Author: Darrend Brown

“Homesick for Horror”: Introducing the Winner of the R1B Essay Prize

Published date September 8, 2014

Every year, graduate students in the English department teach numerous sections of R1B, an introductory reading and composition course. At the end of the year, teachers submit their best students’ papers to be considered for an essay prize. This year’s winner was Celina Maiorano, whose essay, “Homesick for Horror: The Gothic of Nostalgia,” was written for Katie Fleishman’s course “American Beauties.”

Review of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at The Ashby Stage

Published date August 22, 2014

The sixth piece in the series is a review by Aileen Liu of The Shotgun Players’ production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at the Ashby Stage.

“Two Ways to Sell Children”: Meet the Winner of the R1A Essay Prize

Published date August 18, 2014

Every year, graduate students in the English department teach numerous sections of R1A, an introductory reading and composition course. At the end of the year, teachers submit their best students’ papers to be considered for an essay prize. This year’s winner was Clare Kim, whose essay, “Two Ways to Sell Children,” was written for Jesse Cordes Selbin’s course “Narratives We Live By.”

Lure of the Archive (VII): Caitlin Lowe (’15) Seeks out the Bubonic Plague in Early Modern Books

Published date July 31, 2014

Caitlin Lowe is a current student in the English Department at Cal (class of ’15). This summer, she was given the opportunity to pursue independent research through the Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) grant. SURF is a campus-wide award that supports student research under the supervision of a faculty sponsor.

Student Publishes Powerful Essay on Sexual Violence at UC Berkeley

Published date July 25, 2014

Author Rebecca Solnit (’84) taught a non-fiction writing course in the English Department this past spring. A number of her students in that course have had their final pieces accepted for publication. The first to appear in print is this tough piece by Ariel Zepeda on sexual violence at UC Berkeley.

Arianna Huffington Mentions Kathleen Donegan in Piece for New Graduates

Published date July 7, 2014

Arianna Huffington, of The Huffington Post, recently devoted several paragraphs to a 2009 speech by Professor Kathleen Donegan, entitled “Finding the Story.”

Steven Isenberg’s Commencement Speech

Published date June 24, 2014

This speech was given by Steven L. Isenberg to the graduates of the English Department of the University of California, Berkeley, at their Commencement, on Saturday, May 17, 2014.

Remembering Hillary Gravendyk (1979-2014)

Published date June 6, 2014

Hillary Gravendyk, an accomplished poet, scholar, and teacher, passed away in May 2014 after a long illness. This page gathers remembrances of Hillary from her teachers and friends at Berkeley, along with links to her online work, collaborative poems she wrote, and videos of her readings.

On Translating Rilke

Published date May 22, 2014

Joseph Cadora has published a translation of Rilke that he undertook in a poetry translation course with Robert Hass. What follows is a note on the translation from Professor Hass along with a reflection on the experience from Cadora.

Samira Franklin on Parenting and Academia

Published date May 11, 2014

In this series on the blog, we explore the joys and the tribulations of being both a graduate student and a parent. Over the next several weeks, we will post pieces by graduate students from all stages of our program. Each has a unique perspective on parenting and academia.

Aurora Theatre-English Department Benefit: Hamlet in College

Published date May 6, 2014

The Fourth Aurora Theatre-English Department Symposium took place on Saturday April 26. The event was organized around the Aurora’s production of David Davalos’s Wittenberg.

Undergraduate Research: A Diegetic

Published date April 26, 2014

In the following article, Emily Doyle (’14) considers the subject of her summer 2013 undergraduate research fellowship concerning Henry James and the phrase, ‘As if’. Emily will graduate from Berkeley this spring and is currently in the final stages of developing her research into an honors thesis focusing on the specific ways elements of fiction, grammar, and philosophy converge upon the...

“I have never seen myself teach before”: Maura Nolan on Frederick Wiseman’s At Berkeley

Published date April 20, 2014

Renowned documentarian Frederick Wiseman’s At Berkeley aired on PBS in January 2014, clocking in at 4 hours and 4 minutes long. The documentary centers on extended, intimate looks inside Berkeley classrooms and administrative meetings. Of these classrooms, two happened to hold classes being conducted by English Department professors: one by Professor Mitch Breitwieser and another by Professor Maura Nolan. Here,...

Review of Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness by The Shotgun Players

Published date January 2, 2014

In “On the Scene,” a new series for the blog, we ask current graduate students with an interest in theater to review select local plays. The fifth piece in the series is a review by Alek Jeziorek of Shotgun Players’ production of Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness at Ashby Stage.

The Double Vision of Motherhood

Published date November 25, 2013

Second in the series is a post by Catherine Cronquist Browning, who is currently serving as a lecturer in the department, since completing her Ph.D. here last year.