English and Modern Languages
Here’s how students get to know us and we get to know them:
Here’s how students get to know us and we get to know them:- First-Year Composition Classes
- Foreign Language Classes and Activities
- Creative Writing, Literature, and Other Upper-Division Classes
- Affiliated Programs (Gender and Women’s Studies)
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Alumni Spotlight: Chris Goodell (2010)
Department News
The Department of English and Modern Languages is very pleased to announce the release of volume 44 of Sans Merci, Shepherd University’s art and literary magazine! This volume’s senior literary editors were Andrea Monsma and Fiona Tracey; the senior art editors were Mackenzie Coleman, Skyla Heise, Alizah Lathrope, and Nevada Tribble. Zoe Nicewander was recognized for having submitted the best poetic work, Chevelle Whichard for the best piece of prose, and Jason Fischetti and Leighann Hengemihle for the best works of art. If you’d like to read the on-line version, check out Sans Merci 44. Congratulations to the contributors and the editors! Dr. Messenger and Professor Kaineg must be very proud.
On Saturday, February 29th, the West Virginia Undergraduate Literary Symposium was held at Fairmont State University. Six Shepherd students presented papers at the Symposium. Portia Dobrzanski and Sarah Seibert read essays on The Scarlet Letter. Allison Brashears presented a paper on Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Fiona Tracey presented on Fanny Fern and Candace Bushnell. Elisha Pidcock read her paper on two works by Jack London. And Ashley Hess presented an essay on the biblical figure of Samson. Congratulations to these young scholars for presenting their work! We’re so proud of you all!
Shepherd University’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta (the international English honor society) is pleased to announce that on Saturday, March 7th, a poetry festival will be held in the Cumberland Room of the Student Center from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Attendees are encouraged to read original pieces or favorite poems by other writers. For more information, check out this flyer or contact Dr. Heidi Hanrahan (hhanraha@shepherd.edu).
Ashley Hess’s essay “Ovid’s Metamorphoses as a Feminist Text” was just published in Sparks, Shepherd University’s on-line journal of undergraduate research and creative works. This essay grew out of a paper that Ashley wrote for Dr. Nixon’s Greek Mythology course, and it argues that in many ways Ovid reinvented the genre of the epic and made it female-focused. Here’s a link to the essay; it’s a fun read. Congratulations, Ashley!
Six Shepherd students have had their work accepted for presentation at the Sigma Tau Delta International Convention. Sigma Tau Delta (ΣΤΔ) is an international English honor society, and its upcoming convention will be in Las Vegas in late March. The students who have been chosen to present are Allison Brashears, whose paper “The Wilderness Motif” was written for Dr. Hanrahan’s American Fiction class; Marilyn Creager, whose creative piece “To Be an Appalachian” was written for Dr. Pate’s Poetry Seminar; Ashley Hess, whose collection of poems “A Summer of My Childhood” was written for Dr. Pate’s Poetry Seminar; Alex McCarron, whose essay “Femininity, Domesticity, and ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener'” was written for Dr. Hanrahan’s American Literature to 1900 class; Linnea Meyer, whose piece “My Backyard’s Full” was written for Dr. Messenger’s Creative Writing: Nonfiction class; and Andrea Monsma, whose work “Feathered Memories of You” was written for Dr. Pate’s Advanced Creative Writing: Forms of Fiction class. Congratulations to all these students, and thanks for making Shepherd University and the Department of English and Modern Languages look good on an international stage!
The next meeting of Shepherd University’s Stammtisch will be on Thursday, March 12th, at 4:00 p.m. The group will meet at the Blue Moon Café. Stammtisch is a conversation group for German speakers, and everybody is welcome—from beginners to native speakers. For more information, contact Dr. Rachel Krantz (rritterb@shepherd.edu).