spring M - Department of English - University of Minnesota

F R O M T H E C H A I RThree Centuries of English at MinnesotaSPRING SEMESTER saw several important changes in ourfaculty roster. Starting this fall, Siobhan S. Craig, formerly alecturer in both the Department of English and theDepartment of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, becomesan assistant professor in the Department of English. Dr. Craig studiedat Smith College and the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, whereshe earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. Expert in modern filmas well as literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, she iscompleting a book titled Rubble Trouble: History and Subjectivity and Desirein the Ruins of Fascism.Two colleagues, Tom Augst and Lois Cucullu, have recently beenpromoted to associate professor with tenure. Professor Augst’s book, TheClerk’s Tale: Young Men and Moral Life in Nineteenth-Century America, waspublished by the University of Chicago Press in fall 2003. ProfessorCucullu’s book, Expert Modernists, Matricide and Modern Culture: Woolf,Forster, Joyce, will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in September.Each will begin a sabbatical leave during the coming academic year topursue archival research. Donald Ross will succeed Tom Augst asDirector of Composition.After serving the department for three years as Director of GraduateStudies, Josephine Lee has become director of the new CLA Programin Asian-American Studies. Qadri Ismail will succeed her as DGS. Hisbook, Abiding by Sri Lanka: On Peace, Place, and Postcoloniality, is forthcomingfrom the University of Minnesota Press.Elsewhere in CLA an appointmentwas recently made that benefitsthe Department of English:Louis Mendoza is now associateprofessor and chair of theDepartment of Chicano Studies.Professor Mendoza earned hisPh.D. in English from theUniversity of Texas-Austin. Hecomes to Minnesota from theUniversity of Texas–San Antonio,where he was an associate professorof English and associate dean of theCollege of Liberal and Fine Arts.Professor Mendoza’s publicationsMichael HancherProfessor and Chairinclude Historia: The Literary Making of Chicana and Chicano History(2001); Crossing into America: The New Literature of Immigration (2003);and The Jail Machine: Raúl Salinas and the Poetics of Pinto Transformation(forthcoming). Professor Mendoza will cross-list some of his courses inboth the Department of Chicano Studies and the Department ofEnglish.Before the new millennium began there was some dispute aboutwhen that was: January 1, 2000, or January 1, 2001? Those favoring2000 will find our web page “Ph.D. Recipients since 2000” a usefulguide to what our doctoral program has achieved this millennium: 35Photo by Tom FoleyENGLISHATMINNESOTACONTENTSCharles Baxter: Gift of BabbleVital Bridge: English Majors in the CommunityTest and Image: Conference Wrap-upFrom All Ends of the EarthLooking Back: Mary Ellen ChaseOutstanding TeachersSummer ReadingFaculty & Alumni NewsCreative Writing: The Year in ReviewGarrison Keillor: Love TestEsther Freier Lectures 2003-2004Publications and Calendar346810111214-1518193234-35THE HEART OF A LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION, the study of literature and language cultivates the empathy, initiative,and creativity that we all need to thrive in the world.WE INTRODUCE STUDENTS to literary traditions of the English-speaking world, and engage topics that range frommedieval literature to world Englishes to creative writing. Our students learn the arts of interpretation, analysis,critical understanding, and communication that they will rely on throughout their personal and professionallives.ENGLISH AT MINNESOTA shapes the artists and scholars of tomorrow. Our program in creative writing developsstudents' skills in the writing of poetry, fiction, and nonfictional prose, and brings to campus some of theworld's most renowned writers. For more than a century, our graduate program in English has prepared scholarsand teachers for successful careers in community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and research universities.ENGLISH AT MINNESOTA makes a difference.continued on back coverENGLISH AT MINNESOTA, VOL. 5 NO. 3. English At Minnesota is published twice each academic year for thealumni, faculty, staff, and students of the English department. Send correspondence to the editor at the addressbelow. For further information about English programs, visit http://english.cla.umn.edu/. Editing and design byNeil Kozlowicz.DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE | 207 Lind Hall | 207 Church Street SE | Minneapolis, MN55455-0134 | Michael Hancher, department chair | Gordon Hirsch, associate chair | Josephine Lee, director ofgraduate studies | M J Fitzgerald, director of creative writing | Tom Augst, director of composition | Patricia Crain,director of undergraduate studiesThe University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities,and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disability, public assistancestatus, veteran status, or sexual orientation. This publication is available in alternate formats by request and onlineat http://english.cla.umn.edu/. © 2003 Regents of the University of Minnesota.