The Wheeler Column

A Conversation with David Corvo ’72

Published date November 4, 2009

Corvo On Monday, November 9, the English department continued its series, “Conversations with Distinguished Alumni,” in a discussion with alumnus David Corvo ’72, who is currently the Executive Producer of the prime time news magazine Dateline NBC. He was joined by Department Chair Sam Otter and Professor Namwali Serpell, who spoke with him about the the relationship between his study of English at Berkeley and his success as a broadcast journalist. [Read full post…]

Recent Alum Spends a Year at the Kennedy Center

Published date November 4, 2009

In what follows, recent alumna Anna Inhofe describes the year she spent as an intern at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. She describes the myriad tasks that an intern must take on and offers a glimpse into the glamorous Kennedy Center Honors event which she helped to facilitate. [Read full post…]

What Literature Tells Us About War

Published date October 31, 2009

favret_cover In what follows, graduate student Monica Soare reports about a recent meeting of the department’s Nineteenth-Century and Beyond Working Group, which hosted Professor Mary Favret from the University of Indiana. They discussed a chapter in Professor Favret’s new book War at a Distance: Romanticism and the Making of Modern Wartime. [Read full post…]

Graduate Students Explore Vitality of Oakland Through Poetry

Published date October 24, 2009

Graduate students Charles Legere and Javier Huerta both live in Oakland and both write poetry. Now, after being approached by the website deepoakland.org, they’ve written some poetry about living in Oakland. [Read full post…] oakland-tribune-bldg

The English Undergraduate Association

Published date October 18, 2009

As one of the larger departments at UC Berkeley (there are roughly 700 majors), the English Department can be a daunting place for an undergraduate trying to navigate the requirements of the major. While the Department has an Undergraduate Adviser on staff as well as a professor who counsels students, there is another resource for students that is somewhat less intimidating but no less “official,” namely the English Undergraduate Association (EUA).[Read full post…] EUA President Grace Dong leads a recent meeting of the EUA.

Notes from Postdoctoral Purgatory: A Recent PhD Reports

Published date October 8, 2009

In what follows, Tiffany Tsao, who received her PhD in English this past Spring, reports on her life as a postdoctoral fellow at Georgia Tech. She begins with an epigraph from Dante which, she feels, encapsulates her experience so far.

…what I sing will be that second kingdom,

in which the human soul is cleansed of sin,

becoming worthy of ascent to Heaven.

(Purgatorio, Canto I.4-6)[Read full post…]

Holloway Reading Series: Anne Tardos and Maurice Scully

Published date October 4, 2009

In what follows, graduate student Natalia Cecire reports on a recent poetry reading with Maurice Scully and Anne Tardos.[Read full post…]

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Professor Sue Schweik Discusses New Book on Disability Laws

Published date September 26, 2009

In what follows graduate student Rosa Martinez gives a brief account of the discussion of Professor Sue Schweik’s The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public that took place at University Press Book on September 8, 2009.[Read full post…] A candid snap shot of the event at University Press Books.

“Robert Burns, 1759-2009: A Colloquium”

Published date September 20, 2009

Graduate student Catherine Cronquist Browning attended the colloquium the English Department hosted to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the poet Robert Burns’ birth. What follows is a short summary of the day.

Five leading scholars in the field of Scottish Romanticism, Leith Davis, Janet Sorensen, Steve Newman, Ian Duncan, and Carol McGuirk, delivered current work on Burns to an audience of assorted faculty, graduate students, undergradutes, and other members of the department community. In fact, Wheeler 300 was packed full of eager listeners, with those who came later finding seats on tables and the floor to enjoy the rich program!

Professor Ian Duncan Returns from Sabbatical

Published date September 11, 2009

Our first blog post of this year detailed some reading recommendations which members of our department had read over the summer. Having just recently returned from a year-long sabbatical, Professor Ian Duncan supplied a wonderful list as well. What follows is a brief account of Professor Duncan’s doings in Turkey interspersed with a bevy of titles which might catch your eye. [Read full post…]

The view looking out over the Bosphorus and our local Greek Orthodox church from the house where Professor Duncan stayed in Istanbul

Professor Namwali Serpell Included in Best American Short Stories 2009

Published date September 7, 2009

9780618792245 The English Department proudly congratulates Professor Namwali Serpell on her inclusion in this year’s edition of Best American Short Stories. In what follows, Professor Serpell discusses her story, entitled “Muzungu,” as well as the relationship between her creative writing endeavors and her work as a literary critic.

English Major Links Theory and Practice in Service Trip

Published date August 30, 2009

What follows is a redaction of a report which recent English major graduate Caitlin O’Donnell wrote describing her experiences working on poverty issues in the Caribbean. Caitlin addresses the relationship between the “theoretical” study of literature and the “praxis” of the fight against global poverty.

Caitlin with two participants of the Barbados YWCA day camp

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As an English major with a minor in Global Poverty and Practices, I am on a quest to achieve the kind of praxis emphasized in my study of Global Poverty and Practices in conjunction with the study of English literature. I know that the longer I study and practice the two together, the more linkages I will be able to make and the closer I will […]

Book Recommendations from our Summer Reading

Published date August 23, 2009

To start up the English Department blog for the new academic year, we have asked some of the department’s graduate students and faculty to reflect on the reading they have done over the summer and to recommend a few titles (either academic or popular) that they enjoyed. Kea Anderson returned to Moby Dick this summer but also recommends The White...

The Budget Crisis and the Future of California: Timeline and Important Documents

Published date July 30, 2009

Click here to read.

Faculty Respond to the Budget Crisis, Updated

Published date July 18, 2009

The devastating cuts to the University of California by the State now mean many different things to the diverse faculty at Berkeley. For some it has meant the imminent demise of the possibility of a great university that is also a public university with wide access. For others it poses a threat to intellectual diversity and excellence. Others feel that,...