Michigan College English Association Conference Program for Friday, October 27, 2017
Themes: Authority and Agency in Divisive Times
Eastern Michigan University, McKenny Hall, 878 W. Cross St., Ypsilanti, MI 48197
REGISTRATION: 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and throughout the day—Mezzanine Hallway
SESSION ONE— 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Session 1A—Race, Gender, Sexuality, and War—Tower 348
Moderator: Phillip Arrington, Eastern Michigan University
Lori Burlingame, Eastern Michigan University—“The Impact of Race, Gender, and Sexuality on Agency, Authority, and Justice in Louise Erdrich’s The Round House”
Hyun-Joo Yoo, Eastern Michigan University—“Marguerite Duras’ The Lover”
Phillip Arrington, Eastern Michigan University—“Analyzing and Judging the Manifest Rationality of Gloria Steinem’s ‘Supremacy Crimes’”
Daniel Hanke, Iowa State University—“Both Activist and Martyr: Examining Mouloud Feraoun’s Journals through the field of Postcoloniaism and Social Justice Rhetoric”
Session 1B— Authority and Agency in Teaching Ethnic and Gender Studies, Neuro-Science, and Composition—Guild Hall 330
Moderator: Ed Demerly, Henry Ford College
Julie M. Barst, Siena Heights University—“Authority and Agency: Teaching Ethnic and Gender Studies in Divisive Times”
Mary Assel, Henry Ford College—“Memory, Retention, and Neuro-Science Implications for Teaching English”
Bernard Miller, Eastern Michigan University—“Composition, Decomposition, and the Rhetoric of War”
Session 1C—Creative Writing—Alumni Room 342
Moderator: Joyce Meier
Vytautas Malesh, Wayne State University—“After Homecoming” (short fiction)
Joyce Meier, Michigan State University—“When the Earth Shakes under Your Feet” (creative non-fiction)
Janet Ruth Heller—“Poems about Agency in Nature and Music”
SESSION TWO—11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Session 2A—Ethics, Diversity, Rhetoric, and Race—Tower 348
Moderator: Charmayne Mulligan, Davenport University
Cheryl Caesar, Michigan State University—“Teaching (and) Rhetoric in a Time of Trump”
Jonathan Brownlee, Bowling Green State University—“How to Evaluate Authority Using Virtue Ethics”
William Barr, Henry Ford College and Wayne County Community College—“Agency and Authority in Two Journey Novels Set in America, J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road”
Susan McGrade, Indiana Institute of Technology—“Individual and Communal Agency in Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad”
Session 2B—Creative Writing about Music, Travel, the Dust Bowl, Women, and Agency—Guild Hall 330
Moderator: David Settle, Grand Rapids Community College
Joanna Cowan White—“The Artist’s Agency: Wielding Power with Words and Music”
David Settle, Grand Rapids Community College—“Mexico Meditations”
Samantha K. Clasman, Central Michigan University—““I Am Woman. I Am Me.”
Rachel L. E. Klammer, Central Michigan University—“Dust Blowing Westward”
Session 2C—Memoir, Poetry, and God’s Rhetoric—Special Session for Writers of Recently Published Books—Alumni Room 342
Moderator: Ed Demerly, Henry Ford College
Mary Assel, Henry Ford College—“Reading from A Sprinkle of Dust: A Mother’s Struggle with Loss and Healing”
Phillip Arrington, Eastern Michigan University—“Author’s Remarks on His New Book, Eloquence Divine–In Search of God’s Rhetoric”
Nancy Owen Nelson, Henry Ford College—“Understanding My Confederate Ancestry: Readings from Memoir and Poetry”
LUNCH— 12:30 to 1:45 p.m.—McKenny Ballroom/Salon 300/320
1 p.m.—Welcoming Remarks—Eastern Michigan University’s President James McCune Smith
Brief Remarks—Janet Ruth Heller, MCEA President
Featured Luncheon Speaker: Matthew Gavin Frank
Matthew Gavin Frank has published The Mad Feast: An Ecstatic Tour Through America’s Food (W.W. Norton: Liveright, 2015). Frank is also the author of Preparing the Ghost: An Essay Concerning the Giant Squid and Its First Photographer (W.W. Norton: Liveright), Barolo (The University of Nebraska Press), a food memoir based on his illegal work in the Italian wine industry, and Pot Farm (The University of Nebraska Press / Bison Books) about his time working on a medical marijuana farm in Northern California. His poetry collection The Morrow Plots is available from Black Lawrence Press/Dzanc Books. His poetry book Sagittarius Agitprop is available from Black Lawrence Press/Dzanc Books. His poetry book, Warranty in Zulu is available from Barrow Street Press.
SESSION THREE— 2:00 to 3:15 p.m.
Session 3A—Films, Culture, Diversity, and Use of Critical Theory, Tower 348
Moderator: Cheryl Caesar, Michigan State University
Jacob Hall, Northern Michigan University—“The Occupation of Material Space in an Urban Highlife”
Abby McGuire, Central Michigan University—“Pragmatic Constructivism: A Reflective Analysis of Educators’ Ambivalence Implementing Critical Theory in Literacy-Learning Classrooms”
David Settle, Grand Rapids Community College—“Diversity as a Unifying Element in T. S. Eliot’s ‘Notes towards the Definition of Culture’”
Session 3B—Authority and Agency in Student Placement, Composition Classes, and Technology, Guild Hall 330
Moderator: Lori Burlingame, Eastern Michigan University
Hannah Butler and Kristine Johnson, Calvin College—“Affirming Agency: Directed Self-Placement for International Students”
Rebecca C. Conklin, Michigan State University—“Writing Our Story: Negotiating Agency and Authority Through Collaborative Authorship in First-Year Writing”
Annette Ternullo and Kristen Conte, Baker College of Clinton Township—“Electronic Resource Platforms for Millennial Student Success”
Session 3C—Agency and Authority for Returning Veterans, for Writing Students, and for Women, Alumni Room 342
Moderator: Joyce Meier, Michigan State University
Bill Reader, Mid Michigan Community College—“Stories of Community College Student Veterans’ Experiences of Return to Civilian Life and School”
Ruthe Thompson, Southwest Minnesota State University—“The Authority of Self-Knowledge: Contemplative Education in the University Classroom”
Joyce Meier, Michigan State University—“A First-Year Writing Conference (Unexpectedly) Moving Students Toward Cross-Cultural Awareness”
SESSION FOUR— 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.
Session 4A—A Poetics of Pop Agency: Performance, Theory, and Identity Politics—Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, Tower 348
Moderator: David Settle, Grand Rapids Community College
Jill Darling, University of Michigan-Dearborn
David Boeving, Eastern Michigan University
Adam Malinowski, Eastern Michigan University
Session 4B—Agency and Authority in Medieval Literature, Guild Hall 330
Moderator: Lori Burlingame, Eastern Michigan University
Stephanie Rosalyn Reynolds, Eastern Michigan University—“Pride and Power: A Question of Divine Authority in La Chanson de Roland”
Darcie Rees, Eastern Michigan University—“Vibrant Giving in Pearl”
Maia Farrar, University of Michigan—“Sir Kay’s Fantasy of Unity in Malory’s Morte D’Arthur”
Session 4C—Reframing and Revising the English Major: A Proposed Response to Stagnant and Declining Enrollment Numbers in English Programs, Alumni Room 342
Moderator: Curtis VanDonkelaar, Michigan State University
Roundtable Discussion by Debbie Courtright Nash, David Marquard, Rebecca Sammel, and Tracy Webb, Ferris State University
5 p.m.–MCEA Brief Business Meeting, Mckenny Gallery II, room 249—We welcome all MCEA members and conference participants to give us their ideas for future conferences.