Reflections on the Year
2022-2023: Year in Review
June 15, 2023
By Jewel Blanchard, Senior English Major.
Pictured above: The English Program Faculty. From left to right: Dr. Perrow, Dr. Lundahl, Dr. Maltz, and Dr. Alvarez.
The end of a school year marks so much to celebrate and remember. For the English Program, this year was especially memorable, with many special experiences, accomplishments, and honors to go around.
The class of 2023 includes a lot of faces that will be missed in the coming years, and who achieved so much in their time at SOU. These are folks who contributed so much to the clubs, teams, organizations, and classes they were a part of, both in the English department and beyond. On June 13 and 15, the graduating senior English majors presented their Capstone projects, which is the most academically meaningful part of their time at SOU. The presentations were diverse in topics (including literary analyses, unit plans for teaching language arts, a family memoir, a family cookbook, the history of audiobooks, and more), and clearly illustrated the time, effort, and passion that the senior class devoted to their culminating project.
Pictured Above: A screen capture from the website of senior English major Rona Stublefield’s capstone project, “Look Beyond Looks,” which raises awareness of endangered species beyond just those that look appealing or cute.
Words on Photo: Franklin’s Bumble Bee Bombus franklini Federal Status: Endangered This bumble bee is known for having the smallest population distribution in the world. The Franklin’s bumble bee is a pollinator that has been spotted in… Read more Vernal Pool Fairy Shrimp Branchinecta lynchi Federal Status: Threatened
On June 16th, the English Program held their annual graduation/end of year celebration to not only honor the seniors, but all English students at the end of another academic year. Part of this celebration event is an awards ceremony, to honor the achievements of the graduating class. The following students won awards: Jewel Blanchard (Outstanding English Education award), Laurren Harmon (Outstanding English Major award), Blake Jordan (Catherine Molinar Knapp Multicultural award), Sophia Lorusso and Rona Stublefield (Professional Writing award), Emily Roach (Outstanding English Minor award), Kaleb Scarminach (Empathy in Action award), and
Kelsie McDonald (Outstanding Critical Essay Award).
Congratulations to the class of 2023!
“The professors made me feel like I was capable of learning and doing anything I set my mind to. They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.”
– Senior English Major
Of course the accomplishments of the graduating seniors is only the tip of the iceberg for the English Program’s milestones. For starters, this was the first year that the English Program spent in Britt Hall, in its new home on the top ballroom floor of Britt Hall (which you can read about here). This converted ballroom was the location where the English Program hosted a retirement celebration for Dr. Ed Battistella in fall of 2022. The emotional community sendoff for Dr. Battistella marked the end of his impactful 22 years at SOU and time teaching in the English Program (which you can read about here).
Pictured Above: Dr. Ed Battistella in action during his time at SOU
Pictured Above: The ENG 414 class conducting a project read-around in Britt Hall
Britt Hall was also the site of multiple English Program open houses throughout this year, which kept English students in the loop and updated on upcoming classes, requirements, and events. The English club also met every week within Britt Hall, where they spent time chatting and completing puzzles together. The English club also partnered with the Creative Writing Club to plan and host a few book swap events and open mic nights.
Pictured Above: The English club at one of their weekly meetings
Of course, it’s impossible to talk about Britt Hall without talking about Fae Hamilton, the English Program Assistant of the 22-23 school year who worked at the front desk. Fae took time this year to put together two holiday-themed creative writing contests for English majors, including the 13-word Scary Story Contest in October and the Valentine’s Day Poem Contest. At the end of this year, Fae is leaving SOU to return to Washington state, and we wish her well in all of her future endeavors! The English Program is also pleased to announce Molly McGinley as the new program assistant for the 23-24 school year.
“Each professor I worked with had a clear sense of how I was developing as a writer and was eager to help me develop further with plenty of opportunities and support.”
– Senior English Major
This was a year of faculty accomplishments as well. Dr. Merrilyne Lundahl highlights her personal achievements contributing to Adventure Risk Challenge, bringing a “tools, not rules” approach to grammar and new assessment methods for student writing. She celebrates her students from ENG 488 (Intro Methods to Teaching Lit), and ENG 105 (Intro to Lit) for their engaging and creative work.
Pictured Above: Dr. Lundahl looking particularly sharp; photo taken by English major Rona Stublefield
Dr. Diana Maltz was awarded with SOU’s Distinguished Scholarship Award, and wants to compliment her students from ENG 447 (Trans Lit) and ENG 499 (British Naturalism and Realism) for their perseverance through tricky readings and bringing fun to every class.
Pictured Above: Dr. Maltz pausing from her reading; photo taken by English major Rona Stublefield
Dr. Alma Rosa Alvarez is proud of her and her writing partner Michelle St. Romain Wilson’s work to complete a poetry chapbook titled Water’s Edge (which will be out in June through their imprint, Singing Bird Press) and is excited for their upcoming poetry reading on June 26 at 7pm at Bloomsbury Books. Alma wants to recognize the winners of the Creative Writing Club’s Zine Contest winners: 1st- Eng major McKenzie Wiard and their partner, Fry Leavelle; 2nd- ENG minor Rhiannon Chavez; 3rd- ENG major Blake Jordan.
Pictured Above: Dr. Alvarez facing writer’s block head-on; photo taken by English major Rona Stublefield
Dr. Margaret Perrow is honored to have received the Oregon Excellence Award in Teaching the English Language Arts, from the Oregon Council of Teachers of English this year. She is proud of her ENG 472 (Intro Methods to Teaching Writing) students for their “MetAphorism” projects, who allowed their work to be shared at the Writing Innovation Symposium in Madison, WI in February (and you can check out some of this student work here). Margaret is also so impressed by the work of K.K. Scarminaugh and Lillian Johnston presenting with her at the the Creativity Conference on May 19, 2023, as well as the presentations of MAT students Katrin Jerome and Julie Nelson at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) conference in November this year as part of the “Future is Now” session (which you can read more about here).
Pictured Above: Dr. Perrow and colleague Kim Neiswanger (first grade teacher at Ruch Outdoor Community School) at a conference where they presented a workshop on book-publication in the elementary classroom.
“All of the classroom environments in the English department are full with outstanding educators who genuinely care about your success.”
– Senior English Major
The English Program also partnered with campus and community members to put on some educational and engaging events this year. For starters, several English majors got the opportunity to go on an informative tour of the local Blackstone Publishing, which was a great way for students interested in the field of publishing to learn more about it. The program also hosted an informative panel on teaching careers this year, featuring professionals and SOU alumni in the field. In May, the English Program worked together with Lady Vanderlip from the Spanish Department, the Office for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, and other campus partners to host a tour of the SOU campus for second grade English Language Learners from Wilson Elementary School in Medford. This event included the reading of Elementary Ed major Jose Villalobos’ self-written bilingual children’s book, which is being published through the Oregon Writing Project (which you can read about here).
Pictured Above: Panelists in Britt Hall during the Careers in Teaching Panel.
Pictured Above: English students at the Blackstone Publishing tour.
In the realm of scholarship, the 2022-23 school year was a big one. Students Blake Jordan, Emily Roach, and Connor Babbitt traveled to Portland in March to present at the Northwest Undergraduate Conference on Literature (NUCL). The experience was a prestigious (and fun) one for the students whose work was accepted to be presented (and you can read more about it here). Plenty of English students were also awarded with scholarships this year, including Sophia Lorusso (an anonymous scholarship and the Dankook award), Connor Babbitt (John Burley Scholarship), Kaylie Greene (Isabel Meyn scholarship), and Dulce Nunez (Ed Battistella Linguistics award). On top of this, senior English major Blake Jordan was selected to be a commencement speaker at the 2023 commencement ceremony.
Pictured Above: Blake Jordan with his nifty new typewriter he picked while at the NUCL.
“I will always be grateful for the things I learned here at SOU.”
– Senior English Major
Finally, I as the 22-23 English Program blogger would like to thank you for all of the readership, support and kind words I received this year. We had nine blog stories picked up in the campus-wide Southern Exposure publication so far this year, and a story picked up by the Ashland News. As I graduate this year and move on to the next chapter, I’d like to invite you to join me in welcoming the talented Annalynn Mueller in taking over the blogging position for the 23-24 academic year. I wish you well and cannot wait to see where you take the blog!
SOU offers an array of classes and micro-credentials that can expand your opportunities just like Jewel.
Blogging for the English Program is another great way to expand your resume; it is a content-management and content-strategist position that exercises writing skills.
If you’re interested in building your content-management and content-strategist skills by blogging for the English Program next year, contact Margaret Perrow.
Follow the English Program on Instagram (souenglish) and Facebook to stay updated throughout the summer and into the 23-24 school year!
Interested in being featured on the English Program blog? Or know someone who is interested? Contact English Program blogger Annalynn Mueller at muellera1@sou.edu .
Learn more about SOU’s English Programs:
English Home Page | English BA/BS | English Minor | TESOL Certificate Program
