to me—art, music, literature, philosophy, and history in early twentieth-century London. What’s not to like? Of course it’s different for me not to be speaking with dedicated, already-convinced upper-division and graduate English majors, but it’s also good to have to articulate for others why this stuff is important. And I have learned a lot from my forays into less known territories for me—12-tone serialism? Fauvisim? Nietzsche as music critic? Brave new worlds. But it’s really fun being back at DH, occupying generous Jon’s office and chatting with old friends and colleagues and former students; catching up.

JH: You know I admire your family life. It seems such a vivid, artistically expressive household—you, your husband, your two lovely daughters, your son-in-law, and now a lively grandson. How is the family?

AW: The family is great. First they were all in Brooklyn and then, within a few months of each other, they were all here, actually right here at White Oak Avenue. For the first year and a half they all lived with us: both daughters, son-in-law, and young Zundel—only 2 ½ then. That was in 2012 and marked a great change in our lives, a very happy one. Molly is still giving her Suzuki violin and guitar lessons at our house every afternoon, and the young family lives in their own house in Mt. Washington where Zundel attends kindergarten. We pick him up at least twice a week and bring him home for an overnight with us almost every Friday. Bud and I are also the “gardening teachers” for his class so we get to garden with his kindergarten class every few weeks. We plant vegetable seeds together, make trips to the “worm house” (really, it’s true—the school has a worm house!) and bring them back to put in our garden. Lots of stuff. It’s great fun to work with 5-and 6-year-olds and to see Zundel with his classmates.

JH: You’ve also done a lot of traveling since your retirement. I remember your stories about Poland. But you went many other places as well. What did you learn?

AW: The fall after my FERP ended, we went to Turkey and we are so glad we went then and didn’t put it off. It was one of the best trips I ever went on, in some ways more “exotic” than Vietnam or Peru or Hungary. “Istanbul, not Constantinople” kept running through my head, and now it wasn’t just a song—it was real. So

Faculty Focus


it was different from anywhere I had been, but also storied. The mosques, the amplified call to prayers (that most citizens walking around seemed to ignore), the ships travelling up the Bosphorus toward the Black Sea and Russia, the island-dotted Sea of Marmara, the strangely meditative dervishes who really did whirl—I had heard about and read about these things, but now here it was.

But I noticed also the disturbing intimations of encroachments on Ataturk’s professed secular state, especially felt among the Kurds we met and the Jewish communities of Istanbul with whom we shared Yom Kippur and an evening in the home of some of the welcoming congregants. We also spent an evening with a Muslim family and several others introduced to us by a mutual friend in the Interfaith Movement. As a supporter of the Gulan movement, he and his fellow Gulan supporters are increasingly on the outs with the present government. So lots of tensions seem at the moment to be increasing. But there are a lot of thoughtful people there, who resent the present hijacking of their country. Maybe they will prevail.

I took the trip to Poland last summer with a small group of people, all of whom are connected in one way or another to a rabbi some of us study with. He is not a congregational rabbi but a real teacher and presently very involved with Jewish Renewal in Poland. He has helped establish at least three non-orthodox synagogues in Poland and part of our trip included visits to those congregations. Unlike many trips to Poland by Israeli or American youths, this trip focused more on how Jews live (and lived for over 1000 years) in Poland, rather than on how they died. We went to one camp (Auschwitz) and also to some cemeteries but also to the work going on in Krakow and Warsaw and Lublin (often by non-Jewish Poles) to discover and nourish Jewish roots. So we met a lot of Poles—Jewish and otherwise—and learned a lot. If nothing else the trip would have been worth it for the chance to see Polin, the newest and hugest museum in Poland. Its subject is the Jewish presence in Poland for the past 1000 years, the migration patterns, their trades and arts, their books and learning. It educates, and in such a lively and pleasing way. We needed two days to begin to do it justice. And the place is pretty full of people, mostly (non-Jewish) Poles.

In addition to all of that the country is beautiful. Yes, there is war-demolished, Soviet grey Warsaw and other places where the ravages of Nazi brutality and German bombing and Soviet occupation are still evident, but many of the towns we visited still sit spread picturesquely along wide rivers, gorgeous, lively market squares, music-filled public spaces; there is wonderful food—especially the ice cream—and friendly people who became even warmer once they discovered we weren’t there to excoriate Poland for its death camps but were trying to understand the country within the context of its very complicated history of partition, population transfers, and victimization by totalitarian governments from 1939 to 1989. For them, WWII only recently ended. Our trip ended in Gdansk at the site of the Solidarity movement, at the new Solidarity museum, an inter-active and very educational experience—a source of great pride to Poles.Still, things need to be thought about, such as the ways in which victims can also be victimizers. As we talked about this trip to friends and relations before we went, we were met mostly with raised eyebrows, skepticism and/or silence. Why would Jews want to go back there? was the spoken or unspoken reaction. We learned some answers to that question.

JH: You and I have done some exciting reading groups over the years: Žižek, Lacan’s Seminars, Toni Morrison. You even suffered through some Hegel with me, if memory serves. What are you reading these days?

AW: When I came back from Poland, I was reading a fair amount of Holocaust fiction, memoirs, and twentieth-century European history, especially Tim Snyder’s books, and also Tony Judt’s

Postwar. Vanessa and Irene and I have enjoyed talking about Snyder’s books and that crucial time, especially regarding Poland. Then a friend I ran into at the Huntington Library said I had to read Elena Ferrante; that he was sure she would be the next Nobel Prize winner. So I did. He was right. After finishing her Neapolitan Quartet I had to go back and read her earlier stuff. It is unlike anything I’ve read and amid the raw revelations of growing up female in post-WWII Italy, we get a mini-history of Italy from the 40s through probably the 90s. I wouldn’t call these “historical novels” but that emerging history is there.

More recently, more work in translation: Michel Houellebecq’s Submission. Set in 2020, the Islamic Brotherhood has just won the most recent election and everyone is dreading the imposition of sharia law. But it doesn’t exactly happen that way. It helps to reread Huysman’s Au Rebours. I haven’t done that yet but I think it’s a really important inter-text.

And then, Lois told me about Vanessa and her Sister, a really delightful read which launched a re-read of Woolf’s letters and a general immersion in things Bloomsbury. I’m teaching Mrs. Dalloway right now in any case, so it’s all good. Trust Lois!

JH: Any other projects you’d like to talk about?

AW: When the semester is over, I would like to get back to some work I was doing on Conrad’s penultimate novel, The Rover, and the thoughts it raises about home, going home, making a home, making a nation.

Also, it may or may not be related, but I want to read more of Leonard Woolf’s letters at the Huntington and think about the ways in which both he and Conrad are concerned about society and its larger frameworks.

I’m also working on a blog with a friend. We want to call it “Slow Travel” and blog our travel thoughts and tips for slow, in-depth wanderings. The writing and collaborating is fun but the technology is still daunting for us. We will see.

We got back to the house after sunset. Later—Andrea and I were starting coffee in the kitchen, surprised how late it had gotten—I suddenly said, “I’m going to miss teaching so much when I’m done.” Andrea said, “You’ve got years yet. And when you retire, you’ll still have your reading, and your writing. You’ll be fine.” She said it with such calm, such quiet knowing, it reassured me. Thank you, Andrea, for a wonderful afternoon, and for sharing these stories with us.

with the commemoration of the Watts Rebellion and the 25th anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act, linking them all under the theme of social justice. This was a reminder that while things have changed in society for the disabled, there is still a lot of work to be done. The highlight for many students was the speaker Leroy Moore, creator of the movement Krip-Hop Nation. Leroy uses the musical genre of hip-hop in order to tell his story of growing up as a young black disabled man. He uses this as a forum to push for better representation of the disabled in hip-hop and rap music. The focus for Nancy is to bring the conversation to the classroom in order to expand awareness. In other avenues, this academic year she also took part in the new pilot English 108/109 stretch class. The thing she liked most about this opportunity is the slower pace and flexibility it offers for engagement with the students. Nancy and I (I was Nancy’s SIL) were able to see the full evolution and improvement of our students’ writing in a way that many professors cannot, because the students often go on to other instructors.

Part-time Faculty Highlight (cont.)

Faculty Focus


Author Walter Mosley Remembers Watts Rebellion at 2016 Eliet Lecture

Author Walter Mosley in the Loker Student Union

On Tuesday, February 16, a group of more than 200 students, staff, faculty, and community members gathered in the Loker Student Union to hear celebrated author Walter Mosley deliver the English Department’s 2016 Patricia Eliet Memorial Lecture. Established to honor the memory of our late colleague, who taught English at CSUDH from 1969 to 1990, the annual live reading by a noteworthy creative writer has become the department’s signature public event. This year’s lecture also contributed to the yearlong series of programs organized to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Watts Rebellion, an event which directly influenced the decision to locate the university in Carson rather than in Palos Verdes. President Willie Hagan shared his thoughts on the commemoration and welcomed our distinguished guest.

Mosley, the prolific and best-selling author of novels such as Devil in a Blue Dress, grew up in Watts and witnessed firsthand the uprising in August 1965. He was twelve years old at the time, and part of an interracial group of actors whose performances addressed civil rights themes. Over Mosley’s long career as an author of fiction and nonfiction (essays and articles), he has returned on several occasions to the topic of the Watts Rebellion and its aftermath, recollecting not just the fires and destruction but also the institutionalized violence that led to the historic expression of outrage in the streets a half-century ago.

During his lecture Mosley read aloud chapters 1-3 from Little Scarlet, his critically acclaimed 2004 novel about the Watts Rebellion in which private investigator Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, the hero of his crime stories, must find out who murdered the red-haired black woman not officially counted with the other 34 dead in Watts for fear of provoking even more violence in the city. Through the voice of Easy, Mosley captures the impact of the Watts Rebellion on people in the community and

across Los Angeles, including the young nurse who challenges Detective Suggs when he disregards procedures and attempts to intimidate her into letting him do it:

I wondered if the riots were just one symptom of a disease that had silently infected the city; a virus that made people suddenly unafraid of the consequences of standing up for themselves. For almost a week I had seen groups of angry black men and women go up against armed policemen and soldiers with nothing but rocks and bottles for weapons. Now this eighty-seven-pound girl-child was standing up to a gruff cop who outweighed her three to one.

Acknowledging repercussions of the Watts Rebellion still felt today, Mosley also spoke about nation-wide protests responding to the deaths of African Americans either from police shootings or while in police custody—from Ferguson,

Department Events

By Dr. Rod Hernandez


MI and Baltimore, MD to Waller County, TX and Los Angeles. He answered questions from members of the audience about the “Black Lives Matter” movement, replying to criticism that “all lives matter” by stating that some lives already appear to matter more than others when we look at the issue historically and structurally.

Indeed, perhaps his most poignant statement on the legacy of the Watts Rebellion examines it in this political context and comes in a letter that he wrote especially for the Eliet lecture just days before the event. Describing the contents of his epistle as “what I think today,” Mosley declares towards the end of it:

We need to be in the streets every day making the rulers nervous. We need to say out loud that their profit should not be a byproduct of our blood. We need to march, and boycott, and threaten just like we are threatened and beaten and murdered, and worst of all, ignored. We need to redefine the so-called minorities of the ghettos that they have built in our minds. That was, I believe, the unconscious motive of the Watts Riots, to throw off the yoke of unrestricted capitalism, racism and sexism. We were angry, and nobody knew it. We were ready for change when they were happy to leave things the way they were. They are happy today with global warming, global warfare, and global domination of all the markets making our labor a little more than slavery.

After the lecture, the English Department presented Mosley with a photograph of the iconic Watts Towers taken by Ellie Zenhari, Assistant Professor of Art and Design at CSUDH, featured recently in the campus exhibition, Watts: Then and Now. Mosley signed copies of his books and talked to everyone who waited to see him. Among the attendees were a man who learned to read with Mosley’s books and CSUDH alumna Marianna Tabares, who brought along with her a group of students in her English class at Renee and Meyer Luskin Academy High School in Hyde Park. “My students are frequently exposed to violence in the neighborhood,” Tabares said, “so the opportunity to show them the school where I got my B.A., to meet some of my professors, and to meet an author was really awesome.”

The 2016 Eliet Lecture was one of the most ambitious yet, requiring the work of several English faculty members and the collaboration of departments and units across the campus. Special mention goes to the College of Arts and Humanities for its initiative to fund activities related to the Watts 50th commemoration and to Associated Students Incorporated, for its continuing support of the event.

Department Awards and Honors

Student Research Day

1st Place, CSUDH Student Research Day Competition, Humanities and Letters Category

Andy Lara

1st Place, CSUDH Student Research Day Competition, Humanities and Letters Category

Tory Russo

1st Place, CSUDH Student Research Day Competition, Creative Arts Category

Jose Gonzalez

2nd Place, CSUDH Student Research Day Competition, Humanities and Letters Category

Melvianne Andersen

Presidential Awards

2016 Presidential Award for Outstanding Student Organization

EGA

2016 Presidential Award for Advisor of the Year Dr. Jane J. Lee

2016 Presidential Award for Outstanding Student Christine Walker

Walker Scholarship

2015-2016 Recipient Andy Lara

A huge congratulations to all these recipients on behalf of the entire department!

Graduate Degree Completions: Literature, Rhetoric and Composition,

and TESL 2015-2016

Comprehensive Examinations

Miguel AguilarMayra Aguilera

Grace AlcomendasFatimah Alharbi

Tariq AlhurijiManal Aljuaid

Tahani AlsharikhIntisar Alshammari

Fahad AlshehriToumik Asatoorian

Reem AtallahMarisol CamposRichard Cobabe

Hector DiazKristina Guevarra

Amber LunaEvan Ruiz

Salvatore Russo

Theses

Paul ReyburnMichelle Weiss

Student Highlights


Faced with the task of maintaining Enjambed’s legacy and ensuring that the magazine continued to grow and assert its presence throughout campus, Jennifer Henriquez and I panicked. I don’t mean they type of passing anxiety that overwhelms students the night before an important paper is due—I mean the type of paralyzing fear of inadequacy that robs people of their sleep and forces them into action. We knew this would be a yearlong endeavor, yet we brazenly undertook the task. We talked about what we wanted Enjambed to be—a fair bit of those discussions meant that we compared our limitations to the achievements of past editors—but we did agree on two things that we wanted for Enjambed this year: a perfectly bound book and better means of distribution.

In order to achieve our goals, we knew we needed a lot of money and support. The English Graduate Association was once again a crucial part of getting Enjambed off the ground. Over the years, the EGA has become a means of financially enabling Enjambed’s publication through events like the Halloween Salon, the Haunted House, and the Craft Fair. This year, our Vice President, Christine Walker, attended every ASI meeting she could, helped us write funding proposals, and met with school administrators on our behalf—see, we’re a shy bunch and work well from behind the scenes. Christine became our knight in shining armor, ensuring that our vision of Enjambed became a reality.

Although we had Christine’s support, we quickly realized we needed the guidance of someone who was familiar with the design stuff—you see we can do logistics and words, but when it comes to using the latest technology in design, we’re stunted in the world of Microsoft Publisher. A number of the designers we spoke to in the earlier stages of Enjambed’s publication pointed out that Adobe actually produced the best software for our layout, and that Microsoft’s programs live in the land of irrelevance and mockery. So instead of becoming the laughing stocks of LaCorte Hall, we enlisted the help of Kyle Moreno, a former graduate student in the English Department. Kyle is a quiet and underrated artist, who became instrumental in publicizing and editing this year’s issue. With a background in publishing, Kyle both inspired and helped

us navigate this project. Together with his creative vision, we announced our theme, in November: “A View from [Here].” We wanted to continue the magazine’s legacy of acting as a creative outlet while simultaneously spotlighting the myriad voices present on our campus. Our campus often gets a bad rap among other CSUs, so our theme this year was an attempt to assert our collective voice—a way of reminding the rest of the CSU community, and the city, that we are here, and we are flourishing.

With the theme officially launched, we knew that our work was only beginning. While the fall semester meant a lot of planning, fundraising, and consultation, we knew we had to hit the ground running come spring. In a stroke of good luck, we became aware of an additional source of funding—Student Success Fees. We dared to dream big, and we submitted a proposal that would allow us to realize our hopes for this year’s issue. Over the course of two sleepless nights, we crafted a proposal that we hoped would move the selection committee—and thankfully it did.

So, with a secured source of funding, Dr. Lee helped us gather a team of brave souls to serve as the editorial staff. Toumik Asatoorian, a former graduate student and one of the most supportive staff members on campus played a pivotal role in securing a place for the team to read through the submissions—although he’ll deny every word of this. In a blind selection process, this group of students

From Panic to Print—Enjambed’s Yearlong Journey into Fruition

Jennifer Roseblade Reads From Her Poem “Me As My Culture”

By Brenda Bran

Student Highlights


helped shape Enjambed as they selected content from a pool of more than one hundred submissions. Every volunteer read through each written submission, and reviewed each visual piece, and together we voted for pieces that best represented different aspects of our campus.

Jennifer and I worked long hours to organize the content and prepare it for our layout process. Although we have worked together on a number of different projects for more than ten years now, we each have our own sense of organization, so finding something that worked for both of us proved a bit difficult.

After cataloging each entry, we eagerly sent out acceptance emails to our contributors and handed our content over to Robert Huerta, our layout and design editor. He painstakingly formatted and laid out Enjambed, asking for our input and ideas every step of the way. We consulted samples from other colleges and asked Robert to experiment with different options. After a few dozen emails, it was ready to go.

At this point, Jennifer and I hit our point of exhaustion, but we knew that our work was not done. We spent the weeks leading up to Enjambed’s launch working on publicity and editing. During this process, we became very familiar with the staff at University Printing Services—specifically Cy, who printed flyers, postcards, bookmarks, and

programs for us quickly and well. In an effort to realize our initial goals, we distributed these across the English Department trying to drum up excitement over the publication. We must have logged in over 8,000 steps walking back and forth across the campus—as English majors, we spend most of our time indoors reading, so sun exposure this semester was a nice bonus.

In our excitement, we did not anticipate any hiccups with printing. However, the printing gods are a fickle bunch and as a result we were unable to launch on April 28th as originally intended. We panicked. We were frustrated, and disappointed. After a yearlong effort, we did not have Enjambed copies that were consistent with our vision. Yet, in a wave of overwhelming support, Dr. Lee, Dr. Cauthen, and the EGA soothed our disappointment and eased our fears. The event at Club 1910 instead served as a Pre-Launch Party which celebrated the amazing work of our contributors. A number of Enjambed’s authors read their work while one of our contributing photographers spoke on her pieces to a packed audience who were able to follow along with special promotional copies of Enjambed. The event also featured a reading by Alan Grostephan, author of Bogota. Despite the complications with printing, this year’s edition of Enjambed is the first perfectly bound book, and it nearly doubles the content of last year’s issue. Like previous editions, this year’s publication serves as a testimony to the dedication and creativity of CSUDH students.

As the English Department’s creative writing publication, Enjambed is steadily widening its on-campus presence through increased student participation and involvement. It is a creative outlet for students across campus, and a representation of the varied life experiences and backgrounds that compose the intricate mosaic that is CSUDH. Jennifer and I continue to be in awe of past iterations of this magazine and its editors, and we’re quite proud of the work published in year’s edition. It was not by any means an easy process, but it took a tremendous amount of dedication and passion, and we hope both contributors and readers see that in the publication.

The English Graduate Association is a social and academic club comprised of undergraduate and graduate students who are raising an awareness of Literature, Linguistics, Teaching E.S.L, Rhetoric & Compostion, and all things English related. The E.G.A promotes literacy, personal and professional development of student and faculty community and also promotes student professional and ethical leadership, academic achievement, service learning and civic responsibility.

To join or for more information, please contact us at [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/CSUDHEGA

English Graduate Association

Student Highlights


Student Research Day 2016 was my first time presenting academic work. I was so afraid. But looking back on this experience, I am so thankful that I was talked into presenting. When it comes to presenting my work I can be very self-conscious. I was not even going to send my abstract in because I was so anxious about it. On the final day for abstracts I was convinced to just try it. “What could go wrong?” my friends and teachers asked me. I sent in my submission secretly praying it would not be accepted, but I pushed all of those fears down, forgetting about them over winter break.

The email finally came. My work was accepted, and I was both excited and nervous at the same time. When the presentation schedules finally came out, I was even more nervous. I was placed in the session Humanities and Letters I, while most of my friends were placed in II or III. I again pushed these anxieties down because at this point the only thing worse than presenting would be confronting the SRD staff about dropping out.

The big day finally came. I was so anxious when I was getting

Pushing Yourself Outside of Your Comfort Zone: A Student Research Day Narrative

ready that morning. I accidently sprayed deodorant on my hair instead of hair spray, I cut my self while shaving, and I lost my car keys! I made it to campus at the start of my panel because I thought it would be rude to not give validation to the others that worked just as hard as I did. As I was sitting there listening to their presentations I could feel my anxiety skyrocketing. I just wanted to get it over with, but of course with my luck we had an intermission right before my presentation.

My name was finally called. My heart stopped as I forced myself to get on stage (did I forget to mention I was in the giant ball room!?). I was so nervous that my hands were trembling, and I told myself “just read slowly and enunciate.” I began reading my paper, and as I went along I started feeling more and more confident. Around the end of paragraph two my worst fears came to life: I lost my place! I stayed calm and selected a random line from my essay to start at because no one in the room would know the difference.

Finally I was done speaking, but the dreaded question-and-answer section was starting. The question segment has always been my worst nightmare. I answered the questions honestly and in the way I thought did my research the most justice. Finally it was over! I went to my seat, but I had this adrenaline rush going still. I actually felt really good about my presentation at this point. I didn’t think I had a shot at placing, but I was so proud of myself for getting out of my comfort zone and trying something new.

Presenting was such a rush and I had such a good time doing it. The next day was the award ceremony. I didn’t think that I had placed, but I wanted to support the other students that might have. The time came for Humanities and Letters I to get their awards. The runner-up went to a student that I thought had a really strong presentation. Now it was time for the first-place winner to be announced. “And first place goes to Salvatore Russo!” I thought to myself, “Oh, he has the same name as me, that’s cool” before realizing it was me. I actually let a gasp out I was so surprised. I could hear my fellow classmates screaming at the top of their lungs as I walked to the stage. The feeling was unreal.

So what’s the point of this whole article? Put yourself out there! I pushed myself out of my comfort zone, and it really paid off. I learned that I actually like sharing my research. Because I pushed myself to do something new I was able to learn more about myself as an academic. The journey leading up to SRD was scary, but once I presented and put myself out there I felt so rewarded by this experience!

By Salvatore Russo

Student Highlights


California State University Dominguez Hills

Department Events

On April 2, 2016, the English Graduate Association hosted its third annual graduate conference, the English Language Conference (ELC), in the Loker Student Union. Participants were invited to partake in complimentary breakfast items while they chatted and waited for panels to begin. The diversity of the panels I attended that day was wonderful—a testament to the amazing work our graduate students are producing as well as to the versatility of the conference theme: “First Contact.” Papers addressed a wide variety of topics interpreting the conference theme, all of which led nicely to the keynote address given by Professor Micah Perks, a novelist housed at UC Santa Cruz who was gracious enough to attend and read selections from her forthcoming book. Overall the conference, which attracted many participants from outside the DH community, was an ideal venue for graduate students to share and receive feedback on their work from their peers and professors. I was quite proud to partake in the general air of collegiality and celebration that the ELC encouraged, and would urge others to participate—either as presenter or observer—next year!

The Third AnnualEnglish Languange

ConferencePresented by the

English Graduate Association

-Dr. Jane J. Lee


thesis. Approximately 40 people participated and attended ELC with faculty support from Dr. Lee and Dr. Mohr. Following a successful ELC, Enjambed, the multi-literacy magazine, was set to launch. “A View from [Here]” was the theme of this year’s Enjambed. Jennifer Henriquez and Brenda Bran managed the project from the call to papers to the final printed copy. They also collaborated with Art and Design on the cover and layout. The editorial staff blind- read over 180 submissions. Jennifer and Brenda had a vision of a bound copy with variant covers (if you have not received your copy, please visit the Grad Lounge!). At the launch of Enjambed on the patio of Club 1910, a few students read their original works before the keynote speaker took the podium. The keynote speaker, Alan Grostephan, read from his novel, Bogotá, as well a chapter from the novel he is currently working on. The launch was well-attended by students and faculty, including Dr. Lee, Dr. Cauthen, Dr. Huth, Dr. Sherman, and Dr. Chin from the English department.

For the volunteers and project managers of Enjambed, Livia Bongiovanni hosted an after- party in the grad lounge, complete with waffles and bacon. The crowded lounge buzzed from the successful event. The after-party caught the attention of Dr. Hauss and Dr. Gionnatti, who had class during the launch but were happy to either see so many happy people or to have the smell of bacon wafting down the third floor corridors. 2015-2016 has been an incredible ride. One last thing to top off the academic year: EGA was nominated for seven Presidential Awards; the Presidential Award for Outstanding Student Organization, Presidential Award for Advisor of the Year, Presidential Award for Outstanding Student Program for ELC, and four members, Livia Bongiovanni, Brenda Bran,

Jennifer Henriquez, and Christine Walker, for the Presidential Award for an Outstanding Student. EGA took home three of the eight Presidents’ Awards— Outstanding Student Organization; Advisor of the Year for Dr. Lee; and Outstanding Student, Christine Walker. Being recognized for these awards crowns everything the EGA cabinet set out to do in the last fall. We are EGA: We are Toros!

Student Highlights

EGA Highlights Fall 2015-Spring 2016

By Christine Walker and Livia Bongiovanni

The English Graduate Association (EGA) started 2015 out with the goal of establishing club legitimacy and growing the club legacy. In the fall, the majority of the work was behind-the-scenes, working with ASI and internal offices to capitalize on available opportunities at CSUDH. This translates into a lot of meetings, committees and filing paperwork.

In October, EGA housed the second annual Haunted House. The Gradiate Lounge became Dante’s ninth circle of Hell, complete with the frozen Satan illustrated by Livia Bongiovanni and Jennifer Henriquez. Participants were invited to play parlor games and take a “Selfie with Satan.” The committee room transformed into the eighth circle of Hell, complete with fortunetelling by Livia. Over 350 students were hosted by EGA while trick-or-treating through the third floor of LaCorte Hall.

We added a Haunted Salon at Club 1910 with special Halloween-inspired cocktails. Students and faculty read scary stories, and Dr. Hauss killed the room with Emily Dickinson. Christine Walker MC’ed the event while entertaining with really bad jokes, much to the despair of the audience.

While much of the groundwork was laid in fall, EGA was ready for a spring showcase starting with the English Language Conference. Prior to conference, EGA offered a workshop on how to present at academic conferences, facilitated by Christine Walker. This year, the Loker Student Union ballroom and conference rooms served as our location. We were able to elevate ELC through catering, swag bags, and hosting Dr. Micah Perks of UC Santa Cruz as the keynote speaker. Swag bags included the first ever-printed book of all the abstracts created by Brenda Bran, DH folders and pens, agendas, and for moderators, a DH coffee mug. Dr. Perks discussed her upcoming book, which focuses on the captive narrative of Mary Rowlandson. Presenters ranged from first-time presenters to veterans of Student Research Day. Panels covered a wide spectrum of topics from anime to the process of writing a

English Graduate Association students stoked about their Outstanding Student Organization Award at the Presidential Award Ceremony


English Graduate Association Student Highlights


Newsletter Staff/ContributorsDr. Jane J. Lee

Dr. Rod HernandezDr. Timothy Chin

Dr. Jon HaussDr. Kimberly Huth

Brenda BranChristine Walker

Jennifer HenriquezLivia BongiovanniMelissa WilliamsSalvatore Russo

Terri Fleming-Dright

Design and Layout Robert Huerta

AcknowledgementsThe Newsletter Staff would like to express its sincere appreciation for the fellow contributors,

friends and colleagues without whom this newsletter would not be possible. Special thanks

to the English Graduate Association (EGA) for its endless supply of goodwill and energy;

your time and efforts help supply many of the accomplishments noted in this newsletter;

your pride and dedication have greatly helped us to celebrate them through writing. Thanks

are due also to Dr. Timothy Chin and the rest of the faculty of the English Department for

their untiring support for one another and for their students. Finally, a huge thanks to the

amazing undergraduate and graduate student bodies that help our wonderful department

thrive.

English Graduate AssociationThe English Graduate Association is a social and academic club comprised of undergraduate

and graduate students who are raising an awareness of Literature, Linguistics, Teaching

E.S.L, Rhetoric & Composition, and all things English-related. The EGA promotes literacy,

as well as the personal and professional development of student and faculty communities,

student professional and ethical leadership, academic achievement, service learning and

civic responsibility.

To join or for more information, please contact us at [email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/CSUDHEGA

Credits

Documents

California State University, Dominguez Hills...The positive feedback ... Faculty Focus Dr. Timothy Chin By Terri Fleming-Dright Credits 12 14 10-11 9 Newsletter Staff/ 16 Contributors