ENGLISH v
DEPARTMENT VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2 FALL 2019
NEWSLETTER Eugenio MarÃa de Hostos Community College, CUNY
We are Hostos
English Department
Well Wishes for a Successful Term End
Newsletter \\
Volume 2 | Issue 2 Table of Contents
Deputy Chair’s Message
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Editor’s Note
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Upcoming Events
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New Staff Spotlight
2
Faculty Syllabus Picks
2
ENG 110 Grade Outcomes
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End-of-Term Checklist
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Spring Events & News
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Faculty Reading Series
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Recognizing Faculty Excellence 5 Departmental Contacts Andrea Fabrizio, PhD Chair of Department afabrizio@hostos.cuny.edu Heidi Bollinger, PhD Deputy Chair of Department hebollinger@hostos.cuny.edu Shalema B. Averett-Hunt College Assistant saverett-hunt@hostos.cuny.edu Arisbel Marte CUNY Office Assistant amarte@hostos.cuny.edu Questions or submissions? Victoria Muñoz, Editor vmunoz@hostos.cuny.edu Elizabeth Porter, Assistant Editor eporter@hostos.cuny.edu
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Deputy Chair’s Message The end-of-semester scramble is almost upon us. I'm impressed, as always, with ster. I have especially enjoyed our thoughtful conversations about teaching strategies and curriculum design. The ENG 10 pilot is going well so far and we look forward to expanding that initiative in the spring. It's also been great learning more about our colleagues' research and creative writing at the Faculty Reading Series. I wish you all a happy and restful winter break.
Editor’s Note We are Hostos As CUNY Office Assistant, Diosa Carmona, was awarded an Honorable Mention at the Second Annual Alma Matters Ceremony, I was struck by the power of this community, where transforming lives lies at the heart of all we do. This recognition marked Diosa’s exceptional career and decades of service to this institution. Diosa’s impact on this department and the college has been great. She will be dearly missed, though we also wish her well in her retirement. As we look backward on Diosa’s tenure at Hostos, we also look forward to the future of the department. In this time of transition and change, Shalema AverettHunt’s continued service to the department is deeply appreciated, whilst the departAbove: College President ment also welcomes its newest office assist- David Gómez thanks ant, Arisbel Marte, who is also featured in Diosa for her service. this issue. Special thanks is also owed to our issue contributors: Carl Grindley provided the ENG 110 data, which gives powerful insight into the future benefit of the forthcoming fourth hour. Prof. Soto-Franco supplied the end-of-term checklist. Prof. Milsom provided the photographs from the English Poetry Club Competition. Photograph credits for the Alma Matters Ceremony are owed to Romain Suinat and José Martínez Polanco. Anne Freeland supplied the photographs of Mae Ngai’s visit (copyright Paolo Palmero). Finally, we give continued thanks to Elizabeth Porter, Assistant Editor, and Anne Rounds, Learning Commons Liaison.
Top Syllabus Picks Upcoming Events
Of English Faculty
Meetings Tuesday, December 10th: English Department Meeting (3:30 PM; B505)
Charles Baudelaire, “Counterfeit Money” from Le Spleen de Paris (1869) “This semester, we finally got in there and unpacked how trippy it is. “ – Prof. Rounds
Wednesday, December 4th: Final Developmental Courses Meeting (3:30 PM; B502) Monday, December 2nd: Final ENG 111 Courses Meeting (3:30 PM; B502)
English Welcomes Arisbel Marte CUNY Office Assistant Q: Where are you from? Tell us a little bit about yourself. A: I was born in the Dominican Republic. I came to this country when I was two years old, and I have been living in Brooklyn ever since. I enjoy being creative and exploring new things. I’ve been a makeup artist for four years, and recently, I became employed in the English Department at Hostos Community College.
Esmeralda Santiago,
When I Was Puerto Rican (1993)
“It’s accessible. It teaches well, students love it, & it touches on themes relevant to almost any course focus.” – Prof. Gerrity
Q: What brings you to Hostos? What made you interested to work here? A: I actually graduated from Hostos with a liberal arts degree in Fall 2015. While I was studying here, I worked in the Student Success Coach unit for three years as a program coordinator. I loved my experience here, and I was eager to come back after graduating from Lehman College, CUNY with my bachelor’s degree in Biology.
Gandhi, Hind Swaraj (1909) “…an opportunity for ENG 110 students to read a non-Western text.” – Prof. Darling
Q: What most excites you about your new position? A: I look forward to meeting new people and experiencing new challenges.
Deputy Chair’s Selection for Teachable Text “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow” (1936) By Richard Wright (author of Black Boy and Native Son) “[This autobriographical essay] is a compelling depiction of how racial violence was normalized during segregation.” – Prof. Bollinger
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (1977) “It has been enriching to teach [this book] because students have really connected with its themes & characters.” – Prof. Porter
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ENG 110 Grade Outcomes Results from 4-Hour 110 Pilot There’s good news from last academic year’s 4-Hour ENG 110 Pilot: W-type grades were down by 6%, and all types of passing grades were up by 6%, with really impressive gains in C grades and A grades. Repeat students benefited the most from the extra hour, with a 20% drop in incompletes and a near doubling of repeaters earning C grades or better.
Comparison of Grade Distribution for 4-Hour and 3-Hour Sections of ENG 110, AY 2018/2019 (n=165, 2346) 20% 15%
10% 5% 0% W WU F
D
C C+ B-
3-Hour
B B+ A-
A
4-Hour
Course Completion Rates for Repeaters in ENG 110, 3-Hour and 4-Hour Sections, Spring 2019 (n=185, 25) 100% 80% 60%
40% 20% 0% Incomplete
F>
3-Hour Sections
D>
C>
4-Hour Sections
Left: On October 29th, Mae Ngai (Columbia University) delivered "‘Mother of Exiles': Refugees in American History and Myth," a lecture sponsored by the English Department and organized by Professor Anne Freeland.
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Happening this Winter SAVE THE DATE Wed. Jan. 22nd: Professional Development Event featuring Dr. Ellen Carillo (U. Conn.) Please SAVE THE DATE for an English Department PD on January 22 with invited speaker, Dr. Ellen Carillo, author of
Securing a Place for Reading in Composition. This interactive workshop will
focus on teaching reading and writing as integrated practices. It will be geared toward faculty teaching ENG 10 and ENG 100 as well as anyone interested in infusing active reading strategies into their pedagogy. Location TBA.
Announcements For the Spring term Prof. Muñoz will serve as ENG 111 Course Manager with Prof. Bury while Prof. Milsom is on leave. Faculty are invited to contribute teaching materials for an ENG 100 handbook that is being developed by Prof. Heidi Bollinger. Please send materials in word document format to hebollinger@hostos.cuny.edu by December 12th. The Spring Faculty Reading Series will feature readings from Professor Jason Buchanan, and Professors Emerita, Sue Dicker and Frances Singh. Additional details will be announced next term. Keep your eyes on your email in Spring 2020 for requests to post on the departmental Learning Commons website. Profs Krystyna Michael and Anne Rounds are in the process of updating the site and some of the procedures for curating the information that appears there. We hope to renew the site so that it reflects our current best practices, professional developments, and course offerings. Featured Spring 2020 Course ENG 224-415A (Literature & Psychology) In this WI literature course taught by Prof. Elyse Zucker, students will use psychological concepts to illuminate symbols, motivations, themes, & narrative strategies. Assigned texts will focus students' attention on subjects such as psychoanalytic theory, adolescent development, group processes, scapegoating, madness, & moral decision-making. Students will demonstrate their grasp of course materials by writing interdisciplinary essays, including one researched essay in which they use conventions for citation and both print and on-line sources. At the end of the course, students will have acquired an ability to interpret literary works through the various psychological perspectives studied in class.
End-of-Term Checklist Requirements Class Observation Reports Submit the textbook selections for next semester’s class(es) on Akademos. Remind students in ENG 93 to register for the CATW. Encourage students to complete Student Evaluation Form (Homepage). If you are teaching ENG 100, 110, or 111, duplicate final exam readings in the duplicating center. N.B.: Do not give final exams to student aids in the duplicating center. You may upload final exam readings to Blackboard. Submit attendance to CUNY EDGE Program (if applicable). Verify final exam date(s). Submit grades on CUNYFirst by 5/28. After submitting grades, please be sure to submit the following paperwork for the department’s records: 1. Grade Distribution Form 2. Grade roster form CUNYFirst 3. Justification for all “F” grades given on final printed roster from CUNYFirst 4. For INC (Incomplete), submit an Incomplete Justification Form. 5. Copy of spreadsheet or rollbook for grades and attendance 6. ENG 100, 110, & 111 Final Examination (Yellow) Booklets with the final exam prompts 7. ENG 93 portfolios
Check
Succeed@Hostos: Follow up to encourage students’ success at Hostos (ongoing)
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Recognizing Faculty Excellence Publications
Faculty Reading Series October 29
th
Event
Bernardini, Craig. "The Technologies of Pucks." Conjunctions, 29 Oct. 2019. Freeland, Anne. “Motley Society, Plurinationalism, and the Integral State: Álvaro García Linera’s Use of Gramsci and Zavaleta.” Historical Materialism, vol. 27, no. 3, 2019, pp. 99–126.
Congratulations To Profs. Andy Connolly, Sean Gerrity and Victoria Muñoz for their acceptance to the CUNY Faculty Fellowship Participation Program for Spring 2020 Term. To Delsy Vargas-Ortiz, longtime member of the English Department and leader for the Writing Program, who was married on November 3rd. To Diosa Carmona, College Assistant for receiving an Honorable Mention in the Second Annual Alma Matters Ceremony on Nov. 14th. Diosa also received the highest number of overall votes from the college community.
Presentations & Performances Buchanan, Jason. "Austerity, Masculinity, and Contemporary Irish Fiction." Midwest Regional Conference for the American Conference of Irish Studies, 11 Oct. 2019, Crieghton University, Omaha, NE. Buchanan, Jason. "Like a Scattering from a Fixed Point: Gender and Travel in Contemporary Irish Fiction." Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for the American Conference of Irish Studies, Hunter College, CUNY. 1 Nov. 2019, New York, NY. Buchanan, Jason. "Many Accelerations: Changes to Developmental Education at Eugenio María de Hostos
Below: At the Second Annual Alma Matters Ceremony, English Chair Andrea Fabrizio honors Diosa’s service to the department and college.
Above: Prof. Healey presented a creative work entitled “Zeus’s Monologue: My Life and Loves.” Prof. Rounds presented a talk entitled “Listening to Hamlet: Literary Depression and Compassionate Teaching.” English faculty and students in attendance.
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Presentations & Performances, cont’d Community College." Re-imagining Developmental Education, Center for the Analysis of Post-secondary Readiness, 21 Nov. 2019, Marriott Times Square, New York, NY. Healey, Raymond. “Zeus’s Monologue: My Life and Loves." Fall 2019 Faculty Reading Series, English Department. Hostos Community College. 24 Oct. 2019, Bronx, NY. Michael, Krystyna. "The Manifold Harrison: A Digital Edition of Hubert Harrison's The Negro and the Nation." CUNY Digital Humanities Initiative Lightning Talks, 30 Oct. 2019, The Graduate Center, CUNY. Michael, Krystyna. "Walt Whitman and Central Park: Queer Approaches to the Research Paper." ENG 350, College of Staten Island, CUNY, October 17, 2019. Invited guest lecture. Muñoz, Victoria. “Science Writing: A Practical Guide,” EEB 804, “Life in the Anthropocene,” Yale University Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. 30 Oct. 2019. Invited guest lecture. Porter, Elizabeth. “London Plots: Women and Mobility in the Eighteenth Century.” Fall 2019 Faculty Reading Series. English Department, Hostos Community College, CUNY. 26 Nov. 2019, Bronx, NY. Rounds, Anne Lovering. "Listening to Hamlet: Literary Depression and Compassionate Teaching." Fall 2019 Faculty Reading Series, English Department, Hostos Community College, CUNY. 24 Oct. 2019, Bronx, NY. Widney, Chris. “I Hate Cats!” Fall 2019 Faculty Reading Series, English Department. Hostos Community College, CUNY. 26 Nov. 2019, Bronx, NY.
Faculty Reading Series November 26th Event
Below (from left to right): Felix Sánchez, Alumni Relations Manager, former College Assistant Diosa Carmona, Provost Christine Mangino, College President David Gómez, and Ana Martinez Orizondo, VP of Institutional Advancement.
Above: Prof. Porter delivered a talk entitled “London Plots: Women and Mobility in the Eighteenth Century.” Prof. Widney presented two 10-minute plays. English faculty act in the dramatic reading.
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Congratulations to the English Club Poetry Competition Winners 1st Prize: Hewton Fider 2nd Prize: Christopher Sanchez 3rd Prize: Brittany Dixon 4th Prize: Cherry Shataya Audience Picks: Joshua Valdez & Mya Young
Department of English Hostos Community College, CUNY a. 500 Grand Concrouse, Room B504 Bronx, NY 10451 p. 718-518-6600 w. hostos.cuny.edu
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