Clubs, Colloquia, and Workshop News Fall 2025

Creative Writing Program

In March, Professor Chigozie Obioma hosted his first Helen S. Lanier Poet, Kenzie Allen at a packed-out Cine. After a moving reading from her debut poetry collection "Cloud Missives," Kenzie sat down with Professor LeAnne Howe to discuss the intersection of indigenous identity, creativity, and art. The CWP graduate students kept very busy with multiple readings this spring. In March, they welcomed Joy Priest for a poetry reading and reception at Athica where she was introduced by Poet Laureate of Athens, Mikhayla Smith. After reading their work, the audience witnessed an intimate conversation between the two poets. CWP wrapped up the semester with two doses of Sentimental Touring Club, a familiar springtime tradition, curated by CWP graduate students. In April, Daniel Barnum, Maxime Berclaz, Priyadarshini Oshin Gogoi, Nik Moore and Asna Nusrat read upstairs at The Globe and in May, we heard from our graduating students, Dr. Chelsea L. Cobb and Dr. Genevieve Guzmán, at a cozy reading at Athentic Brewery.

The Interdisciplinary Modernisms Research Cluster 

The Interdisciplinary Modernisms Research Cluster (aka the ModSquad), co-directed by Susan Rosenbaum (English), Rielle Navitski (Film), and Nell Andrew (Art History), had a great fall schedule of events.

In late March, Dr. Ro Martini Paula, Assistant Professor of English, organized a workshop with Professor Heather A. Love of the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, titled "Modern(ist) Mothers in/and the Media" centered on Sophie Treadwell's American Expressionist play Machinal (1928). Professor Love also conducted a workshop for graduate students interested in academic conferencing, jointly organized by Dr. Martini Paula and the Jill and Marvin Willis Center for Writing. Additional funding for Dr. Love's visit was provided by the English Department and the Sterling Goodman professorship. In April, Art History Ph.D. student Erin McClenathan organized a workshop with Professor Jonathan Eburne of Pennsylvania State University on his book Exploded Views: Speculative Form and the Labor of Inquiry (University of Minnesota Press, 2025). Next Fall the workshop will coordinate a workshop in partnership with the GMOA for their "Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris 1900-1939" exhibition.

Medieval on my Mind: The Past, Present, and Future of Medieval Manuscripts in the Deep South

On April 4-5, the English Department and Special Collections Library hosted “Medieval on my Mind: The Past, Present, and Future of Medieval Manuscripts in the Deep South”, a two-day conference that combined the regular Symposium on the Book sponsored by the Willson Center with the Georgia Medieval Group’s spring meeting. The conference was funded by a generous award from the Medieval Academy of America’s Centennial Grant scheme. We were treated to plenary addresses by Jessica Brantley (Yale) and Elizabeth Pastan (Emory); a show and tell session that showcased medieval prayer books alongside later artists books inspired by the design of the Book of Hours; and panel sessions featuring short papers from scholars and students from across the state. On Saturday morning the Athens-Clarke County Library hosted us for a community facing Manuscript Roadshow. Several members of the community brought out leaves from medieval books to share with us. Hester Montford of the Brunswick Public Library shared the largest volume, a fifteenth-century Spanish Gradual with its own carrying case that measures roughly 4x3’ when closed! Over the course of two days, we welcomed over fifty people to Park Hall and our other venues, including scholars from institutions across Georgia, visitors from Tennessee and Alabama, undergraduate and graduate students, and members of the Athens community. Professors Camp, Mattison, and Sargan would like to thank the Medieval Academy of America, the Department of English, the Willson Center, and Athens-Clarke County Public Library for their sponsorship. We are grateful to the Willson Center and Special Collections Library for their ongoing partnership on the bi-annual Symposium on the Book.

Postcolonial Collective

The Postcolonial Collective organized three lectures by distinguished speakers. On February 20, Joseph Slaughter, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, gave a lecture titled “Sentimental Adjustment Programs: Empathy as the Emotional Style of Neoliberalism.” Brett Sterling, Associate Professor of German in the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Arkansas delivered a talk entitled “German-African Encounters: Postcolonial Exploration, Examination, and Exchange in German-Language Comics” on March 20. Mark Minett, Associate Professor of Film, University of South Carolina, visited UGA on April 10 to give a lecture, titled “Secret Origin of Superheroes: The Origin Story in Early Superhero Comics and Media.” The Collective is grateful for the ongoing support of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.

Sigma Tau Delta

• Completed a minimum of two college courses in English language or literature beyond the usual requirements in freshman English
• Completed at least three semesters or five quarters of college course work
• At least a 3.0 GPA

Undergraduate English Association