The 34th annual Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference will be held Feb. 14-16 at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center.

Tim Harris, professor at Brown University, will speak on "Towards a Cultural History of Prejudice in Early Modern England: The Enlightenment Context" and will demonstrate how English prejudices changed. Donna Landry, from the University of Canterbury in Kent, U.K., will present "Picturing Benevolence Amid the Violence of Decay, or, the Secret Causes of Romanticism," explaining the literary and cultural history of Britain in the long eighteenth-century and Romantic periods.

In a theatre production, part of Benjamin Hoadley's popular comedy, "The Suspicious Husband," will be performed in different styles as part of a theme that explores why eighteenth-century comedy tends to be dramatized in such stylized and predictable ways and in what other ways it might be staged. Alabama Shakespeare Festival professionals will be making up a roundtable on comedy.

Special sessions on African-American genealogy will be offered as well. Gwendolyn Midlow Hall of the Afro-Louisiana Genealogy Project and Ibrahima Seck of the West African Research Association will present papers and share their databases.

A book exhibit in the conference center will offer high quality books at discounts. The Ralph Brown Draughon Library will have special exhibits highlighting its eighteenth-century collections. Registration is required.

The cost is $75 before Jan. 31; afterward it is $90. The registration form can be found at www.auburn.edu/seasecs. For more information, contact Alex Kuck at ask0005@auburn.edu or 844-7760.

For more information, please visit the Web site: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/societies/seasecs/

America’s colleges and universities have always played a hand in preparing students to assume roles as informed, active, and productive citizens in the local and global communities they do and will inhabit. According to a number of recent sources, including Thomas Friedman’s “Generation Q,” fulfilling such a charge has never been more complicated than in the twenty-first century.

At all levels of government, including the city, state, and nation, producing engaged citizens means informing students about a wealth of complex issues—healthcare, social security, education, employment—as well as introducing them to how such concerns are constantly shaped and reshaped by ever-shifting economies and demographics. In addition to understanding the needs of their communities, students must also be aware of the various opportunities that exist to contribute their time, energy, and expertise.

And yet local issues are increasingly informed by circumstances beyond America’s borders. We are only just beginning to realize how the expanding global economy has the power to both create jobs and take them away. Issues such as global warming, sustainability, and immigration continue to dominate the social and political landscape. To operate effectively on this ever-expanding global landscape, students must possess a rich knowledge of other countries and cultures as well as a familiarity with those technologies that can open lines of communication with the entire world.

Today, then, the pressing challenge for America's universities is how to build a solid foundation of knowledge and abilities that will help their graduates become productive citizens, both locally and globally. In a well-organized and well-developed essay of between 1000 and 1250 words, answer the following questions: What do college students need to know in order to be informed and active citizens of their local and global worlds? What abilities must college students have to be effective citizens? What are some concrete steps that universities might take toward engaging students and providing them with a solid foundation to become good global citizens.

Submission Requirements:

* Any student in Auburn University’s College of Liberal Arts is eligible to submit an essay. The writer of the winning essay will receive a $500 prize sponsored by East Alabama Medical Center.
* Essays need to be between 1000 and 1250 words and typed in English using Times New Roman 12 point font. Please double-space the essay using one inch margins at top, bottom, and sides and include page numbers in the top right-hand corner of each page. Center the title at the top of page one.
* Essays need to be accompanied by a cover sheet that provides the contestant’s name, phone number, email address, and the title of the essay. Contestants should not include their name on any other portion of the essay.
* It is not mandatory that essays include information from outside sources; however, should a contestant choose to do so, sources need to be incorporated and cited according to MLA style and will need to include a Works Cited page.

Submit essays to: Christa Slaton, Associate Dean for Educational Affairs and Graduate Studies, 2046 Haley Center. Essays must be received by 4:45 pm on March 14, 2008. Essays received after the deadline cannot be considered.

Essays will be judged by members of the College of Liberal Art’s Civic Engagement Planning Committee. Essays will be judged based on the four criteria outlined below:

• Focus: Considers the extent to which the essay provides a direct, thorough, insightful, and specific response to the topic.
• Support: Addresses the extent to which the key elements of the essay are developed and supported through the use of relevant and detailed information.
• Organization: Addresses the extent to which the essay uses a coherent structure.
• Style and mechanics: Examines the extent to which the essay employs conventions of
• Standard Edited American English for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It also considers the choice of words and sentence structure appropriate for an audience of university professors and administrators.

PDF file of Contest Rules

A reception honoring Professors Alexander Dunlop, Patrick Morrow, and Harry M. Solmon, all retiring at the end of Spring Semester 2007, will be held this Friday, April 27, from 5-6:30 p.m. in Ballroom B of the Conference Center. Friends and colleagues of Alex, Pat, and Miller are invited to join in this celebration of long and fruitful careers.

Dr. Alexander Dunlop, Associate Professor and Coordinator of World Literature, has been with the English Department since September 1972. His teaching and research interests include Early Modern literature, especially poetry, literary theory, and World Literature. While here at Auburn, he has seen many changes at the university and in the profession. “Everything is better,” he says, “I think the profession and attitudes toward interpreting literature are broader and more constructive than 35 years ago.” He has seen Auburn University become a broader, more diverse, and more sophisticated place. He believes the students are better, and he has positive feelings about the developments that have happened at the university and within the profession. Dr. Dunlop takes pleasure in preparing for his classes, and has always looked forward to reading and thinking about the material the night before class. This is exciting and fun for him because he likes interacting with the students.

Dr. Dunlop has truly enjoyed working with his colleagues and working toward and developing common goals. “This has been a great place to have a career,” he says, “I have no regrets and have enjoyed the 35 years.” When he retires this May, he will do everything he did before except teach.

Emma Bolden has had poems accepted for publication in the Cimarron Review, 32Poems, Inch, dANDelion, Eclipse, and Green Mountains Review.

The Dissertation Organization (D. O.) will hold a writing group meeting on Friday, April 27, at 5 p.m.  The meeting will take place at Adrea McDonnell's house, 1159 Northlake Drive.  Those who are interested in discussing their dissertation projects are welcome to attend.  For more information or directions, please contact Adrea McDonnell.

EGO's Spring Reception will be Monday, April 30, from 5:30 p.m.-8 p.m. at the Unitarian Church (450 East Thach Ave.). Graduate students are asked to donate $3 and faculty members are welcome to donate as well but are not required. We ask that everyone bring a dish. Drinks (alcoholic and non) will be provided. Children and significant others are welcome. If you have any questions, please contact Antonia Bowden.

Four members of the Department recently presented at the APA/PCA Annual conference in Boston. Katharyn Privett presented her work, "Sacred Cyborgs and 20th Century Goddesses,"  in the Mythology and Contemporary Culture VI: Mythology and Technology Panel. Kristen Miller presented in the Composition, Rhetoric, and Popular Culture area.  Her presentation was "Dialectic in the Buffyverse: Episode Structure, Series Structure, and Theme." Angela Farmer presented as part of the Political Masculinities panel in the Masculinity Studies section. The title of her paper was "'You Can't Fight in Here, This is the War Room': Political Masculinity in Dr. Strangelove." Cori Mathis presented "Cleansing Violence: The Translation of Werther into American Film."

Check out a slide show of English Department faculty members who participated in the second annual Alabama Book Festival, held Saturday in Montgomery's Old Alabama Town district. Emma Bolden introduced a poetry presenter and Chantel Acevedo read from her novel. Margaret Kouidis, representing the Southern Humanities Review, was pleased to make the acquaintance of Miss Emily and Mr.E. A. Poe. Chris Forhan, not pictured, also read at the event. The Festival was sponsored by the Alabama Center for the Book, located at Pebble Hill in Auburn.