The Michigan College English Association

Author: Janet Heller

  • Program for MCEA Conference on Saturday, October 5, 2019

    Here is the program for the Michigan College English Association Conference on October 5, 2019 at Michigan State University in Bessey Hall.

    Michigan College English Association 2019 Conference

    Theme:  Borders, Walls, and Bridges

    Saturday, October 5, 2019

    Michigan State University, Bessey Hall

    434 Farm Lane, East Lansing MI 48824

    8:30 am—9:30 am

    Registration (continues throughout the conference) in 1st Floor Hallway

    9:30 am—10:45 am

    Session 1A – Speak-Out Poetry in Room 105

    Moderator: Joyce Meier

    A Piece of Creative Non-Fiction, with Imbedded Poems–David Settle, Grand Rapids Community College

    A Poetry Reading–Cheryl Caesar, Michigan State University

    Selection of poems from Quiet Woman–Katrina Kalisz, Grand Rapids Community College

    “The Trump Dunciad” and Other Humorous Poems–Janet Ruth Heller, President of the Michigan College English Association

    Session 1B – Connecting Undergraduates to Research in Room 106

    Moderator:

    Undergraduate Research as the Bridge between Triggering Feminist Aesthetics in the Classroom and Students’ Lived Experiences–Nicole McCleese, Michigan State University; Tabitha Zivku, Michigan State University; Hannah Rosemurgy, Michigan State University

    Session 1C – Testimonials and Bridges in        Room 111

    Moderator:

    Poems from Imaginary Homeland–Jenna Bazzell, Monroe Community College

    Poetry Reading–Margaux Griffith, Michigan State University

    “The Testimony of Ebb Cade, Injected without His Knowledge with

    Plutonium-239 by Doctors of the Manhattan Project” (& other poems)–          John Blair, Texas State University

    Reading from “Bridge the Grand” (a short story)–Curtis Van Donkelaar, Michigan State University

    11:00 am—12:15 pm

    Session 2A– Justice, Stereotypes, and Boundaries  in Room 105

    Moderator: Lori Burlingame

    Building Bridges: Restorative Tribal Justice in Louise Erdrich’s LaRose—            Lori Burlingame, Eastern Michigan University

    Muslim Women: Individualism and Stereotypes–Mary Assel, Henry Ford Community College

    Erased from History: The “Vanishing Indian” as Perpetuated by Misrepresentation–David Eltz, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

    Riddle of the Reed: Crossing Medieval Boundaries of Space and Speech–            Ilse Schweitzer Van Donkelaar, Michigan State University

    Session 2B – Poetry Reading in Room 106

    Moderator: Cheryl Caesar

    “Autonomy and the Human Collection” (poems)–Megan Jones, Wayne State University          

    Selections from Magician Lake: A Memoir–Sarah J. Smith, Lake Michigan College

    Poems (both published and new)–Nancy Owen Nelson, Henry Ford Community College

    Reading from novel The Night of the Red Moon–Gonzalo Munévar, Lawrence Technological University

    Session 2C – Stretching Boundaries (A Poetry Reading) in Room 111

    Moderator: Joyce Meier

    Setting and Stretching Boundaries, Bridging to Family and the Natural World–Mary Anna Kruch, Northern Michigan University; Jan Shoemaker, independent scholar; Rosalie Sanara Petrouske, Lansing Community College; Janine Certo, Michigan State University

    12:30 pm—1:15 pm — Lunch in Room 106

    1:15 pm–2018 Conference Guest Speaker in Room 106

    Dennis Hinrichsen, former Lansing Poet Laureate

    Also, thank you to the Lansing Refugee Development Center for their assistance in setting up and arranging for the Refuge Lansing exhibit to be at our conference!

    1:45 pm—3:00 pm

    Session 3A – Walls & Bridges in Room 105

    Moderator: Joyce Meier

    The Third Wall–Edward Lessor, Colorado State University

    On Working with International Students in FYW and Beyond–Joyce Meier, Michigan State University

    Sharing Stories: Using Narratives to Help Students Build Bridges between the Literate Practices of Home and School–Tina Arduini, Texas State University

    What Could the Commons Mean for Community Colleges Today?–                Tim Deines, Lansing Community College 

    Session 3B – Diaspora and Identities in     Room 106

    Moderator: Janet Ruth Heller

    The Contemporary Iraqi Poetry Diaspora–Wijdan Alsayegh, University of Michigan

    Tom Zimmerman, Washington Community College–Ecuador is Black: Afro-Ecuadorian Literary Resistance in Drums Under My Skin–Gabriella Davis, Grand Valley State University

    Session 3C – Conversation, Past & Present in Room 111

    Moderator: Cheryl Caesar

    Assessing ‘Good English’ for First-Year Writing Placement: Examining the 1935 Michigan Committee on the Articulation of High School and College English–Andrew Moos, University of Michigan

    Pomodoros in the Classroom–Eric Hood, Michigan State University

    Increasing Student Imagination and Specificity of Language in Creative Writing Using Virtual Reality–Rebekah Keaton, Niagara County Community College

    Thoreau and Conversation–Michael Daher, Henry Ford Community College

    3:15 pm-4:15 pm

    MCEA  Business Meeting in Room 106

    All are welcome to join.

    Notes:

  • Report from the 49th Annual College English Association Conference 2018 by Ed Demerly

    Over 400 papers were presented at this year’s College English Association conference in St. Petersburg, Florida, April 5-7. Among them were the following Michigan scholars:

    Rebecca Conklin – Michigan State University

    Philip Egan – Western Michigan University

    David Marquard – Ferris State University

    Bernie Miller – Eastern Michigan University

    Jean Kearns Miller – Washtenaw Community College

    As usual, the range of topics included literary theory, creative writing, graphic novels, learning outcomes and assessment, multicultural and world literature, popular culture, religion and literature, composition and rhetoric, and so much more from the traditional canon.

    Presenters came from over 30 states and 7 countries including France, Turkey, Sweden, Canada, Belarus, United Kingdom, and Qatar.

    Featured speakers were

    Patricia Spears Jones, City University of New York, award-winning poet – plenary speaker

    Kimberly Wilmont Voss, University of Central Florida – Women’s Connection Luncheon

    Charles A.S. Ernst, Hilbert College – Diversity Reception

    Julienne Empric, Eckerd University – All-Conference Luncheon

    Next year, CEA will celebrate its 50th annual conference in New Orleans, March 28-30. Proposals may be submitted until November 1, 2018. Remember that any paper presented at MCEA may also be submitted without revision for acceptance at the national conference.

    The 2019 conference will also celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of CEA.

    For submission details and general information, please see the CEA website at

    www.cea-web.org

  • Michigan College English Association Conference Program for Friday, October 27, 2017 at Eastern Michigan University

    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.

  • MMLA “Artists and Activists” Undergraduate Research Symposium on November 9-12, 2017

    MMLA “Artists and Activists” Undergraduate Research Symposium in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 9-12, 2017

    The Midwest Modern Language Association is a regional affiliate of the Modern Language Association. Our annual conference hosts professors, graduate students, and undergraduate students who give presentations on their literary research. We invite proposals for the Undergraduate Research Symposium for the 2017 conference in Cincinnati, Ohio on any topic, yet participants are particularly encouraged to consider this year’s theme “Artists and Activists.” This is a professional development opportunity, particularly if you are interested in graduate school.

    To apply, please submit an abstract of 250 to 300 words along with your name, year in school, and institution to mmla@luc.edu by 5/12/17. The abstract should summarize a paper of 8-10 pages; if accepted, you will deliver your paper in a 15-20 minute oral presentation in a panel with other presenters.

    In the spirit of supporting undergraduate research of the highest caliber, we accept papers on any literary topic and time period, regardless of its relevance to the theme.

    Artists and Activists

    While this year’s theme brings to mind and is meant to inspire reflection on recent events – such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the presidential election, and the selection of Bob Dylan for the Nobel Prize in literature — the conference also intends to encourage literary and cultural-historical consideration and analysis of the balance of activism and art. From the ancient philosophers to the modern commentators, literary critics have long debated the role of the artist in society. Are writers, as Percy Bysshe Shelley insists, “the unacknowledged legislators of the world” or should they bring, as Matthew Arnold proclaims, “sweetness and light”? These particular figurations of the poet in society, however do not necessarily account for the place that the artist has in social movements: these nineteenth century writers speak in abstractions, not quite leaving space for potentiality of the artist in social movements.

    This conference will explore the ways that writers and artists across the centuries and across the globe have voiced support and opposition to social change, while others have even advocated against the notion of artistic involvement in that social change. In our conversations, we hope to think about the place of literature and culture in the lives of all people.

    Topics could include, but are by no means limited to:
    The role of the writer in society; satire as social statement; the place of (liberal) arts education in contemporary society; the co-opting of art and social advocacy by dominant cultural institutions; the literature of witness; environmental literature; trans- identities and activism; alterity; ethnic identities and activism; feminism and womanism; digital literacies and shifting modes of production; disability studies; free speech

    Find the call for papers at: http://www.luc.edu/mmla/convention/undergraduateresearchsymposium

  • Report from the CEA Conference at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina on March 30 – April 1, 2017

    Nearly 500 papers were presented at this year’s College English Association conference on a wide variety of matters primarily focused on the conference theme, Islands, but including traditional areas of pedagogy, theory, rhetoric, technical writing, creative writing, and literature in the canon. Presenters came from nearly every state and foreign countries including the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Australia, and Spain. There were other less conventional panels as well:

    Graduate and Adjunct Faculty Concerns

    Slavery and Abolition Literature

    Alexander Hamilton

    Caribbean Literature

    Bob Dylan

    19th-Century American Women

    Gaming

    Immigration Literature

     

    Featured speakers included:

    All-Conference Luncheon:  Veronica Davis Gerald,

    Director of  The Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies

    Plenary:  Elizabeth Nunez, award-winning novelist, immigrant from Trinidad

    Diversity Luncheon:  Stephen Spencer, University of Southern Indiana

    Women’s Connection Reception: Natalie Hefter,

    Vice President of Programs at the Coastal Discovery Museum

     

    Michiganders on the program included:

    Angela Dow, Ferris State University

    Susanna Engbers, Ferris State University

    Kelsey McLendon, Eastern Michigan University

    Amy Masko, Grand Valley State University

    Lynne Johnson, Northern Michigan University

    Phillip Arrington, Eastern Michigan University

    David Marquard, Ferris State University

     

    Next year’s conference will be held in St Petersburg, Florida, April 5-7, 2018. The conference theme, Bridges, encourages a variety of applications in all areas of English. The CEA welcomes papers given at the conferences of its regional affiliate organizations, so if members present at Eastern Michigan University in October, they may submit that same proposal by the November 1st deadline for consideration by the CEA. For further information, contact the Program Chair, Carolyn Kyler, at cea.english@gmail.com (put “Program Chair” in the subject line) or see the CEA web site at  www.cea-web.org

     

    Michigan CEA’s sponsorship of a beverage break was prominently posted at the conference and inside the program.

     

    The annual CEA conference is more than the typical conference.  It includes book giveaways from over forty publishers, tours of the host city, lots of casual networking with congenial colleagues, a wide variety of papers focused on every aspect of English instruction, and the president’s reception with appetizers and a free drink. It’s clearly “user friendly”! After attending one conference, most attendees continue to present at future conferences

     

    As other CEA affiliates do, Michigan CEA might consider presenting a panel at next year’s conference.

     

    Ed Demerly

    MCEA Liaison and CEA Past President