One of the first celebrity authors, Harriet Beecher Stowe became famous when Uncle Tom’s Cabin - which sold more than 300,000 copies in the first year of publication - appeared in 1852. Known by virtually all famous writers in the United States and many in England and regarded by many women writers as a role model because of her influence in the literary marketplace, Stowe herself was the subject of many books, articles, essays and poems during her lifetime. Stowe in Her Own Time brings together for the first time a range of primary materials about Stowe's private and public life. The thirty-eight recollections gathered in this volume form a biographical narrative designed to provide several perspectives on the famous author, sometimes in conflict and sometimes in agreement but always perceptive. The figure who emerges from this insightful, analytical collection is far more complex than the image she helped construct in her lifetime.

A book signing will follow the 7:00pm reading and discussion of Stowe in Her Own Time.

A UNL faculty member, Dr. Belasco received a MA from Baylor University and University of Leicester - Leicester, England, and her Ph.D. from Texas A&M. She regularly teachers courses in nineteenth century American literature, women writers and a survey of American literature.  Her professional areas of specialty are Nineteenth Century American Literature and Culture, Women’s Studies and New Technologies in Literary Study.  Dr. Belasco is the co-editor (with Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price),Leaves of Grass: The Sesquicentennial Essays, and co-editor (with Linck Johnson) of The Bedford Anthology of American Literature, Volumes I and II as well as the author of Constructing Literacies: A Harcourt Reader for College Writers.

Learn more about Dr. Susan Belasco here.

Achsah Guibbory, Ann Whitney Olin Professor of English at Barnard College, Columbia University, will give the 2009-10 Robert E. Knoll Lecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on November 5 at the Van Brunt Visitors Center, 313 N. 13th Street in Lincoln. Her talk, “Christian Identity and Israel: The Case of 17th-century England,” will be 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public and will be followed by a dessert reception.

It will explore the competing claims of English political and religious groups to be the true descendents of God's Chosen People.

The talk is taken from her recently-completed book, Christian Identity, Jews, and Israel in Seventeenth-Century England.

The press release and photos are here.

The poster for the event is here.

 

Linda Mahloch loves opera, and has traveled the world in search of great performances.

LeAnn Messing is most at home in her garden, elbow deep in dirt.

Both are equally happy at work as at play, and together they possess 75 years of professional experience in UNL’s English department. It is a staggering amount of shared history and institutional knowledge.

Technological leaps –the shift from typewriters and a clunky phone system to computers and email – and a changing and diversifying student body have marked their tenure in the College of Arts and Sciences. Messing, the department’s office supervisor, remembers students organizing Vietnam War protests when she began working on campus. Today, both women are amazed at the range of students, staff and faculty they come in contact with on a daily basis.

Mainly, the two women are grateful to have jobs that they love.

"The people I work with are all outstanding employees," said Mahloch, business manager for the department. "They are very professional and good at what they do, and that of course makes the department look good."

Messing echoes this sentiment.

"Everybody chips in around here, this is a great department to work in," she said. "In addition to faculty and administrators, right now we have the best group of support staff we’ve ever had. You can count on them to always help when needed. We’ve got the cream of the crop."

Over the years, Messing and Mahloch have also forged close ties with colleagues in other departments.

"One danger in a very big department is that you tend to get isolated, focused in, and think, ‘We’re it,’" Mahloch said. "It’s really important to get out to the broader university to see how things work. When you get together with a group of people and start throwing out ideas, very often you’ll come up with a way to change procedures or processes."

Of course, their most enduring professional relationship is with each other. The women think of themselves as Lucy and Ethel, and they manage to squeeze a fair amount of goofiness and enjoyment into their busy workdays.

"We have a lot of fun," Mahloch said. "Some people say we remind them of an old married couple; we talk over each other, and can read each others’ minds."

Through floods in the building, communications upgrades, staffing changes and a few ill-advised escapades, Mahloch and Messing remain beloved and reliable fixtures in the English department.

When it comes to the comparison with two beloved sitcom stars, who’s who?

"She’s Lucy, I’m Ethel," Messing said. "We’re always jumping right in and doing things, even at times when it probably isn’t the best idea. Linda hired me to supervise the office in 1973. She’s guided me along the way, teaching me all kinds of things. To work with someone that long, and still work well together is amazing."

In the last several days we have learned the sad news of the deaths of two former members of UNL's English Department. Dr. Donald Gregory, who had been director of General Studies since 1987, died on July 17; he was a professor of English before moving to the General Studies position. Dr. Louis Crompton, emeritus professor of English, died July 11 in California. Both of these men were leaders in their respective fields and many at the university are deeply saddened by their loss.

Dr. Gregory provided strong leadership in General Studies for 22 years, giving thousands of students a sense of place at UNL. He joined UNL in 1967, and from 1981-87 was chief adviser in English; he had advised undeclared students for 11 years prior to assuming that formal position. Dr. Gregory was the first and only director of the Division of General Studies. His total of 42 years of service to this university and its students is nothing short of remarkable. Because of his leadership, UNL has an advising program in General Studies that has won numerous national awards, along with the trust of countless students and nervous parents. Don is a past recipient of the James V. Griesen Exemplary Service to Students Award, as well as a Parents Association award for contributions to students. In 1987, he was the first recipient of the Student Foundation/Builder's Award for Outstanding Advising. He is survived by two sons, a daughter-in-law, a brother and sister-in-law, and three grandchildren. His immediate colleagues tell me he considered the UNL community his second family. Services for Dr. Gregory are pending and more information will be provided via campus communication channels in advance of the service.

 Dr. Crompton was a pioneer in the field of gay and queer studies. He joined our faculty in 1955 and retired in 1989. He had an international reputation as a scholar of Bernard Shaw. In 1970, he taught the second Gay Studies course in the nation. He advised UNL's first gay student organization and helped found UNL's Homophobia Awareness Committee to improve the climate for gay and lesbian people at UNL and was a longtime member UNL's Committee on GLBT Concerns. In 1986, he received the University of Nebraska's Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award, and in 2003, received the Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Service to the GLBT Community. In 1974 he co-founded the Gay and Lesbian Caucus of the Modern Language Association. Two major pieces of scholarship, "Byron and Greek Love," (1985, University of California Press) and "Homosexuality and Civilization," (2003, Harvard University Press) won international acclaim. Earlier this year Student Involvement and the LGBTQA Resource Center established a scholarship in his honor to benefit needy students studying in the LGBTQA area. Dr. Crompton is survived by his husband, Luis Diaz-Perdomo, El Cerrito, Calif., formerly of UNL; a brother and sister-in-law; a nephew and a niece. A memorial service will be scheduled in Lincoln this fall.

Donald L. Gregory 71, director of Division of General Studies, died July 17. Gregory was born Jan. 20, 1938 in Newark, Ohio, to Mike and Thelma (Horner) Gregory.

Gregory was the first director of General Studies at UNL from 1987 until his death, and led the department to receive five national and five university awards. General Studies was created in 1987 as the Office of General Studies Advising under Student Affairs, after previously being a service of the Student Center and under the Office of Admissions and Advising. Gregory led the office to provide academic counseling to students who have not declared a major. He said in 1987: "What I hope most to accomplish is to give general studies students a home dedicated to their interests and to help them plan their academic careers." Previously he had served as chief adviser in English (1981-87) and before that advised English majors and undeclared students for 11 years. One of his many awards at UNL was the first recipient of the Student Foundation/Builders Award for Outstanding Advising (1987).

He was a professor of English Literature at UNL from 1967-1992. He earned his doctorate from Ohio State in 1967; his master's from Ohio State in 1962; he served as a graduate assistant at Ohio State from 1960-1967 after earning his bachelor's degree from Bucknell University in 1960. He attended all grade levels and graduated from Granville High School, Granville, Ohio. He was a fan of sports car racing and attending SCCA auto cross events with his sons.

Family members include sons and daughter-in-law, Eric M. (Rhonda M.) Gregory, Paul E. Gregory, all of Lincoln; brother and sister-in-law, Richard F. (Lynnette) Gregory of Columbus, Ohio; grandchildren Ian, Sydney and Jack Gregory.

Memorial Services are Pending with Roper and Sons Funeral Home. No visitation/cremation. Condolences and personal reflections may be left at www.roperandsons.com

 Lou Crompton was professor emeritus of English who created the one of the first multidisciplinary courses in the country on homosexuality in 1970, which became a model for other universities.  The interdisciplinary course, "The Pro-Seminar in Homophile Studies", facilitated by Professor Lou Crompton of the UNL English Department, was the second known university course to be offered.  He also developed the Sex Roles in Literature course in the department of English, one of the first in the nation to explore gay and lesbian literature.

Professor Crompton's achievements in curriculum, research, and as co-founder of the Gay and Lesbian Caucus of the Modern Languages Association (MLA) have been recognized by a prize for work in LGBT Studies given in his name by the MLA.  He also served as the advisor for the first gay student organization at UNL:  The Gay Action Group.  He was adviser for a group then known as the Gay/Lesbian Student Association for 20 years and helped found the Homophobia Awareness Committee, started by faculty, staff and students to improve the climate for gay and lesbian people on campus.  He was a long-time member of the UNL Committee on GLBT Concerns.

Lou lived in El Cerrito California with his partner/spouse of 40 years, Luis Diaz-Perdomo.  He was the author of the highly acclaimed Byron and Greek Love and Homosexuality and Civilization, among other numerous works, and received the Gieblhus Award for Shaw the Dramatist.

 June 25-28, 2009 | University Center | Chicago

The 12th International Seminar will focus on Willa Cather’s relationship to broader formations of cultural and literary modernism.

How, and in what ways, is Cather a modernist (if at all)?
To what extent did she also resist and reject the ‘modern’?

The Seminar will present a wide range of papers that establish connections between the full range of Cather’s work and modernism/ modernity.

The Seminar will take place in the downtown ‘University Center’, Chicago, Illinois, and will include events focused on specific literary/cultural sites within that area.

To learn more, view the brochure from the Willa Cather Archive website.

Full information, registration, reservations available online at: http://conferences.unl.edu/.

 The Nebraska Summer Writers’ Conference will be held June 13-19, 2009, on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Registrants from all across the country gather for a week of creative writing workshops, discussions on craft, social gatherings, and literary readings.

UNL instructors include poets Grace Bauer,Anthony Hawley, and Hilda Raz; and memoirist Joy Castro.

Writers from across the country, including: best-selling novelists Curtis Sittenfeld, David Ebershoff, and Jewell Parker Rhodes; award-winning memoirists Aaron Raz Link and Meghan Daum; novelist and journalist Daphne Beal; poet and editor Glenna Luschei; crime writer Sean Doolittle; authors/publishers/designers Jonathan Messinger and Zach Dodson; editor Anna deVries; literary agent Jessica Regel; and publishing professional Lauren Cerand.

Workshops focus on starting a novel, on building plot, on travel writing, the relationship between visual art and poetry, and other topics.  There are also courses on developing a presence on the internet, approaching agents and editors with effective query letters, and small press publishing. 

While workshops require registration and fees, many events throughout the week or free and open to the public.

For more information, and to register online, visit http://nebraskawriters.unl.edu

"The lunch with Naomi and Ted was spectacular for the students (and me too!)! Naomi is so open and asks the questions that drew them out.  A big hit. Naomi offered to read several of their poems and get back to them by email! They were on cloud nine (or ten)."

Eileen Hebets          Laura White          John Janovy Jr.     Thomas Gannon

Eileen Hebets, assistant professor of biological sciences and previous Academic Star, will give a talk called "Exploring the Secret Lives of Spiders: From Courtship to Cannibalism."

Laura White (associate professor of English), John Janovy Jr. (Paula and D.B. Varner professor of biological sciences), and Thomas Gannon (assistant professor of English and ethnic studies) will talk about Darwin in poetry and literature.

The symposium will take place March 26-28.