More on this year’s graduates, and those from the past…

Alex Thomas (’10) will be attending the MAT program at Willamette University to pursue her Master’s in Teaching and her credential–which she is planning to use to teach high school English!

Greta Lindquist (’10) will attend the Denver Publishing Institute–an intensive, graduate-level summer course that devotes itself to all aspects of book publishing, with workshops and teaching sessions conducted by leading experts from all areas of the field.

And Kristen Proehl, (Puget Sound ’02; MA ’04 and PhD ’10 [exp] William and Mary) will join the faculty at Clemson University this fall.

Brava!

Once a Logger…

Houston Dougharty writes to update us on his recent doings:

As a loyal Puget Sound English alumnus (and Esther Wagner advisee), I am proud to tout my fine undergrad training – as one who also earned graduate degrees at Western Washington and UC Santa Barbara. I am now vice-president for student affairs at another fine liberal arts school, Grinnell College.

Many of you will remember Houston not only as a student but as a vital professional presence in Student Affairs here on campus serving those who came after him. Thanks for the update, Houston, and congratulations–

Also, our sources provide further information on what Danni Simon (’09) will be up to this fall:

Danni Simon be attending the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH) at the University of Chicago. MAPH is an innovative graduate program designed to provide a flexible, focused year of advanced study in traditional and interdisciplinary fields. Danni’s studies will include cross-disciplinary graduate courses in musicology and English literature, culminating in an interdisciplinary thesis.

We hope to hear from many more of you about your latest adventures; email them to ajtracy@pugetsound.edu

Alumni Notes

A small sampling of the many achievements of our talented alums:

Danni Simon (’09) will be pursuing an MA in a special literature and music program at the University of Chicago.

Emma Montgomery (’09) will attend Syracuse University for her Master of Science in Library and Information Science.

Alum April Tomlinson (’07) and graduating senior Dana Raike (’10) are both enrolled in the MAT Program at Puget Sound.

Emily Gordon (’09) is currently teaching preschool at the International School of Trieste, and will be moving to Palo Alto in June to pursue a Masters in Elementary Education at Stanford University.

Josh Epstein (’03) received his Ph.D. in 2008 from Vanderbilt University, where he has since served as a lecturer and academic advisor. In Fall 2010 he is headed to UC Santa Barbara on an ACLS postdoctoral fellowship, where he hopes to complete his first book, on modernist literature, music, and noise.

Congratulations! We love to hear about your academic, professional, and personal adventures. Please send updates for inclusion here and on our departmental alumni page to ajtracy@pugetsound.edu

Northwest Undergraduate Conference on Literature: Local Angle

The Northwest Undergraduate Conference on Literature (NUCL) will take place on Saturday, March 20, 2010, at the University of Portland. The keynote address will be given by Professor Ben Saunders, U of Oregon, and Puget Sound will be well represented by our stellar students and alums. Maggie Faber (’11) will deliver her paper, “Portrait of a Lady and the Transformative Power of Novels,” and Megan Fries (’12) will present her essay, “Ghosts and Handkerchiefs: Relics of Sexual Encounters in ‘The Turn of the Screw’ and Othello.” Alum Danni Simon (’09) will also be speaking on “Two Turns of the Screw: The Transformation of Henry James’s ‘The Turn of the Screw’ into the Opera by Benjamin Britten.” And Alison Lever (’12) will be reading her original poetry, “Untitled Collection.”

Congratulations to our outstanding students, and to their faculty mentor, Professor Joshi.
The full conference website and schedule can be found here.

Watch for it…

Professor Nimura is in talks with some of our awesome alums to feature their recent exploits here. More soon, and we’d love to hear from you if you have news, updates, or adventures to share with our community.

Green Corps’ Representative to Visit Campus

If you have some interest in environmental-related work during or after college, you might be interested in Green Corps. Alum Ashley Lauth, who works for Green Corps,  has written to tell us that Carina Barnett-Loro will represent GC on campus, November 2 and 3.  For more information, you may also use the following means of contact:

ashley@greencorps.org

847.340.4570

www.greencorps.org

Alum Earns M.A. in Journalism From NYU

Alum Tina Riopel has earned an M.A. in Journalism from New York University and is working in New York.  Well done, Tina!

More Puget Sound English abroad….

Trieste

Alum Emily Gordon (’09) is spending a year in Trieste, Italy, where she is teaching preschool at the International School of Trieste. She’s tracking her wealth of experiences, pedagogical and cultural, at her blog, and has generously offered to share it with our English department community. You can follow her adventures here.
We know many of our intrepid graduates–and faculty–venture forth all over the world from Puget Sound. We are proud of all of you, and love to hear of your adventures!

“Where The Wild Things Are”: Preview and Fundraiser

Writer, professor, and Puget Sound alum Jared Leising has sent along information about a preview screening of the film (based on the famous children’s book), Where the Wild Things Are. Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze co-wrote the screenplay, and Eggers will participate in a brief Q&A before the screening, which takes place on October 7 (7:00 p.m.) at the Cinerama in Seattle.

The screening will help raise money for 826 Seattle, a non-profit group that provides workshops and tutorials to students (age 6-18) on creative and expository writing and on acquiring English–free of charge.  826 Seattle is always interested in hearing from potential volunteers, as well. A link:

http://www.826seattle.org/

Poet and fiction-writer Jared Leising earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Houston after graduating from Puget Sound and before teaching in the Seattle area.

If Your Writing Needs a Boost, . . .

If you haven’t written something in a while and would like to get the writing going again, you might look at a blog by Puget Sound alum (and published writer) Terry Bain:

http://writeoneleaf.tumblr.com

The blog provides short, simple prompts that ask you to write a “leaf”–a word, phrase, sentence, line, or passage–about accessible topics Terry selects.