2020-2021 English Yearbook

DEPARTMENT2020-2021 NAME GOES HERE ENGLISH

EVER ONWARD

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LETTER FROM THE CHAIR Congratulations to our 2020 and 2021 KU English graduates and award winners! These are hard-won achievements in the face of the many and often unexpected challenges of the past year.

I know that my own experience has been inestimably buoyed by the connections I have been able to maintain with my students and faculty and staff colleagues, even if the ways we have had to connect have not always been ideal.

Speaking of connections, one of the best parts of my spring was our Value of English series, featuring KU English alumni who are at various stages in careers as diverse as neurology, publishing, law, refugee resettlement, ministry, teaching, and business management. I was so encouraged and excited to learn more about the different paths people had taken -- and not only about how those alumni used their English degrees in their careers, but also about the larger value of their English study to their lives. We plan to make these alumni a regular occurrence, and we are building a network of English alumni of which those of you who are graduating are also now a part.

As you take your next steps, whether they take you down the road or across the globe, please stay in touch. Help us to maintain these connections with you and with the Jayhawks who follow in your footsteps.

In the meantime, congratulations to all who are celebrated in these pages! We are proud of you!

Rock chalk, Katie Conrad Professor and Chair English

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LETTER FROM THE UNDERGRADUATE DIRECTOR When most of you graduating seniors started your Jayhawk Journey (Hawk Hustle? Oread Obligation?) in August 2017, our world was a wildly different place. The reboot of It was atop the cinema box office, Debbie Macomber’s romance novel Any Dream Will Do led the New York Times Fiction Best Seller list, and Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” broke through to win the MTV Video Music Awards’ Video of the Year. And perhaps most obviously, we were living life “BP” – before pandemic.

What a trip these last few years have been! Some of you came in knowing that words, texts, and language were your obsession.

Others of you started academic careers in wildly different disciplines but soon found your heart and interests drawing you to Wescoe. Still others leaned in to the capaciousness of your interests and combined English Studies with disparate fields to craft a unique path that will launch you out of Lawrence and in to the world.

Whether you’ve walked a path that is straight ahead and sure, or, like dearly revered Honors Coordinator and Associate Director Dr. Mary Klayder you have blazed a more crooked one, now is the moment to celebrate; celebrate how you have changed, the communities you have enlivened, and the knowledge you have ignited.

Dr. Klayder, your faculty, advisors, and I count ourselves blessed to have had front row seats as each of you has reshaped a poem you wrote last week, pondered what Afrofuturism tells us about the future of literature and society, or analyzed how word choice in politics can shape entire elections. More than just skills for a class, you’ve shown how the texts we read, stories we tell, and words we manipulate shape the world in which we live. And now you are responsible for harnessing that knowledge to make your corner of the world a little bit better.

Congratulations to all our graduates as well as those whose exemplary work and contributions are being honored as we conclude this most unorthodox and challenging of years. We marvel at your accomplishments and await tales of your future exploits with expectation and joy!

Rock Chalk!

Darren Canady Associate Professor Director of Undergraduate Studies 5

GRADUATING SENIORS

Jonathan Alexander

Logan A. Bell

Grace E. Brunner

Ashley Marie Devore

Jacob Downing

Ross Gardner Fitzpatrick

Madalyn Nicole Gerant

Ben Grimes

Aroog Khaliq

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GRADUATING SENIORS

Olivia Noel Lockton

Lars Moss

Elaine C. Pope

Madeleine Rheinheimer

Kelsey Rolofson

Gillian Schawo

Lauren Underwood

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GRADUATING SENIORS NOT PICTURED Bryce Andrew Bailey Jenna Bellar Isaac Lee Berlau Oliver Thomas Bohanon Natalie Kim Brentano Brian Laurence Buntin Jackson J. Byam Fangzhou Chen Sophia Blue Coen Jackson Scott De La Garza Kyndall Aleece Delph Zachary Robert Elmer James Gregory Evans Cheyann M. Fortin Madison Elizabeth Greve Sarah Annmarie Hanson Alexis J. Harms Avital Etta Hecker Brian Daniel Heinen Brennon Andrew Hipsher Jeremiah C. Ikwuwunna Samantha Isler Elizabeth Reed Johnson Chase M. Koster Megan Lauralee Lacolla Linquist

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Valerie Renee Lewis Madeline Nicole Long Carla G. Lutcher Rebecca Luu Alyse Maender Violet McClendon Nicole Renee Mossberger Davi Lea Nicoll Cailin C. O’Mara Ian Pittman Robert Reilly Pollard James C. Pospisil Thomas J. Riggs Madison G. Rubalcava Sydney Nicole Schranz Kate E. Schwaller Sophie Isabel Shawver Kirsta Annette Sherman Mariah J. Sibley Caitlin Meryl Steimle Zachary Gordon Straus Brianna Wessling Anna R. Wilhelm Sarah C. Wood

ENGLISH HONORS THESES Jonathan Alexander, “A View from the Summit” (A Collection of Writing) Faculty Readers: Darren Canady and Mary Klayder Logan A. Bell, “Tourist and Anthropocentric Rhetoric within National Geographic Magazine” Faculty Readers: Phil Drake and Misty Schieberle Grace E. Brunner, “A Queer Literary Analysis of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women” Faculty Readers: Misty Schieberle and Mary Klayder Ashley Marie Devore, “Complexities of the Sea: Analyzing the Ocean as an Environment and a Character in Moby Dick and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” Faculty Readers: Geraldo Sousa and Mary Jo Reiff Jacob Downing, “Language of Liberation: What ‘Abolition’ Means Now and Then” Faculty Readers: Maryemma Graham and Mary Klayder Ross Gardner Fitzpatrick, “A Crown to the Aged” (Fiction Collection) Faculty Readers: Adam Desnoyers and Mary Klayder Aroog Khaliq, “Extrema, or Antipodes” (A Collection of Poetry) Faculty Readers: Megan Kaminski and Mary Klayder Alyse Maender, “Cultural Trauma in Woolf’s Post WWII England” Faculty Readers: Mary Klayder and Dorice Elliott Violet McClendon, “Between the Sea and Squirming Things” (A Novel In-Progress incorporating Prose Poetry) Faculty Readers: Adam Desnoyers and Giselle Anatol Cailin O’Mara, “Transformative Futurity: An Exploration of Revolution-Building in Speculative and Carceral Literature” Faculty Readers: Mary Klayder and Christopher Perreira (AMS) Thomas Riggs, “John Kennedy Toole and the Anatomy of Martyrdom” Faculty Readers: Mary Klayder and Mark Luce Kelsey Rolofson, “Anarchic Aesthetic and Authority in the Poetry of Walt Whitman” Faculty Readers: Paul Outka and Mary Klayder

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ENGLISH HONORS THESES Sydney Schranz, “Doubling, Gender, and the Interplay of Patriarchy and Repressed Desire in Matthew’s The Monk” Faculty Readers: Geraldo Sousa and Mary Klayder Gillian Schawo, “Aberration” (A Collection of Writing) Faculty Readers: Kathryn Conrad and Giselle Anatol Lauren Underwood, “Miss You to the Moon” (Two Chapters of a Novel in process) Faculty Readers: Adam Desnoyers and Mary Klayder Breanna Wessling, “Musings from Behind the Mask” (Collection of Nonfiction) Faculty Readers: Doug Crawford Parker and Adam Desnoyers

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UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS First- and Second-Year English Writing Awards Bisma Anis Mallory Folsom Ginny Hannahan Mahala Grace Higginbotham Carrington Jones-Jackson The Helen Rhoda Hoopes/Henry Weidner Award for best essays by undergraduate women 1st Prize: Kai Hanson Michaela Harding Marley Hays Aroog Khaliq Faith Maddox Sophia Mager Elaine C. Pope 2nd Prize: Helene Bechtel Grace Burland Claire Devolder Elizabeth Grinage Maha Kyasa Samiya Rasheed The Ilus W. Davis/Henry Matthew Weidner Award for best essays by undergraduate men 1st Prize: Kyle Kobe Darian Martin Paddy Qiu 2nd Prize: Collin Dodd Josh Rubino

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The Kenneth Rockwell Award for excellence in the study of literature by an undergraduate student Avital Hecker The John F. Eberhardt Excellence in Writing Award for English double major or English minor Ginny Hannahan Paddy Qiu Outstanding Graduating Senior Awards Jonathan Alexander Logan A. Bell Oliver Bohanon Ashley Marie Devore Ross Gardner Fitzpatrick Kendra Gardner Aroog Khaliq Cailin O’Mara Elaine C. Pope Kelsey Rolofson Gillian Schawo Sydney Schranz Lauren Underwood Breanna Wessling

UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS Brosseau Award for Creativity Aroog Khaliq 2021 Campanile Award Aroog Khaliq Faith Maddox Class of 1913 Award Aroog Khaliq Chancellors Club Scholars Ross Gardner Fitzpatrick Kelsey Rolofson College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Banner Carrier Aroog Khaliq Editor of Kiosk and Zenith Kelsey Rolofson ExCEL Award Elaine C. Pope National Debate Finalist Ross Gardner Fitzpatrick Outstanding Student Employee in Kansas Logan A. Bell RWJ Essay Award, Honorable Mention Ginny Hannahan Student Honors Address Aroog Khaliq University Scholars Aroog Khaliq Kelsey Rolofson

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LETTER FROM THE GRADUATE DIRECTOR I am pleased to celebrate our graduate students, especially our MA, MFA, and PhD students who have graduated in the 20202021 academic year. Given the trauma, loss, and insecurity – both personal and collective – that has marked this turbulent year of pandemic life, graduate students’ accomplishments are all the more impressive, and all the more deserving of recognition.

These achievements speak to feats within their specific areas of study, but also to English graduate students’ broader significance to the KU community. Despite lockdowns, quarantines, and remote instruction, English graduate students have remained remarkably active: publishing in various scholarly, creative, and public mediums; presenting original research and creative work at virtual conferences and public forums; organizing workshops with the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Center for Teaching Excellence, and other KU institutions; and conducting field research at libraries, archives, and ethnographic sites, most often remotely. These activities, especially when coupled with the impact of our GTAs instructing 101 and 102 students, demonstrate the importance and influence of English graduate students across campus. The fact that these accomplishments occurred during a global pandemic illustrates students’ astonishing resilience and adaptability.

As much as I’m eager to move beyond the pandemic and its many lingering terrors, I recognize that interactions with graduate students throughout this last year has intensified my sensitivities towards fostering care, community, and resilience on campus and beyond. I am truly privileged to have been in a position that involves constant interaction with students, faculty, and staff, and I’m grateful for the relationships that have been deepened by working collaboratively in the face of myriad difficulties.

With KU slowly easing its pandemic restrictions with the plan to resume in-person classes and events in the upcoming year, I am cautiously optimistic about what the future holds. Most of this optimism stems from the extraordinary students in our graduate program who are advancing the field in exciting directions through research, teaching, and service. In particular, I want celebrate our 2020-2021 graduates who deserve more praise than a letter like this can possibly convey. I hope you – our outgoing MA, MFA, and PhD students – are able to celebrate this incredible milestone properly. You will always be a valued part of the KU graduate program in English!

Congratulations!

Phil Drake Director of Graduate Studies 13

GRADUATE PROJECTS Master’s Degrees

Doctoral Degrees

Kit J. Auner, “The Dregs” Master of Fine Arts

Dana Comi, “Genre Infrastructures: Locating and Composing Access, Security, and In(ter) ventions Ph.D. Rhetoric & Composition

Amy Billings, “When Form Meets Desire: The Transformation of the Early Nineteenth-Century Gallows Broadside” Master of Arts

Derek Graf, “Green Burial: Poems” Ph.D. Creative Writing, Fall 2020

Kari Despain, “A Telling” Master of Fine Arts

Jeffrey Griffin, “Rendezvous Ditch” Ph.D. Creative Writing

Kristin L. Emanuel, “Birdwatching in the 4th Dimension” Master of Fine Arts

Christopher William Hall, :”Worlding Modernism: The Political, the Postcolonial, and the Modern Body” Ph.D. Literature

Lucia Iglesias, “Netherhel” Master of Fine Arts, Fall 2020 Korbin Scott Jones, “Ruralia: Death and Dissonance in the Undergrowth” Master of Fine Arts Tracey Lien, “GOOD BAD LUCK” Master of Fine Arts Hannah L. Soyer, “Dreams in Which I’m Almost Human” Master of Fine Arts Annie Trinh, “Children of the Garden” Master of Fine Arts

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Emma Kostopolus, “Cross-Saving in the Classroom: The Intersections of Transfer and GameBased Learning” Ph.D. Rhetoric & Composition Wen Xin, “‘I’m glad you are addressing this!’

Metadiscourse in First-Year Composition Teachers’ Written Comments” Ph.D. Rhetoric & Composition

GRADUATE DEPARTMENTAL AWARDS The William Albrecht Memorial Scholarship for a significant research project Divya Bhalla The Kenneth Rockwell Award for excellence in the study of literature by a graduate student First: Arnab Chakraborty Second (tie): Lisa Favicchia and Sharon Mugg The James A. Gowen Award for achievement in rhetoric, composition, or English language studies Brynn Fitzsimmons Selden Lincoln Whitcomb Fellowship for outstanding teaching and research Marcus Hoehne Ayah Wakkad The Dr. Anne Marie Turner Award for excellence in American Literature Sharon Mugg The Ramesh Thippavajjala Memorial Award for outstanding international graduate student Arnab Chakraborty

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CREATIVE WRITING AWARDS The Henry Matthew Weidner Creative Writing Award for the best portfolio of work by a graduate student Poetry: 1st: Lisa Favicchia Honorable Mention: Jason Baltazar Fiction: 1st: Brendan Williams-Childs 2nd: Kit Auner 3rd: Kyle Teller The Edgar Wolfe Award in Fiction for best short story by an undergraduate 1st: Tricia Drumm 2nd: Helene Bechtel 3rd (tie): Freeman Spray and Andrew Windish 4th (tie): Samiya Rasheed and Calen Henry The C.L. Clark Writing Award for fiction that tackles themes of power or inequality Undergraduate: 1st (tie): Paddy Qiu and Lily Swanson Graduate: 1st: Jason Baltazar 1st Runner-up: Brendan Williams-Childs The William H. Carruth Memorial Poetry Contest 1st: Paddy Qiu 2nd (tie): Sophia Coen, Maha Kyasa, Faith Maddox, and Ellyn Mayo Honorable Mentions: Claire Devolder and Samiya Rasheed The Edna Osborne Whitcomb Award for undergraduate achievement in poetry or fiction Avital Hecker 16

The Thomas J. O'Donnell Award in Creative Nonfiction Undergraduate: 1st: Sophia Blue Coen 2nd: Aroog Khaliq 3rd: Brad Mathewson 4th: Darian Martin 5th: Grace Cooper The Maxwell Nature Writing Contest for best nature essay or nature-themed story Undergraduate - Nature Essay: 1st: Sophia Blue Coen 2nd: Andrew Windish 3rd: Ginny Hannahan 4th: Margarita Madu Graduate - Nature Essay: 1st: Kyle Teller 2nd: Lydia Epp Schmidt Nature-themed story: 1st: Lily Swanson 2nd: Mahala Higginbotham 3rd (tie): Brynna Darley and Joshua Rubino The James E. Gunn Award for Science Fiction Writing for best story Kit Auner Aidan Boyle Samiya Rasheed Gillian Schawo Lily Swanson Brendan Williams-Childs

TEACHING AWARDS The Stephen F. Evans Award for excellence in course development Susan Duba Emma Kostopolus Faith Scheidemantle Outstanding Instructor Award Amy Billings Kristin Emanuel Marcus Hoehne Faith Scheidemantle The Mabel S. Fry Award Phillip Drake The Frances L. Stiefel Teaching Professorship Giselle Anatol Laura Mielke

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