VARIOUS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS, 1998-2000

STUDENTS CONTRIBUTE TO PUBLISHED BOOK

Four students at Auburn University Montgomery have recently had their work featured in a new scholarly book. The students -- Kimberly Barron, Deborah Hill, Ann M. O'Clair, and Carolyn Young -- are listed as co-authors on the title-page of Ben Jonson's Major Plays: Summaries of Modern Monographs, which was published in August and is presently being sold to college libraries in the U.S. and abroad. Jonson, a friend of Shakespeare, is often considered the second most significant playwright of the English Renaissance. The new volume, published by Locust Hill Press of West Cornwall, Connecticut, summarizes comments about Jonson's plays from over a hundred books published during the twentieth century. It tries to fill a major gap in Jonson studies while making the most important ideas about his plays more easily available. Hill and O'Clair, undergraduate English majors at AUM, provided the volume with detailed plot summaries of Jonson's plays, while Barron, a student in the AUM Master of Liberal Arts Program, provided several comprehensive analytical indexes for the volume. Young, a graduate of the MLA program, carefully proofread the book and helped edit its phrasing. Other work by the four students will be printed, along with contributions by many other AUM students, in several other forthcoming scholarly volumes, including books on the American writer Kate Chopin and the Irish dramatist Brian Friel. The students' contributions are the latest in a series of such projects featuring work by AUM graduates and undergraduates. Most of the previous books have already sold out and have been well received by academic reviewers. As in the past, profits from the current book will be used to support university scholarship funds. (8/31/00)

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DEBORAH HILL WINS STUDENT RESEARCHER AWARD

Deborah Hill, an undergraduate English major, was named one of the first winners ever of the university's newly created awards for student researchers. Hill was one of six students (and one of only two undergraduates) chosen for the honor by the AUM Research Council. To compete for the award, Hill had to design and submit a detailed research proposal outlining her goals, methods, and projected results. The paper deriving from her project, a topical index of books on Ben Jonson published before 1972, is due to appear in volume 7 of the Ben Jonson Journal. She received a grant of over $300 to help support the costs of her project, particularly photocopying expenses. The student research awards, which will be granted regularly from now on, are designed to promote serious academic work by AUM's most dedicated students. Any student interested in further information about competing for an award should contact the university's office of Contracts and Grants. (8/31/00)

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KATIE MAGAW NAMED OUTSTANDING STUDENT OF ENGLISH

Katie Magaw, a graduating senior in AUM's Department of English and Philosophy, has been named the department's 1998 Outstanding Student. To be eligible for the award, students must have at least a 3.5 GPA (out of a possible 4.0), but must also have distinguished themselves in other ways. The winner is selected by a vote of the departmental faculty, and the student's name is inscribed on a plaque mounted directly outside the main English office. Selection of the outstanding student is one of the department's oldest and most venerated traditions. Magaw is a particularly outstanding student. Many examples of her writing, for instance, were recently published in the new book entitled Frank O'Connor: New Perspectives, which is already receiving recognition as one of the fullest studies ever undertaken of the important Irish short-story writer. Magaw has also been invited to prepare a lengthy bibliographical article for the next issue of the Ben Jonson Journal, and she is presently at work on numerous other research and publication projects. Faculty present at the meeting during which Magaw was selected for the award spoke of her class performances in glowing terms, and although choosing one outstanding student each year is often a very difficult task, the process was made just a little bit easier this year because Magaw is herself so widely respected and liked by her fellow students. (5/4/98)

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AUM STUDENT WINS PRESTIGIOUS FELLOWSHIP

Jonathan Wright, a student in AUM's Master of Liberal Arts Program, was recently admitted into the doctoral program in English at the University of Alabama, which also granted him one of its highly competitive Strode Fellowships in Renaissance Studies. Wright, who has been extremely active in research and publication while at AUM, will begin his doctoral studies in the fall of 1998. Alabama's Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies, which is internationally recognized, each year brings major Renaissance scholars to work and speak at the Tuscaloosa campus. Applications for the program's Strode Fellowships, which pay for a student's tuition and many other expenses, come from all over the nation and the world. "Jon's selection as a Strode fellow is a very gratifying recognition of his excellence and commitment as a student," said Dr. Alan Gribben, head of the AUM Department of English and Philosophy. "He is one of a number of other fine students who have had good success in our program at AUM," Gribben added. Wright was also offered full scholarships at the two other graduate programs to which he applied. (4/25/98)

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STUDENT PROFITS FROM NEWSPAPER INTERNSHIP

Roger Burdette, a participant in the internship program sponsored by the AUM Department of English and Philosophy, has been enjoying his recent work at The Montgomery Advertiser, the city's major newspaper. Burdette recently reported that he has so far "written three full articles -- one on a compromise reached between a hotel developer and a local historic neighborhood, one on pending legislation (front page!), and one on a retired Montgomery man bringing an old Boy Scout troop back to life." Roger has also written many "briefs" (short articles) and has "conducted numerous phone and personal interviews and done research on the Internet and in the newspaper's database of newspaper stories." He noted that he was "amazed at how much newspaper writers have to know, and how fast they have to learn about unfamiliar topics in order to write well. ... They persistently dig to understand the issues about which they're reporting." Roger also remarked that he has been "impressed with the editors. For a big story, as many as three editors will 'chop' on the copy before it finally goes to a page. The editors are also very crafty at eliminating wordiness, strengthening images, etc. They personally talk to the reporters to clarify ambiguities." Burdette, who is himself an information officer with the U.S. Air Force, has won high praise from Dr. Anne Little, who supervises the AUM internship program. "Roger is an exceptionally focused and motivated student. We are proud to have him representing us at The Advertiser," Little said. (4/23/98)

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INTERNSHIP PROGRAM HELPS STUDENT LAND JOB

Dusti Worley, a senior in the AUM Liberal Arts program, has accepted a technical writing position beginning Winter 1998 at Anteon Corporation (formerly Ogden). She will produce technical manuals and CDs, deliver order reports, and perform administrative tasks. Dusti participated in an English Department Internship at Montgomery Living Magazine during Fall quarter, 1997. (4/1/98)

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MLA ALUM EARNS DOCTORATE

Karen Pirnie, an early graduate of AUM's Master of Liberal Arts program, recently successfully defended her doctoral dissertation in the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies at the University of Alabama. Pirnie's master's thesis on Ben Jonson has already led to one publication (in the journal Comitatus, published at UCLA), and she is also the author of various other published articles. Her dissertation deals with the presentation of women on the English Renaissance stage. (4/1/98)

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STUDENT'S ARTICLE REPUBLISHED

An article co-written by former AUM student Michael Crocker and an AUM faculty member has been selected for republication in the latest volume of Contemporary Literary Criticism, a series of books available in most public and college libraries. The article, "Faulkner's 'Barn Burning' and O'Connor's 'Everything That Rises Must Converge,'" was originally published in 1993 in the College Language Association Journal. The piece compares and contrasts famous short stories by William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor. Crocker, who now lives in Atlanta, was involved in many different aspects of campus life during his time at AUM and was highly respected by students and teachers alike. Articles selected for reprinting in the CLC volumes become very widely available for use by students and general readers. (4/1/98)

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AUM ALUM HELPS RAISE MONEY FOR SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Carolyn Young, who earned both her B.A. and Master of Liberal Arts degrees at AUM after retiring from a long career as one of Montgomery's first female CPAs, recently helped raise funds for her alma mater's English Scholarship Fund by giving a presentation at Montgomery's Barnes and Noble bookstore. Young, who continues to audit classes at AUM, spoke about Martha Moulsworth's "Memorandum," an autobiographical poem written in 1632 by an English woman who recounted some of her most important experiences and deepest feelings -- including her desire for the founding of a women's university. Young was one of many AUM students who contributed to a book-length study of Moulsworth's poem. Copies of the volume were sold at the store, and all proceeds will benefit other AUM students. (4/7/98)

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