April 26, 2024

Blevins Presents at Western States Rhetoric and Literacy Conference

October 29, 2019 by

Assistant Professor of English Brenta Blevins

At the 2019 Western States Rhetoric and Literacy conference at Montana State University, Assistant Professor of English Brenta Blevins presented a paper as part of the “Contemplating Rhetorical Futures in a Post-Desktop Computing World” roundtable with Jacob Greene, Arizona State University; David Rieder, North Carolina State University; Shannon Butts, University of Florida; and Jason Crider, University of Florida.

Blevins’ presentation, “Approaching the Event Horizon of a Digital Black Hole: Contemplation in Augmented Reality in an Era of Technological Change,” explored the tensions in post-desktop composing between attention and preservation, on the one hand, and, on the other, between distraction and deprecation. Taking augmented reality as one example, she explored how digital information risks falling into an information black hole where technology change renders digital texts inaccessible to future audiences. The digital black hole is a risk not just for augmented reality, but all instances in which human history, inquiry, and expression are recorded solely in digital media.

Filed Under: Professional Notes Tagged With: ,

Claudia Emerson Receives Posthumous Honor at Library of Virginia Literary Awards

October 24, 2019 by
Claudia Emerson, the late Mary Washington professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, received a posthumous poetry award from the Library of Virginia Literary Awards Oct. 19.

Claudia Emerson, the late Mary Washington professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, received a posthumous poetry award from the Library of Virginia Literary Awards Oct. 19.

The late Mary Washington professor Claudia Emerson was posthumously honored at the Library of Virginia Literary Awards on Oct. 19 in Richmond, tying with Michael Chitwood for this year’s Poetry Award prize. According to the judges, Emerson’s book Claude Before Time and Space “displays the final work of a master poet at the height of her craft.”

Emerson was the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2008 to 2010. Among her many honors are the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, which she received in 2006 for her book Late Wife, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. In 2009, Emerson was honored as one of the Library’s Virginia Women in History. She served as poetry editor for the Greensboro Review and contributing editor for Shenandoah. In addition to her 15 years at Mary Washington, she taught at Washington and Lee University, Randolph-Macon College, and Virginia Commonwealth University. She died on December 4, 2014, in Richmond.

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Alum Celebrates Identity, Inclusion at Gender and Sexual Minorities Event

October 23, 2019 by
For Ted Lewis ’04, the process of embracing being nonbinary began at Mary Washington. Now executive director for a Richmond-based nonprofit, Lewis – who uses they/them pronouns – helps Virginia’s LGBTQ+ youth discover their own fully authentic selves. This week, Lewis returns to UMW to share personal experiences of coming out and organizing LGBTQ+ youth […]
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Alum Celebrates Identity, Inclusion at Gender and Sexual Minorities Event

October 22, 2019 by
Gender and Sexual Minorities and Allies Cultural Celebration keynote speaker Ted Lewis ’04.

Gender and Sexual Minorities and Allies Cultural Celebration keynote speaker Ted Lewis ’04.

For Ted Lewis ’04, the process of embracing being nonbinary began at Mary Washington. Now executive director for a Richmond-based nonprofit, Lewis – who uses they/them pronouns – helps Virginia’s LGBTQ+ youth discover their own fully authentic selves.

This week, Lewis returned to UMW to share personal experiences of coming out and organizing LGBTQ+ youth at universities and communities throughout the South. They spoke with students as part of the Gender and Sexual Minorities and Allies Cultural Celebration in the Hurley Convergence Center’s Digital Auditorium yesterday at 7 p.m.

“Being authentic saved my life,” said Lewis, who recalled how powerful it was to connect with LGBTQ+ elders in college. “I’m eager to provide that experience to UMW students.” Read more. 

Filed Under: What's New @ UMW Tagged With: , , ,

Subramanian Publishes Story on Depression in The Atlantic

October 17, 2019 by
Sushma Subramanian, assistant professor in the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication

Sushma Subramanian, assistant professor in the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication

Sushma Subramanian, journalist and assistant professor in the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, has published a story in The Atlantic about an emerging form of depression in Japan, colloquially called “modern-type depression.” In her piece, she explores the work of Japanese scientists studying the social changes that have contributed to this condition: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/10/modern-type-depression-japan/600160/.

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2019 National Day on Writing

October 15, 2019 by

The University of Mary Washington is celebrating the 2019 National Day on Writing, an initiative of the National Council of Teachers of English to promote writing not just as a critical part of literacy, but as worthy of celebration and greater attention in its own right. On October 21, from 11-2 p.m., several departments and offices on campus, including the Department of English, Linguistics and Communication; Honors Scholars; Writing Center; Simpson Library; and the UMW Barnes & Noble Bookstore will have tables set up at their locations with opportunities for student engagement.

Departments involved include:

  • Department of English, Linguistics and Communication
  • Honors Scholars
  • Writing Center
  • Simpson Library
  • Student Activities and Engagement
  • UMW Barnes & Noble Bookstore
  • Eagle One
Filed Under: What's New @ UMW Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Barrenechea Lectures on Silko at Eastern New Mexico University

October 10, 2019 by

Professor Antonio Barrenechea

Antonio Barrenechea, Professor of English, recently delivered a Skype lecture at Eastern New Mexico University. Titled “Leslie Marmon Silko’s Council Book: Hemispheric Forces in Almanac of the Dead,” it discussed the inter-artistic and inter-American dimensions of an encyclopedic novel by a Laguna Pueblo author.

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Whalen Publishes Essay on Computer-Generated Creative Writing

October 2, 2019 by

Associate Professor Zach Whalen

Zach Whalen, Associate Professor of English, has just published an article in a special issue of The Journal of Creative Writing Studies on “Creative Making as Creative Writing.” His article, “The Many Authors of The Several Houses of Brian, Spencer, Liam, Victoria, Brayden, Vincent, and Alex: Authorship, Agency, and Appropriation,” is an artist’s statement reflecting on how creating a computer-generated book like Whalen’s 2017 work The Several Houses of Brian, Spencer, Liam, Victoria, Brayden, Vincent, and Alex invites readers to reconsider the idea of what it means to be an author. Whalen’s book draws on several different databases to create an essentially infinite variation on the nursery rhyme “This is the House that Jack Built”; these databases contain the work of hundreds of contributors, so Whalen argues in this article that the novel is best considered a collaboration among many instead of the work of a single individual or computer. https://scholarworks.rit.edu/jcws/vol4/iss1/

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UMW ‘Keeps the Light On’ Banned Books Week

September 26, 2019 by
Born in Russia, UMW sophomore Katia Savelyeva has called America home for most of her life. But the English major sometimes wonders what it would be like had she stayed in St. Petersburg. “I hope I’d still do things that don’t require as much bravery here in the United States,” said Savelyeva, who read aloud […]
Filed Under: Keith Mellinger, Office of Student Activities and Engagement, Top Stories, UMW Barnes & Noble Bookstore Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Brovero Honored with Debate Award

September 24, 2019 by

Debate Coach Adrienne Brovero

Adrienne Brovero, UMW’s Director of Debate, was recently recognized by the Barkley Forum for Debate Deliberation and Dialogue as this year’s recipient of the Melissa Maxcy Wade Award Honoring Debate as a Public Good at the Atlanta Season Opener Debate Tournament. The award is presented at the Season Opener each year to a person in the debate community who is committed to using debate as a public good or encouraging and empowering others to use debate as a public good. In March, Brovero was similarly recognized by the National Debate Tournament, when she received the Lucy M. Keele Award for Service, based on her service to the community. Brovero is also continuing in that spirit, having been elected as Chair of the National Debate Tournament Committee in March.

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