Student Poetry Contest Elicits 41 Entries

The June 2006 edition of By George! includes the following words about two overachieving professors of English, Robert McRuer and Jane Shore: Associate Professor of English Robert McRuer was researching and writing about lesbian and gay studies—or “queer theory”—and AIDS cultural theory when he was asked by a member of his local reading group to…

Our beloved colleague Maxine Clair is retiring. I’d like to share with you some comments from the student evaluations from her very last class. Professor Clair will be missed dearly. Each class with her is like a small step forward in my life as a student, and also a contribution to whatever I might achieve…

Every president should commence a term in office with poetry. The arts are too often separated from government, and for no good reason. Only two presidents have invited poets to read from their work during inauguration: John. F. Kennedy (Robert Frost) and Bill Clinton (Maya Angelou, Miller Williams). Good news: Barack Obama has likewise named…

Dear English majors, Just a quick reminder that our new workshop series in Literary Studies (ENGL 701-10) is scheduled for later this month and early March. The first workshop, on Working with Archives and Electronic Resources, will meet on Wednesday February 27 between 7:00 and 8:30; it will feature Cathy Eisenhower from the Gelman Library,…

Alumna Casey Wasserman writes: I suppose my “career” is the pursuit of a quirky, unconventional intellectual obsession. I’m technically working on my PhD in English at Duke, focusing on 20th c. African American literature and popular culture. Truth be told, those who know me best would argue I’m trying to get a degree in James…

A few years ago GW initiated a Writing in the Disciplines (WID) program to ensure that the attention to writing given in the first year of study continues thereafter. I’m naturally skeptical of all initiatives, especially when they come bearing acronyms, but I have to say that the WID program is very well thought out…