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croll
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Summer/Fall 2014
Written and produced by students in FSU’s Department of English
Profiles of the
English
Department
Read all about us
The veterans: Associate Professor
Andrew Epstein (pg 4), and
Professor Ralph Berry (pg 8)
The newcomers: Assistant Professors
Skip Horack (pg 10), John Mac Kilgore
(pg 12), and Trinyan Mariano (pg 13)
The former students, now successful
alums (pgs 6, 16, 18, and 19)
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Table of contents
Summer/Fall 2014
Letter from the chair
I
Alums in the spotlight — profiles
Faces of the faculty — profiles
write with a mixture of sadness and celebration, only a day after the December 2014 death
of Fred Standley, who was at the very center
of this department for half a century, from the
day he arrived as an assistant professor in 1963 to
his last class on “Banned Books” in 2013. It is no
exaggeration to observe that Fred is a key part of the
foundation of nearly every achievement so well narrated
in this issue, from the literature classes of Andrew Epstein, John Mac Kilgore, and Trinyan Mariano, through
the achievements of our writers such as Adam Johnson,
Skip Horack, and Kerry James Evans, to the editorial
scholarship of David Gants and Meg Brown and the fine
works of our undergraduate writers. It is especially appropriate that this issue spotlights the FSU Study Abroad
program in Valencia, because Fred was a great champion
of international education, teaching many summer terms
in our London program. Similarly, I’m glad to point the
way to the article on Jerrilyn McGregory’s course on Human Rights, because Fred was a visionary for the department and the university in his serious commitment to
diversity in the curriculum and among the faculty and
student body. Finally, it is fitting that this issue profiles
the work of Ralph Berry, department chair from 200612, because Fred’s decade as chair from 1973 to 1982
was a transformative period for the department. Every
subsequent chair benefited from Fred’s unwavering support and generous help. The department bears his mark
in every feature.
Two longtime professors use their study and research
of creative writing and literature to inform and inspire
students on how to find personal connections with the
written word.
Andrew Epstein4
By Katy Bryan-Beachler
Ralph Berry8
By Sarah Morin
Three new professors — one in the Creative Writing
Program and two in the Literature Program — bring a
fresh look at a familiar place, enthusiasm for teaching and
music, and an appreciation for asking the big questions.
Skip Horack10
By Mari Maxwell
John Mac Kilgore12
By Alyssa Rios
Trinyan Mariano13
By Brenna Beightol
Adam Johnson6
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and creative writing alum
continues his hectic pace of life.
By Alana Schindel
Lauren Gibaldi Mathur
16
With her first publication on the horizon, an English literature
alumna’s enthusiasm for reading and writing is insipring.
By Kaitlyn Athans
Kerry James Evans18
Recent PhD
By Kristina Kurzweil
Jaclyn Emerick19
English alumna finds a way to fit her creative writing degree
into an editor’s position with SELF magazine.
By Kalie Marsch
Department in action
Study abroad? ¡Si!14
International Programs offers English students an
opportunity to spend summer months in Spain and beyond.
By Nadia Mehriary
Academic journal bound to succeed 20
Associate professor David Gants and recent English PhD
graduate Meaghan Brown lead the way for the PBSA.
By Sarah Page
Human rights course, with a twist
21
Professor Jerrilyn McGregory hooks students with a pop
culture theme but then digs deep into causes of social injustice.
By Austin Koontz
Beyond the classroom
A different train of thought
22
Immersion writing course inspires one graduate student to
ride the rails for a literary experience.
By Teddi Koppelberger
Choosing wisely23
Students on the editing, writing, and media fill their
schedules with electives that complement their core studies.
By Michelle Collins
The Last Wordundergoes changes 24
A student-run publication gets a new name and a new focus
under the direction of several English majors.
By Nick Gunter
Scroll, Scribe & Screen mission statement
The purpose of Scroll, Scribe & Screen is to foster a sense of
community among alumni, students, faculty, and friends of the
Department of English at Florida State University. Our goal is
to showcase the achievements and events within the department
to connect with our Seminole audience.
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Summer/Fall 2014
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Summer/Fall 2014
3
“
We read some pretty avant-garde contemporary stuff and it
introduced me to a whole world of experimental poetics alive today that
I wasn’t exposed to when getting my master’s degree and that I hadn’t
found on my own. . . . He holds high academic standards that I think his
students strive to meet. I know I did.
— Craig Blais
poetry
“It’s not algebra—‘x’ doesn’t equal ‘y.’
It’s open to multiple interpretations.”
Associate Professor Andrew Epstein inspires students
by uncovering connections between poetry and daily life
By Katy Bryan-Beachler
A
s an accomplished writer, professor, and father, among other
things, Associate Professor Andrew Epstein is nothing if not
passionate about his work at
Florida State University.
His eyes don’t miss a thing when it comes
to making connections between poetry and
everyday life. This ability to make such connections is what has made him a successful
professor of English at FSU for 13 years.
Epstein was born in New York City and
grew up in New Jersey. His mother, a high
school English teacher, introduced him to
poetry and literature at an early age.
For young Epstein, there was an instant
connection.
“I went to a small, kind of artsy private
4
Summer/Fall 2014
school up until high school that really encouraged us to write creatively, so I was
reading and writing poems when I was pretty
little,” Epstein says. “I got really into it.”
As he continued through school, his love
for English and creative writing became
more and more apparent. When he reached
college, he didn’t yet know what career he
would choose, but he was certain that it
would involve literature and writing.
Even though Epstein chose not to pursue
a creative writing route academically, he kept
writing his own poetry. He found that he
was most interested in writing and thinking
critically about poetry, and finding symbiotic
themes with the entire process.
Moving up in the world
Epstein graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts
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in English before attending Columbia University and receiving a master’s degree and
a Ph.D. in literature. He began teaching at
FSU in the fall of 2001, attracted by the university’s large English department and Tallahassee’s strong literary scene. He was also
excited about the opportunity to be at a research university where he would be able to
balance teaching and research.
Epstein currently teaches undergraduate
and graduate courses at FSU, including classes in modern poetry, post-modern and contemporary poetry, and 20th-century American novels. He stimulates student interest in
poetry by debunking the typical, entry-level
understanding of poetry that most students
possess upon entering college.
“Young people tend to think that poetry is
either something kind of flowery and sentimental that you write in your notebook when
you’re a brooding teenager, or something really hard and forbidding and obscure that
only the teacher would understand,” he says.
His response to such mindsets is that there
is no one answer to what a poem means: “It’s
not algebra—‘x’ doesn’t equal ‘y.’ It’s open to
multiple interpretations.”
Another teaching philosophy that Epstein
employs is relating the study and writing of
poetry to the lives of the students, as well
as to contemporary things that are going on
in our culture. By making poetry seem less
distant, students are able to make the connections that Epstein observes on a daily basis, and then apply it to their own lives and
emotions.
He also encourages his students to read
as much as possible. Epstein believes that in
order to be a good poet, or creative writer in
general, the key is to read other great writers.
“My advice would be to find writers that
inspire you, and then find out whatever inspired those writers, and basically just read
as much as you can,” he says. “Doing those
things will make you a much better poet and
student of literature.”
Epstein says he teaches students to keep
their eyes open for inspiration anywhere and
everywhere. Additionally, he seems to inspire
his students in class as well.
Craig Blais, an FSU
alum who earned his
Ph.D in creative writing, had Epstein as a
professor during his
first semester at FSU
in a class called Poetics of the Everyday.
“We read some
pretty
avant-garde
contemporary stuff
and it introduced me
to a whole world of
experimental
poetics alive today that
I wasn’t exposed to
when getting my master’s degree and that I
hadn’t found on my
own,” Blais says.
Although the class
was rigorous, Blais
”
believes that it played a major role in preparing him for the two years of coursework that
would follow.
“He holds high academic standards that I
think his students strive to meet. I know I
did,” Blais says.
Epstein’s teaching style inspired Blais to
register for another class on modernist poetics Epstein was teaching in a different semester. Epstein eventually joined Blais’s dissertation committee, and Blais says that he
proved to be instrumental in helping him
come up with the reading lists for his preliminary exams.
“Dr. Epstein is a leading scholar in his field
with one critical book out with Oxford University Press and another on the way, but he
is not the type of person who will coast on
these accomplishments,” Blais says. “He is a
great teacher who demands a lot from his students, and he’s one of the best professors the
English Department and the university has.”
Epstein encourages students interested in
poetry to get involved with it in activities outside of class as well. He encourages students
to attend the department’s Reading Series,
which takes place Tuesdays at The Warehouse, a bar and pool
hall just off campus
that also houses a
reading space for faculty members, wellknown authors, and
college students.
“It’s free, it’s a lot
of fun, and there’s
no better thing than
seeing live writers in
person when they
are passionate about
what they’re doing,”
Epstein says.
Epstein has also
published his own
book, Beautiful Enemies: Friendship and
Postwar American Poetry, which focuses on
poets such as Frank
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O’Hara, John Ashbery, and Amiri Baraka.
He is currently working on his second book,
Attention Equals Life: The Pursuit of the Everyday in Contemporary Poetry and Culture, which is
about the preoccupation or fascination with
the everyday in literature, particularly in more
recent literature.
Epstein says he wants to explore “why
people become fascinated with stuff that
seems unbeautiful or uninteresting, or not
stuff that you would think art would be
about.” The book’s expected release date is
sometime in 2015.
Epstein also has a blog, where he posts
commentary and critical analysis about poetry written by others. The blog is primarily about a group of poets called the New
York School of Poets. His idea for the blog
stemmed from the realization that there was
no one place on the Internet to go to find
information on these people or see new articles or reviews.
The blog is his first experimental shot at
that kind of publishing medium, he says, and
so far he is enjoying the experience.
“This has a kind of immediacy to it and
people recirculate it, tweet it, and things like
that,” Epstein says. “I feel like I’ve expanded
my audience with it.”
In addition to being a professor and writer,
Epstein plays guitar in his spare time. He enjoys making music with his 10-year-old son
and 12-year-old daughter, who plays piano,
and she sings and acts as well.
With such a flair for creative art in the
family, it’s no mystery why Epstein says he
is intrigued by the connections between daily
life and poetry. His passion for poetry comes
through when he talks about literature, and
it is easy to imagine his personal search for
the meaning of the words he writes or reads
inspires the students he teaches on a daily
basis.
In fact, his definition of poetry — “language charged with meaning” — is a fitting
way to describe a work of art that is open
to multiple interpretations and motivated by
making connections between ourselves and
the world around us.
Summer/Fall 2014
5
friends with his former professor and colleague. In turn, Butler speaks fondly of
Johnson as a student.
“In the three years I taught Adam in Louisiana, I was particularly struck by his ravenous engagement with life experience,” Butler
says, adding how impressed he was by his
emerging talent in his writing workshops at
McNeese. “It was his avid exploration of everything from cockfighting to zydeco music
that spoke to me of his nascent genius.”
Johnson took six workshops in MSU’s
Master of Fine Arts program, which emphasizes fiction writing. Butler was the lone faculty member facilitating the workshops.
The post-Pulitzer
Prize life:
Adam Johnson,
a busy man
By Alana Schindel
After winning the 2013
Pulitzer Prize for fiction,
FSU alum Adam Johnson
is busier than ever with
his family, traveling,
and, of course, writing
I
n his car on the way to pick up one of
his three children, Adam Johnson has
on his dad hat.
“Is this a bad time?” he asks, seeming to
forget that he is the one heading to fulfill his
parental duties.
Once he is told that the timing is fine, and
perhaps sensing the eagerness behind the answer, he asks, “You’re writing an article for
the department newsletter, you said?”
And so the interview began.
This is obviously not Johnson’s first time
playing the role of interviewee, having been
asked the same questions on the same topics numerous times by every interested publication. Of course, every journalist hopes
Johnson will give them that diamond, neverbefore-heard-from-his-lips statement. For
Johnson, an interview is a stroll in the park.
His responses are ingrained in his brain —
he’s mastered the material.
Those well versed in the ongoing success of Florida State
University’s Department of
English know Johnson for his
2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Orphan Master’s Son, published in 2012. A quick
Internet search returns a flood of post6
Summer/Fall 2014
Photo courtesy of The Paris Review.
Pulitzer interviews with detailed information
on his respected novels, but what happened
before he won the prize, and how has his life
changed since?
Johnson’s studies
Johnson graduated in 2000 with a Ph.D.
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through the FSU English department’s creative writing program. Mildly mysterious
and fantastically talented alumnus is tough
to catch. The majority of his time is spent
taking care of his kids, yet he’s still crafting
new material and finding time to travel – it
seems Johnson is much more than an inspired mind, but has much less time to sit
and unwind.
Before Johnson completed
his Ph.D. studies, he earned
his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Arizona State University in 1992 and received
his master’s in creative writing at McNeese
State University in Louisiana until 1996.
While at the latter school, Johnson studied
with Professor Robert Olen Butler, who won
the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1993 and who
now teaches creative writing at FSU.
“I’ve been lucky to have great, great mentors — it was mentors like [Butler] who got
me to a place like FSU,” Johnson says about
the holder of a Frances Eppes Professorship, one of the the most esteemed honors a
professor can receive at Florida State.
Johnson says he is grateful for Butler’s
insight and guidance, and he remains good
West Coast, best coast?
Before Johnson officially earned his degree at FSU, he moved to San Francisco in
1999 to take up a position at Stanford University as an associate professor with emphasis in creative writing.
In 2008, Johnson and his colleague Tom
Kealey began the Creative Graphic Novel
Project at Stanford, a collaborative work of
15 student artists and writers. This project is
most acclaimed for its first novel, Shake Girl,
which is a 225-page novel commenting on
the occurrence of acid attacks in Cambodia,
primarily against women. “Throughout the
process, the subject matter — this particular
Shake Girl - and telling her story with heart,
accuracy, and complexity was what kept us
going,” Johnson and Kealey state in the editor’s note.
They add that although the final product
may not be perfect it is a great accomplishment for all of the contributors considering
much of the work was completed individually, making it difficult to develop a seamless
voice and aesthetic perspective throughout
the process.
The next generation
Cultivating young minds comes easy to
Johnson because of the mentoring relationship he had with Butler. Just as Butler guided
Johnson through finding his voice
as a writer, Johnson passed
on the knowledge of the
craft to Anthony Marra.
At Stanford, Johnson began
teaching fiction writing workshops for the Wallace Stegner
Fellowship, a unique two-year creative writing program. The program accepts five fiction and five poetry writers every year, and
through this program Johnson met Marra,
who was a fellow from 2011-2013.
Johnson taught Marra for one quarter in
both years of Marra’s fellowship. With only
one workshop meeting per week, Marra absorbed as much technique as he could from
the teachings of Johnson.
“It’s a rare ability to read your work and
sort of zero in on the exact thing that maybe
you didn’t realize needed work or needed further development,” says Marra, who received
an M.F.A from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop,
“and as soon as [Johnson] points it out, it’s
like this light goes on.”
According to Marra, his own work would
not be as rich and substantial if it were not
for Johnson’s dedication to teaching.
At 29, Marra is already on the New York
Times’ Best Sellers list for his first and only
novel so far, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. Published in May 2013, the novel was also
on the 2013 National Book Award longlist
the first piece and it really just changed the
entire conception of the book,” Marra says.
“I think it would be a diminished work of
fiction had it not been for his input.”
Johnson has worked with other several
successful students, and he says Marra sits
among the best of the crop. Marra gushes
about the indispensable contributions by
Johnson on his work, saying he would not
have become the writer he is today without
Johnson’s mentoring.
“I think through his commitment to the
power of stories - from
reading his work and
speaking with him —
you get a sense that he
has a deep conviction in
the transformative, transcendent
experience that narratives can provide, and
that’s been an inspiration,” Marra says.
Marra’s passion for developing fiction,
sparked by Johnson, has attracted the attention of literary critics.
“Go ahead and sneer at the thin
atmosphere of America’s MFA programs,
“I think his commitment
to the power of stories —
from reading his work and
speaking with him — you
get a sense that he has
a deep conviction in the
transformative, transcendent experience that narratives can provide, and
that’s been an inspiration.”
— Anthony Marra
Photo by Smeeta Mahanti
and won the National Book Critics Circle’s
John Leonard Prize. New York Magazine, The
Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle,
and Publishers Weekly, among many other respected publications, selected A Constellation
of Vital Phenomena as one of the best books
of 2013.
In addition, Marra, who teaches at Stanford, has won the Whiting Award and the
Pushcart Prize, both for fiction.
Marra says that Johnson greatly contributed to a few sections of Marra’s second novel,
which is yet to be released.
“I remember he said something regarding
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but this Washington-born graduate of the
Iowa Writers’ Workshop is a testament to
the vibrancy of contemporary fiction,”
wrote Ron Charles in a book review for The
Washington Post.
Keeping Busy
Since winning the Pulitzer Prize Johnson
continues to keep himself busy. He travels
with his family for pleasure, but also travels
alone to focus on research for his writing.
“I love to write from research,” he says,
over the telephone.
See JOHNSON, page 26
Summer/Fall 2014
7
An adjustment
of thinking
Professor Ralph Berry’s process of education
changed when he recognized the power of words,
and he passes on this value through is teaching
P
By Sarah Morin
rofessor Ralph Berry’s career
in higher education can serve
as a prime example of the way
that without change, there is
very little progress.
As an undergraduate at Furman University, he turned his interest from philosophy
and psychology to literature and writing.
This newly found direction led him to graduate school at the University of Iowa, where
he earned both an M.F.A. and his Ph.D.
When he came to Florida State’s Department of English in 1985 to teach twentiethcentury literature, critical theory, and creative
writing, he aimed to help students change
the way they see literature and to help them
understand how the meanings of written
words can connect to their lives.
In an even bigger shift, when he served as
chair for the department from 2006 to 2012,
his initiation of a new track for English majors boosted the number of students seeking
a better understanding of how the different
pieces of English fit together..
A turning point
Berry’s small, simple office in an out-ofthe-way corner of the Williams Building
has a burst of color streaming from a large
metal bookshelf that is tightly packed with
books of fiction. His warm smile and calm
presence are what you first notice when you
enter the office and meet him. His words are
polished, and you immediately sense wisdom, even in casual conversation.
Deeper into a discussion about his own
experiences with literature, it is clear that he
is well read in the classics that have contrib8
Summer/Fall 2014
uted to his teaching,
his publications, and
his achievements as a
writer.
When Berry began
college, he thought
about studying architecture, and he describes his education
as a “slow-to-develop
process.”
After a brief time
in the philosophy and
psychology fields, he
chose to major in English because he wanted
to write and study literature.
A turning point in Berry’s college years
was his introduction to Shakespeare, specifically the Shakespearean tragedy King Lear.
Berry acknowledges the impact that great
writing can have on a person when he says,
without hesitation, that Shakespeare’s play
“changed his life” as a college freshman.
Berry goes on to explain how the words in
King Lear grabbed his attention and planted
his passion. That curiosity Berry led him to
conclude that “Shakespeare knew something
that I thought most people didn’t know.”
Berry describes how his growing fascination with King Lear gave him a new understanding of the power of words. With this
idea in mind, Berry developed an interest in
not only words, but also their deeper meanings and how he could begin to look past the
obvious through his own writing.
Berry explores the multiple perspectives he
had as a college student in an October 2005
interview with Lidia Yuknavitch of ChiasSCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
Berry thinks that reading is a skill that few class he said something along the lines of ‘a
“Creating that major was a team effort,
people have because they fail to recognize good thesis is one that makes you wonder if bringing together ideas from many different
the obvious. Berry’s ideas and perspectives you can even defend it.’”
people throughout the department,” he says.
have influenced his teaching style and helped
McCauley says that because of Berry’s “I consider it one of my principal achievecreate new mindsets as he moved on to be- teaching, she has been able to smoothly ments as chair.”
come a professor himself.
develop as a writer and as a more-engaged
English Professor Helen Burke says
He tries to demonstrate his ability to im- student. She points out that all students are that Berry devoted just as much energy to
prove and encourage his students under- given the confidence to participate in his strengthening the entire department.
discussion-based classroom settings.
“Dr. Berry has been a strong and tireless
standing of English in his courses.
“His class talks are pretty much open to advocate for English at the college and uniBerry says that he aims to deepen his
students’ understanding of “what words anyone — his comments and input will guide versity level,” she says. “Like everyone else
in the department, I am gratemean.” As an instructor, he
ful to Dr. Berry for all his hard
As a student, knowing that the professor
makes an effort to engage
work as chair.”
his students in discussions
values your opinions is encouraging.
Berry continues to teach
that reveal the fundamental
— Katharine McCauley, junior English major the importance of changing
importance of learning to
students’ outlooks on readnot only read, but also to
read well, and he is willing to adapt to his the discussion, but the rest is pretty much left ing and writing, and in fall 2014, he found
up to the students,” she says, admitting that himself teaching in London, experiencing a
students’ needs.
“I’m always adjusting to my students’ re- at first she did not feel comfortable sharing change of scenery. He encourages students
sponses,” he says. “I’m very concerned about her ideas in class. McCauley credits Berry for to study abroad if they have the opportunity.
“I lived for a year in France, and living in
trying to make my ideas both understandable helping her change. “He will take the time
and interesting to them. When my students to listen and he appreciates your interpreta- another country always changes your life,”
don’t seem as engaged as I want them to be tions. As a student, knowing that the profes- he says. “Living abroad refreshes one’s perspective, providing experiences one never
or simply aren’t improving in their writing, sor values your opinions is encouraging.”
The impact that Berry has made on the forgets.”
then I always think I am doing something
department goes beyond the classroom. He
This is one more creative stage in his cawrong and need to alter my approach.”
served as department chair from 2006 to reer, one that is enhanced by the two books
2012, and one of his goals was to strengthen he is currently working on: one focuses on
Changing students’ perspectives
The adjustments that Berry makes aid the a curriculum that could intertwine the differ- criticism of modern fiction and philosophy,
Berry says, and the other novel is about a
growth of the department’s students, says ent aspects of literature and writing.
voice trapped inside a box.
Katharine McCauley, a third-year English
Berry is enthusiastic when he talks about
major on the literature track. She was a stu- A new track emerges at FSU
The idea that Berry shared with other how writing can help anyone gain personal
dent in two of Berry’s classes, Modern British and Modern American Literature, and faculty to merge rhetoric, literature, and cre- insights: “writing is understanding ourMcCauley encourages students who are inter- ative writing into an all-encompassing major selves,” he says, and this understanding can
ested in a professor who will challenge their initiated the creation of the department’s create a relationship with an audience.
A conversation or a class with Berry can
initial point of view to sign up for his courses. editing, writing, and media track. The initia“Professor Berry has really forced me to tive paid off: the number of English majors show an individual that writing, learning, and
think outside the box, when it comes to cre- at FSU increased by 15 percent from 2008 understanding ourselves are constant processes of change.
ating a thesis,” McCauley says. “One day in to 2012.
“
mus Press about his novel Frank. Berry says
in the interview that he was caught off guard
when his professors and peers responded to
his comments in class discussions or assignments by saying, “‘that’s Kant’s idea of judgment,’ or ‘that’s Emerson.’ I hadn’t read any
of these people,” he explains. “In most cases
I had never even heard their names. How
could someone else’s idea already be inside
of me?”
Finding connections to these and other
notable authors changed and inspired Berry
as a student. Following his graduation from
college, he took a break from his time spent
in the typical classroom setting. Before entering graduate school, Berry says he, “spent
years reading the books that he never had a
chance to read and teaching himself.”
Berry views writing as a result of how
you read. He explains that the unique gift of
“reading well is a lifetime accomplishment.”
Berry said that generally students and most
people don’t know how hard it is to read. A
person must read well to write well.
”
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Summer/Fall 2014
9
A journey back to the beginning
“I don’t know if I would have found myself here, or if it would have
worked out this way, if I hadn’t attended Florida State.”
-Skip Horack
By Mari Maxwell
C
reative writers never know what path they will travel to discover their inspiration.
They may travel the world, wandering from state to state
or even from country to country. They may work for international non-profit organizations or for the government, attempting to
learn more about the world around them. A person may even leave
his Louisiana hometown to receive degrees in creative writing and
law, only to realize how talented they could be after a few years of
diligent work.
Skip Horack is a writer of southern life and, more importantly,
human life, and he has wound his way through many paths, only to
end up exactly where he started developing his writing: Florida State
University.
Florida State University’s Department of English hired Horack
in March 2014 as an assistant professor in the
creative writing program, and Horack is enthused
about the opportunity, especially the location.
“A lot of my early writing was done in Tallahassee, and that part of the world has certainly
inspired a lot of my fiction,” he says. “I can’t wait
to get settled in and start working again.”
Horack is a Louisiana native and his decision
to attend FSU for his undergraduate studies was
heavily influenced by the “combination of both
the unfamiliar and the familiar,” he says. He was
able to explore new horizons at FSU, especially
in regards to the creative writing program the
university offers. Unlike his brief stint as a journalism major at the University of Colorado, he
says, FSU allowed him to fully pursue his dream
of writing fiction.
During the mid 1990s, when he was looking for
colleges that offered strong creative writing programs, Horack had a decidedly short list to work
10 Summer/Fall 2014
from. To him, having the opportunity to attend FSU and to take
advantage of the department’s creative writing classes was unlike
anything he had experienced before. In fact, taking creative writing
workshops was a requirement that he grew to love.
“It made [becoming a writer] all seem possible to me,” Horack
says. “I don’t know if I would have found myself here, or if it would
have worked out this way, if I hadn’t attended Florida State.”
Whether he was attending classes or exploring the area, he quickly
acclimated to Tallahassee culture. He has enjoyed relearning the town
since moving back before the beginning of the fall 2014 semester.
“I have such fond memories of FSU and my time in Tallahassee,
so I couldn’t be more excited to be returning,” he says. “Not many
professors get the opportunity to teach at an institution with which
they automatically have such a personal link.”
While forging this link as an
undergrad, Horack met a professor who became one of his
favorite teachers and someone
that he would keep in contact
with well after his departure
from Tallahassee.
Mary Jane Ryals, a former
creative writing instructor for
Horack, recalls that her student was “fearless in his ability to look at the natural world
and humans, and those two
things together, and how violent they can be.”
She remembers how much
she enjoyed having him in her
classes, especially with his ability to contribute to a conversation.
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
“He was a great storyteller,” Ryals says. “He just knew how to tell a
story in that old south way. He was
the kind of somebody that could sit
on the front porch and swap stories
with you; that was the way he wrote
and he was very comfortable with it.”
As his graduation date approached, however, Horack says he
had to make a decision. He wanted
to do something that would pay his
bills while allowing him to pursue
his writing career on the side, but he
wanted to be thoroughly interested
in whatever path he chose.
He found his answer in law
school. Studying law intrigued him,
he says, and he figured he would
“just go to law school … but then
[I] ended up becoming a lawyer.”
After finishing law school, he returned to
Baton Rouge to work as a civil defense lawyer, and he stayed at a law firm in the city for
about five years.
Within the first two to three years of his
law career, he was not writing much, however — he was too absorbed in his job, a way
of life that Horack knew he had to change.
“I knew if I didn’t take time for myself,
to do this thing that I really loved, I would
never return to it,” Horack says.
He started the process by waking up a little
bit earlier every morning, and he began to
write again. Maybe it was a page or only a
half page a day, but he was writing. In addition, he was taking writing classes part time
at the University of New Orleans, and he
was again around other people that “valued
what he valued.” Eventually, Horack took a
brave leap and sent out his writing to journals and magazines, hoping that someone
would want to read what he was writing.
Looking back at this time in his life,
Horack recalls the purest joy he ever felt in
his writing career. He was in Baton Rouge,
writing as much as he could in his free time,
when he read about FSU’s “Best Short Short
Story Contest,” which had an approaching
due date. He took a 25-page story and shortened it to about 500 words, the contest’s
word limit. He figured there must be a scene
within the story that someone would appreciate. He did not win, but he was a finalist.
“If I could get 500 words published, then
why not 1,000, 10,000,” Horack thought
then. He forced himself to believe that the
only thing that could hold him back would
be reluctance to work on his writing, and he
began to write even more vigorously.
Eventually, Horack applied for a fellowship in creative writing at Stanford and
was accepted. He then had another decision to make, whether to take a chance
and do what he loved or to keep doing
what he liked and continue with law. He
decided to “take at least the two years that
the fellowship was for, and see how that
went … that two years has now turned into
seven or eight years.”
Despite his career change, he does not feel
that his five years of practicing law were a
mistake. He says he genuinely appreciated
the experience and the people he met during
that time.
“Not only did I find practicing law interesting, and I know a lot of great people that
do it, but I also think it was kind of necessary,” Horack says. “I don’t know that I ever
would have become a writer if I wouldn’t
have had that chapter in my life.”
He developed a work ethic that enabled
him to just sit down and do work, whether it
was fun or grueling. More than this, he had
an interesting job that allowed him to travel,
meeting people and hearing their stories and
voices.
“People usually talk to lawyers when
they’ve got something going on in their
lives,” he says, and the wide range of stories
that Horack heard every day helped fuel his
desire to write full time. He was “bursting at
the seams” to return to what he loved most.
Now that he is a writer, he laughs when he
points out that lawyers have rarely turned up
in his own work. He would want to portray
that profession accurately, but he has not
quite found the inspiration yet to incorporate
that into his work. But, he says, “his experiSCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
ences as a lawyer are in just about everything
he’s written; the circumstances and certain
emotional parts are evident to me.”
Horack says that while having an English
degree certainly helped him to be a better
lawyer, it might be more accurate to claim
that being a lawyer helped him become a
better writer. When writing, he tries to make
himself remember that “when you have
good days, enjoy it, and then keep working,
and when you have bad days, feel bad for
yourself, and then keep working.”
With this mentality, Horack was able to
push forward and see the success that he has
today. He currently has two books published,
The Eden Hunter and The Southern Cross,
winning accolades such as the New York Times
Book Review Editor’s Choice and the 2008
Bakeless Fiction Prize. A new book, The Other Joseph, is scheduled to be published in 2015,
and he says he is “neck-deep in revisions.”
Coming from Louisiana, Horack writes
about what he knows. The Southern Cross,
for example, is a collection of short stories
set in the Gulf South. He began compiling
some of the stories before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. After the
storm, however, he was unsure how to move
forward because had started writing the colSee HORACK, page 27
Summer/Fall 2014 11
Respectfully
noted
Assistant Professor Trinyan Mariano creates
a two-way path to learning in her classroom
By Brenna Beightol
T
An enthusiast for literature and history
John Mac Kilgore brings his
keen appreciation for teaching,
research to the department
By Alyssa Rios
I
f you want to find one of the newest
Florida State University Department
of English faculty members, Assistant
Professor John Mac Kilgore, make
your way through the Williams Building until
you come to his office on the third floor.
Inside you will find a curious painting of
Abraham Lincoln, the collected works of
James Fenimore Cooper, and an old typewriter that belonged to his father.
You’ll also likely find Kilgore staring out
his window with a work of Melville in hand.
Kilgore is a Southern native from Birmingham, Alabama, though he came to
Florida State University from Northern
12 Summer/Fall 2014
California. He received his Ph.D. from the
University of California, Davis in 2012 and
joined the faculty at FSU in 2013. Speaking
about his literature background, Kilgore says
he was always great at English, but did not
really care much for it until he took a course
titled “Cultural Perspectives” as a freshman
at Samford University. Dr. Julie Steward,
who taught the course, made a lasting impression on Kilgore.
“She was the kind of professor who
brought together all these disparate, big
ideas and made them come to life,” Kilgore
says. “We also made connections to things
going on in our own time and culture. It just
woke me up, made me want to learn anything and everything. I try to do the same
thing for my students.”
In the spring semester of 2014, Kilgore
taught two courses. One of the courses is a
senior seminar, “American Fantastic LiteraSCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
ture: Terror and the Uncanny from Brockden Brown to Lovecraft,” which, as the title
suggests, is about American literature of
the bizarre, the uncanny, the horrific. The
course, he says, seeks to illuminate this literature through critical theories of the political,
psychological, and historical dimensions of
fantasy and horror. The second course is a
graduate seminar called “Affect Theory and
Antebellum American Literature,” which is
right up his alley (he specializes in American
Literature before 1900). The course is about
philosophies of emotion and affect, sometimes called “affect studies,” and explores
literature as a means to structure and narrate
and script feelings in response to social and
political realities.
“When I teach my undergraduates, the
main task is making older histories relatable
See KILGORE, page 27
rinyan Mariano says she was
the child who asked all of the
annoying questions. She recalls
when her father once asked her to
hand him a hammer. Her response was, “Are
you sure you need a hammer? What do you
need the hammer for exactly?” She was four.
As she grew up, asking questions became
the essence of Mariano, who was hired in
2013 as assistant professor of English at
Florida State.
Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mariano
is one of six children, and she describes her
younger self as “obnoxious.” She and her
family moved to Utah when her father took
a teaching job at Brigham Young University
in Provo, and Mariano was launched into a
world she never imagined.
Mariano’s family lived in Orem, located
adjacent to Provo and a predominantly
Mormon city with traditional values
and beliefs. Though they were Mormon
themselves, she and her family stood out
among their neighbors.
She recalls her days as being “that family,”
when “the neighborhood thought we were
crazy.” From raising about 120 chickens on
their own as a way to learn where your food
came from and to lacking a television in the
house, and spending summers living in an
adobe house and
learning how to do
organic
farming
before that was a
thing,
Mariano’s
Questions? Mariano
has them. This pad
shows notes she took
during a class debate
about Native Son.
Photos by Brenna Beightol
family was far from the traditional Mormon
family.
Mariano’s parents allowed the children
to supervise themselves a lot, since her
father was often away on church duties or
teaching at the university, and her mother
was involved with the local Parent Teacher
Association. Both wanted their children to
“I loved the big questions. I loved to talk
about the meaning of freedom or what
it means to be a human. Those were the
questions that really jazzed me.”
— Trinyan Mariano
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
learn about the world around them and the
local Democratic party.
Growing up Mormon, Mariano says
she longed to leave the high school scene
because it felt “judgmental and stifling.”
She wanted to differentiate herself from the
other teenagers she grew up around, even if
the ways she went about separating herself
were considered acts of rebellion in that
small town.
Small things, like painting her fingernails
black, came across to others as having
wicked intentions. She dreamed of being
able to experience the world through a lens
See MARIANO, page 28
Summer/Fall 2014 13
Broadening Horizons from
Tallahassee to Valencia
By Nadia Mehriary
Editing, Writing and Media track expands to
Europe with its new study-abroad program
G
reat moments are born from
great opportunities, as the saying goes. Thanks to the new
Editing, Writing and Media
study-abroad program through Florida State
University’s Department of English – an opportunity that Susan Hellstrom helped make
possible – many great moments in Spain can
now be made for FSU students.
Starting in summer 2014, students can
choose to study abroad in Valencia for five
weeks through FSU’s International Programs (IP). Thirteen students embarked on
the experience during EWM’s first official
study-abroad session.
Hellstrom, an instructor in FSU’s College
of Arts and Sciences, submitted a proposal
for the new program in January 2012 after
talking with a student who had taken her
Editing Workshop class, which she and coinstructor Jack Clifford have taught since
2009. The student expressed that she would
have loved to travel and study abroad, but
she opted not to because there were no
EWM classes available overseas at the time.
“So I thought, ‘Wow, here’s a need to be
filled,’” Hellstrom says. “Why shouldn’t
EWM students have this opportunity?”
Photo by Melissa Wolbert
After watching enrollment skyrocket to
more than 700 students within the first few
years of the EWM track’s existence, Hellstrom first submitted her proposal to teach
in London for the summer of 2013. The
proposal included information about the
Editing Workshop course and a newly designed editing course.
“It made sense to me that editing skills
were always valuable to EWM students,”
Hellstrom says, “so I thought a good way to
do the second class would be to have an editing course.”
The London location didn’t work out, but
the IP office liked the content of Hellstrom’s
proposal, and staff members encouraged her
to re-submit it for the Valencia study-abroad
program. Her revised proposal was accepted
“We believe that studying abroad and the EWM track is
a perfect fit. Our EWM study-abroad students will have
experiences in Valencia that will not only expand their view
of the world, but will also have a positive impact on their
academic and professional work for years to come.”
— Ceil Bare, director of program management,
International Programs
14 Summer/Fall 2014
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
in January 2013.
“I thank International Programs and specifically Ceil Bare, director of program management, who thought it was a good idea
and worked with Jack and me to help make
it happen,” Hellstrom says. “Studying abroad
isn’t for everyone, but there are a lot of students who would like to study abroad and do
something in their program, and that’s why
I’m really excited about it.”
Bare was equally excited when Hellstrom
approached her with the proposal.
“We believe that studying abroad and the
EWM track is a perfect fit,” Bare says. “Our
EWM study-abroad students will have experiences in Valencia that will not only expand
their view of the world, but will also have a
positive impact on their academic and professional work for years to come. We are looking
forward to a long and successful partnership
with the English department through the offering of this wonderful program.”
Nicole Meneses, a senior on the EWM
track, was excited when she found about the
opportunity. Meneses was born in Quito, Ecuador, and lived there until she was 7 years
old. She says her experiences there instilled
her with wanderlust.
“Every vacation or trip abroad comes with its own personal experiences
and highlights,” says Meneses, who participated in the summer 2014 Valencia
program. “I always learn so much more and leave wanting more.”
Luckily, the EWM study-abroad program was created just in time for Meneses to enroll before her graduation from FSU.
Throughout the five weeks in Valencia, students are able to participate in
the Spain Broad Curriculum’s social and cultural calendar events with other
study-abroad students. In addition, Hellstrom wants students in her classes
to visit Spanish media outlets such as newspaper offices or television stations, take a tour of the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia, and hear guest
speakers talk about their media and public relations experiences in Valencia.
The students stay with other broad curriculum students during their time
in Valencia, an advantage Hellstrom says allows them to interact with likeminded students outside of their program. Classes through the Valenicia
program are offered Monday through Thursday, and Hellstrom’s classes are
taught either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday, giving students plenty of time for trips to nearby cities such as Madrid or Barcelona.
The EWM study-abroad program offers four courses, two of which are
mandatory for the students who sign up. As an alternative to one of the
courses, a student may sign up for an internship with Hellstrom’s approval.
In all, students are required to take at least six credit hours with a cap at nine
hours. The classes, though open to all majors, were created specifically with
EWM students in mind.
Hellstrom says keeping the classes open to all majors could attract students who might be interested in learning and writing about Spain. The program also will help the rising number of Spanish-speaking Florida students
strengthen their language
skills in an environment
“The biggest concern about
where they can immerse
my trip was loving it too
themselves in Spanish culmuch and never wanting to
ture.
“It is possible that the
come home. “
program
could attract
— Nicole Meneses
more students, but that
wasn’t my first goal – my first goal was to give EWM students a really nice
opportunity to study abroad and still have courses that count in their program,” Hellstrom says.
Hellstrom says the two required courses in Valencia – Editing Workshop
(known as the newsletter class) and Editing for Print and Social Media – will
help students compile their final project: an article and page design that will
be included in a magazine-style publication that they can present to potential
employers or submit with applications to graduate schools. The two remaining classes, which are not required for EWM students but can be counted as
electives, are an art history class and a humanities class.
“In a way, it’s kind of really cool because in the workshop class we focus
on creating a publication – from idea to actual publication,” Hellstrom says.
“In the other class, we talk about editing – the role of an editor and so on.
So in the end, we edit some of the stories that students are writing. The two
classes overlap nicely.”
Meneses, who signed up for both classes taught by Hellstrom, says she prepared for her trip mentally, academically, and financially. Mentally, she made
sure to stay focused on her other studies and responsibilities to avoid becoming distracted before she left for Valencia. Academically, she planned her
schedule semesters ahead of time to figure out which and how many classes
to take during her time in Valencia. Financially, Meneses says she saved for
months and figured out a payment plan with her parents.
“I [did] a great deal of research about Valencia, trips I [was] interested
in taking, and financial and academic preparation I should take for a study
See STUDY ABROAD, page 29
Photos by Melissa Wolbert
Students in the Valencia program study in one of the
centers located on the street in the top photo. When
they are not taking classes, students are encouraged
to explore nearby areas on weekends. In the photo
below, a study-abroad student explores some of
Valencia’s famous architecture.
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
Summer/Fall 2014 15
Florida State alumna Lauren Gibaldi
Mathur poses for a picture while
working at Alafaya Branch Library.
Her first published book is due out
Photo by Kaitlyn Athans
Summer 2015.
One book at a time
W
hen librarian Lauren Gibaldi
Mathur isn’t inspiring readers at the Alafaya Branch
Library in Orlando, she is
focused on publishing her first novel, The
Night We Said Yes, set to hit bookshelves in
the summer of 2015.
Mathur, a Florida State University alumna,
has been reveling in her success since graduating with a master’s degree in Library and
Information Studies, a bachelor’s degree in
English literature, and a minor in education.
Mathur wrote her book during National
Novel Writing Month, when authors are
given only 30 days to write a complete novel.
“I couldn’t stop or look back to make any
edits,” she says, recalling the process. She
says she’s tried writing books before, but
ended up abandoning them halfway through
every time.
The Night We Said Yes is a young adult
novel about four friends in Orlando who decide to say yes to everything for one night.
In the process, two of the characters fall in
love. The setting of the story skips forward
to a year later, after the two have broken
up. Here, the characters try to recreate the
events of their romantic night in the hopes
that they can have a second chance at love.
In the process, two of the characters fall
16 Summer/Fall 2014
By Kaitlyn Athans
madly in love. The book forwards to a year
later, after the two have broken up. Here, the
characters try to recreate that magical night
to see if second chances are possible.
“The novel alternates back and forth each
chapter, a then and a now, so the reader
sees both nights evolving at the same time,”
Mathur says.
The main female character struggles with
what others think she should do versus what
she truly wants to do. “The whole idea is to
push yourself to do what you ultimately
want, rather than having other people form
your decisions,” Mathur explained. Mathur
says her book is “mostly fictional,” but she
included a few moments inspired by her personal life.
After completing the writing process,
Mathur moved on to editing. She shared her
work with friends and considered their advice before querying agents.
Once Mathur completed the writing process, her next step was editing. She bravely let
her friends read her work and allowed them
to offer any helpful advice before querying
agents.
“One of the neatest things was when
I talked to my agent on the phone, before
she offered to represent me. She understood
my characters really well and started talking
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
Photo By Kaitlyn Athans
Members of Mathur’s “NerdFighters”
Club painted bookends for the Young
Adult section at the Alafaya Branch
Library.
about them like they were people,” Mathur
says. “Having someone address them and
give them nicknames like I do was awesome.”
Mathur’s previous work with teens as a
high school English teacher and currently as
a librarian give her insight into the types of
characters teens can truly identify with.
“When I’m writing, I think of how I
want to make my teens at the library proud.
I know the books they hate, the characters
they love, and what doesn’t feel real to them.
I want to make sure my characters feel real
to teens,” Mathur says about the characters
in her upcoming novel.
An agent helped Mathur with the submission process, and an editor with Harpers
Collins soon bought two of her books (book
two is still under wraps, Mathur says). The
cover design for “The Night We Said Yes”
came about with the help of Mathur, who
sent the artists descriptions of her characters
so they would be accurately depicted.
“I wasn’t always planning on becoming a
writer,” Mathur says, although she attributes
some of her success as a writer to certain
classes and professors during her time at
FSU. Classes such as Article and Essay Technique with Ginny Grimsley, Professor Barry
Faulk’s and Professor Andrew Epstein’s literature classes, and internship opportunities
such as involvement with Professor Stan
Gontarski’s Journal of Beckett Studies helped
develop her passion for writing.
“I definitely think the work habits and attitude Lauren displayed as a student helped
prepare her to be a writer,” Faulk says.
Mathur thanks FSU not only for the skills
learned in these courses, but for her marriage
as well.
“I incidentally met my husband Samir in
Professor Robin Goodman’s class. Thanks
Robin Goodman,” Mathur says, giggling as
she recalls the memory.
Outside of academics at FSU, Mathur
performed for four years in the Flying High
Circus when she lived in Tallahassee. The
FSU Flying High Circus is one of only two
collegiate circuses in the U.S., and Mathur
performed in four acts: the hanging perch,
where she was flipped in the air by another
cast member; the cloud swing, where she
swung over a rope; the web, which involved
her climbing a rope and then spinning by her
wrist and ankles; and an act called ‘rola’, in
which Mathur stood atop the shoulder of a
male cast member as he balanced on a board
place on a cylinder.
Today, Mathur works as a librarian, a job
in which she naturally intertwines her love of
Photo courtesy of Lauren Gibaldi Mathur
Mathur flips through a scrapbook members of The Nerdfighter’s Club created for
her. On the one year anniversary of the club, members threw a surprise party for
Mathur where they meet once a month at the Alafaya Branch Library.
reading, passion for writing, and her eagerness to teach.
“When I’m writing, I
think of how I want to
make my teens at the
library proud. I know
the books they hate, the
characters they love, and
what doesn’t feel real to
them. I want to make
sure my characters feel
real to teens.”
-Lauren Gibaldi Mathur
“Lauren’s enthusiasm is contagious,” says
Danielle King, manager of Alafaya Branch
Library and Mathur’s supervisor. “When
someone interacts with Lauren, they are going to have a memorable and positive experience. Lauren works to inspire others to greatness by cultivating opportunities to learn, deSCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
velop, and create lifelong connections.”
Mathur is dedicated to numerous library
programs for patrons of all ages, from toddlers to adults. She is very involved in these
programs, and even re-lives her performance
days at FSU by dressing up as different characters from books, including a circus aerialist.
“Just this year, she made appearances as
Batgirl, Katniss, My Little Pony, a zombie,
and a circus performer, just to name a few,”
King recalls.
Mathur also hosts the adult book club,
citizenship-inspired classes, and even a teen
filmmaking class, but her biggest contribution to the library is her creation of the
Nerdfighter’s Club. This club for teens now
has approximately 96,000 virtual members
signed up online.
“The website consists of blogs, chats
and postings, and is a safe place for ‘nerds’
to gather virtually,” King says. “The online
Nerdfighter’s page encourages fans to be
themselves.”
Mathur works closely with local teens
from the club, who meet at the library once a
month to celebrate their individuality.
See GIBALDI MATHUR, page 30
Summer/Fall 2014 17
Jaclyn Emerick :
“I’m just one poet
in a
sea of poets”
From Florida State to fitness editor
By Kalie Marsch
English graduate Kerry James Evans
wants to make his mark with his words
By Kristina Kurzweil
As
a young boy, Kerry
James Evans, former
PhD student and current visiting instructor
in Florida State’s English department, would hide under the quilt
rack of his great-grandmother’s house and
listen to his grandmother and great aunts
share stories.
Growing up in a family of storytellers, he
was inspired to read books and write poetry,
yearning for a vehicle to share his stories and
life experiences with the world.
“Everybody comes to poetry in his or
her own way, which is beautiful,” says Evans, who earned his Ph.D. in creative writing
from FSU.
Ever the poet, Evans’s words have a lyrical quality, even when responding to a simple
question.
combat engineer.
There, he woke up
promptly at 3 a.m.
every day, went to
the armory at Fort
Leonard Wood,
a military base in
Missouri, suited up
and guarded a gate
from 4 a.m. until 1
p.m. Immediately afterward, he performed
personal training session from 2 until 4 p.m.
He explains the standard layout of the
base, with similar buildings and soldiers in
matching uniforms, and recalls the familiar sounds: the racket of drill sergeants, the
marching recruits, the rhetoric at the PX, and
the symphony of taps at the end of the day.
“In many ways, living on a military base
made me look closer at the people who wear
the uniform, and believe me, there
“If I look at a wall, I can’t see all are many ways to wear the uniform,”
the wires behind the wall, all the Evans says.
After leaving the armory each eveplumbing, but I know they are
ning, he attended night classes. The
more he studied, the more he realized
there. There’s more language,
that he needed to be committed to
more artful language, there’s
his studies. He took school seriously,
and this focus, in turn, caused him to
more depth of meaning in the
take poetry seriously.
world because of poetry. ”
Evans describes his experience at
Fort
Leonard Wood as significant
— Kerry James Evans
and life-changing, one that led him
“I’m just one poet in a sea of poets and on his career path. During this time of selfI’d like to know, at the very least, who I discovery, he finally gained the confidence
am in this arena and what can I add to the to believe that he had something special that
conversation,” he says. “I don’t want to be needed to be shared with others.
white noise.”
“I’m still trying to understand what my time
Following in his father’s footsteps, Ev- in the military meant to me, especially with
ans began his undergraduate career while my father currently serving in Afghanistan,”
simultaneously serving in the Army as a Evans says.
18 Summer/Fall 2014
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
After completing his Army service, Evans
continued his undergraduate studies at Missouri State University in Springfield. Like a
lot of college students, he says he was initially filled with doubt and lacking direction
for his future. Fascinated by history and poetry, he worked at a library in addition to his
job at a law firm so he could gain access to
See EVANS, page 31
J
aclyn Emerick returns to her New
York City apartment from an early
morning spin class. The time is 5:30
and Emerick is embodying New
York’s reputation as the “city that
never sleeps.”
After a quick breakfast, she opens the
Gmail application on her phone and checks
her email as she heads out the door. By
8 a.m., she enters the doors of the Condé
Nast building, where she takes the elevator
to her office floor, exits, and then makes her
way through the hallways until she reaches
her office.
On her desk sits a stack of magazine articles that are patiently waiting to be edited,
along with a desk calendar that lists her busy
schedule for the day. She looks over at the
pile of work on her desk and smiles; little
things like this remind Emerick of her success in the publishing industry.
Emerick has a job many people vie for;
she is an associate editor for SELF magazine. A 2007 Florida State University alumna, Emerick majored in English with a fo-
All photos courtesy of Jaclyn Emerick
“Creative writing classes
definitely helped me become a bit more aggressive,
and helped me learn about
grammar—lessons I might
not have learned in more
structured classes.”
— Jaclyn Emerick
cus on creative writing, a decision she says
gave her the skills necessary to “transfer on
to my career.”
Since FSU did not offer any journalism
programs, creative writing was the closest
she could get to what she really wanted to
do, she says: edit for a magazine.
“Creative writing classes definitely helped
me become a bit more aggressive, and helped
me learn about grammar—lessons I might
not have learned in more structured classes,”
Emerick says.
Emerick put forth extra time and deterSCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
mination to gain her editing experience. In
2005, she began working as a senior staff
writer for FSU’s college newspaper, FSView
& Florida Flambeau, and she scored an internship with Rowland Publishing, a full-service
publishing company in Tallahassee. Emerick
made a lasting impact with her supervisors
and colleagues.
“She didn’t sit around and wait for opportunities to come to her — she sought
for those opportunities by herself,” says
Rosanne Dunkelberger, editor of Tallahassee
Magazine, one of Rowland’s publications.
“I’ve been supervising interns for the past
six years, and Jaclyn has been the best one
so far,” Dunkelberger says. “As a student, it
you’re fortunate enough to know what you
want to do career wise, it’s important to go
out and get the experience you need, and she
did just that.”
As an English major, Emerick particularly enjoyed studying postmodernism and
learning to write short stories.
See EMERICK, page 32
Summer/Fall 2014 19
What does human rights literature
have to do with
A
Delicate
Balance
David Gants and Meaghan Brown juggle work, research, and
editing for The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America
By Sarah Page
R
oom 423 in Florida State University’s
Williams Building could fittingly be
nicknamed “the journal office.”
When you first walk through its
door, a few notable signs explain why. But
most prominent is a bookshelf that sits adjacent to the desk – mixed in with other books
and publications is a collection of brightly
colored journals, some of which date back
to the 1950s.
This is the office for The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, or “PBSA,” as it
is known to those who work on the publication. Associate Professor of English David
Gants is editor for the journal and Meaghan
Brown, who earned her Ph.D. in English
from FSU and who is a former English department visiting lecturer, is managing editor
for the academic journal, founded in 1899
and published quarterly. Laci Mattison, who
also earned her Ph.D. in English from FSU
and is a current instructor in English, is the
journal’s assistant editor.
The responsibilities for Gants and Brown,
who is currently working at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, as post20 Summer/Fall 2014
doctoral fellow, include reading article submissions, editing
those chosen for publication,
and designing the layout of the
journal. PBSA covers a variety
of article topics, from medieval
manuscripts and paleography
(the study of ancient writings)
to the histories of science and
economics, which span a broad
time frame.
For example, one article
published in volume 106 is
titled, “Lights! Camera! Books!
American Cinematic Use of
Photos by Sarah Page
Books in Scenery and Plot,
1900-1970,” while another David Gants and Meaghan Brown team up as
published in the volume prior the primary editors for the journal.
is named “Haunted Paintings in
the World of Print: Charles Deas (1818-67),” thing from national libraries, like the British
which demonstrates the wide range of sub- Library and the Library of Congress, to injects and time periods covered in the journal. dividual scholars working on the circulation
The Bibliographical Society of America, of ideas,” Brown says. “We have a circulation
modeled after The Bibliographical Society in for rare book dealers as well.”
London, publishes the journal, which casts a
Much like its readership, the journal’s orwide net to reach a range of different audi- ganization is made up of a wide variety of
ences.
See JOURNAL, page 33
“We have a pretty wide circulation, everySCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
English professor uses modern-day
interpretations of the walking dead
to explore human rights issues
By Austin Koontz
rofessor Jerrilyn McGregory is a
highly respected faculty member of
Florida State University’s English
department; she also just happens
to have a particular fascination with
the walking dead.
In her Literature of Human Rights course,
McGregory harnesses the popularity of
today’s zombie genre to explore topics of
world politics and oppression. She just does
so with a fun and satirical hook.
To help with her class instruction, she assigns Daniel Drezner’s 2011 book, Theories of
International Politics and Zombies, as part of her
required reading.
“I assumed that there would be more students who were zombie fans,” McGregory
says, “which is why I choose to lead with
Drezner’s book, because he sees it as a fun
way to introduce his research that some students find dry.”
She says that many students taking her
class initially react to the zombie-influenced
material as a harmless joke. Once the instruction begins, however, its relevancy to
the course description seems clear to them.
McGregory uses the subject of zombies to
represent hostile situations in historic political and social events. In the beginning of the
course, she discusses the social construction
theme of how the walking dead hypothetically could be both medicated and assimilated back into society.
“Drezner’s book is really satirical . . . he
is using zombies as a metaphor for any catastrophe and for the various political approaches that are taken from realist, liberal,
zombies?
P
Photo courtesy of Gabriel Garcia Marengo
neo-conservative, and the social constructivist perspectives,” McGregory says, further
explaining Drezner’s views.
The zombie metaphor that McGregory
uses for the first few class meetings encourages students to question and reevaluate any
preconceived notions concerning the rights
of humans and even other species.
In fact, the rights for nonhuman beings
have been debated recently. As an example,
McGregory notes a September 2013 ABC
News report on dolphins in India that have
been re-categorized as nonhuman persons
because of their high intelligence and cognitive ability over many other mammals.
The report explains how India officials
have now made it their mission to protect
the rights of whales, dolphins, and all cetaceans to live a life free of confinement and
McGregory (left) uses the subject of
zombies to represent hostile situations
in historic political and social events.
In the beginning of the course, she
discusses the social construction theme
of how the walking dead hypothetically
could be both medicated and
assimilated back into society.
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
harassment in aquatic theme parks.
“They approximate so much that we categorize as human traits,” McGregory says.
McGregory understands that the zombie
genre is associated with gore and science
fiction elements, which could lead class discussions to go off topic or lead students to
become distracted from the true topic of human rights literature.
To reduce those possible diversions, McGregory guides her students to gravitate
toward the central focus. When posting on
the class discussion board, for example, she
requires students to draw legitimate connections to human rights. Even so, McGregory
admits to occasionally allowing students to
stray off topic because it helps them gain an
understanding of certain histories they may
have never encountered before.
After the first couple of weeks of the
class, McGregory’s instruction moves beyond zombies to study issues that are more
contemporary. She asks her students to embrace what they learned about political postures and successfully apply this knowledge
to relevant and more modern violations.
“I was initially drawn in by her application of human rights issues to the zombie
See HUMAN RIGHTS, page 34
Summer/Fall 2014 21
A train ride
into the field
of immersion
writing
The Hunt for
Relevant Electives
Jennifer Kanke pushes students
to think deeper, and Paul Haney
embarks on a cross-country trip
as an EWM Major
Article and photos by Michelle Collins
By Teddi Koppelberger
M
any acclaimed authors have
plunged into the immersion
writing genre. Barbara Ehrenreich, Hunter S. Thompson, and James Agee are among some of the
more well-known names.
Jennifer Schomburg Kanke, a PhD student
in FSU’s Creative Writing Program teaches
the craft in her Article and Essay Technique
class, and her aim is for the students to push
themselves with their thought processes.
“Immersion writing helps get to deeper,
more interesting places,” Kanke says, adding
that part of the goal is to remove one’s neutrality and objectivity. “The point is that you
are acknowledging the ‘I’ and acknowledging
that you are having these experiences.”
By allowing the self to be a part of the
project, she says students have some up
great ideas for their papers and, in turn, have
discovered aspects of themselves that they
might not have encountered before. Immersion writing brings theoretical issues to the
forefront, allowing the reader to experience
the subject as the writer did, Kanke says.
Kanke says students impress her with the
challenges they take on. For example, one of
her students wanted to walk by herself on
all back roads from Tallahassee to Perry, a
small town about 50 miles southeast of FSU.
While a risky feat like that can lead to amazing essays, Kanke says she stresses to the students that less daring ideas can also turn into
22 Summer/Fall 2014
EWM students are
seeking new classes to
fill elective requirements
and build skills set
Selecting the best electives
English majors on the editing, writing, and media track
have many options to strengthen their class schedules
A sample of the postcards that Haney
sent to his friend and colleague
Jennifer Kanke during his train trip.
really good pieces if the writer is willing to
go deep enough with the topic.
“I tell my students to step outside of their
comfort zone to figure out what to write
about, but to never step outside of their
safety zone,” she says.
One of Kanke’s colleagues in the English
department, Paul Haney, who in 2012 earned
his masters of arts in literature and his certificate in publishing and editing from FSU,
chose a train ride for his immersion writing
experience. He bought a 45-day rail pass,
which allowed him 18 stops for the duration
of his trip.
Haney began his journey in Boston and
he recalls that when his temporary residence
pulled into the city’s Amtrak station, he
knew he was stepping into an adventure of
introspection and exploration, while learning
about his country and a new way to write.
“I got on the train to see America, which
you can’t really do from the interstate,” says
Haney, who documented his travels through
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
By Michelle Collins
blog posts on haneyonthetrain.com. Haney
says he preferred to be a passive train passenger so he could travel without the responsibility of holding onto a steering wheel while
driving in traffic.
He traveled from Boston to Seattle
to Chicago and ended in New Orleans,
stopping at a dozen cities in between. Haney
says his wanderlust stems from having
listened to Bob Dylan and Grateful Dead as
a teenager. The roving group of Deadheads
who followed Grateful Dead frontman Jerry
Garcia and his band from state to state
inspired Haney’s desire to travel.
“I felt like I always needed to do that in
some way,” he said.
Haney had traveled via the Eurorail before,
I
ntroduction to Yoga, International Wine and Culture, Stretch and
Relaxation.
If that first sentence describes the class schedule for your final semester of college, you aren’t alone. Seniors sometimes find
ways to pad their final schedules with lower-level electives or ones unrelated to their degrees. English majors at Florida State who are on the
editing, writing, and media (EWM) track, however, are seeking ways
to fill their elective spots with classes in other departments that could
greatly improve their resumes or skill sets.
Students in the Department of English are already required to take a
certain number of broad electives outside of their minors. But instead
of unrelated classes to breeze through the final semesters of college,
EWM students are signing up for courses to become more marketable
for the impeding job hunt following graduation.
Luckily for Florida State students, classes to help build these relevant skills are plentiful. For example, Introduction to Web Design
teaches web design techniques to students of all degree programs.
With the majority of news and journalism publications having a
strong online presence, having basic web design skills on a resume
could mean the difference between landing that dream job or finding
out it went to another candidate.
See ELECTIVES, page 35
See IMMERSION, page 34
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
Summer/Fall 2014 23
Florida State
English students
have the
Last Word
Formerly called The Yeti, the magazine
has a new name and a new direction
Article and photos by Nick Gunter
s many writers know, one of the
most satisfying aspects of the profession is having their work published — seeing their name and hard
work printed and distributed to the world.
At Florida State University, English students
working with The Last Word magazine have
taken publishing into their own hands.
The Last Word magazine, formerly The Yeti,
is a student-run newspaper that is available
at locations on and near the university. The
publication offers students interested in writing an outlet to publish their work and gain
experience worked in media publication.
Matthew Stolpe, a senior Editing, Writing
and Media student, is one of several students
in the Department of English who has taken
the opportunity to work for the paper. He
joined The Last Word in the fall of 2013 with
the intention to improve his writing skills
and have his work published.
“After working a social media internship during summer 2013, I realized that
I wanted write in a more professional, or
traditional, manner,” Stolpe says. “I wanted
more experience in journalistic writing. I
knew journalism was a viable career field
for me, and I wanted to diversify my skill
set as much as I could.”
Many students are now expanding their
skillsets to stand out in what is a competitive and risky writing job market. Established
24 Summer/Fall 2014
newspapers and magazines
are shutting down at an
unsettling rate, resulting
in a shrinking number of
job opportunities for an
increasing pool of qualified, unemployed writers.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
employment of reporters, correspondents and
broadcast news analysts
is expected to decline
13 percent from 2012 to
2022. The Bureau says applicants with experience in
the field – gained through
internships or by working for school newspapers,
television stations, or radio “For all of us members, it was pretty
stations – should have the nice to change [the name] . . . It was like
best job prospects. But the we recreated something, together.”
bureau also says the em— Perry Petreccelli,
ployment rate for editors is
editor-in-chief
expected to decrease only 2
percent, while employment
for non-journalistic writers and authors is Last Word, I could try my hand at journalism
expected to increase 3 percent.
and see if it was for me. And I went in know“Obviously, I knew that The Last Word ing that even if the editors didn’t publish a
wasn’t on the same level as a publication single article I wrote, I would still benefit
like USA Today, but you have to start some- from the time spent writing.”
where,” Stolpe says. “I figured that, with The
Along with the experience gained from
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
“I thought it made sense
that we could have the last
word on news, views, arts
and life in the community.”
— Rachel Cohen
arts & life editor
In the game, players must outrun a yeti or
be eaten. The students adopted the idea as
the title of their magazine, keeping its mission lighthearted in the process.
Soon after establishing the RSO, the
founding students acquired grant assistance
from Campus Progress – now called Generation Progress – a non-profit organization
that works to support student activists and
journalists at colleges all over the country.
On the surface, the publication achieved
what its founders set out to do in the following years. However, one major obstacle
hindered The Yeti’s success: the title of the
publication.
“Everyone would always ask us ‘What
is The Yeti?’” said Perry Petruccelli, current
editor-in-chief at The Last Word. “The people
that fund us, Generation Progress, would ask
‘What does it mean?’ And none of us had
any idea.”
The abstract and unclear title made it difficult to hook potential advertisers in the Tallahassee area, hurting the publication’s main
source for revenue.
Petruccelli and the magazine’s staff met
to decide on a new publication name, one
that would resonate with FSU and the Tallahassee community. Rachel Cohen, a senior
EWM student, came up with the new name.
“I knew journalism was a
viable career field for me,
and I wanted to diversify my
skill set as much as I could.”
— Matthew Stolpe
contributing writer
writing stories, students gain knowledge and
experience editing the work of their peers
– a valuable skill that produces managerial
experience.
Katie Avagliano, a junior English major in
the creative writing program, is Last Word’s
the current managing editor and she authored
“We were talking about important, seriweekly stories as a contributing writer for the
ous names,” Cohen says. “And I thought it
papers when it was still The Yeti during late
made sense that we could have the last
2012 and early 2013. At the end of the
word on news, views, arts and life in
spring 2013 semester, the editor of the
the community.”
Views section suggested Avagliano run
The staff members weren’t sure they
for managing editor of the publication
liked the name, but after a few days of
for the 2013-2014 academic year.
deliberation, the editors approved The
“I said ‘I’ve never been a regular ediLast Word as the publication’s new title.
tor, let alone a managing editor,’” AvaWith the new title came a campaign to
gliano says. But her editor insisted that
rebrand the magazine, beginning with
Avagliano was a great candidate for the
the fall 2013 issue.
job, as evidenced by her ability to meet
The staff informed themselves on
deadlines and produce high-quality work.
current publishing and media design
“My passion is not journalism, but I
issues and on journalism’s shift to onlike editing,” Avagliano says. “So I ran
line platforms. The Last Word boasts
for the position and I won. Now, I’m in
a new, refined layout, organized and
charge of the website, and I oversee the
streamlined artwork, and overall a
section editors below me.”
more cohesive and polished layout
The Last Word originated at FSU in
that reflects current publishing trends,
2005. A group of students created a “My passion is fiction — not
Avagliano says.
Recognized Student Organization (RSO) journalism, but I like editing, so
“For all of us members, it was pretwith the intent of providing students I ran for the position and I won.
ty nice to change into that,” Petruccelli
with a creative outlet for writing news,
says. “It was like we recreated someopinion and short fiction stories in print Now, I’m in charge of the webthing, together.”
site, and I oversee the section
and online.
The writers and editors at the The
They called the publication The Yeti, editors below me.”
Last Word agree that the refreshed pubnaming it specifically after the mythical
promotes an exciting and cre— Katie Avagliano lication
“Abominable Snowman,” popularized by
ative work atmosphere. The notion that
managing editor this experience will strengthen their rethe 1991 Microsoft Windows game, Ski
Free.
sumes is merely an added bonus.
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
Summer/Fall 2014 25
Johnson from page 7
Could he be traveling for research as he
did for The Orphan Master’s Son? It’s quite
possible, but undisclosed. Although Johnson
chooses not to share the topics of his upcoming short stories, he does say that they
do not take place in North Korea, like The
Orphan Master’s Son.
If there is anything Johnson would pass on to aspiring writers, it is that
labor over talent is what makes
a story worth reading. Johnson prefers to
take his time while writing, and says jokingly,
“You can’t rush greatness, can you?”
Way back when
Peering deep beyond the surface of the
calm and clear waters of Wakulla Springs
was once a younger Adam Johnson. Swimming was one of Johnson’s many pastimes
while in Tallahassee.
“I took advantage of the pools and I swam
a lot — I loved Wakulla Springs,” Johnson
Use your
imagination
only on the
future,
never the
present or
the past.
– Adam Johnson
says, reflecting on his adventures during his
studies at FSU. I had a friend who had a boat
and we’d go out and fish in the Gulf.”
More important, his learning experience
with the English’s department’s Ph.D. program paved the way for the writer Johnson
has become since.
“It was a great time to find my voice and
become the kind of writer who could tackle
whatever interesting narratives that would
come up in the future,” he says.
In September of 2013,
Johnson returned to his alma
mater to read a selection
from The Orphan Master’s Son
at FSU’s Seven Days of Opening
Nights Festival. He says he would come
back for another reading event anytime he
is invited.
“I had a great time there; I loved to write,
I loved to read — what more can you ask
for,” he asks.
Many English majors would agree that you
don’t need much more. If there is anything
we can take away from Johnson, it’s that
reading is as significant as writing; the more
you read the better you write.
But Johnson is not just a novelist: he is
a father of three, husband, mentor, and of
course, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. He is
more than the words on his pages — he is
an intellectual sharing his imagination with
the world.
A
An agent
for success
Warren Frazier
represents the
department’s
two Pulitzer
Prize winners
26 Summer/Fall 2014
fter Adam Johnson’s 2013 success, the FSU English department now boasts two Pulitzer
Prize winners. Coincidentally,
literary agent Warren Frazier represents both
writers.
As an unannounced but welcomed guest,
Professor Robert Olen Butler, who won the
Pulitzer Prize in 1993, accompanied Frazier
to his March 2014 Q&A session in the Williams Building. During his talk, Frazier emphasized the importance of choosing quality
writers rather than signing numerous writers.
Butler, Johnson, and Frazier all share that
idea about writing: it is about the quality of
the content, not the money or fame.
Genuinely happy to see his agent and friend
at the talk with FSU faculty members and students, Butler encouraged the audience to ask
questions. A fiction fan at his core, Frazier
says he became an agent because he always
loved reading fiction. As it turns out, he has
quite an eye for gifted writing, now having
two Pulitzer winners in his Rolodex.
Butler won for his short story collection, A
Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, one of his
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
Horack from page 11
lection, but he did not want to ignore this
catastrophe. Both the region and the people
had changed, and he wanted to show this in
his work.
He began to see that his stories might
serve as “an exploration of a region and an
area and a people, not just before the storm,
but during the storm, and in the aftermath
of the storm as well.” Horack explored the
storm’s impact in his book, and hopes it allows people to see firsthand what that region
went through.
Horack cannot pinpoint the time in his life
when he knew for sure that he wanted to be
a writer, but he remembers always loving to
read and write. He says people told him he
would make a good writer, but there “wasn’t
a job in the world that, as a kid, he didn’t
imagine himself doing.”
Being able to live in his head and create
stories has obviously aided him in his endeavors today – even if he doesn’t get to be
a cowboy or a soldier, his characters can be.
Horack often visited Tallahassee after
graduation. He returned for a football game
in 2013, and he usually came back every few
Kilgore from page 12
Photo courtesy of Robert Olen Butler
Robert Olen Butler
six short-story collections. He also has written 14 novels and one non-fiction how-to
book. In 2001, Butler was honored with the
National Fiction Award for his short story,
Fair Warning, published first in Francis Ford
Coppola’s literary magazine Zeotrope: AllStory. Butler eventually adapted Fair Warning into a novel. In 2013, Butler received the
F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding
Achievement in American Literature.
to students,” Kilgore says. “I talk about why
the things going on in these old texts are still
alive and help us to understand where we
come from, how we got here.”
Kilgore says that when he went through
the interview for his current position at FSU,
the faculty members in the English Department were very welcoming and supportive
of my scholarship, and those factors drew
him to FSU. He felt that he could be part of
a community.
“The professors whom I met were real
people,” he says. “They were personable. Everyone was interested in who I was and what
I was doing. I knew that I could thrive and
grow as a scholar and teacher here.” Kilgore certainly made an impression on
the department faculty. Professor Robin
Goodman was on the committee at the Modern Language Association conference, where
the committee first interviewed Kilgore, and
she says his research and overall work impressed her.
“What made Dr. Kilgore’s work so exciting to us was the way he mixed up disciplines
in order to show the movement of his idea
across historical time,” Goodman says. When
months to catch up with friends. Ryals, his
former instructor, who now teaches at Flagler College and does tutoring at Tallahassee Community College, appreciates that he
made such an effort to stay in touch over the
years and that “it must have meant something
to him, having had those classes” with her.
After hearing from Horack himself about
his days as a lawyer and a writer, Ryals says
that it seems “he always knew, in his heart of
hearts, that he wanted to be a writer.”
Horack left Auburn University’s English
department to take his faculty position at
FSU, so he is no stranger to time in the classroom. He divides his time between teaching
and writing, but takes different approaches
to each responsibility. When he teaches, he is
extroverted, Horack says, and he enjoys being around people who “are reading and who
are excited about their own work.” When he
writes, he mostly isolates himself, allowing
time to focus on his passion.
While working at Stanford, Horack learned
a great deal from the faculty there, author
Adam Johnson for one. Johnson, another
FSU alumnus, recently won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Thanks to their close
proximity while in Northern California, the
two became friends and have supported each
other’s writing careers.
Johnson points out that Horack’s love of
all things in the world, especially the natural
world, comes through in his friend’s writing.
“You know that when he mentions a plant
or a tree or a weather pattern or a fish, it is
going to not only be lushly described, but
wildly accurate as well,” Johnson says.
Johnson also lived in Louisiana, and the
two were able to connect over a topic very
important to people in that region: food. Every so often, Johnson says, they would team
up and make gumbo together.
Johnson says those kinds of experiences
are important to writers, and he credits
Horack for being able to “live in his language
and have such a great range that is tightly
bound by region.”
Writing has been a crucial part of Horack’s
life, and he clearly has incorporated it very
well.
“There are probably a lot of easier paths I
could have taken,” he says. “But what I can
say is that I’m really doing it, doing something that I would be really disappointed
with myself if I hadn’t fought for it.
“Because I feel like it’s something that I’m
meant to do. Whether it’s good or bad, I try
to meet it head on.”
Kilgore did his reading of Walt Whitman
during his faculty talk on FSU’s campus, she
adds, he showed interest and understanding
in the political nature of literary works.
The committee believed that his work
would be influential for the department and
for his students, and it would open up new
ways of thinking about the connections between the political and literary that had not
been fully explored.
When the department lost many of their
junior faculty to different opportunities,
Goodman says, only a few assistant professors remained. This decline led to a reduced
coverage of American Literature within the
English department. Kilgore, along with Assistant Professor Trinyan Mariano, filled in
some of those gaps.
“However, I believe Dr. Kilgore does
more than fill a need or absence,” Goodman
says. “He adds a new life and vibrancy to
some works that have often seem alienating,
and a brand new reading of American literary history.”
Kilgore’s idea for his dissertation emerged
when he became obssessed with the terms,
“the enthusiast” and “enthusiasm,” in early
American history and literature, noting how
differently the concept was used in compari-
son to today. In his dissertation and current
book project, he connects “political enthusiasm” to histories and literatures of political
revolution, slave rebellion, Native American
resistance, and other inspired acts of social
dissent.
When he is not teaching or working on his
research, some think Kilgore might be a rock
star on the side.
“I think it may be a secret, but Dr. Kilgore
is a rock star — he composes and records his
own music,” Goodman says.
Kilgore insists he is no rock star but does
admit that he loves to sing and write his own
lyric and melody oriented music. Unfortunately he doesn’t perform, saying he does not
really have the time for it.
Tallahassee life is a much slower pace than
the Bay Area in California, where he lived before moving here, but the city and surrounding areas are growing on him.
Along with playing music and writing, he
enjoys outdoor activities. He loves going
to Wakulla Springs, the world’s largest and
deepest freshwater spring, where visitors can
see alligators, manatees, and different kinds
of exotic birds.
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
See KILGORE, page 28
Summer/Fall 2014 27
Kilgore from page 27
“You go on this boat ride and in minutes
it’s as if you escape history, into Thoreau’s
Wild,” Kilgore says.
Mariano from page 13
that wasn’t so confining.
Now, having been apart from that
environment for an extended period of
time, Mariano looks back on her childhood
community in a different light. Her family
may have been the odd one out in some
ways, but she admits that nowhere she has
lived “was as tight knit” as that community,
with people “so willing to help one another.”
As Mariano continued to grow up and
away from her community, she matured
beyond the wild-child image. She became
her father’s daughter, motivated by logic
and argumentation. When Mariano decided
to attend college, she chose BYU to study
philosophy, the same major as her father.
“I loved the big questions,” she says. “I
loved to talk about the meaning of freedom
or what it means to be a human. Those were
the questions that really jazzed me.”
She also knew she wanted to study law and
that at one point she would go to law school.
Philosophy, Mariano found, was a great way
for her to ease into seeking her J.D. at BYU’s
J. Reuben Clark Law School.
Mariano’s biggest jump in her educational
career would be to attend Rutgers University
for her PhD. in English. Rutgers, located in
New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a different
world than BYU.
“Rutgers is diverse on every scale you can
measure, especially coming from BYU,” she
says.
As soon as she earned her Ph.D., she faced
the daunting task of landing a job.
The process was a bit of a struggle, with
only about “25 jobs in my field nationwide
the year I was on the market.” Mariano
applied to every one of those jobs, but as time
went on, she began to fall more and more
in love with FSU. She admired the people
at the university, the literature program at
FSU excited her, and she discovered that the
English department as a whole was fantastic.
Teaching at FSU soon became Mariano’s
“dream job, getting to teach what I wanted to
teach. For example, the segregation narrative
in a graduate class on law and literature. You
28 Summer/Fall 2014
Kilgore says he has learned plenty about
the teaching process since becoming a professor. Although he really loves to lecture,
demonstrate close reading, and open up historical contexts, he has learned that teaching
is, at its best, about coming to new discoveries with his students – he doesn’t have all the
answers, and that’s okay.
“Students have a lot of insights that I
don’t always see,” he says. “I get really excited when my students allow me to learn as
well. It’s the greatest respect they can show
me—because that means they’re thinking,
they’re engaged.”
know, where can you do that?”
Professor Robin Goodman was director
of the literature program at the time and
she was one of several on the committee for
Mariano’s interviews. As much as there were
aspects about FSU that appealed to Mariano,
there were a lot of aspects about Mariano
that appealed to those on the committee.
“We were very excited about this way of
viewing literature’s life, and thought many of
our students would be too,” Goodman says.
“We have many students who are interested
in perhaps becoming lawyers, and we
thought Dr. Mariano’s perspective on things
would give them a much more ‘living’ sense
of what it means to practice law.”
Mariano’s educational background and
perspective create such a unique ideology on
literature and law, and she readily explained
her views on the two during her job interview.
“She used literature to explore the social
aspect of legal formation,” Goodman says.
“At the time of a law’s formation, there
are multiple narratives of how people
are understanding the law and the law’s
connection to their lives and relationships.
Literature shows us a much more expansive
view of the multi-layers of interpretation
of a law before it is codified, and how it
eventually takes the shape it does through a
social process.”
Therein lies Mariano’s passion and
excitement for extra-legal justice: discovering
what justice exists outside of the formal laws.
Discovering the law through the depiction
of it in literature is one of Mariano’s research
areas. In fact, her manuscript Houses of Law
is an elaboration of her dissertation, as it
“investigates the role that literature played
in the post-Civil War development of tort
law, segregation, and the right to privacy,”
she says, adding that the title references the
images “that I use to describe literature’s
relation to the law. I’m looking at places in
literature where law is housed.”
Think of books like To Kill a Mockingbird
or Charles Chesnutt’s novel The Marrow of
Tradition. The law is a rhetorical practice and
these novels, Mariano says, are “places where
that rhetoric is housed; the law lives there
and so we can go to that piece of literature
to understand that piece of law.”
Sitting in on her senior seminar class gives
observers an insight to Mariano as a teacher.
In one recent class, there are roughly 20
students eagerly participating in a theoretical
and philosophical debate. There are a number
of novels they will talk about, investigating
each piece as a real form of documentation
on the law of its time period.
Throughout the discussion, hands go in the
air, eagerly dotting the eye-line as arguments
and counter arguments are tossed around
with vigor. Mariano sits back as mediator,
writing her own notes on the students’ ideas
on a yellow legal pad and only interjecting in
order to rein in the conversation. Here and
there she poses a question, but she smiles
as she watches how invested her students
become in validating their points.
Though she “takes no claim for their
participation,” the students respond to her
well because of the level of interest she
shows during the debate: they notice her
taking notes on their comments and they
love it.
Senior Courtney Miller says Mariano “is
really receptive to the students. She’s learning
from us as we’re learning from her.”
In fact, for many, being in Mariano’s class
provides the students with the ability to
discuss the hard topics.
Senior Stephanie Boussias believes that
“class discussion really flourishes. I’ve never
had a class where as many people participate.
It’s great hearing different perspectives.”
Both students respond with a resounding
“yes” when asked if they would take
another class taught by Mariano. It was as
Goodman predicted in her interview, “that
she would end up being one of the English
Department’s most popular professors.”
“Dr. Mariano has a wry sense of humor
and is easily likeable,” Goodman says.
“At the same time, she has a sophisticated
way of engaging seriously with important
questions.”
From childhood to university classroom,
the common thread for Mariano has been
asking and responding to questions, and at
FSU she is passing along that theme on all of
those she encounters.
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A group of study-abroad students
enjoy the scenery and pose for a
photo to capture the moments
that studying abroad in
Valencia brought
to them.
Photo by Melissa Wolbert
Study abroad from page 15
abroad program, and so on,” Meneses says.
Meneses thinks the benefits from an experience like this one are tremendous. She is
already fluent in Spanish, but she used the
opportunity to improve her language skills
while also learning about Spain’s culture,
history, art and landmarks. Valencia was her
temporary home for five weeks, and her worries for the stay were few and far between,
thanks to support from FSU.
try and to see through their media how the
United States is portrayed.”
In fact, Hellstrom recalls the first time she
went abroad and had a job in Germany. She
describes her employment as manual labor,
but remembers it was eye opening for her
to see the U.S. from a different perspective.
While she remembers how much she loved
being in Germany and learning about the
country’s culture, she also remembers thinking at the time how much she appreciated
the U.S. and the opportunities available in
“Even when you’re there, there are moments that are
exhilarating, but there are hard moments, too. . . Yet you
learn things — you learn things about yourself, the students
there with you, and you learn things about other countries
and your own country.”
— Susan Hellstrom
“The program is set up to make getting
to know your way around really easy – they
give you directions and show you how to live
in this new city,” Meneses says. “The biggest concern about my trip was loving it too
much and never wanting to come home.”
Hellstrom, who has traveled abroad quite
a bit, knows that the benefits for the students
studying abroad are remarkable.
“The thing about studying abroad is that
we live in a global marketplace, a global
world,” Hellstrom says. “And in Florida especially, we meet a lot of international people. So, it’s a really good experience to be on
the other side of it, to be an international
student yourself – and to look at the United
States from the perspective of another coun-
this country.
“So, in that sense, I’d like to see every student have that experience, because it changes
you,” Hellstrom says. “It helps you understand world events better – whenever you
see these people holding up signs with bad
views on America, you can understand. It
also makes you appreciate your own county
more in some ways.”
After more than three years of planning,
proposing, re-proposing, and finalizing the
EWM’s study-abroad program in Valencia, Hellstrom now sees a concept that she
helped develop coming to life. From her
own past experiences, she knows that some
students embrace every minute of being
abroad, while others are more apprehensive.
That’s what she describes as one of her favorite parts of the experience, however: seeing how people react to it.
“That’s the thing – you never know how
it’s going to hit you,” Hellstrom says. “From
a student standpoint, especially if it’s your
first time, you never know.
“Even when you’re there, you know there
are moments that are exhilarating, but there
are hard moments, too, when you may be
homesick. Yet you learn things – you learn
things about yourself, the students there with
you, and you learn things about other countries and your own country.”
For more information about the EWM studyabroad program in Valencia, visit the International
Programs website: international.fsu.edu/Types/
College/Spain/Editing.aspx.
Students can explore L’Oceanogràfic aquarium
at Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences.
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
Photo by Melissa Wolbert
Summer/Fall 2014 29
Photo courtesy of Lauren Gibaldi Mathur
Mathur performed in the FSU Flying High Circuis during all four years of her undergraduate career.
Gibaldi Mathur from page 17
As a young adult novelist, Mathur has always had an interest in the teenage years.
“High school is such an interesting time
trying to figure out who you are,” she says.
“My goal was to create a safe environment
for teens to come in, hang out, talk about
what they wanted to, and make friends.”
On the one-year anniversary of the Nerdfighter Club, Mathur was surprised with a
party put on by the teen members to honor
her and the creation of their club.
“They decorated the meeting room, made
baked goods, and created a scrapbook for
Lauren,” King says. “The scrapbook included personal notes from each member,
quotes, inside jokes and ‘nerdfighter’ lingo.”
Mathur’s impact on the Nerdfighter Club
teens and other libary members is evident
in their appreciation for her and her efforts.
The following writing sample from a Nerdfigher Club teen was included in the scrap30 Summer/Fall 2014
book presented to Mathur:
“A year ago we did not know that this club
would blossom like it has. We did not recognize the amazing gift you were giving us.
Now, we give you this gift. Each connection,
each moment and each friendship inspired
by this club was inspired by you. The pages
in this book are pieces of each of us, and we
give it to you, because you have become a
piece of us.”
Mathur’s warm smile and bubbly personality enable her to make them feel welcome
and form lasting connections. The knowledge that some Nerdfighters will be graduating and moving on from the group is bittersweet after having witnessed their personal
growth as members of the club.
Library visitors frequently seek out
Mathur’s recommendation for new reading material -- some even asking for her by
name, King says -- and Mathur enjoys passing on her favorite books to teen readers.
“I know it’s trite and stereotypical, but my
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favorite book is The Great Gatsby… and The
Perks of Being a Wallflower,” she says. “Both
contributed to my writing, especially Perks
with the teen voice.”
Although Mathur gravitates toward the
young adult genre, she also appreciates traditionally acclaimed authors and their books,
where she says she is inspired by “the beauty
of their language.”
Mathur’s passions for reading, writing, and
teaching transfer into her daily life through
a dedication to her work as a librarian. The
rewarding experience of working with adolescent readers, Mathur says, motivates her
to make an impact on their lives one book
at a time.
And in June 2015, one of those books may
be her very own.
“It is exciting to see her hard work come
to fruition,” King says. “She spent all of her
free time, including her lunch breaks editing
and perfecting her novel. We are looking forward to her hosting her book release.”
tius – imparted to him. His intense passion
for the written word led him to discover the
Evans from page 18
writings of the great poets, Evans says, and
poetry books and literary journals. He spent changed his overall view of the world.
much of his time reading and writing, aiming
“It seems that there are layers behind
to “learn the technical aspects, the musicality things,” he says. “If I look at a wall, I can’t
and the narrative of poems.”
see all the wires behind the wall, all the
“I wanted to learn the guts of the poems,” plumbing, but I know they are there. There’s
Evans explains.
more language, more artful language. There’s
As an undergraduate, he had gained a sur- more depth of meaning in the world because
face understanding of the craft, but he was of poetry.”
left with a hunger to learn more. While preHe had a few poems published while he
paring for his Ph.D., he became aware that was an undergraduate, but it took many years
there were gaps in his reading, including crit- of reading and studying all types of poetry
ical knowledge of poetry ranging from about for him to gain insight on what good poetry
1200 to 1700 A.D.
looks like. He knew it was important to read
“I hadn’t read John Donne, I hadn’t read from a range of poets and to learn where
Milton – I hadn’t read a lot of these poets,” their influences were coming from.
Evans admits. “I could’ve read these poems
“I don’t want to just be saying things that
outside of academia but I wanted to get a a bunch of other people are already saying,”
good read. I wanted to see how poetry had Evans says. “I like to know what’s being said,
progressed through time.”
where it’s coming from and what it is I have
That became his inspiration. Evans knew to say. And I feel like that’s the reading . . . it
that by reading and researching well-known gives me a little bit to go on.
poets from centuries ago, he would discover
Evans credits FSU’s creative writing gradthe heart of poetry. He satisfied his desire to uate program for unlocking many opporlearn more by soaking in the knowledge his tunities to further his career. He was in the
professors – those who had studied Dante, English department when Michael Weigers,
Milton, Odysseus, Homer, Ovid and Lucre- the editor of Copper Canyon Press, visited
Tallahassee and read graduate students’
poetry manuscripts. Weigers showed a
lot of interest in Evans’s manuscript —
which Evans had continuously chopped
and revamped for several years — and
offered advice and feedback on how to
make it better.
Professors Erin Belieu and James
Kimbrell, who is the current creative
writing program director, worked with
Evans on re-constructing the manuscript. They revised, rewrote, and reworked the manuscript in order to create the book that Evans had truly envisioned.
“If I hadn’t come to Florida State, I
more than likely wouldn’t be with Copper Canyon Press,” Evans says.
His first publication with the press,
Bangalore, was published in 2013, and
Evans’s writing style resonated with
Brian Spears, a reviewer for the website
The Rumpus.
“Perhaps it’s because I share so
many similar feelings about my native
South—until I was thirty-four, I never
lived outside of it—with Evans that I
am so taken by this book, or because
Evans at a recent reading at The Warehouse I recognize in my own small-town upin Tallahassee.
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bringing the aches he so artfully evokes, but
I think there’s more to it than that,” Spears
wrote in a September 2013 post titled “Why
I Chose Bangalore by Kerry James Evans for
the Rumpus Poetry Book Club.” “Evans
spares nothing and no one in his poems, and
yet he still finds a way to celebrate what deserves celebrating, and in the end, we’re left
with hope. Read the last line of this book,
and you’ll see what I mean.”
Evans calls Kimbrell and English Professor Erin Belieu “incredible poets and teachers,” saying that both of them have influenced his writing the most.
“They helped push me in ways that I
hadn’t been pushed before,” Evans says, adding that Belieu and Kimbrell helped shape
his first book and second book, which was
part of his dissertation.
Evans shares that some of his most memorable experiences at FSU occurred while
teaching as a graduate student.
“I love the diversity of students [in the
department],” he says. “I love seeing their
different styles and their open-mindedness.
I want to try and teach as much about poetry as I can, but I don’t want to force the
way that I write on my students. I want to
help develop their tendencies, talents and the
direction that they want their poems to go.”
His unorthodox and innovative teaching
methods and his extensive knowledge about
poetry created a comfortable environment
for his students to develop their personal
talents.
“I would sit in his class and process what he
was saying — which was usually a metaphorical story, teaching us how to look at poetry —
by writing poems about him,” says Michelle
Magaro, a student who took his Poetic Technique class. “He was eccentric, which played
into his beautiful way of making us feel like
poets with our own voices, versus students
without a deep understanding.”
In addition to his responsibilities and
commitments as an instructor, Evans has
a second book in the works. Naturally, he
looks forward to publishing many more of
his poems, saying he wants “to continue to
evolve as a poet.”
“There are many philosophies in the world
and many things going on that if I could just
get one good line, just one articulation of a
moment in a line, or an image in a line; those
hidden moments in our lives that we don’t
really think about too often,” Evans says.
“To me there’s so much in that white space,
in that silence, that needs to be explored.”
Summer/Fall 2014 31
Emerick from page 19
“I enjoyed getting assigned a short story to
write,” Emerick says. “It felt like it could’ve
been an extended narrative of a magazine article, so I found those to be helpful.”
What she learned taking English classes—
along with her other experiences at FSU—
helped Emerick get her “foot in the door”
when it came to editing and publishing.
Emerick says she faced many hurdles in
order to reach her career goals, but she knew
it wouldn’t be easy to land a job in the publishing industry. After graduation from FSU,
she moved to Los Angeles, where she attended graduate school at the University of
Southern California.
Once she earned her master’s degree in
print journalism, she moved to New York
City to begin the search for her dream job.
“I applied to every job that I could that
came up online,” she says. “I would go as far
as finding someone specific in the masthead
of a magazine, and I would reach out directly
to her. I learned that a lot of job opportunities came up by word of mouth from professionals in the industry.”
After a few months of hard work, Emerick
gained access into the magazine industry by
working as a freelance copy editor for InStyle
magazine. She worked at InStyle magazine for
almost a year before landing the opportunity
to work for SELF.
First, however, she needed to pass a few
editing tests. Emerick had honed her editing skills at FSU in Associate Professor Michael’s Neal’s classes, an experience Emerick
says was vital to her success.
“I think editing has both an art and a sci-
ence to it,” Neal says. “There is something
very technical to it, but there’s also a creative
side. I remember Jaclyn being strong in both.”
After passing each exam, Emerick was offered a position as associate fitness editor at
the magazine.
“I love my job,” she says, happily. “No
day is ever the same. One day I might go to
showrooms and test out the latest and greatest fitness equipment. The next day I’ll be assisting with a photo shoot for the magazine,
and making sure the fitness models are doing
their exercises correctly.”
In her spare time, she enjoys running
marathons with her co-workers, training for
relays, and taking advantage of the unique
activities and establishments New York City
has to offer—including Emack & Bolio’s Ice
Cream, a favorite of Emerick’s. She also visits her hometown of Seaside, Florida, when
she can, so she spend time with her family
and friends or relax at the beach.
Back in New York City, where the activity
is considerably more hectic, Emerick continues to push herself, knowing that her perseverance put her where she is today.
“It really comes down to making as many
connections as you can and setting yourself apart from somebody in a certain way,”
Emerick says. “Somebody once told me to
‘always leave with one or two more contacts
than what you came with.’”
Emerick at the Civilian Military Combine
in 2013
32 Summer/Fall 2014
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
Journal from page 20
Emerick running in the Hollywood Hills
during a crossfit workout. Below, Emerick
(right) celebrates after finishing a triathlon for the SELF team.
members from various fields.
“The council – the governing body of the
Bibliographical Society – has librarians, it has
lawyers, it has financial advisors; it’s quite a
broad spectrum of people who are interested in the society and the journal,” Gants says.
Gants and Brown both began their roles
with PBSA following the sudden deaths of
former editor Trevor Howard, who passed
away in 2011, and managing editor Travis
Gordon, who died in 2012. Gants took over
the position of interim editor in 2012 and
Brown joined the journal in January of 2013.
Right away, Brown faced the daunting
task of converting countless outdated PageMaker design files. An older version of the
program had been used to create the journal’s layout template, but Brown was using
the more contemporary InDesign application. After much time and effort, Brown
was able to complete the conversion, partially thanks to the help and support of the
English department.
The Papers and the department maintain
a healthy relationship, Gants says. When he
was officially appointed editor in January of
2013, the appointment included an agreement for the society to provide money to the
department to support graduate assistants,
financial help that initially allowed Brown,
who in 2013 received her Ph.D. in FSU’s
History of Text Technologies, to join on as
managing editor.
“The council [of the Bibliography Society] has marveled how well the Society and
the department and the journal have been
working together,” Gants says, noting that
there is a lot of give and take between the
three.
Eric Walker, chair of FSU’s English Department, is supportive of the work Gants
and Brown do with the PBSA and recalls his
own experience with the publication.
“The English department is very proud to
be able to host The Papers of the Bibliographical
“The English department is very proud
to be able to host The Papers of the
Bibliographical Society of America,
which is one of the oldest and most
prestigious journals in the field of
textual and editorial studies.”
— Eric Walker, English department chair
published my first scholarly article in PBSA
in 1986.”
Stephen McElroy, who earned his Ph.D. in
Rhetoric and Composition from FSU in 2014
and who is currently the interim director of
FSU’s Reading-Writing Center and Digital
Studio, worked as a review editor for PBSA
in the 2013 spring and summer semesters.
McElroy’s duties included contacting and
requesting reviews from scholars for books
PBSA readers may want to learn about.
“Book reviews function as a kind of mutually beneficial targeted advertising. Book
publishers want readers to know about and
purchase their books; journal readers want to
know more about the scholarly work that’s
happening in their field,” McElroy says, adding that he enjoyed his experience working
with the journal and was grateful for the opportunity. “So, reviews in PBSA help connect scholars in bibliographic studies with a
range of scholarship that might be of interest to them, and reviews help those scholars
stay informed.
Undergraduate Rachel Tullius, a student
of the Editing, Writing, and Media track in
the English department, worked during the
spring 2014 semester for the journal as an
intern. Her responsibilities included creating
content for online publication, filing in the
journal office, and copy editing.
“My time spent with Dr. Brown and Dr.
Gants has given me so much experience in
editing,” Tullius says. “I feel much more confident in those skills. I’ve also
“Editing is like Whack-A-Mole — no
furthered digital skills such
matter how many times you look at it, as Excel and Adobe, which
you can always find something else.” will help me in the future. I
am so grateful to work with
— Meaghan Brown such wise and witty people.”
Because of this help and support, Brown
Society of America, which is one of the oldest and most prestigious journals in the field and Gants are able to devote more time and
of textual and editorial studies,” Walker says, focus to their journal responsibilities in addiadding that Gants and Brown are to be con- tion to their other academic pursuits.
Gants’s research involves such subjects as
gratulated for their editorial stewardship. “I
confess to a wee bit of prejudice, because I humanities computing, history of the book,
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history of text technologies, renaissance literature, and descriptive and analytical bibliography. He keeps a tight schedule in order
to balance his academic responsibilities, journal duties, and his own research.
Brown, whose research as a Ph.D. candidate dealt with early modern print methods
in England, is currently working the Folger
Library as a data curator, a position that involves projects focused on textual encoding
and other digital humanities initiatives. She
still devotes some of her extra time to working on with the journal.
Both editors review article submissions
and work together to choose which will be
selected for publication, but have individual
responsibilities as well. Gants deals largely
with administrative work and communication within the society as well as communicating with the printer and allocating funds.
Brown focuses on formatting the layout of
the journal. Both are involved in the extensive process of line editing articles.
“It’s like Whack-A-Mole – no matter how
many times you look at it, you can always
find something else,” Brown says.
The time from when an author submits an
article for review until it is published can take
at least six months, often longer. Each article
undergoes a rigorous process of peer reviewing and several rounds of editing before
it is ready for publication. Although PBSA is
published quarterly, the journal keeps Brown
and Gants busy year-round.
“It’s a seven-days-a-week job,” Gants says,
adding that he recently found himself working on the journal during a trip he took to
London for research. “I was sitting on the
airplane editing a manuscript when I could’ve
been watching reruns of CSI!”
Brown equates the steady stream of editorial duties to a video game.
“You know how in video games, when you
leave a character too long they start dancing?
Well, if we sit down for too long, we start
editing. It’s the default,” she says.
Summer/Fall 2014 33
Human rights from page 21
canon,” says Katie Williams, a junior who is
majoring in English with a concentration in
media studies, “but she has used that same
interesting approach to other human rights
issues that aren’t typically explored, such as
children’s rights and American Indian rights.”
Historic world events that have resulted in stereotyping, degrading language, government absence, and even genocide can all
be associated with elements of the zombie
genre, McGregory says.
When the director of undergraduate studies emailed McGregory about her course description to the English department, he simply replied with “cool,” adding that he found
the concept as a suitable and unique means
of expressing human rights literature.
In addition to using pop culture
and fantasy to captivate her students,
McGregory introduces other topics and
media that everyone in the classroom shares
a personal tie to, ensuring her students’
Immersion from page 22
so he knew there was a different experience
of community on a train. In Europe, he rode
with passengers who drank wine and ate
bread and cheese, and smoked while chatting
with their neighbors.
To him, riding the train while abroad was
a cultural experience. In America, however,
retention of the material.
and re-socialization of the Indians and their
“Dr. McGregory’s class was an unexpected process of being conformed back into the
yet exciting addition to my school schedule,” majority of society.
Williams says. “I had never taken a literature
McGregory’s unconventional approach
class before so I didn’t know what to expect, to the course material has received positive
but I love that she incorporates different feedpack from students and faculty in the
media as our weekly reading assignments. English department. The class creates an atI’ve had the chance to
analyze everything from “Dr. McGregory’s class was an unexpected
graphic novels to movies yet exciting addition to my school schedto books.”
ule. I had never taken a literature class beIn one lecture, Mcfore so I didn’t know what to expect, but I
Gregory opens the subject
of the American Indian love that she incorporates different media
Movement using the con- as our weekly reading assignments.”
troversial debate of Flori— Katie Williams
da State using a Seminole
Indian icon to represent the school’s mascot. mosphere that promotes creative discussion,
McGregory explains to students other bringing renewed interest to the subject of
ways in which Seminoles and American In- human rights literature.
dians are portrayed through exaggerated ste“I’m glad I saw a means to introduce a
reotypes that have no connection with their course that hasn’t been taught in the departculture. In relation to the zombies, McGreg- ment for a while and the fact that students
ory makes parallels concerning the genocide see the course fit to enroll,” McGregory says.
hardly anyone talks about riding on the train,
especially in the South.
“Up north, there are high speed routes between the big cities, but the rest of the country seems to be untapped train territory and I
thought someone should do it,” Haney says.
Haney funded his trip through donations
from family and friends, and he showed his
appreciation by sending them postcards,
with whatever theme they requested. Kanke,
“I got on the train to see
America, something you
can’t do from the interstate.”
- Paul Haney
Paul Haney (right) with an Amtrak captain in
New Orleans.
34 Summer/Fall 2014
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for example, asked that her postcards have
something to do with love and friendship.
Since he had made a promise to all of
his donors, Haney says that because of the
promise to send so many postcards, he had
to become more disciplined with his writing.
Now that the experience is over, he is working to turn his experiences into a book.
Editor’s note: Monique Boileau contributed to this
article.
Electives from page 23
Director Ken Baldauf, who teaches the
web design both online and in the classroom,
would like to see the course become a mandatory requirement for EWM students in the
future.
“The web is primarily the tool of communicating anything,” he says. “It seems like
anyone would have these online skills, but
they don’t.”
Students complete weekly assignments in
the class that teach them to build their very
own webpage and gives the skill set to design
sites independently. This is an introduction
course with no prerequisite requirements
and no prior knowledge needed.
“My challenge is to teach my students
enough so they don’t go crazy,” Baldauf says.
“I’m not trying to turn them into computer scientists—I’m trying to figure out how
much an English major or biology major
needs to know.”
EWM graduate and a former teacher assistant for Introduction to Web Design, Jennifer Ireland, knows first-hand how important
it is to learn the web design skills that the
course teaches.
“It’s really helpful for EWM majors because it teaches you how to use servers, upload information to the Internet, and coding,” Ireland says. “An English major can
use these skills to create online portfolios or
resumes and market themselves for future
employers.”
This course is a part of the Program in Interdisciplinary Computing, or PIC. This innovative program is dedicated to increasing
students’ exposure to technologies, which
will help students flourish in their professions and in life.
Before they graduate, however, English
majors on the EWM track are required to
complete an internship for course credit,
and many students choose one at a company
where they can put to use the writing and
editing knowledge they have gained in the
classroom. Students can work with publications remotely or on site and can sign up for
anywhere from one to six credit hours. Some
publications that students have interned at
are MTV Studios, the Tallahassee Democrat,
and Women’s Wear Daily.
“The internship credit gives students awesome real-life working experience before being thrown into the work force,” says Kate
Herron, the English department’s advisor
for seniors.
EWM student Lauren Painter initially on compelling media trends, including parthought it might be an inconvenience to ticipatory fan culture, serialized narratives in
complete an internship for her degree, but television, and relationships between media
says she quickly realized the value her experi- and popular culture. Social media platforms
ence held.
such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and
“Internships are becoming the new job Foursquare are discussed in the class as merequirements—if you don’t have internship dia through which corporations and news
experience, you’re lost among the other ap- sources are marketing their programs and
plicants,” Painter says.
gaining popularity with their audiences.
After completion of her internship with
EWM senior Alexa Adair took Edwards’s
Uloop Student News Network, Painter is course in the spring of 2013 and appreciates
now a strong advocate for the idea that stu- how relevant the class was to the focus of
dents have to search for internships that are her major.
relevant to their specific career choices.
“I’m most interested in the media aspect
“Internships show that you’re dedicated, of EWM and I want to continue working in
committed and determined on top of having social media,” Adair says. “This class gave
priceless experience,” she
says. “The internship re- “I decided to take digital graphic dequirement pushed me to
actually find one and stick sign because in an industry such as onto it. It assured me that line publishing, they’re looking for not
what I’m doing is what I only someone who can write their own
want to do in the near fuarticles, but someone who can code
ture.”
Another
valuable them and design enticing images for
course included in the
list of courses that PIC them, as well.”
— Shawn Binder
offers is Digital Graphic
Design. Adjunct instruca senior on the EWM track
tor Ron Fowler teaches
this course, and it has proven to be a benefi- me leverage above my competitors because I
cial one to EWM students. This class allows learned more about social media rather than
students to become familiar with the Adobe just what’s on the surface.”
Creative Suite, including Photoshop, InDeThe class analyzed several case studies,
sign, and Illustrator. It ensures that students such as the documentary Catfish and its spilearn the important principles of good visual noff MTV show, to compare television covdesign while maintaining originality in their erage to documentaries. Music videos, adverwork.
tisements, and certain TV episodes were also
“I decided to take digital graphic design screened in class to convey the ideas of genbecause in an industry such as online pub- der and sexuality, convergence culture, and
lishing, they’re looking for not only someone feminism’s role in the media.
who can write their own articles, but someWhile learning about yoga and fine wine
one who can code them and design enticing sounds tempting and can be enjoyable, stuimages for them, as well,” says Shawn Bind- dents are increasingly enrolling in courses
er, a senior on the EWM track.
that are relevant to their area of study, espeAn increasing number of EWM students cially because they have to pay for the credit
are now taking these PIC classes in order to hours regardless.
build up their technical skills in the media
Before branching out and taking a not-sopart of the major.
common elective, however, Herron advises
“I feel more confident in my job search seniors to research the course material and to
knowing that I have these design skills on my make sure it will count toward their degree.
resume,” Binder says.
“The biggest mistake I see students make
For students who want a more compre- when choosing an elective is the lack of rehensive perspective on media issues, English search,” she says. “Make sure it’s the correct
Associate Professor Leigh Edwards teaches level course and it’s a class you genuinely
Media Studies, a course that explores audi- want to take.”
ence studies, semiotics, cultural studies, femiFor EWM students, plenty of options
nist studies, and more. The class also focuses meet those conditions.
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Summer/Fall 2014 35
About the
contributors
Kaitlyn Athans
Athans is as an English major (EWM) with a minor in business.
Originally from Lakeland, Florida, Athans plans to stay in the
South after graduating Summer 2014. Athans hopes to become
a writer in the healthcare field promoting health and wellness.
In her free time, she enjoys volunteering for Relay For Life and
exploring the outdoors. Brenna Beightol Beightol is a 2014 English major (EWM) graduate with a minor
in French. Like many, her dream is to live in Paris, blogging
about the world and everything she sees. Though originally
from South Florida she moved to Bradenton and struggles
when asked “where are you from?” For now she is waiting
to find her post-graduate city and to learn and grow in it. She
loves cookie dough, sailing, has a vast array of fish, and hopes
one day to have a cat. Katy Bryan-Beachler
Bryan-Beachler is an English major (EWM) with minors in
psychology and film studies. After graduating in fall 2014,
she will pursue a career as a literary scout in film to adapt
novels into films. Raised on a farm in Myakka City, Florida,
she enjoys working with animals and singing country music
in her spare time.
Michelle Collins
Collins, a spring 2014 graduate, grew up in Orlando, Florida,
before attending FSU. During her collegiate years as an English
major (EWM), Collins worked with Uloop Student News
Network, CLUTCH Magazine, Orlando Style Magazine, and
enjoyed doing a bit of freelance writing. She is a fan of all
things British, is obsessed with golden retrievers, and is an
avocado advocate. She now lives in NYC and works at Woman’s
World Magazine. Nick Gunter
Gunter is from Pensacola, Florida. He is an English major
(EWM) with a minor in psychology. He will be graduating at
the end of summer 2014. Nick spends much of his free time
being active, taking part in hobbies such as surfing, biking, and
skating. He hopes to make a career out of his love for the
outdoors and his ability to write and edit. 36 Summer/Fall 2014
Teddi Koppelberger
Koppelberger is a junior English major (EWM)
from St. Augustine, Florida After graduating in the
fall of 2015 she hopes to work as an editor for
a publishing house. She enjoys traveling, spending
time in the sun, and running with her dogs.
Kristina Kurzweil
Kurzweil is a junior, majoring in English (creative
writing) and minoring in art history. She is originally
from Miami, and she plans to spend her postgraduation days writing near the ocean, with hopes
of publishing her works for the world to enjoy. Her
ultimate goal in life is to always be surrounded by
compassionate love and genuine happiness.
Kalie Marsch
Marsch is an English major (EWM) with a minor in
communications. She aspires to work in magazine
publishing and editing in the future, and lives for
New York Fashion Week. She loves New York
City and plans to move there after she graduates
in August 2014. ​
Mari Maxwell
Maxwell is an English major (creative writing) with
a minor in communications. Upon graduating in
the fall of 2014, she hopes to find a job at a book
publishing company as an editorial assistant. Born
and raised in Florida, Mari has a deep desire to
travel abroad, and to live in a different state, while continuing
her passion for books.
Nadia Mehriary Born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, Mehriary is an English
major (EWM) with a minor in communication. After taking
the three-year route that allowed her to complete her bachelor’s
at FSU in spring 2014, Mehriary plans to spend her fourth
year in Tallahassee working. She is currently a junior account
coordinator and proofreader at The Zimmerman Agency, and
is working on graduate school applications for fall of 2015. Catherine Miranda
Miranda is a senior English major (EWM) from Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. After graduating from FSU in summer
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
Photo illustration by newsletter staff
2014, she hopes to move to Miami pursue a career in the public
relations and marketing world. A native of South Florida, she
enjoys spending time boating, fishing, and, of course, tanning.
in the lifting arena. For her senior year, she was an editing
intern for the FSU Card Archive. Her dream is to become a
copywriter. Sarah Page
Page is a double major in English (EWM) and humanities.
After graduating in the fall of 2014, she plans to continue on to
graduate school either to continue her English studies or study
film or media production. A native of Tampa, Sarah enjoys
spending time at the beach, watching movies, and writing.
Alana Schindel
Born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and raised in Redmond,
Washington, Schindel is an English major (EWM) with minors
in communications and film. After graduating in summer 2014,
she hopes to plan and execute an international children’s book
tour and work on a couple short stories while on the road. She
enjoys playing soccer and tennis, writing, and traveling.
Alyssa Rios
Rios is an English major (EWM) with a minor in
communications. She was involved with the FSU Weightlifting
Club for a couple of years, inspiring other women to join men
Advisors: Elizabeth Bettendorf and Jack Clifford
Student editors: Courteney Jones, Nicole Minski,
Matthew Stolpe, and Katie Williams
Student editorial and design assistant: Monique Boileau
SCROLL, SCRIBE & SCREEN
Summer/Fall 2014 37
Scroll, Scribe & Screen
The Florida State University
College of Arts & Sciences
Department of English
405 Williams Building
Tallahassee, FL 32306-1580
Visit the English department online
and stay up to date with our news.
english.fsu.edu

twitter.com/#!/fsuenglishnews
38 Summer/Fall 2014
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