We had a super-fun time playing softball last Friday - so let's play again this Friday.

I get the impression that there's a lot going on this Friday. If you'd like to play softball, please email me at fall0081@umn.edu. I'll email everyone Thursday night to confirm.

Remember: there will be beer, and you don't have to play softball to come hang out and drink it!

Sheena

Agenda:
1. Constitution (require 20 for quorum?)
2. Committee Seats to be filled
3. GSO blog/LISTSERV issues
4. Paper Usage in the department
5. Town Hall Mtg ideas

1. Constitution - discovered this is not an issue; 4 individuals required for quorum.

2. Committee - All 8 spots are filled (Undergrad: Will, Kevin, Nick, Heather; Grad: Jo, Moritz, Wes, Sara; COGS: Deanna)

3. GSO Blog/LISTSERV - There have been some concerns with getting all students' email addresses added to the general GSO Listserv and blog. This problem should be fixed to ease the use of future announcements (you will not have to write on the blog and email out, but may simply send from the listserv).

4. Paper usage - a recurring issue within the department, the use of funds for paper/printing was addressed. Ideas were raised about printers with double-sided printing capabilities. Also, the possibility of having the copier networked again with the computers so that printing may be done double-sided (contact Luke).

5. Town Hall Meeting - per the new DGS's request, there will be a town hall meeting in the near future. Some issues suggested that might be raised at such a meeting:
- Teaching trajectory, perhaps grad student presence on the committee that selects teaching assignments;
- Curriculum originally on the quarter system being properly transferred to present semester system. Elissa raises the issue that the course requirements need to be rethought in terms of the semester system Also, discussions arose concerning requirements for MA/non-MA holders in the doctoral track (and these might differ); and future thoughts on ENGL 5001.
- Chair discussions still ongoing; should there be a new search, might graduate students be involved?
- Recruitment - question the length (is 3 full days necessary?); organization of the orientation (tour? intros?)

Additionally, the GSO suggested future thoughts on social events/possible funded happy hours on Fridays (?). There will also be a departmental t-shirt design. Stay tuned for more details.

To post to the blog follow the instructions here Posting to the English GSO Blog.pdf. Happy blogging!

I realize the meeting theoretically runs right up to softball's start time, so we'll start with the most pressing business first--gathering seven volunteers to sit in on faculty meetings and on the grad/undergrad committees. (Yes, that means one team player has already volunteered. Thanks, Nick Hengen.) We're also grateful to Lindsay Craig for agreeing to sit on the grievance committee this year. That means he's your go-to guy for complaints about unfair treatment, and he's fired up about it.

So come if you can. 4:00. Lind 203. Grain Belt and oatmeal cookies.

***

When:
Friday, Sept 18.
4:30 batting practice / small talk / gratuitous spitting in dirt / beer run.
5pm first pitch.

Where:
Bierman Softball Fields (take 15th Ave through Dinkytown, right on 8th St
(just this side of the tracks), and fields will be a ways down on the
right). Call 646-522-2497 with questions, or if you're lost.

The impetus for the latter was in thinking about how some graduate students may not go into research-oriented academic careers, and how some tweaks to the usual individualized path to degree might help prepare them better for a nonprofit, community college, or business career--opportunities such as professor/class engaged research projects, team dissertations, alternative format theses, etc. One of our PhD alums, Gil Creel, teaches at MCTC; he has agreed to talk about his alternative career path focusing on the local and on community college pedagogy.

In any case, we'd like to invite to the panel 2 or 3 current graduate students with some knowledge of public engagement and ideas about what graduate education could better do to prepare students for careers that may not be research/discipline-oriented. You'll get the ear of a University Associate Vice President charged with advancing public engagement. And of course we'd love many more graduate students to attend with their own ideas, questions, and concerns. Please email Terri Sutton at sutt0063@umn.edu if you'd like to participate on the panel. . . . All eNow!s take place at 2:30 pm in Lind 207A, with dessert and drinks.

Hello, grad students!

I hope your first week went well and that you're steeled to dive into this one. When it's over--i.e., at 4:00 on Friday, Sept. 18--please consider coming to this year's kickoff Graduate Student Organization meeting. Two major agenda items loom:

• Conscript representatives to sit on departmental committees (build the service section of your CV! make a difference!). We'd love to get people from a broad spectrum of specialties contributing to the conversations on the undergrad and grad studies committees, and we need a new Council of Grad Students rep--I can't swing it this year.
• Brainstorm ideas for the GSO town hall meeting that new DGS Mimi Sprengnether has pledged to hold. Let's figure out how best to air our concerns about the program and ideas for its future (reform the teaching trajectory? revise the curriculum? improve communication?).

Plus, we'll have some kind of sugary snack, and if softball happens at 5:00 as I anticipate it might, you'll need the calories.

Hope to see you there!

When:
Friday, Sept 18.
4:30 batting practice / small talk / gratuitous spitting in dirt / beer run.
5pm first pitch.

Where:
Bierman Softball Fields (take 15th Ave through Dinkytown, right on 8th St
(just this side of the tracks), and fields will be a ways down on the
right). I'll post something midday friday to confirm, especially if there's "weather." Call 646-522-2497 with questions, or if you're lost.

Who:
Open to all English department people and all friends and well-wishers of English department people. We play each other, not other departments or anything formal like that.

Bring a glove or other gear if you have it - but come anyway if you don't. We can share! Also bring a couple bucks for beer if you'd like to imbibe, or bring water if that's your thing.

I'm still collecting emails for a fancy-schmancy email list: fall0081@umn.edu

See you Friday!

Sheena

We'll try again next week. In the meantime, I'd like to put together a softball email list. If you'd like to be on it, email me at fall0081@umn.edu.

Stay dry!

Sheena

When:
Friday, Sept 11.
4:30 batting practice / small talk / gratuitous spitting in dirt / beer run.
5pm first pitch.

Where:
Bierman Softball Fields (take 15th Ave through Dinkytown, right on 8th St
(just this side of the tracks), and fields will be a ways down on the
right). I'll post something midday friday to confirm, especially if there's "weather." Call 646-522-2497 with questions, or if you're lost.

Who:
Open to all English department people and all friends and well-wishers of English department people. We play each other, not other departments or anything formal like that.

Bring a glove or other gear if you have it - but come anyway if you don't. We can share! Also bring a couple bucks for beer if you'd like to imbibe, or bring water if that's your thing.

I'd like to stress that this is above all fun and non-competitive. Last time I played a team sport (this past summer - volleyball at a family barbecue) I caught a volleyball with my face and yelled a particularly loud expletive in front of my very-impressionable Born Again cousins. So, uh, if I can do it, you can do it. And if you'd rather stand around and drink cheap beer - that's cool too. More the merrier and all.

Since I couldn't figure out the GSO blog first time out, please do me a favor and send me an email if you're planning to come, or thinking about coming, or can't come but will next time: fall0081@umn.edu

Happy first week! See you Friday!

Sheena

dislocate will hold its first meeting of the year on Thursday, September 3rd, at 4pm in Lind 207A. If you want to work on the journal, or if you just want to find out more, join us!

What is dislocate?
dislocate is a literary journal published by graduate students in the
University of Minnesota's MFA in Creative Writing Program (but is open to any graduate student from the English department). Published annually and distributed nationally, the mission of dislocate is to publish the finest new writing pushing the limits of genre, form and subject matter.

Contributors to our past issues include Philip Levine, Philip Lopate, Elizabeth Willis, Wang Ping, Stephen Burt, Luisa Igloria, Ed Bok Lee, Daniel Gutstein, Robert Olmstead,
N. Katherine Hayles, Allison Reed Miller, Peter Johnson and Nin Andrews; we have featured interviews with the likes of Edward P. Jones, T.C. Boyle, Claudia Rankine and Ethan Canin. This year, we'll feature work by visiting writers Adam Hochschild, Jim Shepard, and Adam Zagajewski.

What are some reasons to get involved?

Have fun working with your colleagues in the Creative Writing Program and the English Department; learn how to run a magazine; get a first-hand look at the newest writing from the U.S. and abroad; build your CV/resume.

What will we do at this meeting?
We'll discuss ideas for the new issue of dislocate, answer your questions, and sign up new assistant editors for the magazine.

Can English PhD and MA students work on dislocate?
Yes! We'd love to have you.

If you can't make the meeting but want to be involved, just email Colleen [coyne039 at umn.edu] or Josh [mors0127 at umn.edu].

And in a true writer-ly spirit, after the meeting we'll go to happy hour at the Kitty Cat Klub. Looking forward to seeing you there!

The new class of English graduate students is arriving, and Eric Daigre is asking for our help. We need volunteers to serve on an informal panel discussing what's worked for you, helpful hints, best practices, etc. that you've picked up during your time in the classroom. The panel will be from 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 2 in Lind 207a.

This is an incredibly useful panel for incoming students because it gives them a chance to learn about teaching from their peers, and we'd love to get TAs and instructors will all levels of experience to participate. If you're interested please contact Pat Baehler at baehl002@umn.edu.

3 bedroom, 1bath, and an enormous deck, rent $1200, at 2712 Emerson Ave S. Available 6/1, though we might be able to negotiate a mid-month move-in date. Rent includes heat, and we provide free wireless internet.

The unit is one of four in a house. The location is great-- blocks away from major bus lines on Hennepin Ave, Lyndale Ave, and Lake St. Within walking distance are: four grocery stores including the Wedge Co-op, two movie theaters, Calhoun square, Uptown bars and restaurants, and Lake of the Isles. (Lake Calhoun isn't that much further, either.)

The apartment takes up the entire floor. I would say it's easily over 1000sq ft, and most of it is hardwood. (There's one bedroom with carpet in it.) We put in a new stove and a new dishwasher two years ago, as well as a new floor in the kitchen, and new carpet in the one bedroom that has carpet. Since then, we've also redone the bathroom floor, put in a new medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and the deck is also about a year and a half old. ALSO, the house itself was reroofed and resided about two years ago. The front room is a decent size, and has a bay window. There's on-site laundry and management (that's us). I should also make clear that my husband and I would be your neighbors, and you would pay rent to us. I don't know if that goes in the pro or the con column. Unfortunately, no pets. Also, the house is a "no-smoking" property.

Security deposit, which is a month’s rent, would be due at lease-signing.

If you think you or someone you know might be interested, please email me at chak0036@umn.edu, or call at 612.590.6687

Best,
Madhurima.