New English Alumnae/i Magazine

What will retiring Regents Professor Tom Clayton miss about teaching? "Everything," he declares. "What I will most miss is the kind of intellectual stimulation I get from asking questions of students, getting responses, hearing questions, responding, and having my mind in continual process," he continues. "There's no substitute." The new English at Minnesota alumnae/i magazine features newly Emeritus Professor Clayton, along with an interview with another Regents Professor of English, Madelon Sprengnether, who's just published a poetry collection and a memoir. Plus summer reading recommendations, news, and more!

5 X Friday: BA Alumna Diane Richard

Diane Richard (BA 1985), Director of Human Resources for medical device design and manufacturer Minnetronix since 2008, did not expect to land in HR. Indeed, her career path looks like more of a zigzag. After college, she copyedited for Honeywell, quit to work at an art gallery, then decamped to Paris to write for an artist. After a move to Washington D.C., Richard got a job as an exhibition assistant for the National Gallery of Art in part because she spoke fluent French. The head of design there ignored her lack of finance experience and hired her as a budget analyst; he also liked her French, she recalls. From there, she turned to office administration while earning an MBA at St. Thomas; degree in hand, Richard became Director of Human Resources at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Undergirding all the serendipitous turnings, she argues, was the training she received in English. What's her advice for graduating majors? Read on.

Students Win Top Awards

Yesterday, our Undergraduate Recognition Reception, hosted by Undergraduate Studies Director Dan Philippon, celebrated graduating seniors, honors students, and award winners with praise, cake, and Reddit jokes. Among the honored was senior English major Edward Chappell, who has received a Beinecke Scholarship, one of 20 awarded nationally from 125 undergraduates nominated; he receives $34,000 toward future graduate education. Chappell completed an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program project with Professor David Haley entitled "'Till thou applaud the deed': Milton as a Reader of Macbeth." Meanwhile, major Julie Sinn won one of ten CLA 2015-16 Talle Family Scholarships, which provide full-time tuition scholarship support. And major Laura Schmidt won one of 19 2015-16 Selmer Birkelo Scholarships offered through CLA. . . . In other news, three of our PhD graduate students will be supported in 2015-16 by the Graduate School's competitive Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships: Jessica Apolloni, Hyeryung Hwang, and Katie Sisneros. Congratulations to all!

English Majors Win Leadership Award

The University of Minnesota's top student leadership award for undergraduates, the Donald R. Zander Award for Outstanding Student Leadership, is given to two students each year. The 2015 recipients are both English majors: Marina Kuperman and Ian Taylor, Jr. Kuperman (left, with President Eric Kaler) is a peer counselor in our advising office, a UROP participant, and a Community Engagement Scholar; she is enrolled in the College of Education's DirecTrack to Teaching Program. Taylor is the founder of student group Black Men's Forum (winner of the SUA 2014 Rookie Student Group of the Year), a long-time Assistant Admissions Counselor at the U's Admissions Office, and a Harvard Public Policy and Leadership Conference Fellow; he plans to attend law school. Taylor and Kuperman receive $1000 scholarships from the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. Congratulations!

5 X Friday: Regents Professor Madelon Sprengnether

Twenty years ago, Regents Professor Madelon Sprengnether wrote and shepherded the proposal for the MFA in Creative Writing through various levels of University approval so the Program could begin granting the degree in 1996. What about the MFA Program is she most proud of? "The accomplishments of our graduates," she answers quickly. "The proof is in the pudding." The growing number of alumnae/i publications parallels the feverish output of Creative Writing Program faculty: This spring, Professor Sprengnether publishes (and reads from--see listing below) both a memoir, Great River Road (New Rivers), and a prose poetry collection, Near Solstice (Holy Cow!). What does this all have to do with lab research on memory? Read on.

5 X Friday: English Major Mason Nunemaker

Senior English major Mason Nunemaker is a poetry editor for our annual undergraduate literary arts journal Ivory Tower, created by students in a two-semester English magazine production class. According to Nunemaker, this year's content has just been finalized (from over 600 student submissions!). "I'm very excited to see how the pieces all converse with each other," he reports, "especially across the different genres of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art." A poet himself, Nunemaker won a poetry award from the University's Steven J. Schochet Endowment for GLBT Studies awards program, and he's also an officer for USlam, the U's spoken word poetry team. How does he see printed and performance poetry differing? Read on.

Prospective Student Visit

The Department of English welcomes admitted prospective graduate students March 12-13. Events scheduled include a reading by an MFA alumnus, a discussion with current PhD students, class visits, and dinner with graduate students and faculty. We look forward to meeting you!