Creative Nonfiction Hiring Presentations Begin Today
 
Students and faculty are invited to take part in any or all of the public events that are part of the selection process to choose a new creative nonfiction professor for our department. The final four candidates for this tenure-track position will be on campus today (Randon Noble); next Monday, March 4 (Daisy Hernández); next Wednesday, March 6 (Robin McCrary); and the following Monday, March 11 (Heather Lanier). The schedule for each day will be identical: A teaching presentation with Q&A: 9:15-10:00 a.m., 260 Victoria, Room 200; a students-only Q&A meeting: 10:00-10:30 a.m., 260 Victoria, Room 504; and a creative reading with Q&A: 3:30-4:45 p.m., 260 Victoria, Room 200. Please take this opportunity to meet these four talented individuals and give them an enthusiastic Prof welcome to our campus. Feel free to contact Ron Block for more details.
 
Details for Sanchez Campus Visit Coming Together
 
Just a few finishing touches remain to finalize the late March visit to Rowan by filmmaker James Chase Sanchez, co-producer of the celebrated documentary “Man on Fire.” The events – sponsored by the College of Communication and Creative Arts and one or more other campus organizations – will start with a screening and discussion of the film on the evening of Thursday, March 28 from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. in Bozorth Hall’s King Auditorium, and will wrap up the following morning, Friday, March 29, with a workshop on “Critical Race Pedagogies” from 8:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. in Room 104 of Business Hall. “Man on Fire” has been featured in nearly a dozen international film festivals and tells the story of elderly white minister Charles Moore and his self-immolation to protest the extreme racism in his – and Sanchez’ – hometown of Grand Saline, Texas. (Click here to watch the “Man on Fire” trailer.) Sanchez is an assistant professor of writing at Vermont’s Middlebury College; he received his Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition from Texas Christian University and both his M.A. in English and B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Tyler.
 
Nine Speakers, One Full Day of Experiential Storytelling
 
There’s a bounty of professional development riches on campus the last week of March as the Experiential Storytelling Conference 2019 takes over the Rowan Art Gallery from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, March 29. Nine speakers from academia, the arts, the media, and the financial world will share their stories of conquering challenges, bridging boundaries, and conceiving groundbreaking concepts and ideas. Sponsored by the College of Communication and Creative Arts – the storytellers of Rowan University – the conference features such varied presenters as Jane Golden, Executive Director of the City of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program; Ellen Lupton, Curator of Contemporary Design at New York City’s Cooper Hewitt/Smithsonian Design Museum; and, representing Rowan, our President Ali Houshmand, Dean Ken Lacovara, and alumni/philanthropists Ric and Jean Edelman. Click here to learn more about and to RSVP for this one-of-a-kind event.
 
Learn Resume Writing from Three Knowledgeable Pros
 
Three of our Writing Arts faculty colleagues – Grace Fillenwarth, Amy Reed, and Jen Tole – will hold a resume writing workshop for students on Wednesday, March 6, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. in Room 200 of The Vic. We all know the importance to our students of a professional-looking, information-packed, attention-grabbing resume; it can mean the difference between making it through that initial vetting filter and getting to that final set of interviews. Grace, Amy, and Jen will be sharing their experience in business, professional, and technical writing – and in resume crafting – with students looking for that career-building edge. Please have your students contact Grace for more details on this valuable seminar.
 
Spring Is Coming; So Is the Spring ’19 Glassworks Issue
 
Local authors and writing instructors Jeffrey Markovitz and Joe Costal will be reading at the launch event for the Spring 2019/Issue 18 of Glassworks on Thursday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the Rowan Art Gallery. Costal, who teaches at Stockton University in Galloway Township and at Oakcrest High School in Hamilton Township (both in Atlantic County) will be reading from his fiction piece “Puncher, America and Fake-Ass Jordans” that appears in the new issue. Markovitz, Assistant Professor of English at the Community College of Philadelphia and director of CCP’s Creative Writing Certificate Program, will read from one of his current works; his fiction piece “Threads” was published inGlassworks Issue 10 in Fall 2015. The launch event also will feature readings from the new issue by the spring semester interns of Glassworks, the literary journal published by our Master of Arts in Writing program. Beverages and light snacks will be available. Contact Managing Editor Anthony Palma for more details.
 
Needed: Feedback on Some Upcoming Social Events
 
As we round the quarter-pole of the spring semester, plans are being formulated for several Rowan Writing Arts activities, and Events Update is looking for some feedback to help ensure we are working on what you want. Current thoughts include a March Quizzo Night at P.J. Whelihan’s in Westmont (remember, we were in a three-way tie for first after regulation at our initial Quizzo last summer; we finished second after a bonus question); an April escape room night on Rowan Boulevard; and a May end-of-the-school-year celebration at The Landmark, or Chickie’s and Pete’s, or . . . any suggestions? As it’s just 79 days to CCCA graduation, our thoughts for the summer are another Rowan Writing Arts Night at the Phillies and, possibly, a Writing Arts (or CCCA-wide) golf outing. Please send me your thoughts on any of these ideas or some other suggestions. Thank you!
 
Finally, . . .
 
Please join Events Update in sending congratulations and best wishes to our new Writing Arts Department chair Drew Kopp. With his experience as our Coordinator of Undergraduate Programs, his work with the Writing Arts interns, and his numerous other academic service and professional development projects, we know Drew will provide our majors and all of Rowan’s writing students with varied growth opportunities and myriad career choices. This is, of course, a transition from one excellent chair to another as we want to add our thank you to our current chair Jenn Courtney. Your guidance and leadership, Jenn, during this period of growth for Writing Arts – tenure-track and Lecturer hires, the TEP program, and all the new minors, CUGS, and COGS – have perfectly positioned us to continue our role as one of Rowan’s leading academic departments.
 
Do you have a new publication, a reading, or any other event of interest coming up? Please let me know so I can let all our colleagues know in the weekly Rowan Writing Arts Events Update newsletter. Stop by my Victoria 521 office or email me at [email protected] to give me the 4-1-1.
 
 
Stephen A. Royek
Lecturer, Writing Arts
Rowan University
Chair, Faculty Senate Awards Committee
     Victoria Hall, Room 521
     Phone: 856-906-4755
     Email: [email protected] 

​Pack A Sandwich, The FYW Brown Bag Series Is Back
 
Soup, celery sticks, and yogurt also are acceptable choices for the initial First Year Writing Professional Development Brown Bag series of the Spring 2019 semester. The term’s first topic will be “Reading and Responding to Student Writing: Theories and Methods” and there will be two discussion groups this week: Wednesday the 13that 2 p.m. and Friday the 15th at 11 a.m., both in the 4th Floor Conference Room (422). The three readings being analyzed – from Lil Brannon and C.H. Knoblauch, John Bean, and Anthony Eddington – are available on Google Drive. The discussions will center on how to give students greater power over their words and help them foster productive revision skills. Colleagues are encouraged to attend even if they have not finished digesting all three readings. Contact Ted Howell with any questions or for more information.
 
CUGS In Sustainability Communications to Launch This Fall
 
The Certificate of Undergraduate Studies (CUGS) Writing for the Environment – shared by the Department of Writing Arts and the Department of Geography, Planning, and Sustainability – will be on the Rowan University course selection list for the 2019-2020 academic year. This new CUGS was jointly created by our own Ted Howell, Faculty Fellow for Cultivating the Environmental Humanities, and Kenneth Lacovara, Founding Dean of the School of Earth and Environment. The program, Ted said, “offers to students the opportunity to combine knowledge about and advocacy for environmental issues with the reading, writing, and communication skills necessary for success in a variety of academic fields and professional careers.” To receive a Writing for the Environment certificate, students will take two Geography, Planning, and Sustainability courses (“Human Nature: Introduction to Environmental & Sustainability Studies, Environmental Advocacy) and two of three Writing Arts courses (Intro to Technical Writing, Scientific Writing and Rhetoric, Writing for Nonprofits). Ted will gladly provide any additional details you might like about this exciting new program.
 
Some Upcoming Events for Your Writing Arts Calendar
 
n  With the change of seasons next month comes the launch of the Spring 2019 (Issue 18) of Glassworks, the literary journal published twice a year by the Master of Arts in Writing program. Plan to spend a few hours on the evening of Thursday, March 7, starting at 6:30 p.m., to hear readings from the issue presented by some of the featured authors and by Glassworks student editors. Events Update will have more information as the date draws closer. Glassworks Managing Editor Anthony Palma also can answer any questions you might have.
n  On the following Tuesday, March 12, the initial College of Communication and Creative Arts Career Expo and Student Showcase will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Chamberlain Student Center Eynon Ballroom. Not to be confused with the Saturday, May 4 CCCA Student Awards and Showcase, the Career Expo and Showcase will feature local, regional, and national employers offering jobs and internships. Student projects also will be on display. Contact Laura Kincaid for more information.
n  Details are being finalized for the two-day campus event – Thursday, March 28 and Friday, March 29 – featuring James Chase Sanchez, co-producer of the powerful documentary “Man on Fire.” The film – featured in nine international festivals – looks at small-town racism and the ultimate sacrifice one man made to bring this horrific issue to light. A screening of “Man on Fire,” a workshop, and other activities are planned; stay tuned for more details.
 
Dean’s Fellow to Teach at Camden Community Workshop
 
Our Writing Arts Dean’s Fellow Jade Jones will be teaching a one-day class on “Crafting Empathetic Characters” on Saturday, March 2, at the Cooper Street Workshop in Camden from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jade, who did her undergraduate work at Princeton University and received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop, will be focusing on how, as she describes in her course description, characters “introduce the reader to the worlds we’ve built and can set the tone, direction, and momentum of a novel or short story.” Click here to learn more and to register to attend, or email Jade with any specific questions.
 
Finally, . . .
 
A big Events Update thumbs up and congratulations to colleagues Amy Reed and Ron Block who have earned sabbatical releases starting in the Fall 2019 semester. Amy will be out for the full academic year while Ron returns for the Spring 2020 term. Nice work, Amy and Ron!
 
Do you have a new publication, a reading, or any other event of interest coming up? Please let me know so I can let all our colleagues know in the weekly Rowan Writing Arts Events Update newsletter. Stop by my Victoria 521 office or email me at [email protected] to give me the 4-1-1.
 
Access Events Update online by clicking here.
 
Stephen A. Royek
Lecturer, Writing Arts
Rowan University
Chair, Faculty Senate Awards Committee
     Victoria Hall, Room 521
     Phone: 856-906-4755
     Email: [email protected]