JCCC Department of English Blog

At the end of the current academic year, Prof. Andrea Broomfield will complete a three-year term as English Chair. The department has selected Michael Carriger to fill that seat for the upcoming three years. Prof. Carriger ran unopposed, a fact that seems to underscore a wide confidence in his ability to fill the role admirably.

Who does NPR News come to for insight on generative AI in the college classroom? Apparently it is our own Prof. Dan Cryer, who recently shared this useful analogy in relation to students using AI tools for school work:

“If all we needed was the weights moved, then that would be great, but we need the muscles developed, and students going through the process of writing are developing those muscles.”

If you want to read the entire article, it’s found below.

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/03/nx-s1-5716176/ai-college-students-professors

Professor Beth Gulley served as a judge for the Kansas Author’s Club youth poetry contest for grades 3 and 4.

Marcellus D. Harper, executive director of Collage Dance Collective (CDC), and Kevin Thomas, choreographer for CDC, visited Dr. Kunkel’s ENGL 216 African-American Literature course on Nov. 12 in advance of CDC’s ballet performance of Their Eyes Were Watching God at JCCC. Harper and Thomas spoke about adapting the novel for a 30-minute ballet and JCCC students asked questions based on their reading of the book for class.

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Professor Beth Gulley recently had two pieces published in The Write Bridge Journal: Ideals and Illusions, a poem titled “17 Magazine” and a creative nonfiction piece titled “Ellen’s Idol.”