SSS Fall Party Welcomes Department Grads

Thanks especially to hosts Beth Bradburn and Paul Laferriere for helping the English Department's Scholarly Speakers Series welcome our new graduate students (and celebrate our already great group of existing students) yesterday.

It was a great way to remind us of the benefits of conviviality and to catch up on what everyone's been up to since last semester.

We look forward to seeing you all at this year's exciting events, which feature distinguished faculty with a wide variety of specialties ranging from medieval history to contemporary theory. More details on our Fall lineup will follow soon!

Interdisciplinary Work Group in Digital Humanities

Announcement of Center for Humanities

Interdisciplinary Work Group in Digital Humanities

During the fall 2013 semester, the University Center for Humanities will be hosting series of discussions to explore the possibilities of incubating and establishing a more centralized and viable digital humanities presence at WMU.  Moderated by Kate Langan (Asst. Professor, University Libraries) and Ilse Schweitzer VanDonkelaar (Doctoral Associate for the Graduate College and English department), the interdisciplinary work groups are a chance for interested  faculty, administrators, staff, and graduate students to assemble and identify campus-wide expertise and partners.

Recent years have seen a steady increase in the visibility, viability, and innovation of digital research at universities, national organizations, and libraries around the world. In broad terms, digital humanities is the intersection of computing technology and the traditional humanities-based disciplines, such as literatures and languages, cultural studies, history, social sciences, and philosophy. More specifically, digital humanities is seen as how technology and computing change the way scholars interact with, analyze, present, and teach from digitally enhanced materials.

The interdisciplinary work group will 4 times over the semester to assess the opportunities for supporting digital humanities projects at Western and to develop an outline of recommendations for supporting these efforts.

All sessions meet in the University Center for the Humanities (2500 Knauss Hall):  

Wednesday, September 18, from 5-7pm: Defining WMU’s Vision and Mission in the Digital Humanities

At this meeting, our primary objectives will be to define a vision and mission statement on the Digital Humanities for WMU. We will hear presentations from scholars involved in current and past DH projects.  Guest speakers and presenters will include: Mitch Katchun (History), Eve Salisbury (English), Sue Steuer (Libraries), and Todd Kuchta (English).

October 16th, 5-7pm: Navigating the Digital Diaspora: Identifying Opportunities and Expertise across Colleges and Disciplines

November 20th, 5-7pm: Digital Humanities in the Classroom: Implications for Teaching and Learning

December 11th, 5-7pm: Who’s Afraid of the Digital Wolf? How to Implement a Digital Humanities Project from Start to Finish.

Members of the university community are welcome to attend and participate.

Questions and RSVP: kathleen.langan@wmich.edu or (269)387-5823. Please indicate which session(s) you wish to attend. For further information, visit http://libguides.wmich.edu/dighumworkgroup

GWST/Women's Caucus Fall Reception

All department members are welcome at the upcoming Fall Reception hosted by the WMU Women's Caucus, which will take place on Wed., Sept. 18, from 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Oaklands. Come enjoy some refreshments and good conversation with colleagues old and new!

WMU Teaching and Learning Bash, September 13, 2013

Teaching Innovations on Display! 

WMU faculty members, instructors, and graduate TAs are invited to attend WMU's first Teaching and Learning Bash, to be held on Friday, September 13, 2013 in the Fetzer Center. Participants do not have to register for the event, and they can come and go, based upon their availability. During the lunch session, Gwen Tarbox, faculty member in English, will be presenting a poster on developing course blogs, alongside other educators who are eager to share their own teaching innovations. Please plan to attend and spread the word!

Schedule of Events

Time	Event & Moderators
8:30 – 9 a.m.	Welcome & OFD Overview Dr. Tim Greene & Dr. Andrea Beach
9 – 10 a.m.	Concurrent Workshop sessions for Instructors presented by WMU colleagues
10 – 10:15 a.m.	BREAK TIME
10:15 – 10:45 a.m.	Student & Instructor Round Table Sessions led by 21st Century Student Initiative, SAG & GSAC students
11 – 11:30 a.m.	Student & Instructor Round Table Sessions
11:30 – 1 p.m.	Poster Session, Resource Fair & Lunch
1 – 2 p.m.	Second Concurrent Workshop sessions for Instructors
2 – 2:30 p.m.	WRAP UP

2013-2014 Distinguished Alum, James Griffioen

Jim Griffioen is a writer, photographer, and community activist at the forefront in the reinvention and revitalization of Detroit. A 1999 Western Michigan University English Department graduate, Jim went on to receive his J.D. at the University of Michigan Law School. Following several years practicing law as a corporate litigator in San Francisco, Jim and his wife relocated to Detroit, where they now live, work, and raise their children as “two more yuppies raising their kids in the most dangerous city in America.”

Since his career shift, Jim has become one of the most recognized and poignant chroniclers of contemporary Detroit – both through his popular blog, Sweet-Juniper.com, and through his photography, advocacy, and writing. He has been interviewed and featured on venues including NPR, BBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Rachel Maddow Show, and multiple other local, regional, and national outlets. His photography has been seen in Time, O: The Oprah Magazine, and many others. “Feral Houses,” a photo-essay of buildings being overtaken by nature, has received national attention.  Oprah.com has featured Jim in a column titled, “What Inspires the Most Creative People We Know” and profiled his fatherly creativity.

His written voice -- like his photos -- is clear and humanistic. Where others see only decay, he is able to see beauty. As he states in the conclusion of an essay accompanying photos of the now-decrepit Detroit Public Schools Book Depository,

Despite the ugliness that is inherent in these photos: the ugliness of poverty, the tragedy of loss, and waste, this building still lets us glimpse something beautiful. In Detroit this beauty is uniquely sustained. In other cities, buildings like this would be turned into luxury loft condominiums. They would be knocked down so that something new could be built in their place, their contents dragged off to a landfill and forgotten. Here we get to see what the world will look like when we're gone. We see that the world will indeed go on, and there is a certain beauty to nature's indifference.

Jim’s work provides a longer and more empathetic view of the city than what is documented by national journalists who have been content to make quick trips to Detroit to document “ruin porn.” He is not reporting on Detroit – he is reporting in it – and living it. His powerful photo essays provide context, empathy, and hope while chronicling current decay and past mistakes -- abandoned schools, prairies that were once thriving neighborhoods, and other similar scenes. In Sweet-Juniper, he intimately chronicles his own family’s life and all the joys and adventures that they have in a supposedly ruined city – building crafts, exploring vacant lots, and embarking on trips throughout town. In doing so, he provides a powerful counter-narrative to the stories of bankruptcy, corruption, and neglect portrayed in national and international media.

Detroit – and other industrial cities like it – are being re-envisioned and rebuilt by people like Jim Griffioen – those with vision, talent, and the commitment to see past the ruin and towards a new future.