English Faculty Presentations

Two English department faculty members are making college-wide presentations during the first week of September:

First, Mark Browning will be giving a presentation on Henry David Thoreau’s Walden for the Great Books Mini-Lecture Series.  Browning’s talk will be from 12-12:50, Sept. 5, in the CoLab.

 

Second, David Davis will be the first presenter of the year for “Noon at the Nerman” series at noon on Sept. 7.  Davis will speak on Preston Singletary‘s Raven Steals the Moon, which is located on the second floor of the Regnier Center.  Those wishing to attend Davis’ presentation should first meet in the lobby of the Nerman Museum.

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JCCC Student Award Winners

Tom Reynolds, professor of English and faculty advisor for The Mind’s Eye, reports that two JCCC students have one awards in the League for Innovation National Student Literary Competition for 2017-2018.

Ben Grimes won first place in the personal essay/non-fiction category with his essay “Amanda.” First place comes with a certificate and a $500 check.

Lloyd Stevens won third place in the fiction category with his short story “An Afternoon with Eva.” Third place comes with a certificate and a $100 check.

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Another Cavalier Craze Day has Come and Gone

From 10am to 2pm on May 9,  volunteers from the English department braved the sun to let JCCC students know about our fabulous classes. Special thanks to Ted Rollins, Nathan Jones, Mark Browning, Marilyn Senter, Diane Davis and Dave Davis for standing watch over the table, brochures, and candy.

Jim McWard and Mark Browning having fun in the sun
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Cavalier Conference 2018

The 4th Annual Cavalier Conference on Writing and Literature was held on April 20, 2018 at the JCCC Regnier Center. This year’s theme was Researching: Teach, Do, and Share. The conference attracted high school and college instructors from around the Kansas City metropolitan area and throughout Kansas.  A total of 106 people registered.  The keynote speaker for the event was Doug Hesse, Professor English and Executive Director of the Writing Program at The University of Denver.  Hesse is also Past President of the National Council of Teachers of English and a former Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC).

The conference offered several sessions on the subject of research and attracted presenters from Lawrence High School, Rockhurst University, Washburn University, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Metropolitan Community College-Longview, Fort Hays State University, Emporia State University, Pittsburg State University, and Kansas State University.

Several presenters were also from Johnson County Community College:

  • Jennifer Forth: “Discipline-Specific Portfolios to Improve Student Writing”
  • Janice Hodgkin and Maureen Fitzpatrick: “Storytelling as Research: Research as Storytelling”
  • Nathan Jones: “Encouraging a Genuine Culture of Assessment through Action Research”
  • Ted Rollins: “Researching and Implementing ‘Teaching for Transfer’ Pedagogy: How Can We Help Students Apply Their Writing Knowledge/Practice Across Contexts?”
  • Jessica Tipton and Elaine Pelletier: “Librarians as Partners in the Research Process, From Assignment Creation to Completion”
  • Monica Hogan: “How I Learned to Stop County and Love Assessment”
  • Andrea Broomfield: “If Our Own Research is Crucial, How Do We Find Time to Fit It In? Strategies for Invigorating Your Scholarly Life Beyond and Within the Classroom”

In addition to the keynote lecture by Doug Hesse, the luncheon also featured student awards for Hare & Bell submissions.

The Cavalier Conference committee is comprised of the following JCCC professors of English: Maureen Fitzpatrick, Beth Gulley, Nathan Jones, Jim McWard, Ted Rollins, Marilyn Senter, and Matthew Schmeer.

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Recent Department News

On March 28, the English Department sponsored a day-long visit from Ronald Sullivan, professor at Harvard Law and founder of the Jamestown Project at Yale University.  Sullivan’s visit was in conjunction with the department’s Common Read selection for the year, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.  In the morning, Sullivan met with students in composition classes.  At 11 am, he gave a presentation for faculty and students in the Polsky Theatre.  The afternoon featured a Q&A session with Sullivan in the CoLab.  Sullivan’s visit was made possible by the Common Read Committee: Professors Maureen Fitzpatrick, Monica Hogan, Diane Davis, Marilyn Senter, Tom Reynolds, Katherine Karle, and Jim McWard. 

Dan Cryer, assistant professor of English, published two articles recently:  

Greg Dixon, professor of English, received an Assessment Mini-Grant to develop an Open Educational Resource (OER) in collaboration with librarian Barry Bailey.  

Nathan Jones, professor of English, has had two recent publications: 

  • Discovering Perceptions of the Essence of College-Level Writing: Transcendental Phenomenological Inquiry in a Midwestern Community College.  ProQuest, 2016. 
  • “Perceptions of College-Level Writing Among Professors in an American Community College.” Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Open and Innovative Education, edited by Kam Cheong Li and Eva Tsang, The Open University of Hong Kong,2017, pp. 216-225. 

Jones gave a presentation titled “Perceptions of College-Level Writing Among Professors in an American Community College” at the International Conference on Open and Innovative Education on July 13, 2017 at The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

Jones also has the following presentations planned in the coming months:

  • “Preparing Local Students to Become College-Level Writers.” International  Conference on Language, Innovation, Culture, and Education, a Paper to Be Presented 28-30 June 2018, Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
  • “Building Curriculum Around Perceptions of Appropriate College-Level Writing in an American Community College.” International Conference on Open and Innovative Education, a Paper to Be Presented 4-6 July 2018, The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. 
  • “Improving College-Level Writing for Local Contexts.” Eleventh International Conference on Teaching, Education and Learning, a Paper to Be Presented 11-12 July 2018, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand.
  • “Perceptions of College-Level Writing Among Community College Faculty.” Midwest Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MIDTESOL) 2017  Conference, 29 Sept 2018, Kansas City Marriott Downtown, Kansas City, Missouri. 
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