1. Announcements
Congratulations to our new lecturers’ representative–Tina Love, who will be attending department meetings as Lecturer Representative; and Amanda Harrison and Angie Misaghi, Composition Committee Reps; Noreen Lace, Educational Technology Committee Rep; and Pat Swenson, Literature Committee Rep. We appreciate your participation–and that of everyone who put their names forward–and look forward to working with you.
We have been reminded by Chancellor Reed and our campus Academic Affairs division that “using the classroom to inform students about Proposition 30, including dismissing class early and speaking to volunteer students who remain after class, crosses the line into inappropriate political advocacy.” We have also been directed to the guidelines for political and election issues in the CSU, which can be found in the Office of General Counsel Elections Handbook at http://www.calstate.edu/gc/Docs/ElectionIssues.pdf. “It is impossible,” the Handbook states, “to establish clear or bright lines that apply universally in every situation, because the law is premised on reasonableness and balance, and the facts are different in each individual circumstance.” The Handbook also states, “Factual information about consequences that will result from the passage or failure of a political measure, even including some value judgments and opinions, may be acceptable so long as moderate in tone.”
Sigma Tau Delta, AGSE, 4Humanties@CSUN, Associated Graduate Students in History, and various individuals have joined forces with Better World Books, a “for-profit social enterprise or social business venture” that “uses the power of business to change the world,” to run a book drive that will benefit the literacy initiatives of Books for Africa (http://www.booksforafrica.org). If you have unwanted college-level books published within the past 10 years (highlighting/writing in the books is fine) that you would be willing to donate to a good cause, please put them in the hall designated for later pick-up or leave them in the donations box in the English mail room. The drive will begin sometime later on in October, but it’s not too early to start clearing out now. Sub-Sahara Africa is in dire need of textbooks, and this is your chance to help.
The Northridge Creative Writing Circle will be presenting poet Michelle Bitting at CSUN this Thursday, September 27, at 7:00 p.m. in the Oviatt Library, Room 25. Bitting, a fourth-generation Angeleno, is author of the DeNovo award-winning Good Friday Kiss and the just-released Notes to the Beloved. Her poems have been published widely, including in American Poetry Review, Narrative, and L.A. Weekly. Dancer, actor, musician, and community activist, she teaches in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. And mark your calendars now for the next NCWC event–Ben Loory reading on October 25, also at 7:00 p.m.!
The College of Humanities announces a Call for Proposals for Academic Programming Support open to all full- and part-time faculty in the college. Funding from this source will provide supplementary support for academically related activities and events only (e.g., guest lecturers, workshops, performances). Funding from this source will not be allocated to support individual faculty stipends, curriculum development, travel, faculty research or creative projects, materials or resources for faculty or student training, and/or to hire student assistants. Please submit your one page proposals (including budget summary and contact person email and phone number) describing how the proposed activity or event supports a course or other academic program to: Academic Programming Fund, College of Humanities, SH 461, mail code 8252. But be quick–the deadline is Monday, October 1, by 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon.
For the last couple of years the College of Humanities has featured the work of a creative writing student on the Dean’s office holiday card. Believe it or not, it’s time to be thinking of this again! The Dean’s office is looking for a poem or excerpt from something that captures the spirit of the season—but not specifically religious or Christmas-y (more something that evokes winter, etc) and needs to have it no later than Halloween so that they can get the card designed and to the printer. They might also be willing to accept artwork—but it would basically need to be black and white because we don’t do full-color cards. Be on the lookout for high quality work, and pass it along to me (Kate Haake) when you find something good.
Provost Harry Hellenbrand cordially invites you to the 4th Annual Research Fellows Colloquium on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. in the Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room, Oviatt Library. Come and hear our distinguished faculty speak about their research.
The CSUN Faculty Retreat Planning Committee also shines, and for the 2013 Faculty Retreat has adopted the title “CSUN. Shine. Illuminating Pathways to Success.” This year’s retreat will be held on the CSUN campus on January 14 and 15, 2013. Faculty interested in making a presentation at the retreat are invited to submit proposals that think about illuminating pathways to their personal and professional successes at CSUN. The presentation proposal form is available at: http://www.csun.edu/senate/retreat/proposalform2013.doc . Additional information on registering for the Faculty Retreat will be sent to all faculty in late October. The Retreat website will include updates as planning proceeds; be sure to visit: http://www.csun.edu/senate/retreat.html .
The Faculty Mentor Program & Educational Opportunity Program is accepting nominations for the 2011-2012 Don Dorsey Excellence in Mentoring Awards. The nomination deadline is Friday, Oct. 26, 5 p.m. These awards are presented to faculty, staff, and administrators who have been exceptional mentors at CSUN. Faculty, staff, and administrators may be nominated for these awards, which recognize exceptional mentoring of past or present CSUN students; a holistic approach to mentoring, including academic and personal support and in informal and intangible ways; and support of the university’s commitment to the success of students of diverse backgrounds and communities. A reception honoring the recipients will be held Tuesday, Nov. 6, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., in the Whitsett Room, fourth floor of Sierra Hall. The nomination deadline is Friday, October 26, 5:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Glenn Omatsu, Coordinator, Faculty Mentor Program, EOP Central, University Hall 205 (campus mail code: 8366); e-mail: glenn.omatsu@csun.edu.
On-line training is now available to help faculty and staff recognize and support students may be in distress. We are pleased to also provide training that addresses the specific needs and challenges of student veterans, whose numbers are expected to grow on our campus. The skills acquired in these sessions will help us to promote wellness within our community and make speedy referrals, when necessary, to the appropriate campus resources.
Just a heads up that the Associated Students will be sponsoring a non-partisan Political Fair on Bayramian Hall Lawn on Thursday, October 4, 2012 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. This is open to any/all group wanting to distribute and share information on candidates and/or ballot initiatives for the upcoming elections. The event will include the use of amplified music from 12:30 – 1:30.
On October 13, Kate Haake and Mona Houghton will be reading with What Books author, Chuck Rosenthal, at Bart’s Bookstore in Ojai at 6:00 p.m. For more information, please see the Bart’s webpage at http://www.bartsbooksojai.com.
2. Reminders
Please be sensitive to University policy regarding religious observances. Although we have made it through the Jewish High Holy Days, there may be other occasions on which your students will be absent due to a religious holiday, which they should be allowed to observe without negative consequences in class.
As previously announced, you are invited to a book release party for Rick Mitchell’s new collection, Ventriloquist: Two Plays & Ventriloquial Miscellany, at The Last Bookstore, Downtown Los Angeles (453 S. Spring St.), on Friday, September 28th, at 8:00 p.m. The reading will feature actors (and a dummy) performing excerpts from Rick’s play Ventriloquist Sex. Also, on Sunday, September 30th, at 5:00 p.m., Rick will be giving a book-related presentation, “The Art of Ventriloquism,” in the Poetry Corner at the West Hollywood Book Fair (West Hollywood Park). For further information on the first event: http://lastbookstorela.com/ai1ec_event/rick-mitchells-ventriloquist-two-plays-ventriloquial-miscellany/?instance_id=17529. And for info on the second event, please see: http://www.westhollywoodbookfair.org/?page_id=3744.
Also, again, at the West Hollywood Bookfair, on September 30, Mona Houghton will be speaking on a What Books Panel from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. in the Poet’s Corner. Immediately after, also in the Poet’s Corner, Kate Haake will be reading from her new novel (which, ok, has been described as a “long modernist poem that looks like a novel”) with the actual poet, Gail Wronsky.
3. Opportunities
So to Speak: a feminist journal of language and art is now accepting submissions for the Spring 2013 issue! This issue will feature poetry and nonfiction contest winners, as well as fiction and visual art. Submissions will be accepted from August 15-October 15 through the online submissions manager at http://sotospeak.submishmash.com/submit. Full submission guidelines are available at http://sotospeakjournal.org/. Looking into the future, the judge for their Spring 2013 Poetry Contest will be Danielle Pafunda and for the Spring 2013 Nonfiction Contest will be Julie Marie Wade. Winners will receive prize money and publication, and finalists will also be published. The contest entry fee of $15 will include a free copy of the Spring 2013 issue for all entrants.
The Oklahoma Review, an online journal published by the Department of English and Foreign Languages at Cameron University, will be accepting submissions in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry until October 15. Submissions may be sent via email to okreview@cameron.edu.
4. Achievements
On July 26, Joel Athey aced the 4th hole at Balboa Golf Course using a 4-iron on the 172-yard par 3. This is his second hole-in-one; the first was in Kansas in 1968. Joel’s playing partner was Don Brownlee, outgoing chair of Speech. For non-golfers, a ready distance comparison: a center field home run at Dodger Stadium travels 400 feet, or 133 yards. And a person hitting a home run doesn’t have to nail a target the size of a teacup. Many golfers never make a hole-in-one in their lifetimes because it takes skill plus a whole lot of luck in the bounces.
Scott Kleinman taught a workshop on text mining at THATCampSoCal (The Humanities and Technology Camp). He also led a follow-up session and session on regional collaboration in the Digital Humanities. THATCampSoCal was also attended by Ashley Chang and Joshua Spurgeon, two students from his current course on Literary Criticism and Analysis in the Digital Age, as well as by Kristin Cornelius and Michael Green, two graduates of his course on The Technology Textuality from previous semesters.
Fred Field, who is still an official member of the English Department but who will remain one of us even after he leaves for Linguistics in the spring, has been offered a contract from Cambridge University Press for a book tentatively titled, Spanish and English in the United States: The Collision of Two Giants. Now, Fred cheerfully notes, all he has to do is write a 300-page book.