JCCC Department of English Blog

Brent Jackson and Trey Hock.  Photo from ArtsKCGo.

Brent Jackson, adjunct professor of English, is involved in Open Spaces, a Kansas City arts festival that will run through the end of October.  Specifically, Jackson is part of the Blue River Road Investigators.  He has teamed up with Trey Hock, a professor and filmmaker at the Kansas City Art Institute, to study the Blue River Road Annex, a section of Blue River Road in Kansas City, MO, that has been closed to vehicle traffic for several years.

They are observing and reporting on the way the natural landscape changes an area that once was used by hundreds of vehicles every day.  They seek to answer the question, “What is a road when it no longer supports the swift movement of automobiles?”

As part of their work, Jackson and Hock are giving tours of the abandoned stretch of road every Saturday in September and October.  The tours, which last between 45 and 90 minutes, begin at 4 pm.  To participate in a tour go to the north entrance to the Blue River Road Annex, which is just south of Bannister Road, next to the 95th Street soccer fields.   In addition, during September and October, the Blue River Road Investigators will be giving updates on their research that highlight changes taking place on the road.  The presentations will be at 6pm on Sept. 20, Oct. 4, and Oct. 18, at Epperson Auditorium on the Kansas City Art Institute campus.  Each presentation will feature a special guest who will give a presentation on a specific feature of Blue River Road.

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.

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.