Graduation 2010

Originally uploaded by English@Stevenson

All their hard work has finally paid off! On Friday, May 21, families and friends gathered in Stevenson’s gymnasium to watch the class of 2010 receive their diplomas with pride. This year there were 16 English Language and Literature graduates, one of the biggest groups of graduates we’ve had in the department for a while!

These English major graduates include:
Stephen Carnaggio
Katie Christman
April Foreman
Marie Haughey
Christine Ivory
Lisa Kern
Jasmine LeMaster
Nichole Norris
Nicole Propst
Brittany Proudfoot
Kayla Richardson
Caitlin Santavenere
Emily Testerman
Sarah Thomas
Amanda Weeks
Matthew Wells

This is both an exciting and nerve wrecking time for all the graduates, as they will be embarking on the next step in their lives. Everyone has different plans for the future, and everyone seems to have great things to do.   Sarah Thomas shared that she has an interview lined up to teach English in Japan, and Marie Haughey will soon be interviewing with a company that sells marketing. This just goes to show that with a major in English, the possibilities are endless! It was great to be a part of the celebration; it made me both sad and excited about my upcoming senior year.

Congratulations to all the graduates, and we wish all of you the best of luck in your future endeavors. A special congratulations to our media intern, Stephen, who has done a great job with the blogs this semester.

Above is a group picture of some of the English major graduates
and professors.

-Stephanie Osorno, Media Intern, English Department

Final Party

Originally uploaded by English@Stevenson

Due to the ominous weather of the previous days, the end of the year picnic has become the end of the year party, as we all took our crazy hats and hung out in the Dawson Center. There were many colorful hats to be had as well as many stories to tell. Among them where three hats with bells, three newspaper hats, an interesting Scottish hat (complete with wig) as well as many others.

There was a slight melancholy air to the whole affair, as many of the students here, including myself, will be leaving the Stevenson Community for the world of work and Graduate School. This has been one last time to hang out in the college setting, and I have including some highlights that made it a happy occasion. Even though most of us will never meet as English Students, I’m sure quite a few of us will see future English students around events like the crab feast as alumni (I know I plan to).

That being said, this is my final post for the English Department Blog. It’s been really fun working here and providing you all with a look at the wonderful activities and opportunities present in the Stevenson University English Department. Please continue to visit this blog as Stephanie takes over as the Media Intern. I’m sure she’ll have many interesting things to share with our readers.

-–Stephen Carnaggio, Media Intern, English Department

It’s almost time for the English Department’s Annual “End of the Year” picnic. The picnic is always a fun event to attend, and I’m sure this year will be no exception. There will be food available and hopefully we can get some use out of the Frisbees and other outdoor recreational devices that the department has saved for a sunny day.

If you are involved in English, come down to Faculty House 2 (it’s hidden in the forest down the road past the Faculty/Student Exchange Building on the Greenspring Campus) at 3:00 PM on Friday May 14! This year’s theme is “Mad Hatter” so wear a “cool crazy funny or ridiculous hat”!

-–Stephen Carnaggio, Media Intern, English Department

Yesterday the combined Senior Seminar Class finished its final presentation project. Though many students were a bundle of nerves leading up to our presentations on John Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, many of us were able to provide interesting and thought-provoking discussions. Each student I spoke to were either happy or pleasantly surprised about the grades they received, just going to show each of us that we all worked hard and did a good job.

After the final presentation, the combined class grouped together for a lovely photo opportunity (seen here) and a group of us decided to head over to TGIFridays to celebrate. There we decided to toast to “Justifying the Ways of Milton to Marshall”

-–Stephen Carnaggio, Media Intern, English Department

Stephanie

Originally uploaded by English@Stevenson

Say hello to Stephanie Osorno. She’ll be taking over for the blog updates next semester. She wants to be a writer of young adult fiction and is looking forward to her internship here. She’s also interested in magazine and newspaper writing and thinks it will be a good chance to build up skills for those fields.

Also take a look at this video of her to hear about a very interesting class that she took. If you can, check out the performance that she mentions at the end of the video.

-–Stephen Carnaggio, Media Intern, English Department

This year’s English Seniors have been working hard going through John Milton’s Epic Poem, “Paradise Lost” This Tuesday and Thursday, we will be presenting our work in DC 10. Here is a schedule of the presentations to give a taste of what to expect.

Tuesday, May 4th in DC 10

Session I: Adam’s Dirt
3:00-3:45pm

Adam’s Conflicted Nature in Paradise Lost: Logic Versus Love – April Foreman

Offensive Adam and His Defensive Ego in the Separation Scene of Paradise Lost – Nicole Propst

“All Seemed but were not all”: Patriarchal Subversion in Paradise Lost – Jasmine LeMaster

Session II: A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing
4:00-4:45pm

The Perplexity of the Pain-Pleasure Binary in Paradise Lost – Katie Balance

Breaking Down the Boundaries of Knowledge in Paradise Lost – Marie Haughey

Satan and the Abuse of Astronomical Knowledge in Paradise Lost – Stephen Carnaggio

Session III: Not Those Pagans Again
5:00-5:45pm

Raphael: The Ineffective Messenger in Paradise Lost – Christine Ivory

The Smartest Woman in the Room: The Role of the Muse in Milton’s Paradise Lost – Caitlin Santavenere

“Put on Thy Terrors”: Hellenic Heroes and the Wrath of Satan and Christ in Paradise Lost – Amanda Weeks

Thursday, May 6th in DC 10

Session I: (Re)Production
3:00-3:45pm
Milton’s Workmanship of Risk: Precarious Ambiguities and the Craftsman’s Paradigm in Paradise Lost – Thomas L. Brown

Parenting 101: Sin and Eve as Similar Mothers – Brittany Proudfoot

Milton’s Compassion for the Punishment of Childbirth – Katie Christman

Session II: God Should Dial 1-800-Lawyer 4:00-4:45pm

God, the Creator of All Things Good and Evil in John Milton’s Paradise Lost – Jennifer Schaeffer

Dictum and Diffidence: The Tyranny of Substance and God’s Hidden Motives in Paradise Lost – Matthew Wells

A God of “Otherness” in Paradise Lost – Lisa Kern

Session III: Step Off! Don’t Tell Me!
5:00-5:45pm
Consequences of the Prelapsarian Self-Fulfilling Prophecy – Sarah Warrenfeltz

The Almighty Manipulation: The Persuasion of Christ by God in Book III of Paradise Lost – Kayla Richardson

To Fall or not to Fall: Reason, Rebellion, and Repentance of Adam and Satan in Paradise Lost – Bethany Shurer

I’ll be providing news on each presentation, so come back here to see how it went.

-–Stephen Carnaggio, Media Intern, English Department

baseball

Originally uploaded by English@Stevenson

The English Department had an exciting evening last night as we witnessed the O’s triumph against the Red Sox, though the game itself was only part of the experience. Along the way we were entertained by stories of Baltimore, discussions ranging from literary analysis of Harry Potter to the dangers of Australia. It’s always an enlightening time to take the shuttle to an English event.

As for the game itself, excitement was high and so were our seats. The We had view of the entire stadium from our seats, in the row second from the top.

As the night wore on and the ninth inning arrived, our excitement skyrocketed. The Sox may have fought bravely (until they forced a walk on us), but eventually the Home team persevered and there was much triumphant cheering.

On the way home, we commented on the sights leaving Baltimore and continued our intriguing discussions on our class experiences. Truly these events bring English students together and supplements our learning beyond the classroom (the free tickets aren’t too bad either).

Enjoy this clip of everyone who went, followed by a dance number.

-–Stephen Carnaggio, Media Intern, English Department

Charlie’s Pin Up Girl Tattoo

Originally uploaded by English@Stevenson

Tuesday Night saw the release of the Spectrum Literary and Fine Arts Magazine, and to celebrate we had an Open Mic Night at Pandini’s.

There was a good turnout, and many writers featured stood up and read their poetry aloud or recited some works not in the publication.

This year’s edition of Spectrum is dedicated to Dr. carol Sapora, who started up the publication. We found out first hand this year just how much hard work she endured to see the magazine published year after year.

Spectrum will be distributed throughout the Greenspring Campus today. It’s free, so pick up your copy when you see it.

Meanwhile, enjoy a taste of the poetry to be found on the book with Jasmine LeMaster reading her poem “Charlie’s Pin-up Girl Tattoo”

-–Stephen Carnaggio, Media Intern, English Department

Active Minds

Originally uploaded by English@Stevenson

Yesterday I left the Dawson Center and found arrows drawn by sidewalk chalk into the ground. Ever the inquisitive reporter, I followed them, only to be suddenly greeted by the voice of Bethany Shurer, vice president of Sigma Tau Delta. With her was a collection of inspirational messages written on the sidewalk. What was going on? “It was an event” Bethany tells us “run by Active Minds, a club on campus that promotes awareness of mental illnesses, especially ones that effect college students (i.e. anxiety, depression, eating disorders). The event was started by a college student who was considering suicide, but after talking to a counselor, she discovered that she had too many dreams to end her life. She created Dreams Untitled to promote suicide prevention and to let students share their hopes and dreams with their peers. Remember, hope is not just a word: it’s an attitude.”

English Majors get involved in many campus activities and events, and bring with them their unique style. Keep an eye out on campus, you’ll never know when you’ll see an English Major’s work.

-–Stephen Carnaggio, Media Intern, English Department

Gracie 4

Originally uploaded by English@Stevenson

Gracie Ainsworth is a transfer student new to Stevenson University. She wants to go into some form of Business Writing since she loves writing out facts. She tells us that her transfer process went really well and that those involved in the process were easy to contact, and quick to respond.

To upcoming transfers, she suggests looking into the four-year school before you take classes, since she found that there were a few classes that she took that did not fulfill the program requirements. She suggests that you well in your two year school so that you can receive a scholarship. She also suggests “Transfer Tuesday” so you can become more familiar with the university.

She is looking forward to the events, because she says that they will be great means in which to meet her new colleagues and to socialize. We have a few of those coming up, including the baseball game next week and the English Picnic. So give her a warm welcome if you see her.

-–Stephen Carnaggio, Media Intern, English Department