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title: "Signatures: May 2025"
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| View in browser  June/July 2025 Department of English Newsletter Featured News The UNO English Department Honors Student and Faculty Achievements at 18th Annual English Honoring Ceremony At the Honoring Ceremony in May, the department recognized the academic, creative and professional achievements of students, faculty and staff over the past academic year. The event brought together graduating seniors, master’s candidates, award recipients and their supporters to celebrate a thriving community of scholars and writers. Upcoming Events RSVP Spotlights Alumni Spotlight: Hannah Vogltanz English alumni of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) are drawn to the program for diverse reasons—a love for storytelling, a passion for the descriptive power of poetry, or a fascination with the historical and logical underpinnings of rhetoric, to name a few. For Hannah Vogltanz, the story began with a love for English grammar and structure. Faculty Spotlight: Melanie Seitzer For Melanie Seitzer, a lecturer in the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO) Department of English and the associate director of the university’s Writing Center, the path into academia was one that revealed itself gradually—through curiosity, experience and the guidance of remarkable mentors. Student Spotlight: Christina Delray For Christina Delray, a graduate student and instructor of record in the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO) Department of English, learning has never been confined to a classroom. Dual Enrollment Educator Spotlight: Jennifer Hadley For Jennifer Hadley, an English teacher at Elkhorn High School and Member of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO) dual enrollment program, education isn’t just a career, it’s a family tradition.  What Are You Reading? Percival Everett’s novel, James, is an electrifying adaptation of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The most compelling aspect of the novel is the eponymous protagonist’s first-person narration that draws readers into a story that they think they know and surprises them with a powerfully subversive retelling. In Everett’s book, code switching becomes a means by which people of color and enslaved people hide their intelligence and perform diminished selves that appear non-threatening to their slave-owning masters and overseers in Missouri and other parts of the South. When Twain’s “Jim” finally becomes Everett’s James, he speaks with a knowledgeable eloquence that frightens people much more than the gun in his hands. While I really enjoyed this intelligent novel, my critique of the novel rests in its use of standard English as a means of claiming equality and liberty; using standardized speech as a marker limits how we understand agency, intelligence, and humanity. James carves out a space for himself through speech (standard English) that is legible, familiar, and demonstrative of liberal education, but does that reimpose certain rather exclusive ways of understanding personhood? I’m still thinking through these questions. If you see me in the hallway, let me know what you think!                                                              -- Dr. Tanushree Ghosh, Department Chair Give to the UNO English Department Fund for Excellence Learn More The University of Nebraska does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation in its education programs or activities, including admissions and employment. The University prohibits any form of retaliation taken against anyone for reporting discrimination, harassment, or retaliation for otherwise engaging in protected activity. Read the full statement. University of Nebraska Omaha, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182, United States, 402.554.2800 Manage preferences |
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