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Speaking at the inaugural conference of the Modernist Studies Association held at Penn State in October, President Graham Spanier stressed the impact higher education can make in promoting the nation’s cultural development: “In this era of attention to the important role of our nation’s research universities in economic development, we must never forget that places like our universities also exist to foster that which cannot be measured in dollars and cents. The humanities and the fine and performing arts at our institutions foster the spiritual, enhance understanding of our heritage and develop an appreciation of literature, music and the visual arts. They give life direction and meaning beyond the strictly economic. This is a very important part of our mission,” Spanier said.
Dr. Susan Welch, dean of the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State, agreed. “The humanities will always be at the heart of the educational enterprise,” she said. According to Welch, a recent growth in resources for the humanities at Penn State has led to strengthened support for graduate departments and an effort to hire both young and energetic junior faculty as well as more senior faculty and to promote important interdisciplinary work among departments.
“I can’t imagine a university without discourse about literature, art and the human condition,” Spanier commented, particularly praising the role of Penn State’s academic conferences in extending that discussion to “a community of scholars from across the nation.”
In fact, conferences like New Modernisms: The Inaugural Conference of the Modernist Studies Association have done more than merely extend existing discussions; they have established new scholarly communities and pointed to new directions in teaching, research and service based in literature and other artistic expressions of our society.
Speaking of recent outreach in modernism, Dr. Don H. Bialostosky, department head and professor of English, said, “We’re proud to have had our faculty play a major role in founding the Modernist Studies Association and organizing its inaugural conference. The energy and initiative of our Modernist faculty have brought a stellar group of scholars to Penn State and placed us at the center of this field’s reconfiguration. Outreach like this to specialized academic communities remains absolutely central to our department’s success.”
With a number of outreach programs ranging from work in language and literacy to alumni continuing education in the arts, Penn State’s disciplines in the arts and humanities have made a commitment to integrating teaching, research and service by applying their expertise to a variety of community needs.
Below are some highlights of the outreach initiatives of Department of English faculty:
 | Now in its 17th offering, the Penn State Conference on Rhetoric and Composition draws scholars and professors from around the country to discuss current issues in the field. The 1999 conference addressed the theme of Rhetorical Education in America and has led to publications and significant changes in classroom strategies. Dr. Cheryl Glenn, associate professor of English, and Dr. Margaret M. Lyday, associate professor of English and women’s studies, chaired the conference. As a result of the conference, Glenn plans to offer a graduate seminar to address many of the same issues. |
| Lyday also conducts outreach research to develop programs for teachers of bilingual students. Her work is supported by a four-year grant from the Dewitt Foundation. |
| Three Penn State campuses participate in the National Writing Project, a collaborative effort between universities and schools to improve writing education nationwide. Through the Lehigh Valley, Capital Area and Central Pennsylvania Writing Projects, teachers and professors share expertise to enrich area writing programs. The projects provide a variety of opportunities for continuing professional education through teacher inservice and other workshops and also summer writing camps for children. |
| Department of English faculty have responded to the growing demand for flexible scheduling by offering core courses in composition to students at a distance. Current distance education courses include Rhetoric and Composition, Effective Writing in the Social Sciences, Effective Writing: Business Writing and Basic Writing Skills. The department has further plans to offer Technical Writing courses to distant students through the Penn State World Campus. |
| First held in 1998, the Department of English has sponsored two Mount Nittany Writers Conferences in response to requests from alumni. The conferences offered continuing education for alumni and other participants through writing and publishing workshops led by authors and faculty. |
| Study abroad is an important element of Department of English course offerings. The Drama in Britain program, for example, provides students with formal courses in literature and drama and lets them experience live theatre productions by leading acting companies in London and Stratford-upon-Avon. Sponsored by the departments of English and Theatre Arts and administered through Continuing Education, the program attracts undergraduate, graduate and nondegree students. |
| In January, Dr. Elaine Richardson, assistant professor of English, organized Centre County’s first African-American Read-in, part of a national program to encourage literacy and the reading of African-American literature by calling on people around the world to read African-American literature during Black History Month. Nearly 200 Penn State students, faculty and State College, Pa., residents attended. The program included a reading by prize-winning author Ishmael Reed and an awards presentation for local middle school writers. Program sponsors included 14 Penn State departments, units and organizations, as well as external partners in AT&T Leadership, State College area schools and local bookstores. |
| The English Department offers a number of scholarly conferences, both interdisciplinary and within the field, designed to promote and stimulate research, inspire teaching and advance faculty and scholars in attendance and the students and communities they serve. The stories of many of the past year’s conferences sponsored by the Department of English appear in this issue of Penn State Outreach (please see Poe’s Death, Against All Odds, and The Second Sex). |
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