The English Department鈥檚 traditional end-of-year party and awards ceremony went virtual this year as photographs of graduating seniors screened one-by-one and Miles Davis鈥檚 鈥淎ll Blues鈥� played in the background.

On the last day of finals on May 19, three screens of English majors, minors and faculty members Zoomed at 5 p.m. to celebrate the achievements of all 28 graduates and to honor three in particular.

Laura Braley ’20 received the English Scholar Award which recognizes superior academic achievement by a graduating senior. Maeve Riley ’20 won both the English Leadership Award for her outstanding contributions to the life of the department as well as the English Department鈥檚 student-worker-of-the-year award. Anne-Tillery Melson ’21 received the Betty Gerow Scholarship for the 2020-21 academic year.

Besides these departmental awards, students in senior seminar courses were awarded for their semester projects.

• Valerie Medlin鈥檚 paper, 鈥溾�楨ven in Death鈥�: Exposing Institutional Oppression through Grave Robbing in Colson Whitehead鈥檚 ‘The Underground Railroad,’鈥� won the Outstanding Literature Senior Seminar Research Award.
• Hayden McConnell received the Outstanding Professional Writing and Rhetoric Senior Seminar Project for 鈥淢aking the Topic of Rhetoric More Accessible to New and Current Members of the Field of Rhetoric.鈥�
• Angela Myers received the PWR junior ePortfolio Award for PWR and ENG Majors and PWS Minors.

Post-award entertainment was interactive: one Kahoot! (involving baby pictures of faculty members) and one old-fashioned, hand-raising vote for the summer鈥檚 shelter-in-place Book Club. After the awards ceremony, guests stayed around chatting, not wanting the party to end.

Please direct questions to Cassandra Kircher at kircherc@elon.edu

The American value of individualism arose, in part, from Americans’ encounters with western lands, including those Jefferson acquired through the Louisiana Purchase and commissioned Lewis and Clark to explore. How have Jefferson’s philosophy and practices shaped your generation’s perspective on social and cultural life in the U.S. today—including your ideas about American individualism?

Please feel free to approach the question—both conceptually and in terms of formatting—from any disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspective. In every case, please cite your sources using a citation style appropriate to the discipline and attach a bibliography of works consulted. Responses should run c. 1,500-2,000 words (roughly six to eight pages). It is strongly suggested, though not required, that students work with a faculty mentor to craft a successful essay.

The American Studies Advisory Board will evaluate all submissions and will consider depth of insight, felicity of expression, creativity of approach, rigor of research, and power of argumentation. Papers are due electronically to Samuele Pardini, coordinator of the American studies program () by 12 p.m. (noon) on Friday, March 22. Please put your name only on the cover page to facilitate blind review.

Prizes

First prize is $1,000 and a paid overnight trip to Monticello, including special recognition at an evening program; second prize is $500; and third prize is $100. In addition, the three winners will present their ideas at a Carret-themed session on SURF Day (April 23). Winners will be notified at their 黑料不打烊 email address no later than April 18, and all contestants will be invited to a celebratory dinner the evening of Thursday, April 25.

The article explicates the benefits of linking writing center consultant training with first-year composition and provides readers with guidance for engaging in such a collaboration. The article was also featured in the electronic newsletter sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English.