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College of Arts and Sciences English

Mellon Foundation funds digital archiving project

logo imageThe Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded $42,000 to migrate the Electronic Literature Organization’s (ELO) archives to an open-source repository system that ensures their preservation and public accessibility. Much of the archiving and documentation will take place at WSU Vancouver’s Electronic Literature Lab, under the leadership of Professor Dene Grigar, director of the lab.

WSU Vancouver is the current sponsoring institution for » More …

Jockers named next CAS dean

Professor at desk with booksWorld-renowned literary scholar and data scientist Matthew Jockers has been named as the next dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“Dr. Jockers has the perfect skill set to lead the next chapter in the evolution of the College of Arts and Sciences,” WSU Provost Dan Bernardo said. “He has extensive industry experience and possesses a strong record of scholarly » More …

Benedict honored by WSU Libraries for student engagement

award winner with two colleagesLeah Benedict, clinical assistant professor of English, received 2018 WSU Libraries’ Excellence Award for her dedication to introducing students to the many facets of library research.

Through assignments based on everything from reels of mircrofilm to special archive materials to modern sales brochures, Benedict regularly challenges her students to look more deeply at the constructed nature of knowledge and » More …

NEH grant to create national humanities education model at WSU

NEH Announces Next Generation Humanities PhD Grant RecipientsA new National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant catalyzes a year of discussion and planning at Washington State University aimed at creating a national model for connecting graduate education in the humanities to rural and underserved populations.

Funded by the NEH’s NextGen Ph.D. program, the grant will bring together more than 20 faculty, staff, graduate students, and recent graduate alumni from across WSU to consider how graduate education in the humanities can better support the university’s land-grant mission of improving access, inclusivity, and » More …

2018 CAS faculty award recipients

CAS logo on white with borderEvery year, the College of Arts and Sciences recognizes faculty excellence in teaching, service, and career achievement. Congratulations to our 14 awardees for 2018: » More …

English professor returns to History Channel

Promotional title for the History Channel showNarrative historian and English professor Buddy Levy is making a return to the History Channel.

Levy, the author of a 2005 biography about early American adventurer Davy Crockett, is among the experts interviewed in the cable network’s latest documentary series “The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen.”

The new series by executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio explores the formative period » More …

Golden and Diamond Grads: What a time it was!

Collage of alumni One by one, they share memories of curfews, 42-cent dinner dates at the CUB, the JFK assassination, and the birth of women’s lib. A few regale listeners with the infamous tale of the 1964 “Pot Push,” which had nothing to do with cannabis.

These are just a sample of the treats recorded at the Diamond and Golden Grads digital storytelling workshops, led by Rebecca Goodrich, clinical assistant professor in English and former assistant director of the Digital Technology and Culture program

The workshops, held during the Diamond and Golden reunions, are available to visiting 50- and 60-year graduates who would like to contribute oral histories of their time at WSU. The stories will eventually be » More …

Mind your mullet: Using comedy to help students see their potential

Ted Tremper presentationWhat would you do if your part in a local play entailed wearing an especially unpopular haircut? If you were Ted Tremper, you would embrace not only the role but the mullet, too.

Now an award-winning comedy writer, actor, director, and producer living in Los Angeles, Tremper (’04) was a junior majoring in English at WSU when he turned his stage character’s retro-’80s hairdo into the basis for a real-life comedy sketch/social experiment.

Acting unaware of his fashion faux pas, he strolled across the Pullman campus, greeting strangers and friends and taking note of the variety of responses he encountered. » More …

Learning Náhuatl

Miriam FernandezDoctoral student Miriam Fernandez discovers a new direction through language.

In August of 1521, Spanish and indigenous soldiers conquered Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire. Historians believe nearly a quarter million Tenochtitlán citizens died in the conquest, and all of the majestic temples, palaces, pyramids, and artifacts were destroyed. But the Aztec culture and its language— Náhuatl —survived, dominating much of central and eastern Mexico in the following centuries in spite of King Charles of Spain’s decree in 1560 that all Mexican natives were to be taught in Spanish. » More …

Digital archiving project receives prestigious Mellon grant

Washington State University researchers have received a $555,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support development and evaluation of a unique online platform for gathering, curating and sharing Native American library and archive collections nationwide.

This three-year grant follows a $69,500 grant by the Foundation to WSU in 2015 for the project-planning phase. It is part of a larger Mellon initiative supporting community-based archives and collection building.

The new support will enable the expansion of Mukurtu CMS, a free, open-source content management system developed at WSU, to create Mukurtu Shared, a culturally responsive online platform » More …

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