Willimantic, Conn. –Eastern Connecticut State University’s English Department hosted its spring 2014 English Night in the Betty R. Tipton Room on April 28.
The event began with a warm welcome from Lisa Fraustino, chair of the English Department. The English major awards ceremony followed. Brooke Baldwin and Akaya McElveen were the recipients of Service to the Department Awards which are awarded to students who have helped with departmental projects, coordinated events or organized student clubs that have connections to literature or writing.
The Award for Lifetime Learning was awarded to Meaghan Eales. This award is usually granted to a returning or continuing education student who has shown a steady love of literature, writing and the pursuit of knowledge. Eales was also awarded the Commitment to Teaching award for her demonstration of commitment in teaching.
Angelia Dilella also was awarded in two areas: the first being the Contributions to the Cultural Life of the Campus Award, which is awarded to students who have been actively involved as a writer or editor in literary publications. Secondly, Dilella was awarded the Award for Academic Excellence for her demonstration of superior ability and dedication to reading literature and interpreting it well in class discussions and in written work.
Next were the first-year writing awards which were presented to Danielle Campitelli and Emilio Estrella. The first-year writing awards are given to students in College Writing and College Writing Plus whose writing is innovative, creative, well researched or uniquely articulated. Campitelli’s research paper, “Faking it Until I Make It,” written for Professor Mika Taylor’s first-year writing class, exemplified those qualities. Estrella’s innovative and creative writing paper titled “Music and Society: Cause and Effect,” also showed those qualities.
Lastly were the senior seminar presentations from Professor Reginald Flood’s “Writing Poems/ Reading Culture” seminar, Fraustino’s “Adaptation and Ideology” seminar and Maureen McDonnell’s “Monstrous Women” seminar. Presenting for Flood’s seminar were Kaitlyn Kennedy on “Pledging Allegiance to Progressiveness: An Examination of an Expatriate’s Experience Abroad,” and Sarah DeConti on “Narrowing the Definition of Cultural Studies.”
From Fraustino’s seminar were Ashley Parker on “The Icon and the Ideologist: Dr. Seuss and the (Mis)Uses of Political Messages by Audiences of Horton Hears a Who and the Lorax,” Dilella on “There was a hole here, But it’s Gone Now: The Adaptations and Ideology of ‘Silent Hill'” and Michelle Wnuk on “Quarter Quell: Haymich’s Hunger Games.”
Lastly, from McDonnell’s seminar, Carolyn Knowles presented on “Sara Baartman and Human Zoos: Society’s Exploitation and Creation of Designer Monsters.” Allen Browning presented on “The Young Vampire and Freudian Sexuality” and Emily Story presented on “Monsters: Validating Women Characters within Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea.”