The Wheeler Column

Summer Reading Series – David Marno’s Death Be Not Proud

Published date August 9, 2017

We live, many say, in an age of mass distraction — but distraction has long been with us. In Death Be Not Proud: The Art of Holy Attention, Cal English professor David Marno considers how the Renaissance poetry of John Donne offered a model for battling distraction and for inviting a state of open attentiveness that was allied with grace. Asking why Christian prayer requires attention...

Summer Reading Series – D.A. Miller’s Hidden Hitchcock

Published date July 14, 2017

Professor D.A. Miller’s most recent book Hidden Hitchcock (University of Chicago Press, 2016) asks the reader to consider how Alfred Hitchcock works on two registers at once: as one of the most inviting filmmakers of our time, and as one of the most oblique. Miller argues that while the filmmaker’s “public style” has made him a favorite of audiences around the world,...

Professor Georgina Kleege featured on PBS, LightHouse Interpoint series

Published date July 10, 2017

Professor Georgina Kleege was recently featured on PBS News Hour’s “Brief But Spectacular” series, as well as in the first installment of LightHouse Interpoint, a new weekly literary supplement from LightHouse for the Blind; her article for the series is entitled, “On Being Who I Am: My Life as a Tall Blind Woman.”

Summer Reading Series – Bryan Wagner’s The Tar Baby: A Global History

Published date June 20, 2017

The fable of the tar baby is one that spans both centuries and continents; as far back as the late 1800’s and across Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia, you can find the simple tale of a fox ensnaring a rabbit using a life-like figurine made of tar as punishment for stealing the former’s crops. This is more than a folk...

Jason Bircea Delivers 2017 Department Citation Commencement Address

Published date June 17, 2017

Each year, the Department Citation is awarded to one outstanding graduating senior who is recognized by faculty nomination as having produced exceptionally high caliber work as an English Major. The following speech was given by this year’s winner, Jason Bircea, at the department’s May graduation ceremony on May 20th, 2017. Thank you chairman. Hello everyone. My name is Jason and I’m incredibly honored to be able...

“Dare to Know,” Meaghan Allen’s 2017 Commencement Speech

Published date June 16, 2017

Meaghan Allen (’17) was one of three students chosen to speak at the English Department’s 2017 Commencement Ceremony on May 20th, 2017. What follows is the text of her address. Aude sapere — Dare to know. From Immanuel Kant’s “Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?” (1784) and later Michel Foucault’s “What is Enlightenment?” (1984) two hundred years later, summoning an individual...

“Fail Again. Fail Better.” Auzeen Abdi’s 2017 Commencement Speech

Published date June 12, 2017

Auzeen Abdi (’17) was chosen to speak at the English Department’s 2017 Commencement Ceremony on May 20th, 2017. What follows is the text of her address. Good afternoon fellow English students! Can you believe it? We finally did it! Whether you’ve been here four years, two years, longer or less, we’ve been dreaming of this day where there are no texts...

EUA’s Humans of English: Alison Lafferty

Published date May 12, 2017

This week we are featuring two installments of EUA’s Humans of English series, both featuring graduating seniors; this reflection is from Alison Lafferty My name is Ali, I started at Berkeley as a Mathematics-intended freshman in 2013, and now I’m a graduating senior in English and Italian Studies! After a few days taking math and English 45C (with Professor Goble)...

EUA’s Humans of English: Megan Breazeale

Published date May 9, 2017

This week, we are featuring two installments of EUA’s Humans of English series, both featuring graduating seniors; this reflection is from Megan Breazeale. My name is Megan Breazeale and I’m a graduating senior that transferred to Cal back in 2015 after going between multiple community colleges. The English Department at Berkeley is everything I ever wanted it to be. Engaging, inspiring,...

EUA’s Humans of English: Tia Chen-Wong

Published date May 2, 2017

Here’s the next installment in EUA’s Humans of English series; this reflection is by freshman Tia Chen-Wong. Tell us a little about yourself. I originally hail from a small suburb in Orange County, California called Rancho Santa Margarita, and now I am a freshman double majoring in English and Pre-Haas here at Berkeley. Literature and language have always been a passion...

“Of Tents and Temples,” a Review of Aurora Theater’s Temple by Margaret Kolb

Published date April 28, 2017

We enter a room in disarray. Old coffee cups litter a massive oak table, chairs askew around it. At the center of the room, at the center of the table, lies a map. Morning light spills in the window banks. We hear the sounds of a crowd outside; the ornate building facade outside seems to tremble. Steve Waters’s Temple, in...

The Holloway Series in Poetry welcomes Morgan Parker

Published date April 18, 2017

Each academic year, The English Department’s Holloway Series in Poetry welcomes several renowned and rising contemporary poets to campus to share and celebrate their work. This week, the series welcomes poet Morgan Parker. Morgan Parker is the author of There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé (Tin House Books 2017) and Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night (Switchback Books 2015), which was selected by Eileen...

Review of Nora at the Ashby Stage

Published date April 14, 2017

In “On the Scene,” a series on theater, we ask current graduate students to review select local plays. For those of you in the Bay, this will be an excellent way to keep track of nearby theatrical offerings. For those of you elsewhere, perhaps these reviews can re-create a little slice of Berkeley theater for you. The next piece in...

The Holloway Series in Poetry welcomes Douglas Kearney

Published date April 11, 2017

Each academic year, The English Department’s Holloway Series in Poetry welcomes several renowned and rising contemporary poets to campus to share and celebrate their work. This week, the series welcomes poet Douglas Kearney. Kearney is the author of several collections of poetry, including Mess and Mess and (Noemi Press, 2015), a Small Press Distribution Selection esteemed as, “an extraordinary book,” by Publisher’s Weekly. His other works...

EUA’s Humans of English: Liam Spires

Published date April 11, 2017

When it comes to undergraduate students in the English Department, The English Undergraduate Association is a community touchstone for one of the largest departments in the College of Letters and Science at UC Berkeley. Since 1993, the English Undergraduate Association has hosted activities, provided opportunities to network, and helped English majors connect with one another. In this spirit, we have created a new...