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Grad Programs
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T&T and M.F.A. Programs
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Highlights
UCF alum Venditti's The Surrogates now a major motion picture
September 2009
On September 25, Touchstone Pictures releases The Surrogates, a major motion picture based on the work of UCF alum Robert Venditti. Venditti wrote the 2003 comic book series of the same name that was illustrated by Brett Weldele and published by Top Shelf Productions. The comic, set in a future where people live vicariously through artificial "surrogates", is "a resplendently grimy commentary" on identity and the role of technology in our lives according to Entertainment Weekly. Venditti's next graphic novel The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone also debuts on September 25, and his political/medical thriller The Homeland Directive will follow in 2010. He is also featured in an interview in the Orlando Sentinel.
Katie Beth Curtis Awarded First Prize in JASNA 2009 Essay Contest
September 2009
"Master's in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies student Katie Beth Curtis has won first prize at the Post-Graduate level of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) 2009 Essay Contest for her essay "Troubled Sisterhood: When Sisters Become Rivals in Mansfield Park." She will present her paper at the conference in Philadelphia in October and will receive free conference registration and free lodging, as well as a year's membership in the society. Her essay will also appear on the JASNA Web site.
Craig Saper Editor of Reprinted Book Foretelling the End of the Book
August 2009
Craig Saper edited a new edition of Bob Brown's prophetic book The Readies(originally published in 1930 and published now with Saper's annotations and Afterword with Rice University Press). More than fifty years before electronic forms of abbreviated writing became commonplace in text messages, Brown invented a new format for reading, called "readies" that would replace the book with something that resembled a proto-Kindle. Brown's contraption consisted of a small reel with microscopic text that would pass under a powerful magnifying glass, and as technology advanced, readers would eventually be able to radio readies to this device. Saper provides a contemporary analysis of the book and its impact on technology today. The Readies is available through Rice University Press.
Master’s and Undergraduate Students Present at International Conference
May 2009
Master’s in Literature alumna Mandy Mahaffey, Master’s in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies student Jessica Masri, and undergraduate English student Corrinne Woods, formed a panel entitled “Time/lessness in The Last Unicorn” at the 30th International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts (International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts), March 18–21, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. Their presentations were, respectively: "Time is of the Essence!: Time and Identity-Formation in The Last Unicorn"; "The Broken Clock and the Eternal Sign: The Severance of Signified from Signifier in Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn," and "The Timelessness of The Last Unicorn as a Mirror of Oral Tradition."
Master’s in Literature Alumna Joins Ph.D. Program at University of Maryland
May 2009
Master’s in Literature Alumna Ucheche Okereke-Beshel has been accepted into University of Maryland’s English Ph.D. Program and offered a $20,000 fellowship. She joins her new program in fall 2009
Master’s Students Present at Children’s Literature Conference
May 2009
Master’s in Literature alumna Mandy Mahaffey and Master’s in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies student Jeannina Perez presented at the Girls’ Culture & Girls’ Studies: Surviving, Reviving, Celebrating Girlhood Conference, October 16–18, 2008 in New Haven, Connecticut. Their papers were, respectively: “Gender Performativity, Sexual Orientation, Body, and the ‘I Kiss Girls’ Phenomenon in Music Videos: Empowering, Objectifying, or a Bit of Both?” and “Teaching Girls to Be Bratz.”
Terry Thaxton receives In-House Grant
April 2009
Terry Thaxton has been awarded a 2009 College of Arts & In-House Grant. Thaxton's research project, a book titled Take it Outside: Creative Writing in the Community, is intended for teachers and students of creative writing who want to develop projects that promote writing as a powerful tool for transforming the lives of people in their communities.
Kelle Groom wins Outstanding Master's Thesis award
March 2009
Kelle Groom has won the UCF College of Graduate Studies award for Outstanding Master's Thesis. Groom received her M.F.A. in Creative Writing in December 2008. Her thesis, Five Kingdoms, is a poetry collection. Her poems and nonfiction have appeared in AGNI, Gettysburg Review, The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Poetry, and Witness, among others. Her awards include fellowships and scholarships from Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Millay Colony for the Arts, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and the Sewanee Writers Conference, and grants from the State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs, Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, United Arts of Central Florida, Volusia County Cultural Council, and New Forms Florida, as well as a Florida Book Award. Her work was recognized as notable in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007, and this year her work has been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes in both poetry and nonfiction.
Melody Bowdon receives CAH Excellence in Graduate Teaching award
March 2009
Melody Bowdon received the CAH Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award for 2009. Bowdon regularly teaches graduate courses in Technical and Professional Communication, Rhetoric and Composition, and Texts and Technology. Bowdon is currently directing four doctoral dissertations, two doctoral comprehensive exams, and two MA theses. She has served on numerous university and college graduate committees and has directed the Graduate Certificate in Professional Writing since 1999. She served as director of the Ph.D. in Texts and Technology from 2006-2007. According to Bowdon, "The heart of graduate education in the humanities is preparing students to find meaningful ways to enter into the existing streams of conversation in the field."
T&T Ph.D. student to serve on the Bedford/St. Martins TA Advisory Board
March 2009
Rochelle (Chelle) Becker-Bernstein, a third-year student in the T&T Ph.D. program, was selected as one of ten composition teaching assistants from around the country to serve on the Bedford/St. Martin's TA Advisory Board for 2009. Ms. Bernstein, who is currently completing her coursework and looking forward to beginning her comprehensive examinations during the summer, was nominated by T&T faculty member, Elizabeth Wardle, for the honor. She submitted a CV and other materials, completed an interview with Bedford personnel, and was selected for the board. She will receive a $1000 stipend and travel expenses to a board meeting in Boston. Chelle's research focuses on mixed-mode instruction in composition, and her work with this organization will allow her to share her findings with and learn from her colleagues around the country through the Bedford blog and other outlets.
M.F.A. student in The Writer's Chronicle
November 2008
M.F.A. student Laurie Uttich's article "Present-Moment Beginnings that Reveal a Memoir's Ending" appears in the December 2008 issue of The Writer's Chronicle, the prestigious national journal published by The Associated Writing Programs. Uttich also has work forthcoming in the literary journal Creative Nonfiction.