Deep Song Reading Series Kicks Off This Thursday with Adam Clay

This Thursday, November 8th, Belmont's Deep Song Reading Series will host its first writer. This new event series, facilitated by Dr. Gary McDowell, will bring writers and poets to campus in celebration of the written and spoken word.

 For the inaugural event, at 7:00 p.m. in McWhorter 110, the poet Adam Clay will be reading from his new book, A Hotel Lobby at the Edge of the World (Milkweed Editions, 2012). Click and enlarge the event poster below for more information, and come out to hear Adam read from his work!

Dark Specter Caught on Film

An eerie apparition, long known to haunt the English Department each fall, was photographed just outside the Writing Center this afternoon. Some speculation exists that the spirit of a disgruntled student revisits the department each year around the time of his suspension. Others say this black phantasm is the Ghost of Papers Past, and students have reported hair-raising whispers of "rewrite, rewrite" as they pass down the department's hallway. A few contend that the phantom visits classrooms in an effort to get enough BELL Core credits for graduation. Only one thing is certain. The Gothic abounds in the English Department.

English Professors to Lecture at Bongo Java

This semester and next, three Belmont English professors will deliver lectures at Bongo Java coffeehouse as part of its Belmont U. Lecture Series. This monthly event series features award-winning Belmont professors and is free and open to the public.

The lectures are held the first Tuesday of each month from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Bongo Java on Belmont Boulevard.  A complete schedule for the series can be found here:  http://www.bongojava.com/view_event.php?id=188

The first event kicks off in less than two weeks on November 6 with the English Department's Dr. Marcia McDonald. Following in December and April are Dr. Maggie Monteverde and Professor Sue Trout.  Mark your calendars, have some coffee, and learn for free!

Featured English Professors

Tuesday, November 6  

From Partisan Politics to Civil Conversation:  Some Ideas from the Great Writers

Marcia McDonald, English Department

Tuesday, December 4

The Origins of Christmas Customs 

Maggie Monteverde, English Department

Tuesday, April 2

Oh, I Couldn't Wear It, But It Looks Good on You:  The Function of Manners in the South

Sue Trout, English Department

Upcoming Events with Mark Charles

Please plan to attend two important & enlightening programs with Navajo speaker Mark Charles!

Reconciliation: How Teachings from a 2,000 year-old Book Can Bring Healing to a 500 year-old Wound

Friday, October 26, 2012
Neely Hall 10:00-10:50 am
Culture and Arts Convo Credit

Mark Charles is a Native American leader who lives at Fort Defiance, AZ, located on the Navajo Reservation. He seeks to understand the complexities of American history regarding race, culture and faith in order to help forge a path of healing and biblical reconciliation for the nation. Using the indigenous art of storytelling, Charles will share, both from the Scriptures as well as from his personal journey, insights he has gained into the depth of the Creator's heart for reconciliation.

*Co-sponsored by the Office of Spiritual Development and the Department of English



An Apology, an Appropriations Bill, and a Conversation That Never Happened

Friday, October 26, 2012
Beaman A & B 6:00-7:30 pm
Academic Lecture Credit

On December 19, 2009 President Obama signed the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3326. Buried on page 45 of this 67-page document is sub-section 8113, titled "Apology to Native People of the United States.” The White House Press Release regarding this bill contained no mention of the apology and it was not read publically until a small ceremony six months later. This is not how a nation of immigrants apologizes to their indigenous hosts for centuries of disenfranchisement, broken treaties and stolen lands. This talk will present efforts currently underway to publically communicate this apology so a conversation regarding reconciliation can truly begin.

*Sponsored by the Communication Studies Department

Biographical Notes:

Mark Charles is a speaker, writer, and consultant from Fort Defiance, AZ, located on the Navajo Reservation. The son of an American woman of Dutch heritage and a Navajo man, Mark seeks to understand the complexities of American history regarding race, culture, and faith in order to help forge a path of healing and reconciliation for the nation. He partners with numerous organizations to assist them in respectfully approaching, including, and working with native communities. Mark is a graduate of UCLA.

He consults as a resource development specialist for Indigenous worship through Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. He is the primary investigator in a study conducted by Brigham Young University on the Navajo perception of time. Mark serves as a board member for Christian Community Development Association and the Christian Reformed Church of North America. He developed and coordinates the Global Discipleship Network project through Christian Reformed World Missions.

Mr. Charles is currently traveling across the United States in an effort, as he puts it, to “understand the complexities of our country's history regarding race, culture and faith so that I can help forge a path of healing and reconciliation for our people.”

Graduate Student Presents Work

Allison Belt (show below), a Master's student in the English graduate program who was featured back in February, recently presented her work at two different conference settings in less than a week.

• On September 22, at Middle Tennessee State University's EGSO Conference, Allison presented a paper titled "The Road to Hell: Intentions in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." 
• On September 27, in conjunction with Dr. Annette Sisson, Allison presented at Belmont University's Eleventh Annual Humanities Symposium. Her portion of the talk was called, "Toward a Global Perspective: Wendell Berry and the Ties That Bind." 

English Graduate Student Publishes Work

Shellie Richards (pictured below), an undergraduate alumna of Belmont University and a Master's student in Belmont's Graduate English program, has had a fruitful 2012 when it comes to publishing her writing.  She has placed her poetry and short fiction in a variety of print and online venues. This impressive list includes:

• Bartleby Snopes, "Quick & Painless" (fiction short story). Winner, Story of the Month January 2012.
• Belmont Literary Journal, "The Price of Doubt" (fiction short story) & "South Carolina in July" (poetry). Spring 2012.
• The Chaffey Review, "Primetime" (creative non-fiction short story). Volume VIII, Summer 2012.
• Tabula Rasa: Vanderbilt University Journal of Medical Humanities, "The Diagnosis" (short story).  Spring 2012.
• Pyrokinection, "On the Way to Gautreau’s in New Orleans" (poetry). June 2012.
• The Mindless Muse, "One-Horse Town Life," "Errands," & "Academia Unraveled" (poetry). July 2012.
• Jellyfish Whispers, "Dusk" & "The Hundred Year Flood" (poetry). August 2012.

Congratulations to Shellie on her growing corpus of work!

Humanities Symposium Writing Awards Named In Honor of Sandy Hutchins

On Sunday, September 30, the Belmont Humanities Symposium committee announced that, going forward, the Symposium writing awards will be named in honor of Dr. Sandy Hutchins, a longtime member of Belmont’s English Department.  

Dr. Hutchins earned her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University and is an Associate Professor of English with teaching focuses in writing, including creative writing and composition, and in British literature. Her research interests include daughter/father relationships, social festivity in literature, Australian literature, literary/cultural study, and teaching and pedagogy, especially the teaching of creative writing. In 2010, Dr. Hutchins was the recipient of the Leo Love Merit Scholarship as part of the Taos Summer Writers Conference. She has published fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction and is now working on her third novel, Already Kindled, told from the perspective of a young girl growing up in Mississippi.  

Please help us in congratulating Dr. Hutchins for  this most recent distinction!

L to R: Dr. Regine Schwarzmeier, Dr. Sandy Hutchins, Dr. David Curtis, Dr. Cynthia Cox, Dr. Gary McDowell