+

UW-Eau Claire English Department Centennial Celebration!

1916-Present

+President Schofield

Periscope, 1917Periscope, 1926

+Beginnings: Teacher’s College,Eau Claire State Normal School

From 1916-1927, UWEC

Periscope, 1917

+Beginnings: Teacher’s College

“TO THE EAU CLAIRE NORMAL SCHOOL”

There’s a long, long trail a-winding

To our Alma Mater dear,

And the Chippewa’s rippling waters

Make sweet music to the ear;

There’s a long, long, time of waiting

Until we reach ambition’s goal,

But we always will be loyal,

To our Eau Claire Normal School.

There are days of anxious waiting

When the quizzes roll around,

And when we get high standings

Our spirits upward bound;

But we love our teachers madly,

Though at times they may seem cruel,

Yet we’ll not be glad to leave them

Or our dear Eau Claire Normal School.

-Dorothy Wallace

Periscope, 1962

+Beginnings: Sigma Tau Delta

Founded by Charles Ivy, English student, who also worked for the Tatler and NOTA

2010 Outstanding Chapter Award at Sigma Tau Delta International Convention

Periscope, 1961

+English First Named a Department in 1962

+Beginnings: Sigma Tau Delta & The Tatler Sponsored by Sigma Tau

Delta Published original works

submitted by University students

Student and faculty crafted literature magazine

Periscope, 1968

+Beginnings: NOTA (None of the Above)

1972 biannual lit/arts zine 2008 honorable mention in

the AIGA BlueRidge 2008 Flux Student Design Competition

Fall 2011 added a music section

Once glorified newspaper leaflet --> 2012 National Print Awards Certificate of Merit winner

Periscope, 1975

+NOTA (None of the Above)NOTA is UWEC's free literary and arts publication funded by students. Each volume's content is determined by the group and features the creative works of students. Submissions for the publication are held at the beginning of every semester.

+The Foreword

The official English department newsletter and blog, founded

Celebrates the department and connects students- past, present, and future- with the faculty, staff, and community

Largely student managed publication

Highlights department news, recognizes student, and faculty accomplishments

+English Fest

Originally started as a celebration of William Shakespeare’s birthday

International Poetry Reading

Alumni Readings Visiting Writers

International Poetry Reading 2014

+Recent Awards/Recognition

2013 Blugold Seminar in Critical Reading and Writing wins Certificate of Excellence from the Conference on College Composition and Communication designed to ensure that every student is prepared for the

reading, writing and researching demands of college and beyond

+Awards/Scholarships

Clara B. Small Memorial Scholarships for nontraditional students, established by UWEC professors Nadine S. and Robert V. St. Louis

Les Gilbertson Scholarship for first year English majors Elizabeth G. Morris Scholarship for Comprehensive or

Standard English Teaching majors who demonstrate intent to be an English teacher

John W. Morris Scholarship for outstanding English students with a liberal arts focus

Maurice & Alma Swan Scholarship for English Teacher Education for Comprehensive or Standard English Teaching majors who demonstrate intent to be an English teacher

+Awards/Scholarships Continued

Kirkwood Poetry Award for English majors/minors who have written the most outstanding poem submitted in traditional poetic form for that year

Nan Dougherty Scholarship for English Education for Comprehensive or Standardized English teaching majors who demonstrate intent to be an English teacher

Gloria Hochstein English Student Opportunity Fund for English majors and minors at the university who wish to enrich their education with class activities

Jane Colville Betts English Scholarship for creative writing students

+English Composition

“Laying the Groundworks: English Department”

English composition is a required part of the curriculum at Eau Claire University. Freshman composition courses are designed to educate students with the fundamentals of clarity, correctness, and effectiveness in writing. Many students will further their study in the field of English. Because the English Department is the University’s largest, students are offered a wide survey of courses. English Literature provides studies in the historical development of the literature of England. Advanced Composition furthers the program of English Composition. Detailed studies in specialized English fields include English Literature from the Sixteenth through the Nineteenth Centuries, Romantic, Victorians, Renaissance, medieval, American Literature, the Novel, Modern Poetry, Chaucer and Shakespeare. Courses in Literary Criticism, Structural Linguistics, and Phonetics are also offered. Regardless of one’s future ambitions, English will always be a necessary tool to accomplish definite goals. – Periscope 1965

+Center for Writing Excelence

Wilma Clark suggested course in technical writing

Erna Kelly added to technical writing, minor, support elements, off-campus

+Progressive Women

The English Department at UW- Eau Claire has had a long history of progressive, game-changing women who go onto become department chairs, deans, etc. They make waves in their communities: creating a Forum for the Chippewa Valley that sponsored renowned, influential people, changing the university’s maternity leave policy, and leading the first study abroad experience! Get to know some of these inspirational women!

+Progressive Women: Hilda Belle Oxby

1888 - 1981 Described as a woman, “constantly in motion” Attended boarding school in Northern Michigan Attended the University of Michigan, Marburg (Germany) in the summer,

Berlin (Germany) in the winter, and Freiburg (Germany) in the spring President Schofield invited Oxby to teach German, Latin, Rhetoric, and

Composition at the opening of the Normal School in 1916 Prior to World War I, German courses were cancelled due to anti-German

feelings Spent 4 summers at the University of Mexico re-learning Spanish via

immersion

+Progressive Women: Hilda Belle Oxby

“The mixture of independence, tolerance, respect for people, and sprightly humor are still evident in their speech and manner of Hilda Belle Oxby. Her vision of herself and of the school and community whose intellectual and cultural life she helped create and foster remains as strong and bright as ever.”

–Page 49, Ellen Last, They Came to Learn, They Came to Teach, They Came to Stay (1980).

+Progressive Women:Hilda Belle Oxby In 1925 Oxby attended Columbia

University for graduate study in political science and international relations

From 1927-1932 Oxby participated in the Institute of Politics at Williams College, eventually becoming one of the few women accepted as a Full Member

During the 1930s, Oxby travelled through Germany twice, watching the rise of Nazism and speaking to anti-fascist intellectuals who were forced into silence

In 1942 Oxby and President Davies found the Chippewa Valley Forum, one of the lungest running lecture series of its kind in the country, which had a long list of high quality speakers: scientists, artists, journalists, politicians, and writers.

Oxby retired from teaching in 1953.

+Progressive Women: Hilda Belle Oxby

“The force of her presence was felt by every person whose life she touched, including Presidents Schofield and Davies, of whom she remarks, ‘I used to stand up to them. I never felt I was working under them. I was working with them.’ When she suggested to President Davies that the typical three-to-one ratio of men to women on many faculty committees was unbalanced, he replied that if the one woman was Hilda Belle Oxby, it was the men who were outweighed.”

–Page 51, Ellen Last, They Came to Learn, They Came to Teach, They Came to Stay (1980).

+Progressive Women: Hilda Belle Oxby“At a student dance in the gym of the Normal School, President Schofield noticed with alarm that some of the young women students had rolled down their stockings. Turning to faculty member Hilda Belle Oxby, he asked her to reprimand the students for their shocking behavior and to request that they roll up their hose. Her bright eyes sparkling, she replied that she would be happy to do so, ‘as soon as he walked over to some of the women teachers dressed in similar style and di the same…He didn’t and neither did [she].’”

–Page 49, Ellen Last, They Came to Learn, They Came to Teach, They Came to Stay (1980)

+Progressive Women: Hilda Belle Oxby

“Your example counts for more than what you do in the classroom….You inspire good students to work to

capacity.”

-Hilda Belle Oxby, 1977

+The Forum Committee of 1967

Seated: Nina Macheel, Dr. W. C. Puttmann, Mrs. Estelle Fletcher, Professor Grace Walsh,Dr. Robert Fossland. Standing: Richard Steinke, Mrs. Winifred German, Johannes Dahle.

+Progressive Women: Sarah Harder, Pioneer of Women’s Studies

“I was always way too outspoken and could be

counted on to say or do…sort of always the wrong thing at

the wrong time.”

–Sarah Harder, 2009 Vision 2013

+Progressive Women:Sarah Harder Born on September 9, 1937 in

Chicago, Illinois Attended the University of Iowa

in 1976 and UW-La Crosse with double majors in English and History in 1963

In 1966 Harder finished her Masters in English at Bowling Green State University

Served as the National Women’s Conference Committee-Co-Chair

Participated on the National

Peace Foundation board of directors

Helped establish the Women’s Studies program at UWEC

Helped found the “Choices and Challenges Program” which helped young girls shadow career women who were challenging the traditional roles of “wife” and “mother”

Made significant contributions to the American Association of University Women

+Progressive Women:Sarah Harder

“When Harder was just two years old her Aunt Lucile came for a visit. When she arrived two-year-old Harder was in her room with the door shut screaming at the top of her lungs. After some time her Aunt asked her father, ‘Aren’t you scared you are going to break her spirit?’ To which he replied matter-of-factly, ‘No, but she sure is likely to break ours.’”

-p. 3, Maci Korb, Vision (2009)

+Progressive Women: Sarah Harder“In 1971, …while pregnant with her fourth child, Harder requested two weeks’ sick leave for the birth. The request was denied, as pregnancy was not accepted within the UW System sick leave policy. Harder contacted acting UWEC chancellor to challenge this ruling but was still denied sick leave for childbirth. She and her husband decided to appeal that policy to the UW System. The issue dragged on…and she decided to take matters into her own hands. She went to the acting Chancellor again and said, ‘I just want you to know that if nothing changes before I go into the hospital, I will be calling the local press and will be returned by ambulance to my classroom with the press corps on my heels.’ Harder recalls that things suddenly changed after this encounter, and it was not long until the UW System’s entire maternity leave policy changed.”

-p. 4, Maci Korb, Vision (2009)

+Progressive Women:Sarah Harder

“I am convinced that everybody has the capacity to contribute to society, but too often existing barriers just do

not let people get to that point.”

-Sarah Harder, 2009

+Progressive Women: Helen Sampson Donated the Helen X. Sampson Collection of Women’s

Studies in 1978 A founder of the Women in Higher Education Helped found the UW System Office for Women

Equal employment Educational opportunity Affirmative action Institutionalizing the field of Women’s Studies across the

UW System

+Progressive Women: Nadine St. Louis Created the Clara B. Small Scholarship, in

honor of her mother, for non-traditional students in English

In 1972 St. Louis nominated to assistant to the chancellor for affirmative action

Promoted equality and collegial respect for female professors

Eau Claire Poet Laureate First woman chair of the UW-Eau Claire

Faculty Senate Chair of the English Department

+Notable Professors Today

Every English professor here at UW- Eau Claire contributes very meaningfully each and every day, and makes significant contributions to their field, students, and community. But here we would like to honor and celebrate some of our professors who have gone above and beyond, and are currently faculty teaching today.

+Max Garland

Poet Laureate of Wisconsin 1994 Juniper Prize for Poetry, Cleveland

State University Poetry Center Open Competition for 2006 National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship, Tara Award for Short

Fiction, James Michener Fiction Fellowship, Wisconsin Institue for Creative Writing Poetry Fellowship, two WI Arts Board Literary Fellowships, and many more

“[Wants to] reach out to those who may feel alienated from the world of poetry,” specifically by “promoting the connection between poetry and place, and urging young, as well as young-at-heart writers, to write of the places they know and explore their relationships with those places in poetry.”- Max Garland

+Osonye Tess Onwueme

Born in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, Nigeria on September 8, 1955

She moved to the States with 5 children

International Playwright Awarded the Distinguished

Professor of Cultural Diversity and English title

In 2010 Onwueme became the Professor of Global Letters

+Cathy Rex

Earned her Ph.D. in early American

literature from Auburn University Director of Undergraduate Studies Received the University and Creative Activity Grant

(2011), Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellowship (2010), Duyfhuizen Professorship Award (2009), and many more

Member of the Composition Committee and affiliate of the Women’s Studies Program

+Stephanie Turner

Received her Ph.D. in American

Studies from Purdue University Program Director of Internships Chair for the Society for Literature, Science, and the

Arts Conference (2007-2000) Received Chester E. Eisinger Prize in American Studies,

Purdue research Foundation Grant, Kneale Award for Literary Criticism, and many more

+Audrey Fessler

Program Director of Graduate Studies Received her Ph. D. in English Literature from the

University of Michigan Holds dual positions in the English and Women’s

Studies departments Held the 9th annual International Poetry Reading, and

received an award for excellence for multicultural participation by an United Nations Ambassador

+Alan Benson

Director for the Center of

Writing Excellence Received his Ph.D. in English, Rhetoric

and Composition from the University of North Carolina Received the Hayes Fellowship (2006) The Development Editor for The Writing Lab

Newsletter, a “forum that promotes the exchange of voices and ideas in one-to-one teaching of writing”

+A Big Thank You From the English Department to You!