Nominate a worthy staff member for Make a Difference Award

Nominations are now being accepted for the fall Make a Difference awards. The semiannual award recognizes staff accomplishments and daily investments of energy and creativity.
http://www.wmich.edu/hr/makeadifference/

Study & Intern Abroad Fair

Today, Tuesday, October 6, the Haenicke Institute is hosting its annual Study & Intern Abroad Fair from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Bernhard Center's South Ballroom. The Fair provides attendees the opportunity to speak with WMU students who have studied and interned abroad, WMU professors who coordinate programs and courses around the world, and study abroad advisors from the Haenicke Institute. Also on hand will be representatives from non-WMU organizations promoting more than 100 study and work programs conducted worldwide. Additionally, the Fair will include:
--Expanded opportunities for overseas internships due to broader collaboration with WMU’s Career and Student Employment Services.
--Presentation of two informational sessions: Intern Abroad for Academic Credit from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., and the Study Abroad 101 panel discussion from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. with financial aid staff members and students who have previously studied abroad.
--Prize giveaways hosted by STA Travel-a three-week Eurail pass and two international cell phones. STA is one of the largest student travel organizations in the world.
--A free pop and slice of pizza, while supplies last.

English Dept Alum's Red Carpet Local Premiere Features Familiar Faces

The Electronic Theatre
in association with
The Public Media Network

presents

the premiere of

KALAMAZOO STORIES

a movie by Chuck Bentley

at the Kalamazoo 10 Cinema
(West Main St. by US131)

Sunday Oct 11 at 5:30pm
intermission at 7pm
part II continues at 7:30pm
(movie ends at 9pm)

Free Admission
(limited seats: first come, first served!)


More info about CB's "epic" can be found in THIS ARTICLE.

CFP: Undergraduates on Underwear

Underpinnings: The Evolution of Underwear from the Middle Ages through Early Modernity

A conference organized by the undergraduate students of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Binghamton University (Binghamton, NY) in conjunction with Troubadours and Trebuchets, The Medieval Studies Club

From the trailing sleeves and towering headdresses of the High Middle Ages to the ornate, jewel-encrusted ensembles of Elizabethan England and the elaborate turbans of the Mamluk and Ottoman empires, clothing and headgear have captured the imagination of historians for decades. Few, however, have given thought to what lies beneath, which, even while having a functional role, comprises a system of sartorial signs that tell much with respect to social mores and shifting views of the body. This conference aims to explore the evolution of undergarments from the Middle Ages through the early modern era in a variety of contexts, from the material forms of the garments themselves to their symbolic associations and latent meaning. Geographic and temporal reach: global, 500-1750.

Possible topics of discussion include:

Differences and similarities in men’s and women’s undergarments according to class, social status, age, and distinctions between the laity and religious; Changing notions of modesty, comfort, and hygiene and their effects on the under-covering of bodies ; The materiality of undergarments ; The decorative range of undergarments, from the utilitarian to the elaborate, including the use of lace and embroidery ; Underwear as outerwear (the exposure of undergarments through sleeves, necklines, and cutaway skirts; the display of underwear in private spaces; the role of underwear in the public stripping of the body); Shaping the body: the use of undergarments to achieve desired silhouettes; The effects of sumptuary laws on undergarments; The rise of certain industries related to the production of undergarments, including the whaling trade in relation to the rise of the whalebone corset; The erotics of underwear; The myths and realities of the chastity belt ; The representation of underwear in painting, poetry, and song

Proposals for individual papers (20 minutes maximum) should be no more than 500 words in length and may be sent by email, with a current CV if graduate level and a resume if undergraduate, to hallen1@binghamton.edu (Re: Undergarment Conference). Those wishing to submit hard copies of the proposal and CV should forward them to: CEMERS (ATTN: Undergarment Conference), Binghamton University, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000. We also welcome proposals for integrated panels. Panel organizers should describe the theme of the panel and send abstracts with names and affiliations of all participants along with current CVs. A panel should consist of no more than three papers, each twenty minutes in length. Deadline for submissions is December 5^th, 2009.

Olsen a Visiting Writer at Northern Michigan University

Bill Olsen was a guest of the Visiting Writers' Series this past week at Northern Michigan University and read at an event, sponsored by the Department of English and Passages North.