Nancy Jordan's Archive

Congratulations to Dr. Nancy Shankle, recipient of the Frances Hernández Teacher-Scholar Award.  Dr. Shankle was presented this award at the Conference of College Teachers of English luncheon on March 5, 2011, in Stephenville, Texas.

Each year the Conference of College Teachers of English honors the memory of Dr. Frances Hernández, longtime member of CCTE, with this award given to recipients who manifest the excellence in teaching, scholarship and service exemplified by Dr. Hernández herself.  Specifically, this award acknowledges recipients’ dedication to the profession through outstanding teaching; service to CCTE, to college or university, and to other professional organizations; and academic and scholarly achievement.

ACU graduate student (MA in English) Brent Dill won the William E. Tanner Award for the best rhetorical paper by a graduate gtudent. The title of his winning paper was “Ghostbook: A New Rhetoric of Grief.” His paper will be published in the 2011 issue of CCTE Studies.

ACU English professor Dr. Mikee Delony presented a paper on popular culture titled “Cinematic Guinevere.

Vickie Smith

Vickie Smith, instructor of English, passed away on Saturday, February 5, after a brief illness.  During exploratory surgery on January 24, doctors discovered widespread cancer.  Prof. Smith lived the last days of her life as she had all of her life, with a passion for the Lord.

Prof. Smith earned her MA in English from Abilene Christian University in 1992 and began teaching for the English Department in 1992 (part-time) and in 1995 (full-time).  She taught first-year English, sophomore literature, and Business and Professional Writing.

If you ever had a class with Prof. Smith, would you post a short remembrance?  We’ll use some of your comments in the memorial service.

not for me the dogma of the period
preaching order and a sure conclusion
and no not for me the prissy
formality or tight-lipped fence
of the colon and as for the semi-
colon call it what it is
a period slumming
with the commas
a poser at the bar
feigning liberation with one hand
tightening the leash with the other
oh give me the headlong run-on
fragment dangling its feet
over the edge give me the sly
comma with its come-hither
wave teasing all the characters
on either side give me ellipses
not just a gang of periods
a trail of possibilities
or give me the sweet interrupting dash
the running leaping joining dash all the voices
gleeing out over one another
oh if I must
punctuate
give me the YIPPEE
of the exclamation point
give me give me the curling
cupping curve mounting the period
with voluptuous uncertainty

Two ACU English majors have proved they have the talent and creativity to stand out among their peers as writers.  Sophomore Jordan Smith from Escondido Calif. and senior Grant Vickery from Atlanta, Ga., wone honors in the student writing contest as part of the 2010 Conference on Christianity and Literature.

The annual student writing contest is open to undergraduate students from across the nation. Each year, three winners are chosen in the categories of poetry, nonfiction and fiction.

Smith was awarded second place in the poetry category for his piece “Bulverde,” a poem about finding an unexpected moment of peace at an empty house. Vickery’s essay, “Things Fall Down,” earned him an honorable mention in the nonfiction category.

Each of the winning pieces was originally written for a class assignment. Al Haley, writer in residence at ACU and associate professor of English, taught both students.

“Jordan’s winning poem was one of more than 30 he wrote for my Poetry Workshop. It’s a carefully crafted piece with fine use of language and unexpected line breaks,” says Haley. “Grant’s essay was actually his first assignment in my Creative Nonfiction Workshop. I didn’t assign them a topic, but I suggested they might find something to write about by considering how nature affects them.”

The first, second and third place winners of the 2010 writing contest received a generous selection of books, a one-year subscription to Image, and a one-year membership to the Conference on Christianity and Literature. Their work was also published on the conference website.

“It’s the quality of writing that really counts in this contest,” says Haley. “Both of these students used language to create really unique pieces.”

Eight English faculty and graduate students attended the Christian Scholars’ Conference held at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3-5, 2010.  The theme of this year’s conference was Beauty in the Academy: Faith, Scholarship and the Arts.

Highlights of the conference included plenary speeches by James Elkins, E.C. Chadbourne Professor in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; poet and critic Dana Gioia; and award-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley.  

Below are some of the papers and panels presented by English faculty and graduate students:

Nancy W. Shankle, Abilene Christian University, Convener: “Teaching Doubt”

• Mikee Delony, Abilene Christian University: Panelist

• Barrett Huddleston, Oklahoma University: Panelist

• Sherry Rankin, Abilene Christian University: Panelist

• Steven T. Moore, Abilene Christian University: Panelist

• Vickie Smith, Abilene Christian University: Panelist

• John Williams, Harding University: Panelist

Mikee Delony, Abilene Christian University: “Monstrous Beauty: Contemporary Aesthetics of Beauty” (Session I)

• Susan Jeffers, Independent Scholar: “Gross or Grotesque Beauty?: Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ”

• Shelly Sanders, Abilene Christian University: “Who’s to Blame?”: Naming the Monstrous in Whale Rider”

• William Carroll, Abilene Christian University: “The Apologetics of Clive Barker’s Monstrous Sublime”

Shelly Sanders, Abilene Christian University, Convener: “Monstrous Beauty: Contemporary Aesthetics of Beauty” (Session II)

• Steven T. Moore, Abilene Christian University: “Monstrous Beauty in the Moonwalk:  Examining the Hidden Reality of Blackness in the Music Videos of Michael Jackson”

• Mikee Delony, Abilene Christian University: “Evil Beauty: The Vampire in Contemporary Media”

• Perry Harrison, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales: “Neon Gods: The Faded Humanity of Dr. Manhattan”

Jeremy Elliott, Abilene Christian University, Convener: “Issues in Social Justice”

Attention Poetry Lovers:

Joshua Jones at KACU is in search of poets for their fall program.  See Joshua's note below for more information.

Hello,

Here's some fun for word lovers.

—
Dr. Nancy Shankle, Associate Dean of College of Arts and Sciences
Director of SACS Reaffirmation
Abilene Christian University
shanklen@acu.edu

After graduation, I plan on working at Camp Olympia, a summer sports camp for kids ages 7-16 in Trinity, TX, for my 6th straight summer, and then start the PhD program at University of Texas at Arlingtion in the fall. I will be a Graduate Teaching Assistant and will be teaching two classes and taking three each semester. As of right now, I want to focus on contemporary American and British literature. While authors like John Steinbeck and Flannery O’Connor are the reasons I became an English major in the first place, I think that I will best be able to make a contribution to my field by focusing on more contemporary works. Authors such as Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, Jonathan Lethem, Ian McKewan, and Dave Eggers are a few of my favorites, and I hope to be able to teach this type of literature in the future. While at UTA, I will be living with my older brother–a nurse in Dallas–and going to as many Ranger and Cowboy games as possible. I hope to budget my monthly expenses at Half-Price Books, and I look forward to starting at a brand new school and hopefully represent the ACU English Department well.

Shanna Early feels blessed to have been involved the ACU English Department as an undergraduate major (2005), a graduate student (2008), a first-year composition instructor for the past two years, and on-site director of the Writing Center this spring. This fall, Shanna will begin work on a Master’s in Irish Culture and Literature at Boston College.  She is excited about this opportunity to study with some of the most well-respected scholars in the field at one of the top Irish Studies programs in the country.  After completing this degree, she intends to pursue a PhD in English with a focus on Irish literature.  Shanna would love to hear from you if you’re visiting Boston, or for any other reason.  Her email address is shanna.early@gmail.com.

Twenty-four English majors will graduate in May 2010.

Grant Boston

Erin Bracken

Brent Dill

Kasey Dobbs

Ty Elrod

Tara Elzey

Cameron Enlow

Megan Faver Hartline

Megan Hale

Erin Halstead

Mary Hardegree

Jamalin Harp

Jenna Henderson

JaneAnn Kenney

Kimberly Lewis

Thomas Madrid

Angela Maimon

Lydia Melby

Grant Perkins

Nicole Songstad

Tiffany Turner

Brittany Anderson

Kristofer Heiderich