Wednesday, December 10, 2008

ENG 100 Class Adopts a Family

Dawn Terrick's ENG 100 class adopted a family for Christmas 2008. Read an account of their shopping adventures, the lead story in "Tower Topics" Week of Dec. 8-14, 2008: http://www.missouriwestern.edu/towertopics/

The Start of "New Lit Out Loud"

On Friday, November 21 Western students, staff, and faculty gathered with community members at Cafe Acoustic for the first "New Lit Out Loud." This new open mic night was the first of many to come. Canvas staff members are planning for this event to take place once a week beginning next semester, Spring 2009. Check back for more details on "New Lit Out Loud" and other similar events.

Dana Andrews read an excerpt from his short story about a man who is forced to go through the porn possessions of his dead brother-in-law in order to spare his wife, the dead man's sister, from the truth.

Dawn Terrick read a creative nonfiction piece about sorority life from a not-so-enthusiastic sorority sister.

Meg Thompson read pieces from her hilarious series that considers life from a terrorist's point of view. After all, how might a terrorist feel on a first date?

Mary Stone read poetry and excerpts with topics ranging from relationships and love to working in an adult goodies store.




More on "New Lit Out Loud" later!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Alumna Opens Photography Studio

Melissa (Bitterman) Cox, who received her B.A. in English/Technical Communication from Missouri Western in 2007, is the proud owner and proprietor of a new photography studio in St. Joseph. See her work and contact her here: http://www.lifeshots.co.cc/

Congratulations and Good Luck, Melissa!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A Reading!

The creative spirits are planning another reading of poetry and prose at the following date and place:

Where: Cafe Acoustic, 2605 Frederick Avenue
When: Friday, Nov. 21, 6-9 p.m.
Who: Student, staff, faculty, and community writers.
Why: Because they can. They're writers. They do these things.


For more info, contact kstrasser@missouriwestern.edu

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Faculty and Student Accomplishments

Four students involved in the Summer Research Institute presented their work at the national Convergence and Society conference in Columbia, South Carolina. Kallie Hartigan, a convergent journalism major, and David Hon, a Platte City senior who will be majoring in convergent media at Western next year, presented "Islands in the Streaming: Multimedia and Interactive Features on U.K. Daily Newspaper Websites." The team of Hartigan, Hon, video production major Sarah Noe and faculty supervisor Bob Bergland conducted the study of daily newspapers in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand and U.S. college newspapers during the SRI program in 2008. Bergland, Noe and Lisa Crawford, a journalism and BSE English major, presented their paper, "Multimedia Features of U.S. Daily Newspaper Websites: A 2007 Content Analysis," based on a similar study of U.S. paper websites in a 2007 SRI project. Bergland, Noe, Hon and Hartigan also presented "The Urge to Converge: A 2008 College Newspaper Website Analysis" at the National College Media Convention in Kansas City.

Dr. Susan Hennessy presented a paper, "Foreign Bodies" about midwifery in nineteenth-century France, at the annual Colloquium on Nineteenth-Century French Studies in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dr. Jane Frick represented the National Writing Project's State and Regional Networks Leadership team at the 2008 Fall Conference on Content Area Learning sponsored by the Kentucky Writing Project State Network at Murray State University, Murray, KY.

Prairie Lands Writing Project held its annual Saturday regional conference for educators, “Content Area Learning: Teaching in an Online World." Sixty-five teachers participated in keynote sessions conducted by Kevin Hodgson, grade six teacher in Southampton, MA, and technology panels and lesson presentations conducted by Prairie Lands Writing Project (PLWP) Teacher Consultants, including MWSU English faculty members Tom Pankiewicz, Patricia Donaher, and Meredith Katchen. Conference presentation handouts are published at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/plwp/08saturdayseminar/info.html. Also at the conference, PLWP's 2009 Invitational Institute cohort of 17 area teachers, including Patricia Brost, MWSU adjunct English instructor, were recognized for receiving their National Writing Project Teacher Consultant Certification. Jane Frick was this year's conference coordinator.

Dr. Ken Rosenauer attended the 57th Fall National College Media Convention in Kansas City sponsored by College Media Advisers and Associated Collegiate Press. Rosenauer, who is president of CMA, led two days of board meetings prior to the convention, which drew 2,040 media advisers, journalism educators, and their students from around the country. More than 400 sessions — covering all aspects of media — were offered to those attending. CMA represents more than 800 media advisers from colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Tips From Seasoned Teachers

The Student Affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English (SNCTE) will be hosting its annual "Surviving the First Quarter of Teaching" panel on Monday, November 10 at 5:00 p.m. in Eder 223.

At this event, Missouri Western graduates in Elementary and Secondary Education return to share how they survived their first quarter of teaching. This year’s panelists:

Mark Henderson, a language arts teacher from Maur Hill-Mount Academy
Barbara Meyers, an art teacher from Spring Garden Middle School
Cindy McMurtrey, a special education teacher from Central High School
Ronald Knight, a sixth-grade teacher from Noyes Elementary School

This event is free and open to the public. Mark your calendars…and we look forward to seeing you there!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Hubert to become rare Griffon-Bearcat-Tiger

Lynn Hubert (English, Public Relations, `92) successfully defended her dissertation proposal titled, "Emerging Donors: Women's Philanthropy and Motivations for Giving to a Religiously Affiliated, Research I, Private University." Her doctorate will be granted through the College of Education (Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis) at University of Missouri-Columbia. She plans to defend her dissertation in Spring, 2009, and gradaute in May, 2009. Lynn is currently employed by University of Notre Dame as Director of Regional Development. Lynn received her MA from some university up the road from us.

Contact Lynn at lhubert@nd.edu.

Ferguson Runs Editorial & Design Company

Susan Ferguson (English, Writing Emphasis, `85) received this past May a Master of Arts degree in English-Creative Writing from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. During her studies, she served as an instructor of freshman composition and as business manager of the university's literary journal, Thin Air. The owner of Ferguson Editorial & Design in Sedona, Arizona, Susan provides manuscript editing, graphic design and publishing services to writers, businesses and organizations. Earlier this year she received the PASS Award for Literature from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency for her work as an editor and writing coach to Dennis Fritz, author of the memoir, Journey Toward Justice (Seven Locks Press, 2006). Susan worked as a journalist, writer and editor in Missouri for 21 years before relocating to Arizona.

Susan can be reached at sue.ferguson@gmail.com.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Alum is Principal Figure in Vermont

EFLJ alum Ed Webbley is Principal at Vergennes Union High School in Vergennes, VT. (This after teaching English at a number of schools in Missouri and Vermont.) Ed is also on the faculty of the New England Young Writer's Conference at the Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury College; he recieved his MA in English from Middlebury College as well. Ed is finishing a book of poetry, Water Everywhere, and starting a new one, Arts and Leisure. So count Ed among"Writing Teachers who Write."

Contact Ed at ewebbley@anwsu.org.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Alumna Traci Howell, nee Haug, off to Grad School

Traci, a May `08 Literature graduate, will be attending Peru State College (Nebraska) to work on a Master of Science in Organizational Management-Entrepreneurial and Economic Development. Dr. Ann Thorne was her undergraduate advisor.

We wish Traci well in her studies. This is just more evidence that people with degrees in literature have lots of options!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Mary Stone Publishes Another Poem

Yes, Mary, a current English major, has published "If I Say" in The Flint Hills Review, which is published by Emporia State University. This is the third poem Mary has published in a venue beyond Missouri Western.

Congratulations, Mary!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

When Writing Teachers Write VII


The seventh installment of "When Writing Teachers Write" was held last night in Blum Student Union. Twelve area language arts teachers read from their original poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. EFLJ's Bill Church, Dawn Terrick, Patricia Brost, Joe Marmaud, and Tom Pankiewicz participated. The event was sponsored by Prairie Lands Writing Project and included many area teachers who have been through our chapter of the National Writing Project, including Tina Janc, Vicky Bryan, Leanna Lightfoot, Amanda Moyers, Jeanne Moore, Melissa Robinson, and Jill Steinmetz. Thanks to Jane Frick for arranging the reading!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Alumna's News From Sunny San Diego

Nancy Hendrickson (Class of `71) is busy these days as CEO of Green Pony Press, INC. Her company "provides writing and marketing services for industries as diverse as housing, publishing, aerospace, medical, hobby, business, and education." Nancy tells us that one of her most recent projects was the re-design of a university website, though we're sure that she thinks ours is just swell (if you see a new design soon it will be a coincidence, surely).


Check out her company site at http://www.greenponymarketing.com/index.php and contact her at nhendrickson@pobox.com.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Open Mic Reading to Celebrate Journal Publications

On the fateful evening of October 3, 2008, MWSU and community writers gathered in Spratt Recital Hall to celebrate the publication of The Mochila Review and Canvas, which were published last May. Faculty members Dana Andrews and Meg Thompson, who lead "The Writer's Circle," joined with Mochila editor and Canvas advisor Bill Church to sponsor the event.
MWSU students Allie Faulkner (2008 Canvas editor), Mary Stone, Casey Nichols, and Jay Claywell, Logal Garrels were joined by alumni and community members Jeremy Lyons, Brooke Kuykendall, Whitney Gates, Barry Claywell, and Larry Christy.

The 2008 Canvas, funded by the MWSU Foundation, is available free to students at Eder 222. This year's staff, led by editor Katy Strasser, is accepting submissions of prose, poetry, and pics for the 2008 edition. Students, alumni staff, and faculty may submit either in print form to Eder 222 or online via the EFLJ Homepage under the "Publications" link. For more info, contact kstrasser@missouriwestern.edu.


Ryan Bradley reads from his short story, "Edenchaser," published in Canvas

The 2008 Griffon is Now Available!

The 2008 Griffon is now available for pick-up! The yearbook office is open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Yearbooks are available right outside the office door in Eder Hall, Room 220. If you were a full-time student for the 2007-2008 school year, then you can pick up your free edition of the 2008 Griffon. A yearbook fee was included in your student bill only if you were a full-time student during the fall and spring semesters (2007-2008).

Alumni who graduated before last spring may purchase a yearbook for $8.00. If you would like it mailed, please send a check made out to "Griffon Yearbook" for $13.00 to Griffon Yearbook, Missouri Western State University, 4525 Downs Dr., St. Joseph, MO 64507.

If you have any questions, please e-mail Co-Editor-in-Chief Amy Chastain at amy.chastain@yahoo.com or call the office: (816) 271-4540.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

News from The Bilingual Busses

Monica Lee-Buss '03 and Jason Buss '03 (Spanish Minors and Study Abroad with MWSU) have a new baby girl: Julia May Buss was born on May 16, 2008 (7lbs 15oz, 23").

"We are fortunate to both be bilingual, it has opened up amazing opportunities for us both. Our Fluency level is due to courses and study abroad with MWSU."

Jason works as Senior International HR Manager for Vishay Intertechnology and works in Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada, Brazil and the US. Monica works as a Training Manager for Carneco Foods, performing training in Spanish and English.

Jason can be reached at Jason.Buss@vishay.com.

When Writing Teachers Write

Join us for a celebration of teaching and writing on Wednesday, October 15, in Blum Union Rooms 222/223, 6-8:00 PM.

Our "When Writing Teachers Write" reading is the seventh annual celebration of reaching the mid-point in the fall semester with Missouri Western English teachers and National Writing Project Teacher Consultants reading their original poetry and prose.

Tina Janc, Prairie Lands Writing Project Writing Group Coordinator and Buchanan County Academy language arts at risk teacher, will host this year's reading.

Featured Readers besides Janc include:
Patricia Brost, MWSU Adjunct English instructor
Vicky Bryan, St. Joseph Central language arts teacher
Bill Church, MWSU English and creative writing instructor
Steve Frogge, Northwest Missouri State University English instructor
Leanna Lightfoot, Platte County R-III elementary teacher
Joe Marmaud, MWSU Adjunct English instructor
Amanda Moyers, St. Joseph Central language arts teacher
Jeanne Moore, Craig R-III special education teacher
Tom Pankiewicz, MWSU English instructor
Melissa Robinson, Cameron Middle School language arts teacher
Dawn Terrick, MWSU English instructor
"When Writing Teachers Write VII" is open to the public; refreshments will be served.

Questions:? Contact: Jane Frick, MWSU English professor and PLWP site director for additional information (271-4315; email: frick@missouriwestern.edu) An event flyer is available at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/plwp/wwwtw.pdf

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Karina Vazquez Publishes Article

Dr. Karina Vazquez published an article entitled "Trabajo y literatura: el topos de la mujer obrera en la narrativa argentina del siglo XX" in the September 2008 issue of El interpretador.

The article can be accessed at the site below:
http://www.elinterpretador.net/34KarinaElizabethVazquez-ElToposDeLaMujerObrera.html

Congratulations, Karina!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Banned Books Read with No Arrests (This Time)

Challenged and banned books were read last night to a crowd of about 120 in celebration of American Library Association's Banned Books Week. The sponsors of the event were the Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism; Department of Education; Missouri Western State University Library; Student National Council of Teachers of English (SNCTE); and The Prairie Lands Writing Project.
Readers and Books:

-Dr. Bill Church, English Instructor, MWSU, read from Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye.
-Mr. Meredith Katchen, Fellow of the Prairie Lands Writing Project, read from Yan Lian Ke's Serve the People.
-Ms. Alyson Raletz, Reporter, St. Joseph News-Press, read from Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House.
-Dr. Steven Estes, Dean of Professional Studies, MWSU, read from Dan Simmons' Rise of Endymion.
-Ms. DeeDee Gutshalls, MWSU Student, read from Elizabeth Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
-Ms. Ginger Rudolph, Children’s Librarian, St. Joseph Public Library, read from Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach.
-Ms. Kyla Ward, President, Student Chapter of The National Council of Teachers of English, read from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

Thanks to our EFLJ readers and all those who were in attendance.


Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Spanish Table!

Are you interested in improving your Spanish?

¿Te interesa hablar en español?

Tómate un café en “La mesa de español”
Have a coffee at the “Spanish Table”

For all levels, every Tuesday in October and November
From 3:30 to 4:00 at Eder 211

Topics of conversation include Deportes, Política, Música, Literatura, Viajes, Economía.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Banned Books Reading

The twelfth annual Reading of Challenged and Banned Books in recognition of the American Library Association’s Banned Book Week will begin at 7 p.m. on Oct. 1 in the Blum Student Union, room 218 and 219 on the campus of Missouri Western State University.Western students and faculty along with members of the St. Joseph community will hold a reading of books that have been either banned or challenged in U.S. schools in recent years.

This event is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served.The reading is sponsored by the department of English, foreign languages, and journalism; the Department of Education; the Missouri Western State University Library; Prairie Lands Writing Project; and the student affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English.For more information contact Dr. Michael Cadden at 816-271-4576 or cadden@missouriwestern.edu

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Foreign Film Series

Come and take in a foreign film, free of charge. Refreshments will be served, so it's a good, cheap date. What else do you need to know?

All sessions start at 6:30 p.m.
Location: Kemper Recital Hall (Leah Spratt - 1st Floor) / Hearnes 102 (Hearnes Center, lower floor)

Friday September 19th
Cinema Paradiso (Italy, 1990) Dir.: Giuseppe Tornatore
Presented by Dana Andrews (EFLJ)
Room: Kemper Recital Hall

Wednesday September 24th
Libertarias(Spain,1996)
Dir: Vicente Aranda
Presented by Dr. Eduardo Castilla-Ortíz (EFLJ)
Room: Hearnes 102

Wednesday October 8th
Moliere (France, 2007)
Dir: Laurent Tirard
Presented by Dr. Susan Hennessy (EFLJ) Room: Spratt 203

Wednesday October 22rd
Time (Korea, 2006)
Dir.: Kim Ki-Duk
Presented by Dr. Pi-Ming Yeh (Department of Nursing) Room: Hearnes 102

Friday October 31st
The Namesake (India, 2007)
Dir.: Mira Nair
Presented by Dr. Durai Sundaramoorthi
(Steven Craig School of Business)
Room: Kemper Recital Hall

Friday November 4th
Bolivia (Argentina, 2001)
Dir.: Adrián Caetano
Presented by Dr. Jason Youngkeit (EFLJ)
Room: Kemper Recital Hall

Thursday November 20th
Persepolis (France/USA, 2007)
Dir.: Marjane Satrapi
Presented by Nadege Saint-Maxent (EFLJ)
Room: Hearnes 102

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Developmental Writing Program Wins National Award

Missouri Western’s ENG 100 Developmental Writing Program won the Conference on Basic Writing’s Award for Innovation for 2008. This award recognizes writing programs that improve educational processes for developmental writers through creative approaches. The award criteria are originality, portability and results and benefits. The review group praised Western’s ENG 100 program for its publication, Discovering the Student, Discovering the Self, unique curriculum and effective and engaging instruction it offers to the students through the Writer’s Workshops and specialized Learning Communities. In April 2008, Dawn Terrick, the Director of Developmental Writing, and English 100 Instructors Bill Church, Corla Dawson and Meredith Katchen attended the award ceremony at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in New Orleans.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Announcing a Reading

To celebrate creative writing and this year’s literary journals produced by Missouri Western State University, the staffs and contributors of The Mochila Review, Canvas, and Tau Mu “The Writer’s Circle,” will sponsor a reading on Friday, October 3, 2008 in Kemper Recital Hall in Spratt at 7:00 p.m. After contributors have read their own work, an open mic time will be available for anyone who wants to read. This event offers literary voices within our community a place to gather and read.

The Mochila Review is published annually by Missouri Western State University's English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism Department. The journal is staffed by undergraduate students and edited by Dr. Bill Church. The journal contains over 20 pieces from artists all over the country. The Mochila Review is now accepting submissions both electronically and in print, for the next edition.

Canvas is made available through Missouri Western State University's Foundation Funding. As an applied learning experience, Western students are on staff from the beginning stages of the journal’s publication to its completion. They read and discuss submissions, respond to the artists, and help with typesetting and design. All students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Missouri Western State University are encouraged to submit to Canvas. This year’s Canvas is a compilation of over 20 students from Missouri Western. Canvas is now accepting electronic and print submissions for the 2009, 6th edition.

“The Writer’s Circle” is a group of poets, fiction writers, and screen writers who meet weekly to critique their works with MWSU faculty: Megan Thompson and Dana Andrews.

For more information about either journal or upcoming events please visit the websites.
http://www.missouriwestern.edu/orgs/mochila/
http://www.missouriwestern.edu/orgs/canvas/

Friday, September 12, 2008

Fall English Dinner

EFLJ faculty, MWSU administrators, St. Joseph School District administrators, EFLJ alumni, and other area language arts teachers gathered in Blum Student Union to share conversation, a good meal, and to listen to Dr. Sharon Hoge, Director of Curriculum and Literacy Services at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Her talk, "Unintended Consequences: What We Have Learned," outlined the different curricular implications for state-wide testing in Missouri public schools. Thanks to Jane Frick and Tom Pankiewicz for again arranging this annual gathering.

Alumnus a New Professor

Dr. Joe Sommers, a graduate from Western with a BSE in English, defended his dissertation in May of 2007 at the University of Kansas and began work this fall as Assistant Professor of English at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. His article "Are You There, Reader? It's Me, Margaret: A Reconsideration of Judy Blume's Prose as Sororal Dialogism," appeared in Children's Literature Association Quarterly (33.3) this past month. Joe can be reached at this e-mail address: JSommers@uca.eduJSommers@uca.edu
Congratulations, Joe!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Recent Faculty Accomplishments

Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin presented a paper at the national meeting of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning (an affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English) at Mount Madonna, California. Her presentation for this conference on the Wisdom Tradition in Higher Education was entitled “Growing Deep Like the River.” Dr. Sawin also represented MWSU at the American Democracy Project seminar on Civic Engagement in Action: The Stewardship of Public Lands (Politics and the Yellowstone System) in Yellowstone National Park. This seminar was sponsored by the Yellowstone Association Institute and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Ann Thorne was elected Newsletter Editor/Secretary of the History Division of the American Educators of Journalism and Mass Communication at the national convention in Chicago, IL. AEJMC is an organization of approximately 3,600 journalism and mass communication faculty. The History Division has about 400 members.

Meg Thompson’s poem “Window in the Basement” appeared in the spring issue of The Louisville Review, vol. 63.

Robert Bergland presented "The Need to Recruit Minority Students for the Student Newspaper/Publication Workshop Course" at the Association of Educators of Mass Communication and Journalism in Chicago.

MWSU English faculty members and Prairie Lands Writing Project (PLWP) Teacher Consultants Jane Frick and Kathy Miller conducted a day-long Holistic Scoring session at Excelsior Springs Middle School to establish students' beginning-of-school-year writing proficiencies for the 624 students enrolled this fall. The session was part of PLWP's three-year commitment to provide literacy-related professional development programs to the teachers at Excelsior Springs Middle School, a project is funded by the National Writing Project (NWP) as a part of its National Evaluation study of the effectiveness of NWP professional development offerings throughout the country.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Three New Faculty Arrive in EFLJ

We have three new colleagues in EFLJ this fall.
Dr. Karina Vazquez, Assistant Professor of Spanish, received her PhD in Latin American Literature, specifically in Argentinean narrative and its relation with the cultural and social perceptions of work. Her professional and personal goals are the same, she says, "to make social justice something possible, no matter the community, the country or the place where we are." She looks forward to exploring how language, literature, and culture can work across the curriculum in activities that involve study abroad, service learning, and work.


Dr. Kay Siebler, Associate Professor of English and our first Director of Composition, recently moved to St. Joe from Storm Lake, IA where she was a tenured English department faculty, women's studies coordinator, and director of writing at Buena Vista University. Her book, Composing Feminisms, published this year by Hampton Press, gives a historical overview of how feminist pedagogy has shaped the field of composition. Kay is looking forward to creating connections between composition instructors here at MWSU and working with graduate students in the new Masters of Applied Arts in Written Communication program.


Tulsa, OK native Dr. Michael Charlton, Assistant Professor of English, received his BA, MA, and PhD from the University of Oklahoma. His MA thesis focused on depictions of family in the films of Orson Welles, though he changed his emphasis to composition and rhetoric for his doctoral work at OU, where his dissertation focused on the history, theoretical influences, and future of visual rhetoric. He is very pleased to start teaching here at Missouri Western and is adjusting to life out in Savannah, where he lives with his six year old retriever mix, George (named after George Orson Welles). His major research interests include technical and professional writing, visual rhetoric and film, writing across the curriculum, and horror fiction.

Welcome to EFLJ!

Saturday, August 30, 2008

New Graduate Programs

EFLJ is involved in two new graduate programs. This fall, the Master of Applied Arts in Integrated Media--a program involving EFLJ and the departments of Music, Art, and Communication Studies and Theater--began delivering courses to its first cohort of students. The program's website (http://www.missouriwestern.edu/Graduate/aim.html) explains that the new MAA program "has been specifically conceived as an interdisciplinary laboratory where students combine the traditional foundations of design and visual communication, video and music with a view towards developing fresh creative strategies. The Master of Applied Arts in Integrated Media at Missouri Western State University is a professional degree program focused on producing technically sophisticated, artistically talented graduates who are sought after by corporations, advertising agencies, graphic design studios and by the growing electronic arts industry."

The MAA in Written Communication (http://www.missouriwestern.edu/EFLJ/MAAWCprogram1.pdf) is divided into two options: Writing Studies and Technical Communication. The Writing Studies option is ideal for teachers who wish to develop professionally as writing teachers. The Prairie Lands Writing Project, an affiliate of the National Writing Project, is a large component of that option. The option in Technical Communication offers students course work in writing for media, writing for management, interactive web design, publications management, as well as technical writing.

We have offered a Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing for a couple of years now, and this certificate satisfies many requirements in the MAA in Written Communication's option in Writing Studies (http://www.missouriwestern.edu/plwp/graduatecertificate.html).

Three EFLJ Faculty Promoted

Last spring we received word that three of our faculty were promoted. Dr. Robert Bergland was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor of Journalism; Dr. Susan Hennessy was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor of French; Dr. Patricia Donaher was granted tenure and promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor of English. Congratulations to them for this significant achievement!

EFLJ Joins the Blogging World

And so begins EFLJ's blog. We hope that our alumni will visit this blog in order to find out what's happening in their old college home as well as to share information about their accomplishments (see alumni update link on the right). We hope to have news on a regular basis about your fellow alumni, your "old" faculty (none of us is over 39, you know), and our current students.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Welcome to the EFLJ Blog!

Greetings from the Department of English, Foreign Languages and Journalism at Missouri Western State University, in beautiful Saint Joseph, Missouri.