USC Aiken English Department

Celebrate Pride Month with Libby! Start reading today!

Congratulations to Samantha Taylor, our 2024 Outstanding Student in English! As English Department Chair Dr. Drew Geyer observes, Samantha has been extraordinarily energetic during her time at USCA: “She founded her own literary magazine, Town Square, with a stated mission of helping veterans better themselves through the literary arts. Then she started a nonprofit in order to help Town Square to help more veterans. That’s in addition to being a gifted creative writer, a fantastic student, and a veteran herself. I’m excited to see what Samantha’s next chapter will look like, but really really hate to see her go!”

Samantha leaves with some parting advice: “Be creative, find community, and keep challenging yourself.”

We’ll all hate to see her go. But we’re excited to see what she’ll do next!

The amazing Samantha Taylor! This year’s Outstanding Student in English as featured in USCA.news!

Congratulations to our newest members of the Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society. We celebrated their induction yesterday. Congratulation also to this year’s graduates, who received their graduation cords yesterday! It was a convivial event, with remarks from Dr. Hagstette reminding us all of the significance of our work as students of English.

Bravo to students in Dr. Smith’s Shakespeare class! They performed scenes from Macbeth, Henry IV (part 1), and Hamlet today. Well done!

Gregg-Graniteville Library knows what’s up!

April is National Poetry Month!

Search our catalog for more poetry collections: https://pascal-uscaiken.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,poetry&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=MyInstitution&vid=01PASCAL_USCAIK:USCAIK&offset=0

Another terrific event from last night: Writing and Mental Health, a presentation and panel co-hosted by our chapter of Sigma Tau Delta (the English Honor Society) and The Town Square literary magazine. With wonderful contributions from everyone involved, it was a meaningful event. Thanks especially to keynote Dr. Jane Stafford as well as panel members John M. Starino, Dr. Skye Roberson, and Dan Leach!

We all had a fantastic time yesterday at the English Department get-together, which featured a performance of an original scene written by two of our multi-talented students. Thanks to everyone for joining us!

Today!!! But note the change of location: we'll be in the SAC Mezz to avoid rainy weather!

Come on out and have some fun with the English Department!

Thanks to Erin Weeks and the Aiken Standard for their write-up of this week's Oswald Reading!........

The author visited Roy Seeger’s editing and publishing class and Andrew Geyer’s fiction workshop class, where students who have been studying Russell's writing had a chance to ask her questions about her creative process and her experience as a novelist.

Russell talked about how her own time in college helped push her towards becoming an author.

“That’s the power of professors like Roy and [Andrew], that just open up a lot of doors,” she said.

“It’s really an honor to be part of the Oswald Writers Series,” she said. “It’s fun for me to be on a campus that is clearly so tight-knit and so nurturing of students.

https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/education/award-winning-novelist-karen-russell-visits-usc-aiken-for-annual-writers-series/article_ed919f6e-e6be-11ee-94d4-4fd544622a58.html?fbclid=IwAR0AAC_NACzRvmIU4porggO09yemxbUjMLzqul2_TbHFDo42oZG5g5ZOlFE

Award-winning novelist Karen Russell visits USC Aiken for annual writers series Pulitzer Prize finalist and author Karen Russell spoke to USC Aiken students during the annual Oswald Writing Series Tuesday before a book signing session.

Great to see English alum Tyler Stephan featured in this timely article!

Human Nature: USCA humanities majors are finding jobs, success as they build their careers The latest news and information for the University of South Carolina Aiken, produced by the Marketing & Communication department.

Happening tonight! Don't miss out!

Congratulations to Dr. Hampton, whose new book was published this week!

Mark your calendars now!

Perfect plan!

Celebrate Poe's birthday by reading one of his stories!

Browse here: https://pascal-uscaiken.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,edgar%20allan%20poe&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=MyInstitution&vid=01PASCAL_USCAIK:USCAIK&facet=rtype,include,books&offset=0

A terrific opportunity:

Interested in art, music, or writing?

Join Broken Ink for our first meeting of the semester as we make moves to help showcase USC Aiken students' creative works.

Congratulations to our senior English majors who completed their capstone projects this week! Presenting their work, they showed their research to be original, their ideas to be exciting, and their futures to be bright. Way to go!

Ella's future students will be lucky to have her as their high-school English teacher!

Brandi DeHaven is a Junior pursuing a BFA in Professional writing. “Brief Diary of a Instacarter,” was inspired by an extra-credit Geology assignment showcasing how climate change affects food distribution. The assignment had a specific highlight on grocery delivery drivers which she was while searching for jobs on campus. "Brief Diary of an Instacarter" combines her background in procedural/writing formatting that is visible with the appearance of lists. This short story also acts as a form of "field journal" showcasing the speaker's point of view while paying homage to how the Instacart app reads on the user side.

Way to go, Brandi!

It’s almost time for the Writing Center’s third annual S’more Stories event! Come join us in the Penland Double Knot Courtyard on Wednesday 10/25 at 7pm. We will be having lots of food, a costume contest with prizes, and a lecture on horror movies before the main event. Come out and receive up to two ICE credits!

Given the amazing things we've seen our graduates do--in a range of fields and specialties that value critical-thinking and communication skills--this report comes as no surprise to us!

Why Majoring in the Humanities Can Be a Great Career Move Many students majoring in English, philosophy and film get impressive opportunities right out of college.

Such a treat to meet new students yesterday! We promise we don’t actually use big, red Sharpies on anyone’s work.

It’s time for the first day of classes! Stop by the Student Activity Center on August 24th from 11am-2pm to have your first day photographed! All photos will be taken on instant print-out cameras so you can enjoy the memory as soon as possible! Don’t forget to add a prop to make your photo extra special!

We can’t wait to see those amazing smiles!

Congratulations to Lauren Housman on the publication of The Suitcase: The Life and Times of Captain X! After earning her BA in English from USCA in 2010, she received an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Converse College. Wonderful to see her novel out there in the world!

Such a busy week in the English Department! On Monday, we welcomed new members to our chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society, while also recognizing the accomplishments of this semester's graduates. We're proud of you all!

We're looking forward to this celebration, which takes place next week!