Thursday’s Notes 58.6

Dear all,

    We are in the home stretch of the spring semester! I hope you all have a wonderful summer. Before we go, though, I do have some exciting accomplishments and announcements to share! I also would like to celebrate our retiring faculty and graduating seniors headed to graduate school.

Announcements

On Friday, May 8th at 7:00 p.m. in JR 319, the Northridge Playwrights Workshop will present staged readings of new student work, including dramas, comedies, experimental texts, and one-person shows, by budding dramatists from both English 310 and 512. Admission is free, and you’re encouraged to arrive early in order to secure a seat.

Celebrating Our Retiring Faculty

Professor Scott Andrews

Professor Andrews has taught U.S. Literature and American Indian Studies for over two decades at CSUN. Beloved by students, he served as the Director of American Indian Studies and is extremely active in the American Indian community at CSUN. Professor Andrews is also an accomplished academic and creative writer, having published in multiple genres from poems and scholarly articles to short stories and essays. His remarkable care and thoughtful pedagogy for students in classes like Introduction to American Indian Studies and American Indians and Popular Culture models the type of academic and social ingenuity we need in these times. Professor Andrews’ interdisciplinary work also embodies what we aim to cultivate among student populations across the CSUN campus community. Professor Andrews’ inspiration and leadership has transformed our university and students, and his absence will be deeply felt.

Professor Linda Overman

Professor Overman has taught in our teaching pathways for well over two decades. She has been an inspiring, creative, and much loved teacher.  Her student-centered practices have been transformative for our students—many of whom are prospective teachers.  Whether she has taught Children’s Literature, Adolescent Literature, upper division literature classes, or that profoundly complicated senior seminar for ESM/FYI/JYI students—English 495ESM, she has been remarkable in all ways.  Not only has she conveyed the course material in meaningful and eloquent ways, but she has touched the lives of so many students.  She has been a gift to the Department and will be deeply missed.

Congratulations to Our Seniors Headed to Graduate School!

Sam Card (MA, English CW, summa cum laude, 2026, BA English CW, cum laude, 2024) was accepted into all four of the MFA programs to which he applied, all with a focus on poetry. He was accepted by CalArts, which awarded him a $60,000 fellowship, in addition to Chapman University, CSU Long Beach, and San Francisco State University.
 
While at CSUN, Sam served as a co-founder and Editor-in-Chief for the Scarlet Review, a new international literary magazine housed at CSUN, as Secretary for Sigma Tau Delta, the international English Honor Society, as Secretary for Poetry Club, as Poetry Editor for the Northridge Review, and as an active member of the Northridge Creative Writing Circle. In addition, he served as a Supplemental Instructor and won publication for one short story and six of his poems.
 
Robert Jones (MA, English CW, summa cum laude, 2026, BA English CW, 2024) was accepted into three MFA programs to which he applied, all with a focus on fiction. He was accepted by Chapman University, California State University Long Beach, and San Francisco State University. Currently, he’s awaiting news on fellowships from CSULB & SFSU.
 
While at CSUN, Robert served first as Vice President then as President for Northridge Creative Writing Club, as Fiction Editor for the Northridge Review, as Editor for the Daily Sundial, and as an active member of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English Honor Society. In addition, Robert served as a Supplemental Instructor and won publication for four of his short stories.
 

Accomplishments

Professor Scott Andrews’ review of Speculative Relations: Indigenous Worlding and Repair by Joseph M. Pierce will appear in the next issue of MELUS.

On April 9th, Professor Scott Kleinman gave an invited lecture to the Texas A&M Center of Digital Humanities Research. His talk was titled “Modelling Premodern and Early Modern Languages and Literatures”.

Professor Audrey Thacker is the recipient of a CSUN Exceptional Levels of Service to Students Award (ESSA) for the 2026-27 academic year for her work supporting students as Chair of Matadors Against Antisemitism (MAA).
 
Professor Thacker also published her article, “Big J’s? Little j’s? Jewsplain Us No More,” about externally essentialized Jewish identity in the aftermath of October 7, in the Jewish Journal in March. Read it here.