Our 2009-2010 news and events will be on the new website. Meanwhile, please note the groups and projects links to the right!

We checked in with the graduate students who help to organize working groups, reading series, and other events, to get the latest updates on the widely diverse and interdisciplinary life of the English Department community.  We also asked them what’s it like to organize major department events.

Astrid Guigni helped put together the Ordinary Language Philosophy symposium in the fall.
> What is “ordinary language philosophy?” What is the working group all about?
A: Ordinary language philosophy can be seen as grounding philosophical investigations in the ordinary, everyday use of language…. For instance, instead of asking, “What is the ordinary?”, we would want to investigate how the word ordinary is actually used–”they are ordinary people,” “this is nothing out of the ordinary,” and so on.  The OLP working group has been reading the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Stanley Cavell, and J. L. Austin. This year, we focused on Wittgenstein’s “Philosophical Investigations,” and devoted three two-days workshops to reading the “Investigations” remark by remark.

> Who attends, in general?
A: The participants are mostly professors and graduate students from throughout the humanities at Duke, but the workshops have also stimulated interest from scholars at UNC-Chapel Hill, and from the wider community.

> What were the seminars with Richard Fleming like?
A: In each of the three seminars, Professor Fleming led the group in a close reading of the “Philosophical Investigations.”   Given the variety of backgrounds of the participants, the discussion ranged from philosophy, to literary criticism, to theology, and to political science.

> Highlights that stood out?
During one of the seminars, we discussed whether a disappearing chair [remark 80, from the "Investigations"] could be classified as a chair. Wittgenstein asks us to imagine a chair that is in the room one moment and disappears the next. To help us in this thought experiment, Professor Fleming mimed for us what would be like to encounter such a fickle piece of furniture.

Kris Weberg organized the Political Theory Working Group’s symposium this spring.  Like OLP, it attracts people from a wide range of fields.
K:  The [Political Theory] Working Group exists to facilitate conversation about political philosophy across departmental lines, so we try to achieve as much disciplinary diversity in faculty and student participants in our meetings as possible.  A typical meeting will have students and professors from English, Political Science, Literature, and often students in fields like Religion and Cultural Anthropology. We’ve even had some people from Economics and Law show up at either the meetings or the symposium.
Weberg describes the meetings as an “open environment” for discussion: “Because the talks and the meetings aren’t rigidly structured, the critical conversations that result can take in differing approaches and methods of considering many of the major works of political philosophy and theory.”

Erica Fretwell helps organize the Americanist Speaker Series.
>How would you describe what it’s all about?
E:  The Americanist Speaker Series aims to develop a local community of scholars who are interested in interrogating “Americanist” studies within and across disciplinary, methodological and geographic lines.

>Who attends? What is a typical meeting like?
E:  We are fortunate to have an eclectic mix of attendees and participants, with grad students, professors, and post-docs from UNC, NC State and Duke English departments constituting the group itself.  Our meetings have featured ‘out-of-towners’ who are researching at the National Humanities Center (such as Ellen Garvey), poets and novelists (Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Randall Keenan), and instructors from East Carolina University, Wake Forest, and UNC (Mikko Tuhkanen, Jennifer Ho).

>Highlights that stood out – particular speakers that interested you, or great discussions?
E:  All our speakers have provided us with new approaches to studying American literature and culture. Recently, Bruce Barnhart spoke about the vibratory resonances between Kamau Brathwaite’s poetry and Coleman Hawkins’ jazz performances, which I think spoke to the interests of many people in the department.

>  How did you get involved as an organizer? What are the pros and cons of doing that kind of work?
A:  I became involved by attending the working group’s meetings during its first year. Helping to organize the group is time consuming, but very useful. I have learned how to organize the details of an invited speaker’s visit, what issues are involved in funding a series of workshops, and how to put together a press release.

K:  It’s interesting work, and quite useful given the nature of university work more generally. I’ve essentially learned how to put together a conference in my three years as the Working Group’s administrative assistant… Reserving rooms, arranging travel for speakers, keeping track of scheduled events and colleagues’ and professors’ schedules, how to anticipate and create turnout — really, the sorts of talents anyone going into the profession will find themselves using the rest of their careers.

E:  In my first few years at Duke, I always enjoyed attending the Speaker Series; and so I was happy to organize it when the opportunity arose last year. The best part of organizing the series is getting to meet and converse with the speakers themselves. It is infinitely helpful and inspirational to see what other people are doing within the field, how they have come to do the work they do, and how they go about doing that work. Researching and writing can be so isolating at times, and the Speaker Series really throws into relief the fact that all our work is, at heart, conversational.

We have nothing but admiration for the newly formed English Majors’ Union, a very welcome addition to the intellectual community of the English Department. EMU president Cynthia Chen (’10) decided to take the initiative in forming a majors’ union because, as she says, the Student Government had been “working hard to jumpstart Majors’ Unions at Duke…. I thought it was something that could be highly valuable to the English community.” The goal of the English Majors’ Union is to be a liaison between the undergraduates and other English groups at Duke (faculty, graduates, etc.).

Her enthusiasm has been contagious, and although she agrees it’s challenging to get people involved in new things and “figure out something that hasn’t been done before,” a core group of members quickly formed and the first EMU events have been very successful. In spite of a rainstorm, the spring mixer drew a cheerful group, and just before spring break, the Majors’ Union organized a peer advising meeting for students interested in writing an honors thesis.    “I think it was an amazing way for students to informally discuss the experiences of writing a thesis. There were students who had completed theses, students currently in the process, and students thinking about applying; there were both creative and critical thesis writers present, as well. It was an excellent way, I think, for students to ask the bolder questions that they might not be willing to pose to a professor in a more formal setting. The session really showed the potential for student advising within the English community and I hope it is only the beginning of many more opportunities to do so.”

In EMU’s first weeks, the members jumped in with both feet to help organize groups of undergraduates to meet with job search candidates. Although it’s not part of the formal hiring process, the students’ engagement and interest in possible future faculty was inspiring. Other early steps involved drafting a constitution and applying for funding from DUU. Even in these more pedestrian tasks the members showed their true colors: ambitious, sincere, articulate, creative and well organized. (But who would be surprised? They’re English Majors!)

Future plans and goals?

Chen hopes EMU will grow to be recognized as a “representative body to the department and university regarding curriculum, teaching space, which English speakers to bring to Duke, etc. It would also be great to see us as an instrumental part of the peer advising network.”   Along those lines, they held a registration info session, “aimed at advising students on which courses to take, providing students with insider information from those who have taken classes before, favorite professors,” etc. They’re also planning a spring social event, hoping to invite graduate students and faculty as well. “We are also thinking about a “students’ choice” award for professors,” Chen said.   “I hope that the EMU will grow into a support network for undergraduates and an influential organization for policy and events at Duke.”

They’re certainly off to a good start!

Howard Norman was the Blackburn Visiting Fiction Writer during the week of Feb. 15-21. Norman gave a public reading Thursday Feb. 19th in the Rare Book Room, in which he read from a new (unpublished) work.  He also visited creative writing and literature classes, and held a Master Class on Friday.   In his introduction to the reading, Prof. Michael Moses said:   “I know of no other world like that which Howard Norman’s characters inhabit. The light is different. The shadows seem longer and are not always entirely dependent upon the bodies that cast them. The conversational idiom is loaded with menace and epiphantic possibility. It is a world of weird beauty, sudden violence, erotic complication and mordant humor. It is a place where nature dwells.”   Prof. Moses described Howard Norman as “a fabulous conversationalist, a warm and fascinating person, and a magical storyteller.” Norman is the recipient of many awards and honors, including a Lannan Award in fiction, three fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Ingram Merrill Fellowship, a Whiting Writers Award, and a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.  Howard Norman is currently Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Duke News article

Chronicle article

A recording of a selection of the reading will be posted as soon as possible.

What happens when poets form a committee to organize a conference for other poets? Metaphorical herds of cats come to mind, at the least. But in the end the event itself was a dream come true. The faculty and graduate students who organized this year’s poetry working group imagined a “dream team” of poets they wished they could bring, and then to everyone’s amazed delight, the dream team all said yes.

The poetry working group’s planning committee had a busy and exciting year planned already, sponsoring the Minor American reading series, which brought in two or three poets each month for readings, as well as holding regular working group meetings.

The committee (Prof. Fred Moten, Prof. Priscilla Wald, and graduate students Keith Jones, Tony Tost, and Magdalena Zurawski) spent over a year planning a dynamic collection of poets to be the readers and “curators” at an event that was truly more a festival than a conference. Speakers included Cecil Taylor, Renee Gladman, Myung Mi Kim, Cecilia Vicuña, Brent Edwards, Susan Howe, Eileen Myles, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Christian Bök, Tracie Morris, and Jed Rasula. Local poets joined the mix to hold poetry workshops Friday morning for undergraduates.

Links to recordings of the event will be posted as soon as it’s possible!

INDY article

This Month at Duke article

The English Department celebrated the semester’s end with a poetry reading by Paul Muldoon, “the most significant English-language poet born since the second World War” (Times Literary Supplement). Prof. Michael Moses, introducing the event, described his first encounter with Muldoon’s poetry with a quote from Meeting the British:
“We met the British in the dead of winter.
The shy was lavender
And the snow lavender blue…
“They gave is six fishhooks
and two blankets embroidered with smallpox.”
For me, at least, the encounter with Muldoon did not prove fatal, but my blood still rages with the contagion with which he infected me that day.”

Audience members — packed into the Rare Book Room like sardines — were completely captivated. Muldoon’s gentle manner and quiet good humor created a feeling of peaceful relaxation, leaving listeners open and vulnerable to the sparkle and lightening flash of his poetry.

Moses described Muldoon’s work as “difficult, arcane, densely allusive, and characterized by a Joycean playfulness and complexity….
“Be forewarned, Muldoon is a wizard. Once he casts his spell on you, you are bound for life.”

The remarkably diverse audience (from undergraduate students to administrators and alumni; dedicated Muldoon fans and new converts) returned that evening for another treat: Muldoon performed again, this time with the band Rackett. Local favorites Veronique Diabolique opened the show at the Duke Coffeehouse, a funky, wacky, hip little venue on East Campus. Rackett followed with a rockin’ line up of marvelously poetic pop.

“The two events let anyone attending both think about the music within poetry … and how contemporary rock music is strengthened through language so rich,” said English department chair Ian Baucom.

(Read more here.)

When I picked her up in our first date
Jenny’s dad came to the gate
He said I wrote the book
On the scenic overlook
Where you stop to view the Alleghenies
Remember that sunsets rarely come cheap
You may just sow what you reap
When you’re riding in the Jeep
Riding in the Jeep
Riding in the Jeep with Jenny
– Saab with Sandi

I’ll be McCartney to your Lennnon
Lenin to your Marx
Jerry to your Ben &
Lewis to your Clark
…
I’ll be at Ticonderoga
I’ll be there for you at yoga
I’ll be your sideman, baby,
I’ll be by your side
– Sideman