2014 News Archive
New Faculty Publication: Curt Smith, "George H. W. Bush: Character at the Core"
George H. W. Bush ranks among America's most distinguished men of the last century. A war hero, businessman, politician, and the forty-first president of the United States, Bush has spent most of his life dedicated to public service.
English Night at Todd Theatre: Venus planned for December 10th
English Night at Todd Theatre: Venus will take place on Wednesday, December 10. Theatregoers may book discount tickets for English Night by calling the English Department at 275-4092, or by mentioning UEC at the box office. English Night is sponsored by the Undergraduate English Council and the Department of English. After the show, there will be an opportunity to meet the cast over refreshments in Todd Lobby.
Venus opens December 4th
The International Theatre Program’s production of Venus opens on Thursday, December 4th and will run through December 13th.
Exhibition Honors Late Poet Galway Kinnell, ‘49
A new exhibition in Rush Rhees Library highlights the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and University of Rochester alumnus, Galway Kinnell, who died October 28. Kinnell earned a master’s degree in English at the University of Rochester and frequently returned to campus as a reader at the Plutzik Poetry Reading Series.
Foundation Seeks Student Reaction Statements to Plutzik Series Readings – for a $50 Honorarium, each
The Plutzik Foundation is offering to pay up to three students a $50 honorarium for selected written reflections on any of the Plutzik Series readings this academic year, beginning with Susan Choi’s reading on November 11th, and continuing to Katherine Larson’s appearance on January 27th, Stuart Dybek’s reading on February 12th, and including Terrance Hayes’ reading on April 9th. The foundation seeks students’ personal accounts describing the reading from their perspective and giving their thoughts about the impact of the reading. Selected writings will be posted on the Hyam Plutzik /Poet blog, “A Fistful of Words,” and will ultimately become part of the permanent collection of the Plutzik Archives, located in Rush Rhees Library.
Plutzik Reading Series welcomes Susan Choi
The Plutzik Reading Series welcomes author Susan Choi on Tuesday, November 11, 2014. The public reading will be held in the Welles-Brown Room, Rush Rhees Library, at 5:00pm.
Susan Choi is the author of four novels. Her first novel, The Foreign Student, won the Asian-American Literary Award for fiction. Her second novel, American Woman, was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize. Her third novel, A Person of Interest, was a finalist for the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award. In 2010 she was named the inaugural recipient of the PEN/W.G. Sebald Award. Her most recent novel, My Education, received a 2014 Lambda Award. A recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, she lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, Pete Wells, and their sons.
Jeffrey Tucker honored at 2014 Goergen Awards for Excellence in Teaching
In acknowledgement of their contributions to undergraduate education, professors Julie Bentley, Jeffrey Tucker, and Jonathan Pakianathan were honored with the University of Rochester’s 2014 Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
What the Butler Saw opens October 16th
The International Theatre Program’s production of What the Butler Saw opens on Thursday, October 16th and will run through October 25th.
New Faculty Publication: Joanna Scott, "De Potter's Grand Tour"
As a child, University of Rochester professor and noted author Joanna Scott played with figurines collected by her great-grandfather, Armand de Potter. He was believed to have disappeared off the coast of Greece in 1905, leaving behind a family on the brink of financial ruin. But after unearthing a trunk filled with diaries and documents from de Potter and his wife, Scott realized her great-grandfather wasn’t the man that he seemed. This disquieting discovery became the basis for her new novel, De Potter’s Grand Tour.
Registration Still Open for Theatre in England, January 2015!
A few spots still remain for this year's four-credit intersession course, conducted in the theatre capital of the world (with a day in Stratford-upon-Avon as well). Students will attend, discuss, and write about approximately 20 productions over a stretch of 11 full days of theatre-going. Venues range from intimate theatres-in-the-round to the grand auditoriums of the National Theatre; plays include Elizabethan, Jacobean, Victorian, and Contemporary drama, as well as musicals and other non-classical forms. For more information, please see the course's website, which describes the program in greater detail and contains syllabi and student journals from the past 25 years, as well as information about fees. Modest need-based financial aid is available.
New Faculty Publication: Stephen Schottenfeld, "Bluff City Pawn"
Tough economic times can bring out the worst in people, especially when you mix in family, desperation, and the drive to get ahead in business. This is one of the messages in Bluff City Pawn, a new novel by University of Rochester Professor Stephen Schottenfeld, which hits bookstores this week.
Registration closes June 1st for the 3rd International Congress of the John Gower Society
The John Gower Society will hold its third International Congress at the University of Rochester from June 30–July 3, 2014. Over one hundred participants plan to attend.
Steven Rozenski selected as NEH Summer Scholar
Steven Rozenski has been selected as an NEH Summer Scholar from a national applicant pool to attend one of 30 seminars and institutes supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Endowment is a federal agency that, each summer, supports these enrichment opportunities at colleges, universities, and cultural institutions, so that faculty can work in collaboration and study with experts in humanities disciplines.
Richard Dillio, English Department alum, published in The War Writer's Campaign
Honors Presentations in Robbins Library on May 2nd
"English Night at Todd Theatre: Madame de Sade" planned for April 30th
English Night at Todd Theatre: Madame de Sade will take place on Wednesday, April 30. Theatregoers may book discount tickets for English Night by calling the English Department at 275-4092, or by mentioning UEC at the box office. English Night is sponsored by the Undergraduate English Council and the Department of English. After the show, there will be an opportunity to meet the cast over refreshments in Todd Lobby.
Attention All Undergraduates: Stratford Trip Registration Now Open
Madame de Sade opens April 24th
The International Theatre Program’s production of Madame de Sade opens on Thursday, April 24th and will run through May 3rd.
New Faculty Publication: Jason Middleton, “Documentary's Awkward Turn”
Despite the prominence of "awkwardness" as cultural buzzword and descriptor of a sub-genre of contemporary film and television comedy, it has yet to be adequately theorized in academic film and media studies. Documentary’s Awkward Turn contributes a new critical paradigm to the field by presenting an analysis of awkward moments in documentary film and other reality-based media formats.
Kenneth Gross named recipient of 2014-2015 fellowship at Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers
Professor Kenneth Gross has been selected as a recipient of a 2014-2015 fellowship at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, New York Public Library.
Jennifer Grotz named co-recipient of the 2014 Poetry International C.P. Cavafy Award
Professor Jennifer Grotz has been named a co-winner of the 2014 Poetry International C.P. Cavafy Award for her poem “Watchmaker," found in her forthcoming manuscript The Window Left Open.
Joel Burges named recipient of 2014-2015 fellowship at Susan and Donald Newhouse Center for the Humanities
Professor Joel Burges has been selected as a recipient of a 2014-2015 fellowship at the Susan and Donald Newhouse Center for the Humanities, Wellesley College.
Faculty Spotlight on Melissa Balmain, author of "Walking in on People"
Adjunct Instructor Melissa Balmain will be featured in this evening’s Faculty Spotlight, part of English Week 2014. Melissa will be sharing some of her most recent poems at 5:00pm in Robbins Library. Balmain is the author of the recent book of poems Walking in on People, now available for pre-order with Able Muse Press.
Plutzik Reading Series welcomes Yiyun Li
The Plutzik Reading Series welcomes author Yiyun Li on Wednesday, April 16, 2014.
English Week 2014 runs April 14–17
English Week 2014 will run from April 14–17. Events include:
Scholar Kenneth Gross Named First Holder of Alan F. Hilfiker Distinguished Professorship in English
Kenneth Gross, a Renaissance scholar and professor of English at the University of Rochester, became the inaugural holder of the Alan F. Hilfiker Distinguished Professorship in English on Friday, April 4.
Curtis Teaching Prize awarded to Nikolaus Wasmoen
Sixth-year PhD student Nikolaus Wasmoen has been awarded the University's 2014 Edward Peck Curtis Prize for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student. Currently serving as a Dean's Teaching Fellow in two of Professor Morris Eaves' courses on the concept of "The Digital Page," while also assisting in a course taught by Professor Bette London on the Twentieth-Century British Novel, Wasmoen has continually found dynamic and eye-opening ways of sharing with students a set of unique skills garnered while writing his ambitious, highly interdisciplinary dissertation on the role of the author-editor in the construction of literary modernism.
Tanenbaum Award applications due April 4th
In 2004 University alumnus John Tanenbaum ’85 began a funded internship to help English majors subsidize their housing, transportation, and other expenses in a summer independent study. Since 2006 the Tanenbaum Scholarship has helped make internships possible at an academic publishing house in Pittsburgh, a TV production team in Los Angeles, the American Red Cross, and the Legal Aid Society of Rochester. For more information, contact thomas.hahn@rochester.edu.
Undergraduates awarded Discover grant
James Longenbach receives Arts and Letters Award in Literature
The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced the names of 20 writers who will receive its 2014 awards in literature. The awards will be presented in New York in May at the Academy’s annual Ceremonial. The literature prizes, totaling $230,000, honor both established and emerging writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The Academy’s 250 members nominate candidates, and a rotating committee of writers selects winners.
Hollis Robbins to give George Ford Lecture
Hollis Robbins, Chair of the Humanities Department at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins, will give the talk "The African American Sonnet Tradition." The lecture will take place on Thursday, March 20, 2014 at 5:00pm in the Welles-Brown Room, Rush Rhees Library. It is free and open to the public.
Russell and Ruth Peck Artistic Directorship Installed, Nigel Maister Named First Recipient
Nigel Maister, artistic director of the International Theatre Program at the University of Rochester, was installed as the inaugural holder of the Russell and Ruth Peck Artistic Directorship on Friday, February 28.
An Enemy of the People
The International Theatre Program’s production An Enemy of the People runs from February 27-March 8.
Plutzik Reading Series welcomes Ken Kalfus
The Plutzik Reading Series welcomes author Ken Kalfus on Wednesday, February 12, 2014.
New Blake Archive Publication
The William Blake Archive has published an electronic edition of Songs of Innocence copy L.
Cary Peppermint receives 2013 Lillian Fairchild Award
Cary Peppermint has been named the recipient of the 2013 Lillian Fairchild Memorial Award, administered by the University of Rochester.
Theatre in England
Spaces are still available for the upcoming winter intersession trip “Theatre in England.” Please email Professor Mannheimer with questions and download the flier for more information.