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Chair: Kent Baxter
Notes compiled by: Kate Haake
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Announcements
Faculty undergoing personnel review will not want to miss “Retention, Tenure, and Promotion,” an informal discussion on the process. The event will take place in the Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room of the Oviatt Library on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. to noon. Members of reviewing agencies such as Department Chairs, members of Department and College Personnel Committees, and Deans and faculty planning to seek promotion in rank in future years are also invited and encouraged to attend.
The Oviatt Library and the Office of the Provost cordially invites you to the 8th Annual Research Fellow Colloquium, when our distinguished Research Fellows will be talking about their — research! And bring your classes with you to the Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room in the Oviatt Library on Tuesday, October 11, from 10:00 a.m. to noon.
On Sunday, October 9, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., the Santa Monica Review will be hosting a reading to celebrate the publication of its fall 2016 issue. The evening will feature a welcome and introduction by poet, teacher, and activist, Susan Suntree, and readings by Monona Wali, Richard Wirick, Michelle Latiolais, and Kate Haake. So if your Sunday afternoon brings you to Santa Monica, please consider joining us there.
Please let your students know that the Northridge Creative Writing Circle is undergoing a metamorphosis this semester! Even if they missed the first meeting, which took place on September 13, they should stay tuned for more, as this club, along with our others, such as the Sigma Tau Delta, AGSE, and the Critical Theory Club, offer exciting opportunities to students for involvement, new experiences and communities, and fun.
Reminders
This being the season of memos, be sure to read the ones you receive. There are all kinds of things to be aware of — outside employment (there are rules and restrictions), policies for examinations and religious observations (be informed and accommodating), selling books to the book buyers who haunt our halls and inboxes (don’t) — and you may miss out on them if you don’t read all your mail.
For example, President Harrison wants us to remember that safety on campus is a shared responsibility. Toward that end, please make note of the important resource, the “Emergency Operations Desk Reference for Faculty,” posted at http://www.csun.edu/emergency/emergency-desk-reference. You may also reach the Desk Reference from the “Emergency Information” link at the bottom of the Cal State Northridge home page, http://www.csun.edu. Additionally, please see the Office of Equity and Diversity’s website at www.csun.edu/eqd for information on confidential on- and off-campus support services, sexual misconduct response and prevention, reporting resources, and more information regarding CSUN’s policies against discrimination. Finally, make sure that the contact information on your portal is current and complete so that, in the event of emergency, you will not be left out of potentially invaluable real-time notifications.
Ronaldo wants this information, too, so please get your updated contact and emergency contact information to him soon.
President Harrison also wants us to Help Make CSUN Shine Bright! Please visit the program website at http://www.csun.edu/MakeCSUNShineBrighter to share thoughts, opinions and creative ideas on this semester’s topic: diversity. What are promising campus practices for using diversity to equip our students for 21st century success [e.g., enhancing critical thinking, creativity, and boundary-spanning leadership skills]? How can we create learning environments that take full advantage of CSUN’s unique diversity-related strengths? How we can better celebrate, support, and facilitate inclusivity and diversity? All students, faculty and staff are invited to respond by submitting thoughts on the webform through October 7, 2016.
It’s Open Enrollment Time, September 12 through October 7. This is your opportunity not just to select your health care option, but also to enroll in pre-tax benefits, like child care and health care, and other benefits that could save you money!
The Amenities Committee does want your contributions to our annual fund, which finances the holiday party, refreshments for department meetings, and celebrations for faculty and staff retirements and other milestones. Contributions (in the form of cash or checks) should be given to Marlene Cooksey (ST 704). Checks should be made out to “Amenities.” (Please don’t put cash in Marlene’s mailbox.) Suggested contributions are the same as last year: Professor $70, Associate $50, Assistant $40, Lecturer $10. Thank you, Amenities Committee — and thank you, too, everyone else — in advance, for helping us fund department events and reimburse those who shop for these events!
Opportunities
The West Valley Regional Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library has selected to participate in a system-wide program called The Bard Goes West, which will celebrate Shakespeare’s presence in everything from 19th theatres, to early to contemporary film adaptations, to the wide range of other ways Shakespeare was enjoyed throughout the history of the West Coast. The program will run from November 2016 through February 2017. Toward that end, librarian Daryl A. Maxwell is looking for someone in our department who is knowledgeable about Shakespeare, his work, and possibly their impact on CA and/or the West Coast? Anyone interested in participating can contact Daryl at dmaxwell@lapl.org.
The American Comparative Literature Association conference is looking for proposals that explore postcolonial responses to creative writing as a globalized discipline, and we are considering submissions through September 23. The conference will take place at Utrecht University on July 6 through 9, 2017. Here is the call: http://www.acla.org/postcolonial-responses-globalized-discipline-creative-writing.
This one is for your undergraduate creative writing students: The Blue Route, a national, undergraduate literary journal, is currently accepting submissions for issue 17. Please encourage your undergraduate students to submit their very best poetry, short fiction, or creative nonfiction. This journal pays 25 dollars for accepted work! More information is available at https://widenerblueroute.org.
And another one for students: The Santa Ana River Review, the graduate-student-run literary journal of the University of California, Riverside’s MFA program is open for submissions through the 15th of November! In addition to reviewing work in the categories of Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Visual Arts, this year they are also hosting a Dramatic Works Contest, with NO SUBMISSION FEE and a TOP PRIZE of $100! With this contest, they are looking for truly unique 10-minute works unhindered by the confines of a production budget or performance restrictions. For more information, please visit their webpage at sarreview.ucr.edu.
Achievements
Irene Clark’s article, “Genre, Identity, and the Brain: Insights from Neuropsychology,” has been published in The Journal of General Education, Volume 65, Number 1, 2016, pp, 1-19. Her chapter, titled “Assembling Knowledge: The Role of Threshold Concepts in Facilitating Transfer,” written in collaboration with Linda Adler-Kassner, Liane Robertson, Kara Taczak, and Kathleen Blake Yancey, is the first chapter in Critical Transitions: Writing and the Question of Transfer, published by the WAC Clearinghouse, edited by Chris M. Anson and Jessie L. Moore. During her sabbatical, she gave two presentations at the University of Coventry on the topic of writing assignments and a presentation concerned with thesis and dissertation writing at Queen Mary University, London.
Noreen Lace‘s short fiction, “Of Strays and Exes,” was published in New Beginnings, released by Pilcrow and Dagger in June 2016. The same story was chosen for July’s podcast, available on their website www.pilcrowdagger.com/podcasts.