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“MnWE News”
Winter Issue,
January-February
2019
Back Issues of
"MnWE News"
In this issue:
1.
FEB. 10: FINAL
CHANCE TO
PROPOSE FOR THE
MnWE CONFERENCE
2. THEME AND
KEYNOTERS FOR
MnWE APRIL 5-6
3. METHODS:
GENDER PRONOUN
WARS?
4. SHOULD
WE TEACH USING
GRAPHIC NOVELS?
5. About
MnWE:
Forwarding the
News,
Joining/Leaving,
Grad Credit,
Representatives
If you are a
MnWE
representative,
please forward
this email to
colleagues in
English,
Writing and
related fields.
Many new faculty
and writing
tutors may not
be on the email
list.
If you are a
long-term member
of this
listserv, thank
you
for your
continued
participation.
If you are new,
welcome! Our
listserv emails
go to over 2000
English,
Writing, and
related Upper
Midwest faculty.
To join, send a
request to the
editor at
richard at
jewell dot net.
Next conference:
“Connecting
Reading and
Writing,”
North Hennepin
Community
College
Fri.-Sat., April
5-6, 2018
Our website is
www.MnWE.org.
You are welcome
to attend our
next Committee
meeting, which
will be after
the second day
of the MnWE
Conference at
North Hennepin
Community
College; or ask
me, Richard
Jewell–richard
at jewell dot
net–how
to Skype in to
the meeting.
–
Richard Jewell,
Editor
1. FEB. 10:
FINAL
CHANCE TO
PROPOSE FOR THE
MnWE CONFERENCE
Final Extended
Deadline:
Sunday Midnight,
February 10,
2019
We hold
together as a
discipline
throughout
Minnesota and
surrounding
states because
we work
together.
Offering a
proposal to the
MnWE
Conference–or
even simply
attending–is an
act of helping
ourselves as a
group to become
more powerful in
how we teach and
in what we can
offer to
Minnesota and
other states. If
we are, indeed,
seeing the “rise
and fall of
English” and
Writing in past
and current
decades, as
Robert Scholes
says, we can see
ourselves rise
once more by
helping each
other.
Do you
have a proposal
for presenting
at the April 5-6
MnWE Conference?
Please consider
sending it. It
can be on
anything you
want to suggest,
anything new, or
anything old
that you see in
a new way. It
can be something
you’ve already
presented,
something you
hope to present,
or something
just because.
You are welcome
to present any
idea or
practical
activity, or to
present on our
theme.
In any
case, we hope
you will join us
at this year’s
conference in
the northwest
corner of the
Twin Cities at
North Hennepin
Community
College:
Proposals and
Registration:
www.MnWE.org
Theme and
Keynotes: See
“2” below.
---
2. THEME AND
KEYNOTERS FOR
MnWE APRIL 5-6
This
year’s theme is
“Connecting
Reading and
Writing.” Our
profession used
to assume,
several
generations ago,
that reading
well was a gift
that some
students had by
family practice
or genes. We no
longer assume
that: we know
that (a) reading
can be practiced
at any age, (b)
good reading
leads to better
writing and
research, and
(c) reading,
like writing, is
a practice
that can be
taught, even in
our writing and
literature
courses.
But how
do–or should–we
teach reading in
college
composition and
literature?
Different needs
require
different
reading
strategies. We
know, now, that
we can’t just
tell students,
“Go research.”
We need to help
them learn the
process of
researching.
Likewise,
telling
students, “Go
read” will not
produce the best
results.
Explaining
reading
strategies to
students is
becoming,
increasingly, a
part of good
pedagogy in
lower-division
English/Writing,
whether in
college or
university.
Teaching
students, for
example, how to
look for topic
sentences in
research
materials–or, in
literature, how
to find both the
elements and
the topic
sentences–can
help students
read more
productively and
efficiently with
greater
enjoyment. Join
us to discover
more reading
strategies,
interests, and
inclinations for
our writing and
literature
courses.
Our
keynoters will
speak to this
theme. Friday’s
lunchtime
keynoters are
Teaching
Professor and
fiction author
Shannon Gibney
of Minneapolis
Community and
Technical
College, and
Associate
Professor of
Library and
Information
Science Sarah
Park Dahlen of
St. Catherine
University. They
will talk about
the
intersections of
writing and
reading in
college courses.
Saturday’s
lunchtime
keynoters are
two of
Minnesota’s top
college reading
faculty, Shirley
Johnson and
Linda Russell,
who will talk
about
understanding
students’
reading
abilities, and
how we can teach
students to read
research and
other sources
better.
---
www.MnWE.org
---
3.
METHODS:
GENDER PRONOUN
WARS?
Are you
mystified by
students who
now, in email
signatures,
“identify their
pronouns” (e.g.,
“she, her, hers”
or “they, them,
theirs,” both
for singular
use)? In
addition, among
our students,
“they”
especially is
making a renewed
bid for becoming
a singular
pronoun (just as
“you” gradually
became both
singular and
plural, once
upon a time,
replacing the
singular
“thou”). To some
of us, this
change means
war, or at least
a language
skirmish; to
others of us,
the change
signifies a
cultural shift
in our use of
language.
I just
spent two hours
today talking
with a former
top student at
my school, who
now identifies
herself as being
of neither
gender. She
emphasized how
important this
is to many
younger people.
As a result, a
new wave of
students and
even some
faculty and
staff are asking
to be called by
the pronouns–and
gender
category–with
which they
identify. If you
want to find out
more, here is a
list of tips for
respecting
“diverse gender
identities” from
Dr. Katie
Nelson, Director
of Diversity at
Inver Hills
Community
College, and two
links below that
she suggests.
Many of her
suggestions are
paraphrased from
the first link:
1. Instead of taking roll
call on the
first day, let
the students
identify
themselves.
2. Send around a
sign-in sheet or
have a
questionnaire or
survey [for
students to add]
their pronouns
and then follow
their requests.
3. If a student
is misgendered
by another
student (they
use the wrong
pronouns to
refer to that
student), talk
to the student
(privately) and
ask if they
would like you
to correct their
colleagues.
4. Avoid
gendering
statements like
"Ladies and
Gentlemen" or
"Men and Women"
at the start of
semester. [“People”
and “Everyone”
work well.]
5. Never assume,
based on [how]
someone looks or
acts,…how they
identify.
6. Keep in mind
that one’s
gender identity,
sexual
orientation
(referring to
one’s level of
sexual
attraction to
different
genders), and
one’s sex
(referring to
biological
characteristics
associated with
males, females,
and inter-sex
individuals) are
independent of
one another.
---
article:
https://diversityandinclusion.lehigh.edu/sites/diversityandinclusion.lehigh.edu/files/center-pride/Dean_Spades_tips_for_higher_ed_regarding_trans.pdf
.
(Content at this link may not be forwarded to groups or lists,
only the link.)
video:
https://lgbt.umd.edu/good-practices-names-and-pronouns
---
4. SHOULD WE
TEACH USING
GRAPHIC NOVELS?
Graphic
novels are
ubiquitous in
our American and
world cultures,
now. While
graphic novels
won’t ever
replace
literature made
exclusively of
words, they have
developed
recognition and
respect in
literature.
Increasingly,
institutions are
offering a
course just on
graphic novels,
and more and
more literature
courses include
at least one or
two such books.
Are you
thinking of
reading a
graphic book or
including one in
your course? One
of the most
critically well
received and
most popular
among faculty is
Maus by
Art Spiegelman.
It is a
Holocaust
narrative:
Spiegelman
interviews his
father about his
Holocaust
experiences. The
original
initially was
serialized (as
were Charles
Dickens’ works).
Another example
is the highly
successful
graphic literary
autobiography
Persepolis
by Marjane
Satrapi, who
describes her
life in Iran
during and after
its revolution.
It was listed on
the New York
Times’
Notable Books of
the Year and was
made into a
successful
art-house movie.
The
National Council
of Teachers of
English says, “Over
the past decade,
graphic novels
have grown into
a more familiar
genre in our
classrooms, but
many of us are
still seeking
ways to better
incorporate them
into our
instruction.”
The NCTE
recommends the
resources below.
---
NCTE:
"In Defense of
Graphic Novels"
NCTE:
"Diversity in
Graphic Novels"
Other resources:
National Public
Radio:
"100 Favorite
Comics and
Graphic Novels"
The
Reading Lists:
"Best Graphic
Novels of All
Time"
Listverse:
"Top 10 Literary
Graphic Novels"
---
5. About
MnWE
(repeated in
each newsletter):
FORWARDING/JOINING:
Please forward
this email to
others,
especially if
you are a MnWE
representative
listed below.
Your newer
full-time and
adjunct faculty
members,
graduate
students, and
writing center
tutors may not
receive it.
If you
are not on the
listserv and
would like to
join it, simply
send your
request and
email address to
richard at
jewell dot net.
WHO WE ARE:
“MnWE” is
“Minnesota
Writing and
English,” an
organization
with a
coordinating
committee, a
listserv, and an
annual spring
conference by
and for college,
university, and
college-in-the-high-schools
English and
writing faculty,
graduate and
undergraduate
students, and
related academic
and literary
scholars,
writers, tutors,
and others in
the Upper
Midwest. Our
purpose is to
bring together
these
communities in
Minnesota,
western
Wisconsin, north
and central
Iowa, and the
eastern
Dakotas.
Our
website is
MnWE.org;
our geographical
center is
Minneapolis-St.
Paul. Over 2500
faculty, tutors,
and graduate
students are on
our listserv.
Our listserv
members come
from public and
private two-year
colleges, state
universities,
private
four-year and
graduate-degree
colleges, high
schools, and the
Universities of
Minnesota,
Wisconsin, and
North Dakota.
Our activities
are led by a
large, active
committee of
representative
volunteers.
GRADUATE
CREDIT:
Anyone may earn
one graduate
credit from
Southwest
Minnesota State
University for
attending one
MnWE Conference
day and writing
a related
research paper
(up to three
times). For
questions about
this course—“Eng
656: MnWE
Practicum”—please
contact lisa
dot lucas at
smsu dot edu
or see
www.smsu.edu/academics/programs/english/?id=11637
.
HOW TO REMOVE
YOURSELF FROM
THE LIST:
If you want to
be removed from
this listserv,
please do so
yourself,
following
directions at
the very bottom
of this email.
If you try
without success,
then send an
email to
richard at
jewell dot net
indicating (1)
this problem,
(2) your
specific email
address copied
from the
directions at
the bottom of a
MnWE mailing,
and (3) your
request for
removal.
FORMATTING,
INVITATION, &
CREDITS:
These listserv
emails usually
are formatted in
a simple way
using html. If
you cannot read
them, please go
to the link at
the top right to
see them on the
Web.
If you
have any
questions, we
invite you to
email any of us
on the
committee. You
also are always
invited to
attend any of
our five MnWE
Committee
meetings per
year. You also
are invited to
offer
suggestions—or
volunteer your
leadership—for a
special or
double section
at the annual
conference.
This
newsletter is
written
primarily by
Richard Jewell
without
copyright so
that anyone may
quote,
paraphrase, or
forward any or
all of it
freely, unless
otherwise noted.
We ask only that
you give credit
to the “MnWE
Newsletter”
and/or “www.MnWE.org“;
and when you use
material that
has been quoted
or paraphrased
in this
newsletter from
other sources,
please be sure
to give proper
credit to the
original
source.
---
---
Richard Jewell,
General
Coordinator
Larry Sklaney,
Conference
Coordinator
Danielle
Hinrichs,
Program
Coordinator
Gordon
Pueschner, Site
Registration
Coordinator
Ellen Zamarripa,
Volunteer
Coordinator
Alexander
Champoux, UMN,
2018 Site
Coordinator
Vanessa Ramos,
NHCC, 2019 Site
Coordinator
richard at
jewell dot net
- (612) 870-7024
larry dot
sklaney at
century dot edu
- (651) 747-4006
danielle dot
hinrichs at
metrostate dot
edu - (651)
999-5960
gordon dot
pueschner at
century dot edu
- (651) 686-4468
ellen.zamarripa
at mail dot
waldenu dot edu
champ147
at umn dot edu
vramos at nhcc
dot edu
MnWE.org
Minnesota Writing & English
A Consortium of
Colleges &
Universities
|
Mission:
Transforming
writing and
English
into teaching
and learning
experiences
using
methodologies
that serve
students best.
Vision:
Bringing
scholarly ideas
and practical
pedagogy
together
to
create our
futures.
.JPG)
Donald Ross of
the University
of
Minnesota and
Taiyon Coleman
of St. Catherine
University run a
breakout session
about
literature.
Geoffrey Sirc of
the University
of Minnesota
runs a small
breakout after
his keynote
presentation.
MnWE started in
2007.
The cofounders
were Richard
Jewell, here
giving a welcome
after lunch, and Donald
Ross, first
picture above.
During a 2016
breakout,
Beata Puschner
presentson improving
classroom
inclusion of ELL
students.
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