Carol Jago on Writing in the digital age

NCTE President Carol Jago spoke Thursday evening to a full lecture hall in Writing on the digital age. English Department Distinguished ALumnus Dave Dempsey, himself author of five books, was in the audience during his 'homecoming' to Western.

Fall Titles from New Issues

New Issues Poetry & Prose published three new books of poetry this fall:

Reliquary Fever: New and Selected Poems by Beckian Fritz Goldberg
Pima Road Notebook by Keith Ekiss
Vivisect by Lisa Lewis

Check out www.wmich.edu/newissues for more info

Mark your calendars: Beckian Fritz Goldberg will be reading at WMU on Thursday, November 4th.

NCTE President interview on NPR

Carol Jago, the President of the National Council of Teachers of English, is currently our guest in the English Department as part of our Department Speakers Series. Check out her Interview with NPR and come to her talk, "Read Write Now: Teaching in a Digital Age," tonight, 7pm, in 1260 Chemistry Bldg.

ENGL Doctoral Programs Place Well in National Research Council Rankings

A huge Kudos to the English Department for achieving a very solid position in the National Research Council's recent rankings of doctoral programs. Whatever one may think of rankings in general and of this one specifically, the parameters chosen by the National Research Council aggregate ranking show us well situated between 53 and 90 out of all 122 institutions participating in the field of English studies. In comparison, Miami U's English Dept. (Miami is one of our university's peer institutions), is ranked between 77 and 103; Georgia State is ranked between 67 and 97; Loyola U of Chicago between 82-103; UW-Milwaukee between 60 and 88; Northern Illinois 77-103; Michigan State 40-71; Marquette 106-116; and Southern Illinois 100-113, to name but a few. Make your own observations using this TOOL.

Bush is Back

Jonathan Bush, after too many months in Kabul, Afghanistan, returned home this afternoon, at 3:09pm, at Kalamazoo Airport. He looked a little tired, of course, but it's great to know he is back in town.