Student/Faculty Accolades

by Jizelle Villegas ’26

As fall comes and goes and winter trickles in, The Words is a great place to get cozy and celebrate the English department’s faculty and students’ accomplishments! 

Professor James Dawes had an honorary lecture at the annual London lecture series on October 17th at the Royal Institute of Chicago. Dawes’ talk was titled “What is Trauma? From Ancient Greece to the Digital Age” as part of their series ‘Remembering and Forgetting.’ You can watch a video of Professor Dawes giving his lecture here. 

Beja Puškášová ‘26 will have her poem “Princess of the Circus” published in Sinister Wisdom, which is a multicultural lesbian journal. Her poem is about how she as a trans girl identifies with elephants as animals. If you want to check out more about Sinister Wisdom, click here!

Professor Amy Elkins had a very busy November month! She was at the School of Art Institute at Chicago, where she participated in a joint lecture titled “Intermedial Modernism: Intersections and Critical Practices: Two Talks and a Conversation.” This event included a screening of her film-essay called “The Weaver’s Handshake.” 

In addition, Professor Elkins chaired a panel called “MSA Makers,” which explored the role of makerspaces and critical making in the humanities” at the  Modernist Studies Association conference. While she was at the conference, she co-organized and facilitated a seminar called “Making Creative Work Across Forms: Modernist Prompts and Provocations.”

Elkins also virtually presented a paper entitled “Stitching Together: Textile Poems as Feminist and Queer Praxis” at the American Studies Association conference. She was a part of a panel named “Grounding Together: Pedagogies of Care, Practices of Collaboration.” 

Professor Sarah Ghazal Ali’s book, Theophanies, is a finalist for a Golden Poppy Award! This award is through the California Independent Booksellers Alliance. Congratulations to Professor Ali. 

Professor Curtis Gilbert’s podcast he edits, “Sold a Story,” had a big month! It recently got ten million downloads, was featured as an Apple Podcasts “Series Essential,” and it led to Pennsylvania changing their reading instruction laws. This has been the 25th state to do so since the podcast launched two years ago. 

Our faculty and students in the English department are doing some wonderful things! Please congratulate them if you see them. Stay warm and be celebratory.