News about awards and scholarships from English majors and news from BA alumnae/i.
English Major News
36 English electees to Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest undergraduate academic honor society in the U.S.
197 spring and summer graduations planned: 136 majors, 42 double-majors, and 19 minors
English majors graduating cum laude in 2013-14: Valerie Arndt, Katie Engevik, Anna Glusker, Anthony Prosser
English majors graduating magna cum laude in 2013-14: Frank Liang, Ryan Pauly, Jennifer Snider
English majors graduating summa cum laude in 2013-14 (thesis written in English Department): Janelle Bakke, Sarah Harper, Cassandra Hendricks, Kathleen Trescony, Isaac Wicker, Grant Winkels
English majors graduating summa cum laude in 2013-14 (thesis written in other major department): Alysha Bohanon (Journalism), Thuy Thanh Tuong Bui (Linguistics), Chelsea Holub (African American & African Studies), Colleen Kim (Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences), Maria Stolen (Linguistics), Michelle Weiss (Studies in Cinema and Media Culture)
Mark David Clawson Award for outstanding summa cum laude thesis written in English Department: Sarah Harper and Kathleen Trescony
University of Minnesota Alumni Association Student Leadership Award and President's Student Leadership and Service Award: Michelle Weiss, who double majored in English and Cinema & Media Culture with minors in TESL, Philosophy, and Classical Civilization
Community Engagement Scholars: Chelsea Holub and Michelle Weiss
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Awards for English Majors, 2013-14:
Justin Kracht, "The Mind in Motion: Creativity and Fluid Movement"; faculty mentor: Wilma Koutstaal (Psychology)
Carissa Hansen, "Voice to Vision 9"; faculty mentor: David Feinberg (Art)
Marina Kuperman, "Reclaiming 21st Century Skills"; faculty mentor: Eric Daigre (English)
Thuy Bui, "Yes-No Question Constructions in Vietnamese"; faculty mentor: Hooi Soh (Linguistics)
English Undergraduate Research and Travel Grants 2013-14:
Eric Best and Lyly Nguyen to attend the 2014 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference & Bookfair
Edward Chappell to attend the 2014 Minnesota Manuscript Research Laboratory
Kelsey Gierach to attend the Second Annual UW-Madison Literati Conference on Language and Literature
Paul & Lucienne Taylor Internship Grant 2013-14: Rachel Hauser and Patrick Maloney, both University of Minnesota Press interns
2014 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Writers Loft Award in Poetry/Spoken Word Poetry: Sierra DeMulder, one of four winners awarded $25,000
2014-15 English Department Scholarship Winners
CLA Selmer Birkelo Scholarship: Hayden Kindrat
Beverly Atkinson Scholarship for Outstanding Non-Traditional English Majors: Alyssa Martin
Sharon Borine Scholarship: Gabrielle Vanden Avond and Zachary Hookom
Jessie M. Comstock Scholarship: Claire Hepworth
Joan C. Forester Scholarship: Erica Beebe and Ann Thompson
Donald V. Hawkins Scholarship: Brandon Cooper, Delaney Churchwell, Courtney Fields, Carissa Hansen, Marina Kuperman, Christina Leighton, Lily O'Hara-Brantner, Joseph Schiltz, Abigail Schnobrich
Robert Etheridge Moore Scholarship: Sarah Carlson and Anna Posbergh
Captain Dewitt Jennings Payne Memorial Scholarship: Lianna Matt and David Lein
Anna Augusta Von Helmholtz Phelan Scholarship: Jacob Lindberg
2014-15 University of Minnesota Press Interns: Lauryn Heineman and Christina Leighton
BA Alumnae/i News
Mary Ellis (BA 1985) published her second novel, Bohemian Flats, with the University of Minnesota Press.
Elizabeth Fontaine (BA 1996) published her first book, an "edgy young adult novel" called Eagle Peak (Prizm Books). Fontaine writes: "Thanks for letting me do a creative final project back in 1996, English Department. It was the beginning of this novel's journey to print."
Peter Geye (BA 2000) sold the movie rights to his first novel, Safe From the Sea.
Elizabeth Ireland (BA 2013) is the administrative assistant at Milkweed Editions.
Sam Kean (BA 2002) published his third popular science title, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery (Little Brown). His first two books, The Disappearing Spoon and The Violinist's Thumb, were both bestsellers.
Kate Millett (BA 1956) received an honorary doctorate of science on April 21 from University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler. Millett is the author of the nonfiction book Sexual Politics (1970), a bestseller and one of the first and most important texts of feminism's second wave. More about Millett's honorary degree.
Tom Rademacher (BA 2004) was named Minnesota Teacher of the Year on May 4, 2014. He teaches high school English at the Fine Arts Interdisciplinary Resources (FAIR) School in downtown Minneapolis. See our interview with Rademacher.
Cheryl Strayed (BA 1997) had her bestselling memoir Wild made into a movie starring Reese Witherspoon; the film will hit theaters December 5. It is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club).
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