News & Events
2018-2019 Highlights
1. Publications
Govardhan, Anam
(2018). “Relative Clauses, Their Function and Distribution in ESL Student Writing.” Proceedings of the 7th Annual International Conference on Language, Literature & Linguistics in Singapore.
Provey, Robin (adjunct)
(2019, forthcoming) “Seeds of #MeToo planted under the orange trees in Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.”
Qi, Shouhua
(2019, forthcoming). “Total Heroism: Reinterpreting Sartre’s Morts sans sepulture (The Victors) for the Chinese Stage.” Forthcoming. International Theatre Research Journal.
(2019, forthcoming). “Chastening Desire: Chinese Adaptations of Eugene O’Neill’s Desire under the Elms.” The Eugene O’Neill Review.
(2018, June). “Tragic Hero and Hero Tragedy: Reimagining Oedipus the King as Jingju (Peking Opera) for the Chinese Stage.” Coauthor. Classical Receptions Journal.
(2018, fall). Adapting Western Classics for the Chinese Stage. Routledge.
(2018, October). “The Importance of Being Oscar Wilde: Rise and Fall of Wilde’s Literary Fortune in China.” The British Library.
2. Presentations
Govardhan, Anam
(2018, June 25-26). “Relative Clauses, Their Function and Distribution in ESL Student Writing.” The 7th Annual International Conference on Language, Literature & Linguistics in Singapore.
Murray, Margaret
(2019, April). “Mary E. Wilkin’s Giles Corey, Yeoman: I Was Not Butcher Bred.” American Culture Association, Washington, D.C.
An expanded version of this paper was done as this semester’s English Department Faculty Lecture “I Was Not Butcher Bred: A Tale of Two Witchcrafts.”
Provey, Robin (adjunct)
(2019, May). Presenter: “Seeds of #MeToo planted under the orange trees in Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath,” San Jose State University, San Jose, California.
Barnes Seminar on Teaching sponsored by the Connecticut Center for Teaching May 20-22, 2019.
Pruss, Ingrid R
(2019, March). “Marrying the Marginalized or Marginal Marriage in Cooking with Connie: a paper on psychological migration.” Flickering Landscapes: The Image of Migration — Landscapes & People, Center for Humanities & Digital Research, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL.
Qi, Shouhua
(2019, April 4-6). “Closing the Kindness Gap: Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire on the Chinese Stage.” 43rd Comparative Drama Conference, Orlando, Florida.
3. Recognitions/Awards/Grants/ Service
Khalfi, Hamid El (adjunct)
Lecture. “Shakespeare and the Arabic Civilization: Queen Elizabeth and the Saracens.” November 13, 2018. Co-sponsored with the Department of World Languages and Literature.
Murray, Margaret
English Department Faculty Lecture (Spring 2019). “I Was Not Butcher Bred: A Tale of Two Witchcrafts.” April 22, 2019.
Qi, Shouhua
(2018, October 9) English Department Faculty Lecture. “Not Just for All Time: Staging ‘Old Man’ Shakespeare in China.”
(2018, May 23-25). Lecture Series. 1) “Modernism: An Introduction;” 2) “Thomas Hardy Poetry and Modernism;” 3) “The Bronte Sisters and Post-colonialism;” College of Liberal Arts, Yangzhou University.
CSU-AAUP Research grants. Project funded: Total Heroism: Chinese Adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s Morts sans sepulture (The Victors).
Distinguished Visiting Professor. College of Liberal Arts, Yangzhou University, China. Fall 2017-present.
4. Student Accomplishments
Conference Papers:
Advised by Dr. Margaret Murray
Connecticut State University Undergraduate English Conference. October, 2018, CCSU, New Britain, CT.
Jillian Fernandez. “Call Me Ishmael: Melville’s Drag Persona.”
Kalish, Derek. “Captain Ahab and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.”
Undergraduate Awards
John Tufts Prize: Prize is given for the best writing submitted to the English Department during the academic year. Award: Certificate; Criteria: Academic achievement
Dana Fotheringham and Derek Kalish
John Eichrodt Prize: Award is given for the best critical paper submitted by an undergraduate student during the school year. Award: Certificate; Criteria: Academic achievement
Jillian Fernandez and James Laber
Graduate Awards
Outstanding Thesis: Recognizes the best master’s thesis submitted to the English Department during the academic year. Eligibility: the thesis project having been accepted; recommendation of the thesis advisors. Award: Certificate. Criteria: Academic excellence
Danielle King. “Slave Women: Their Complex Herstory, Artistic Representation and Interpretation”
Gabriel Tatela. “Dystopian Critical Theory: A Brave New Approach to Literature”
Graduate school placements
James Laber: Acceptance into MTA program by five universities, including the University of Connecticut and Boston University.
Christopher Bolster. Acceptance into PhD program in English by the University of Connecticut.
Other Accomplishments
English Department organized three lectures for its students and the university community:
“Not Just for All Time: Staging ‘Old Man’ Shakespeare in China.” Given by Dr. Shouhua Qi. October 9, 2018.
“Shakespeare and the Arabic Civilization: Queen Elizabeth and the Saracens.” Given by Dr. Hamid El Khalfi, (adjunct). November 13, 2018. Co-sponsored with the Department of World Languages and Literature.
“A Tale of Two Witchcrafts.” Given by Dr. Margaret Murray. April 22, 2019.
English Department co-sponsored two lectures/event:
Stephen Engelberg, the Editor-in-Chief of Pro Publica, Constitution Day speaker. September 17, 2018.
Women’s History event with Emmy-winning female filmmaker Kirsten Kelly, March 20 and 21, 2019.
2017-2018 Highlights
1. Publications
Dr. Donald Gagnon
“Expatriates in Their Own Country” Performance review. Everything Sondheim, May 2018. www.everythingsondheim.org.
Solicitation for proposed book on Oscar Hammerstein II by Layla Milhollen of McFarland. CFP to be distributed Fall 2018.
Dr. Heather Levy
“Mind the Gap.” Outside, Nov., 2016, p. 23.
Book on Elizabeth Bowen’s shorter fiction under provisional contract with Cork University Press with final revisions due August 21st, 2018.
Dr. Shouhua Qi
“Incantations of Joy, Hope, and Love: Translation and Reception of Percy Bysshe Shelley in China.” English version. The British Library. 11 April, 2018 (http://www.britishlibrary.cn/en/articles/translation-and-anreception-of-percy-bysshe-shelley-in-china/).
“Incantations of Joy, Hope, and Love: Translation and Reception of Percy Bysshe Shelley in China.” Chinese version. The British Library. 11 April, 2018 (http://www.britishlibrary.cn/zh-cn/articles/translation-and-reception-of-percy-bysshe-shelley-in-china/)
“Reimagining Ibsen: Recent Adaptations of Ibsen Plays for the Chinese Stage.” Ibsen Studies 17:2 (2017), 141-164.
“Tragic Hero and Hero Tragedy: Reimagining Oedipus the King as Jingju (Peking Opera) for the Chinese Stage.” Coauthor. Classical Receptions Journal. June, 2018.
2. Presentations
Dr. Donald Gagnon
Chair: Northeast Popular Association conference: gender and sexuality area, Amherst, MA. Member/past president, NEPCA governing board. October 27-28, 2017
Panelist: “Black Musicals and Politics: From Shuffle Along to Shuffle Along” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association conference, Indianapolis, IN. March 29, 2018
Panelist: “Uneasy Lie the Heads that Wear the Crown: The Emperor Jones and King Hedley II.” Comparative Drama Conference, Orlando, FL. April 5, 2017.
Dr. Anam Govardhan
Presenter: “Relative Clauses Distribution in Native and ESL Student Writing.” The Seventh 3L International Conference on Language, Literature, and Linguistics organized by Global Science and Technology Forum, Singapore, June 25 – 26, 2018.
Dr. Heather Levy
“Star of the Sea: Another Voyage of the Damned.” Famine Legacies and Reconnecting Communities, June 20-24, 2018. Irish Famine Summer School, Strokestown, Ireland sponsored by the Irish Heritage Trust.
Dr. Shouhua Qi
“Chastening Desire: Three Chinese Adaptations of Eugene O’Neill’s Desire under the Elms.” Conference paper. The Comparative Drama Conference XLII. Orlando, FL. April 5-7, 2018.
“Transcultural Adaptations.” Panel organizer and chair. The Comparative Drama Conference XLII. Orlando, FL. April 5-7, 2018.
“Reinterpreting Western Classics for the Chinese Stage.” Scholars in Action: Interdisciplinary Research Recreating through Interpreting. A panel discussion featuring recent scholarship by WCSU Faculty Monday, November 13, 2017. Midtown Campus, Western Connecticut State University.
Dr. Çiğdem Üsekes
“Two Trains Running: August Wilson’s Social Commentary on the Sixties.” 10th Annual FUA/SUNY. Stony Brook Conference; Florence, Italy; December 2017
3. Recognitions/Awards/Grants/Services
Dr. Donald Gagnon
Inaugural recipient, Provost’s Teaching Award, 2017-2018.
Faculty Development Funds: for attendance at Comparative Drama Conference. Funding provided to cover travel expenses, both for presentation and to meet by request of book editor for a collection on
Arthur Miller, to be published in 2018 by McFarland.
Recognition by Sigma Tau Delta for outstanding service to campus chapter.
Dr. Shouhua Qi
Reassigned Time for Research. Six credits, fall 2017. To continue to work on book project Adapting Western Classics for the Chinese Stage.
CSU-AAUP. Research grants. Project funding. To continue to work on book project Adapting Western Classics for the Chinese Stage (to be released by Routledge, fall 2018).
Distinguished Visiting Professor. College of Liberal Arts, Yangzhou University, China. Fall 2017-present.
English Department Fall 2017 Faculty Lecture. Organizer. “Arthur Miller and Death of a Salesman in Beijing.” Presenter: Dr. Claire Conceison, Quanta Chair of Chinese Culture Professor of Theater Arts MIT. Monday, November 6, 2017.
Dr. Heather Levy
As professor/graduate coordinator, encouraged and supported Leah Begg in her application for the PhD program at UConn.
Dr. Margaret Murray
MA thesis advisor: Leah Begg, who has been accepted into the Ph. In English program at the University of Connecticut with full graduate teaching assistantship.
Advised and took four students to the CSU Undergraduate English Conference at Central Connecticut State University, October 4, 2017.
Dr. Ingrid Pruss
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Brookfield, CT. Lector. Sunday mornings on a regular basis throughout 2017-2018 at 8:00 am service.
Teacher. Sunday, Adult Education Program; the entire month of August 2018. Image of Vintner in Isaiah and John.
Online Pedagogical Training for Girl Rising Curriculum. Attended one hour training Session (April 2018).
Case Studies and Snapshots Online on Girl Rising Website. Was invited by Caitlin Richardson, Educator Program Associate, to have my curriculum for using a portion of Girl Rising to teach Ibsen featured on their website (in process).
4. Student Accomplishments
Conference Papers:
Central Connecticut State University Undergraduate English Conference, 10/4/2017
Advised by Dr. Donald Gagnon:
Brodey Ott: “Truth vs. the Sales Pitch: the Downfall of the Loman Men”
Advised by Dr. Margaret Murray:
Panel Title: The American Hero: “From Bumppo to Batman”
Moderator: Dr. Margaret Murray
Title: Humor, Heroism, and the American Spirit in The Martian
Name: Sean Barrett
Title: Easy Rawlins: Raging Against His Place and Time
Name: Ryan Jones
Title: The Monomyth of Two Modern Heroes
Name: Diana Orozco Morato
Title: The Evolutionary Hero: The Development of Fictional American Heroines through Historical Contexts.
Name: Alexia Smith
Undergraduate Awards:
Bigelow Paine Cushman Award: Kevin Maxen
Steven Neuwirth American Studies Award: Kevin Maxen
John Tufts Prize: Brody Ott, Sean Barrett
John Eichrodt Prize: Ryan Jones
Graduate Awards:
Best Research Paper of the Year: Jonathan Carignan
Most Promising Scholar: Danielle King
Graduate School Placements
Leah Begg, MA in English student, accepted into the Ph. D in English program at University of Connecticut, with full graduate teaching assistantship
2016-2017 Highlights
1. Publications
Dr. Donald Gagnon
“Expatriates in Their Own Country.” Everything Sondheim. Spring 2017, everythingsondheim.org/expatriates-in-their-own-country/.
“Everything’s Different, Nothing’s Changed: Company at Boston’s Lyric Stage.”Everything Sondheim. 18 October 2016, everythingsondheim.org/company-bostons-lyric-stage/.
Dr. Heather Levy
“Mind the Gap.” Letter to editor, Outside Magazine. November 2016. p. 23.
Dr. Shouhua Qi
“Misreading Ibsen: Chinese Noras on and off the Stage, and Nora in her Chines Husband’s Ancestral Land of the 1930s—as Reimagined for the Present-Day Stage.” Comparative Drama. 50. 4 (Winter 2016): 341-364.
2. Presentations
Dr. Donald Gagnon
“New York City v. River City: Racial Utopias and the 1958 Tony Awards.” Popular Culture/American Culture Association Conference, San Diego, CA, spring 2017.
Chair: Gender/Identity/Sexuality area. Northeast Popular Culture Association Conference, Keene, NH, fall 2016.
Dr. Heather Levy
“‘Far From Aid, She Was in her Family Home’: Elizabeth Bowen’s New Short Stories.” Cork, Ireland. Ireland International Association For the Study of Irish Literature. July 2016.
“Wittgenstein’s Inscrutable Lion and Woolf’s Modulate Spaniel.” Animal Utterances Conferences, Bristol, UK. May 2017.
Dr. Ingrid Pruss
“Closing Borders, Rejecting Refugees:The Necessity of Reawakening Our Understanding of imago dei.” Christianity and Literature Conference San Diego, CA. 2017.
“Defamiliarization: Teaching Introduction to Poetry to Incite Wonder.” Christianity and Literature Conference, Riverside, CA. 2016.
Dr. Shouhua Qi
“Adapting Western Classics for the Chinese Stage.” CSCU Faculty Research Conference, New Britain, CT. March 2017.
Dr. Cigdem Usekes
“‘Impos[ing] Beauty on Our Future’: Lorraine Hansberry and the ForceWords.” FUA/SUNY Stony Brook Conference, Florence, Italy. Dec. 2016.
3. Recognitions/Awards/Grants/Services
Dr. Donald Gagnon
Completing four years as chair/co-chair of English Department
Completing six years as co-coordinator of American Studies
Completing four years on A&S nominations/elections committee
Continuing: Advisor to English Society
Advisor to Sigma Tau Delta
Advisor to Gender/Sexuality Alliance.
Completing third term on executive board of Northeast Popular Culture Association
Completing fourth year as Educational Research Coordinator
Organized/administrated five student trips:
Four trips to Lincoln Center Library/Archive
One trip to The Color Purple on Broadway
Organized/sponsored appearance by Steven Fulwood, Archivist at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, as part of University’s Black History Month events.
Arranged/sponsored guest speakers for Introduction to Drama courses:
Tony Award nominee Lee Roy Reams
Tony Award nominee Michael McDonald
Broadway actors Arbender Robinson, Kyle Scatliffe, Quentin Darrington
Invited to present keynote at Kathwari Honors college commencement
Brought three students to present at CCSU Undergraduate English Conference
Appeared twice on WCSU Election Connection coverage
Completed CSCU Ethics E-learning training program
Served as Question Leader/Administrator for AP/ETS scoring in Louisville, KY.
Completed 90 professional development hours
Invited to teach as adjunct for Theatre department course, THR 204.
Invited to present on High School Night for Theatre Department’s Production of The Stepmother.
Dr. Heather Levy
Judge for Spelling Bee Finals: November 2016
Certification: Mindfulness in Education Seminar, 2016
Completed three-year term on Distance Education Committee
Completed two-year terms as English M.A. Coordinator
Completed two-year term on Academic Leave Council
Completed two-year term on Termination Committee
Completed two-ear term on Parking Violations Committee
WCSU Faculty Development Grant to attend the Mindfulness in Education Seminar at Harvard University. $1850.
Dr. Shouhua Qi
CSU-AAUP Research Grant. Project funding. Adapting Western Classics for the Chinese Stage. Under contract to be published by Routledge.
4. Student Accomplishments
Conference Papers
CCSU Undergraduate English Conference: sponsor Dr. Donald Gagnon
Samantha Kayser. “The Division between the Theatrical and Performative Identities in Robert Anderson’s Tea and Sympathy.”
John Mudgett. “Queer Coding in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
Quinn Ochoa-Morales. “A False Truth: The Dangers of Theatricality in the Face Of an Epidemic.”
Awards
John Eichrodt Prize: Kristin Hinz
Steven Neuwirth Award: Brennen Diaz
Most Promising Scholar: Leah Begg
Best Graduate Research Paper: Danielle King
Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant: Leah Begg and Emily Carney
Fulbright students: Alison Vas and Laura Debuire
Graduate School Placements
Graduate: Sean Keenan, University of Chicago
Exchange Student: Laura DeBuire, Willammette University
2014-2015 Highlights
1. Conference Presentations
Dr. Michael Chappell
American Culture Association/Popular Culture Association, May 2015: “The Road from Nelson Algren’s A Walk on the Wild Side to Hunter S. Thompson’s Hell’s Angels.
Dr. Heather Levy
International Association for the Study of Irish Literature, July 2014: “‘Making Each Other’s Hearts Beat Violently’: Disembodying Ireland/Embodying England.”
Renaissance Society of America, March 2015: “‘Friday’s Child is Loving and Giving’: Hounded by Parodies of Punishment in the Tale of Nastagio degli Onesti.”
Women and Great Hunger in Ireland, March 2015: “‘A Pair of Shoes for my Father, Sir!’: Patterns of Female Resistance in New Lights, Or, Life in Galway: A Tale.”
Dr. Ingrid Pruss
International Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed conference, June 2015: “Passers All of Us.”
Professor Margaret Sullivan
Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, January 2015: “The Play within the Play is ‘the thing'”
Dr. Cigdem Usekes
Northeast Modern Language Association, May 2015: “August Wilson’s Warrior Men”
2. Leadership in Professional Organizations
Dr. Donald Gagnon
Executive board and area chair, Northeast Popular Culture Association. Promoted to upper-level administration, Educational Testing Service/AP Reading
3. Published Works:
Dr. Donald Gagnon
“Some Old and Then Some New Tricks.” The Sondheim Review Winter 2014
Dr. Shouhua Qi
The Bronte Sisters in Other Wor(l)ds. Co-editor and contributing author. Palgrave, Fall 2014.
4. Additional Accomplishments and Contributions
Dr. Michael Chappell
Chair, UPBC
Directed three Master’s theses
Dr. Donald Gagnon
Guest lecturer, Providence College, October 2014: “The American Musical: A Drama of Democracy”
Guest lecturer, WCSU Library Lecture, October 2014: “Latino Like Me: The History, Challenges, and Politics”
Chair, Department of English
Co-coordinator, American Studies program
Co-chair, Arts and Sciences Nominations and Elections committee
Chaired four panels at Northeast Popular Culture Association conference, October 2014
Host/facilitator, “A Musical Theatre Masterclass with Broadway and Tony Award-winning actress Cady Huffman,” WCSU, November 2014 (att. Approx. 100)
Sponsored #BlackLivesMatter/National Poetry Month event, April 2015 (att. Approx. 100)
Sponsored guest lectures by Broadway actors Arbender Robinson, Kyle Scatliffe, and Wallace Smith
Sponsored Dr. Reginald Wilburn from University of New Hampshire for Black History Month presentation “Preaching the Gospel of Black Revolt: Appropriating Milton in Early African American Literature” (att: approx. 80)
Advisor, English Honors Society
Advisor, Queers and Allies
Sponsored and accompanied students to CSU Undergraduate English Conference at CCSU, October 2014
Helped to organize annual Octoberfeast event
Attended university Open House, November 2014
Professor Margaret Sullivan
Directed a Master’s thesis
Dr. Cigdem Usekes
Chaired a panel on James Baldwin at Northeast Modern Language Association conference, May 2015
Dr. Heather Levy
Organized student trip to New York City to see A Raisin in the Sun starring Denzel Washington (att: approx. 15)
Organized student trip to see King Lear broadcast at Ridgefield Playhouse (att: approx. 5)
Advisor, English Society
Sponsored Dr. Elizabeth Lambert, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, September 2015 for English faculty lecture series (att: approx. 10)
Helped to organize annual Octoberfeast event
Attended university Open House, November 2014
Advised student facing challenges in her English education program to consider refocusing her studies toward a related career. Student is now enrolled in a Master of Science program in Library Science at the University of Chicago.
Dr. Michael Chappell
Sponsored, chaired panel and accompanied students to CSU Undergraduate English Conference at CCSU, October 2014
Professor Margaret Sullivan
Helped to organize annual Octoberfeast event
Attended university Open House, November 2014
5 Students Attending/Presenting at Conferences/Faculty Mentoring Student Research:
2014 CSU Undergraduate English Conference, October 2014
Panel 7: Femme Fatales: “American Women as Subject and Object”
Moderator: Dr. Margaret Murray
Michele Regiano, “Real Women”
Casey-Rose Kearns, “Untrustworthy Narrators”
Christina Kinsella, “Murderous Governess”
Chelsea Rodriguez, “Hear the Women Roar”
Panel 10: Broken Promises; American Visions and Revisions
Moderator: Dr. Michael Chappell
Sarah Pawson, “The American Deceit”
Marc Aubin, “America’s Innocent Inception”
Sean Keenan, “The Color of Death”
Kenny Ward, “The Modern Day Witch Hunt”
Dr. Michael Chappell, Master’s thesis advisor for David Phillips on John Milton
Dr. Don Gagnon, Student Independent Study with Sean Keenan on Hip-Hop and the History of Spoken Word Poetry
Dr. Margaret Sullivan, Master’s thesis advisor for Kathy Cullen on children’s literature
Summer 2014
Dr. Heather Levy is presenting a paper titled “Making Each Different Heart Beat Violently: Disembodying Ireland/Embodying England in Elizabeth Bowen’s Shorter Fiction� at the International Association for the Study of Irish Literature conference to be held in Lille, France from July 14-18, 2014.
Spring 2014
Dr. Don Gagnon has served in the following capacities:
–President of Northeast Popular Culture Association (2012-13).
–Area Chair of Northeast Popular Culture Association (2012–ongoing).
–Reader/Grader for Educational Testing Service for advanced placement essays (2011–ongoing).
–Advisor for WCSU’s Q&A (Queers and Allies) (2005–ongoing).
–Advisor for WCSU’s Sigma Tau Delta/English Honors Society (2007–ongoing).
Dr. Don Gagnon will present at Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (Topic: Oscar Hammerstein), April, 2014
Dr. Don Gagnon will guest lecturer at Yale University (Topic: Cultural Invisibilities), October, 2014.
Fall 2013
Dr. Don Gagnon presented a paper titled “Racism in CLYBOURNE PARK” at Northeast Modern Language Association, March, 2013.
Dr. Don Gagnon guest lectured at University of New Hampshire, November, 2013 (Topic: The Colored Museum).
Dr. Heather Levy gave a paper “Immortal Longings”: Elizabeth Bowen and Murder at the Marginalised Maintstream Conference at the University of London on September 13, 2013.
December, 2012
Dr. Heather Levy will be presenting a paper at the London Women’s Leadership Symposium hosted by Cambridge Club, December 8, 2012.
Summer 2012
Dr. Shouhua Qi presented a paper titled “Anxiety, Angst, and the Search for Hardys Chinese Tw(a)in” at the20th International Thomas Hardy Conference, Dorchester, UK, 18-26 August 2012.
Dr. Shouhua Qi’s article “Translation and Transmutation: Hardy in the Post-Mao, Market-Driven China” has been published in the Hardy Review. The Thomas Hardy Association. VIV-I (Spring 2012): 47-58.
April 2012
Chris Bolster, an MA in English student, will be presenting a paper, “Garfield as Trickster: The Existential Implications of a World Without Garfield” at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference, April 2012, Boston, MA.
Spring 2012
Dr. Shouhua Qi’s new book Western Literature in China and the Translation of a Nation is released in spring 2012 (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). This book traces the contours of the ways in which Western literature has been introduced and received in China from the 1840s to the present. It is an attempt to navigate and unpack the complex dynamics, or fault zones, of texts (literary and sociopolitical), contexts (Chinese and Western), intertexts (translation and creative writing), dominance (language, culture, ideology) and resistance, and of tension and convergence.
Fall 2011
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan was awardedaFulbright Fellowship byThe J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (Washington, DC) to teach at VIT University, India, 2011-2012. Dr. Govardhan received the same award to teach at Al Buraimi University, Oman, for 2010-2011, but due to exigencies at WCSU he was not able to go and teach there.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledResearch Methodology and Thesis Writing at the National Workshop at Loyola College, Chennai, India, Dec 1, 2011.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledBest Practices in Essay Writingat Sharad Pawar International School, Poone, India, Nov 25, 2011.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledFrom Research Paper to Thesis Writing at Justice Basheer Ahmed Womens University, Chennai, Nov 18, 2011
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titled How to Start Research Paper and Documentation at University of Madras, Chennai, Nov 17, 2011
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledSAT Essay and How to Write Recommendation Letters at the Workshop Organized at Bangalore, India by the College Board, NY, Nov.10-11, 2011.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledTechnical Writing, Report Writing, and Thesis Writing. at Periyar Maniammal University, Tanjore, India, Nov 3-4, 2011.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledResearch and Writing at Academic Staff College, University of Madras, Chennai, India, Nov 2, 2011.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledNatives of America at Gateway International School, Chennai, Oct 28, 2011.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledTechnical Writing at Mahendra Educational Institutions, Salem, India, Oct 13, 2011.
Fall 2011
Jason Burgher, a graduate of the BA in English program (2009), has been accepted by Teach For America, “the national corps of outstanding college graduates of all academic majors who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and who become lifelong leaders in the effort to end educational inequity.”
November, 2011
Dr. Ingrid Pruss presented her paper entitled “Image a Spiritual Hologram: Lady Gaga & Alexander McQueen, Royalty of a Different Fashion,” at the Northeast Popular Culture Association Conference on Saturday, November 12th, 2011.
Summer 2011
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledGrowth and Development of English Language. Alpha Arts and Science College, Chennai, India, Aug 26, 2011.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledReport Writing. Psychology Department, University of Madras, Chennai, India, Aug 18, 2011.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledOpportunities for English Majors. Justice Basheer Ahmed Womens University, Chennai, India, July 25, 2011.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledResearch and Writing: Methodology and Writing for Journals at HIPC Symposium at PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India, July 23, 2011.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan gave a lecture titledThesis Writing and Documentation in Research Paper at English Department, University of Madras, Chennai, India, July 19-21, 2011
June 2011
Dr. Shouhua Qi presented a paper titled “Transmutation under Borrowed Lenses: The ‘Success Story’ of Thomas Hardy in the Post-Mao, Market-Driven China” at Hardy at Yale International Conference. June 9-12, 2011. Yale University, New Haven, CT. Sponsored by the Thomas Hardy Association.
May 2011
Dr. Ingrid Pruss attended the University of Michigan’s 4T Virtual Conference: Teachers Teaching Teachers about Technology (May 22nd- May 25th 2011).
April 2011
Dr. Ingrid Pruss published a prose poem, “ad fontes,” on Seam Ripper: Women on Textual & Sartorial Style, an online literary art feature/journal curated /edited by Kate Durbin and Becca Klaver. (click here to access the poem)
Dr. Ciğdem Usekes’ essay “The New Desdemona: The White Liberal Woman in African American Drama” will appear in the journal Philological Review.
March 2011
Dr. Michael J. Chappell presented a paper titled “The Pleasures of Friendship and Society: Pekuah and the Arab’s Seraglio in Rasselas” at the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference, Vancouver, BC, March 17-20, 2011
January 2011
Dr. Shouhua Qi presented a paper titled “Mightier, Double-Edged Sword: Translation of Western Texts, Nationhood, and Cultural Survival for China at the Turn of the 20th Century” at the 2011 Modern Language Association Conference, Los Angeles, CA. January 6-9, 2011.
April 2010
The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction (ed. by Tara L. Masih, 2009), for which Dr. Shouhua Qi is a contributing author, has been named a finalist of ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards 2009. Winners will be announced at Book Expo America in New York in June.
Dr. Ciğdem Usekes has been invited to contribute her essay entitled “James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry: Two Revolutionaries, One Heart, One Mind” to a special issue of the journal Obsidian dedicated to Baldwin.
April 2010
Dr. Ciğdem Usekes will be presenting a paper tentatively entitled “Did the Sixties Make James Baldwin Too Black and Too Queer?: The Politics and the Critics of Blues for Mister Charlie and Fortune & Men’s Eyes” at the 2010 NEMLA Convention in Montreal, Canada.
2009
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan published an articleError Correction Strategies for ESL Students at Indian Voices in ELT. Viva Publications, New Delhi, India, 2009.
December 2009
Dr. Heather Levy will be presenting a paper on The Lost Eves of Peidra Azul: Teresa de la Parra’s _Mama Blanca’s Souvenirs at the MLA Convention in Philadelphia.
Fall 2009
Dr. Ciğdem Usekes published an essay on playwright Ed Bullins in the
Literary Encyclopedia.
Summer 2009
Dr. Heather Levy attended The Southampton Fiction Writers Conference in July and The Southampton Screenwriting Conference in August 2009.
Spring 2009
Dr. Michael Chappell’s essay, “Death by Discourse, or the Fate of Jimmy in The Wild One,” appeared in the Spring 2009 issue of the International Journal of Motorcycle Studies.
June 01-03, 2009
Dr. Shouhua Qi presented a three-day lecture/workshop on “Strategies for Teaching Critical Thinking and Argumentative Writing” at
China FLT Textbooks and Methodology Research Center, Shanghai International Studies University.
April 2009
Dr. Michael Chappell presented a paper, “Bring Back the ’70s: Thoughts on What We Have Lost,” at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference, April 2009, New Orleans, LA.
April 24-28, 2009
Dr. Shouhua Qi’s three-act play Twin-Sun River: An American POW in China was staged by the prestigious Shanghai Theater Academy (8 performances altogether).
March 19-21, 2009
Dr. Cigdem Usekes will be presenting a paper at the “James Baldwin: In His Time/In Our Time” Conference at Suffolk University, Boston, MA.
Dr. Maureen Maguire is working on a book tentatively titled Love Songs from Thomas Campion to Bob Dylan: How Four Centuries of Social Change Has Affected the Voice of the Troubadour.
March 2009
Dr. Cigdem Usekes’ essay “‘We’s the Leftovers’: Whiteness as Economic Power and Exploitation in August Wilson’s Twentieth-Century Cycle of Plays” will be republished in the collection August Wilson edited by Harold Bloom (part of the Modern Critical Views series, forthcoming March 2009).
Fall 2008
Dr. Michael Chappell’s review of The Mammoth Book of Bikers, edited by Arthur Veno, appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of the International Journal of Motorcycle Studies.
November 7-9, 2008
Dr. Cigdem Usekes presented a paper entitled “James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry: Two Revolutionaries, One Heart, One Mind” at the American Drama Conference at Saint Francis College in Brooklyn, NY (November 7-9, 2008).
Fall 2008
The Pearl Jacket and Other Stories: Contemporary Chinese Flash Fiction, preface and translation by Dr. Shouhua Qi, was released fall 2008 (Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press).
July 26-August 2, 2008
Dr. Shouhua Qi presented a paper titled “‘You deceived menot by words, but by appearances’: First Impressions and Tragic Consequences in The Return of the Native, Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure” at the 18th International Thomas Hardy Conference (Dorchester, UK. 26th July 2nd August 2008).
July 2, 2008
Dr. Heather Levy presented a paper “Provisional Bliss: Landscape and London in Elizabeth Bowen’s To the North” on July 2, 2008 at the Literary London Conference hosted by Brunel University, Uxbridge.
June 26-28, 2008
Dr. Margaret Murray is currently organizing a conference on Edith Wharton for the Wharton Society, which is to be held at The Mount, in Lenox MA. Students are invited, and may attend all sessions.
June 2008
Dr. Heather Levy visited the New Archive for Poetry at the Mandeville Library at U.C. Davis in June 2008 to research Hannah Weiner’s unpublished poetry. This work was conducted through an AAUP research grant.
March 26-27, 2008
Dr. Shouhua Qi was invited to give a lecture for the Honors Program at Harrisburg Area Community College March 26-27, 2008. The title of his lecture was “History and the Novel: The Role of Literature in Understanding the Dynamics of Power.”
March 24, 2008
A stage reading of Dr. Shouhua Qi’s Twin-Sun River (a screenplay about an American Korean War POW who chose to go to China at the time of armistice) was performed in the HBO Building in New York (5:30 PM- 8:00 PM, March 24, 2008). The event was sponsored by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences New York, produced by Emmy-winning Louisa Burns-Bisogno and Ellen Muir, and directed by Pam McDaniel. Earlier (6:00PM-8:00PM, March 19, 2008), Dr. Qi was invited to give a seminar lecture at the academy titled “Translating from Novel to Screenplay: Challenges and Pitfalls Merging Three Cultures (Chinese, Japanese, Western).”
February 17, 2008
Dr. Ingrid Pruss presented a paper entitled, “Miri Ben-Ari’s ‘Symphony of Brotherhood’: Is it really about us?” at the 2008 Southwest/Texas Popular Culture/American Culture Association Conference. The paper demonstrated the use of Ben-Ari’s hip-hop video as an adjunctive tool for teaching critical methods and advanced poetry, specifically the dramatic monologue.
December 27-30, 2007
Dr. Heather Levy will be presenting a paper entitled “More than ‘Trash to Buy Tobacco’: Sinister Badges of Womanhood, Blackness and Homosexuality in Melville’s Redburn” at the 2007 Modern Language Association Convention in Chicago.
Fall 2007
Dr. Margaret Murray will be on sabbatical for the fall. The purpose of this leave is twofold: (1) to train as Associate Editor of The Edith Wharton Review and (2) to continue her research on the life of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman in order to write a critical biography, which is now in progress. The working title is For the Love of French Hats: The Life of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman.
FALL 2007
Dr. Donald P. Gagnon serves as faculty advisor to the English Society, the English Honor Society as well as Stand Together, the organization for g/l/b/t/q students. In addition, Dr. Gagnon is co-chair of the annual Banned Books Week event this year.
AUGUST 4, 2007
Dr. Margaret Murray and Professor (Judy) Sullivan had a get together for students and community members for a chance to chat with like minded Potterphiles about the last book in the Potter series, Harry Postter and the Deathly Hallows. All invited, all ages.
JULY 2007
Western Literary Studies: Traditions, Trends, and Topics, which Dr. Shouhua Qi co-edited and contributed to, is released by People’s University of China Press in Beijing.
JUNE 28-30, 2007
Dr. Cigdem Usekes presented her paper “In Another Country: James Baldwin and the Turkish Theatre Scene” at the James Baldwin Conference in London, England. This project was sponsored by a 2006-2007 CSU-AAUP Research Grant.
June 14-17, 2007
Dr. Shouhua Qi presented a paper entitled “Imagining Hardy in the Brave New World Today” at “Hardy At Yale,” an international conference organized by The Thomas Hardy Association. He is the organizer of the panel “Thomas Hardy and the Globalized World.”
May 10, 2007
Dr. Shouhua Qi is Western’s recipient of the 2006-2007 Connecticut State University Board of Trustees Research Award. The annual award was established in 2006 to recognize an assistant or associate professor from each of the four CSU universities for his or her “research/creative work of exceptional promise” and for having demonstrated “substantive contributions, achievements and scholarly activity” in his or her field in the last five years.
May 2007
Dr. Michael J. Chappell is named to the editorial board of the International Journal of Motorcycle Studies.
April 25, 2007
Dr. Shouhua Qi‘s paper entitled “Traditions and Trends in Western Literary Genre Studies” was published byForeign Literature Studies (Vol 29, No. 2, April 2007, pp.31-42), Wuhan, China.
April, 2007
Dr. Margaret Murray gave a paper entitled “The Brokeback American Hero: From Salem to Wyoming” at the American Culture Association conference held in Boston, MA.
APRIL 1, 2007
Dr. Shouhua Qi‘s short story collection entitled Red Guard Fantasies and Other Stories (Long River Press, 2007) was released. Gloria Frym, an American Book Award winner, says the 14 stories in the collection “gloriously join the lineage of Chekhov” while Daniel Asa Rose, a two-time Pen Fiction Award recipient, says “[b]y turns tender and chilling, these elegant and deeply knowing tales linger in the mind.”
April 2007
Dr. Michael J. Chappell presented a paper, “A Brief History of the 21st Century Motorcycle Hero,” at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference in Boston, MA.
March, 2007
Dr. Ingrid Pruss gave an interdisciplinary paper/performance art piece at the CSU Sensorium in New Britain, CT on the necessity of acknowledging teaching as an artistic, creative genre and a valid form of art and the impact of originality in the classroom on students’ performance in the class based on group work, individual presentations and papers. Pruss used Shakespeare, advertising, postmodern art, the entertainment industry, and some of her own work to make her point.
Dr. Anam K. Govardhan co-presented a paper titledA Globalized Indian English at the Forty-first TESOL Annual International Convention, Seattle, WA, March 21-24, 2007.
February 8, 2007
Dr. Shouhua Qi was the featured author speaker for the Writing Contest sponsored by Kennedy Middle School of Southington, CT.
January 2007
Dr. Shouhua Qi was a featured writer of a Reading and Signing event sponsored by the MFA program, Irfan Kathwari Honors House, WCSU.
Fall 2006-Spring 2007
Dr. Margaret Murray was named as Assistant Editor of the Edith Wharton Review during spring 2007. She was also named Secretary of the Edith Wharton Society during fall 2006.
December 27-30, 2006
Dr. Margaret Murray chaired a panel on Edith Wharton at the 2006 MLA Convention in Philadelphia, PA. The panel’s title was “Narcissism in the Works of Edith Wharton.”
NOVEMBER 2006
Dr. Michael J. Chappell presented a paper, “Vultures, Indians, and Colonial Expansion: Samuel Johnson and the First Great War,” at the Silo, Hunt Hill Farm, New Milford, CT.
June 2006
Dr. Michael J. Chappell was interviewed in CSU Universe about his work in motorcycle studies and its application in the classroom.
April 27, 2006
Dr. Shouhua Qi was the featured speaker of the Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month at Norwalk Community College, CT. The title of his speech is “Bridging the Pacific: A Personal Journey from a Different Shore.”
April 27, 2006
Dr. Shouhua Qi was the keynote speaker of the 2006 IMPAC-Connecticut State University Young Writers Trust. The title of his speech is “Impac[t]ing the World with Your Words”.
April 2006
Dr. Michael J. Chappell presented a paper, “Hunter S. Thompson: A Literary Appraisal of Hell’s Angels” at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference in Atlanta, GA.
March 2006
Dr. Michael J. Chappell presented a paper, “Vultures, Indians, and Colonial Expansion: Samuel Johnson and the First Great War,” at the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference, Montreal, QC