Four graduate students, one undergraduate student and three professors from Texas A&M University-Texarkana recently attended and made presentations at the 43rd Annual Arkansas Philological Association Conference in Heber Springs, Arkansas.
“All of the students found themselves on panels that included seasoned and established professors,” said Associate Professor of English Dr. Doug Julien, who organized the trip.
Casey Purifoy, a graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts in English, read a selection of his fictional work titled “The Menaced Assassin” in the “(Creative) Fiction: Criminal Tendencies Panel.”
Jason Price, a graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts in Counseling and a graduate of the A&M-Texarkana English Master of Arts program, presented “When There’s No One Left to Understand” in a session titled “Just What Do You Mean by ‘Mean?'” Dr. Kevin Ells, Associate Professor of Mass Communication, also presented a paper titled “Epideictic Everywhere! Etymology to Education” and Dr. Julien read his paper titled “What is the ‘Object’ of Philology?” during the session.
Allison Johnson, an undergraduate double major in English and history, presented her work, “That Dragon, Cancer: Traces of Loss Life and Language” in a session titled “Blinding Me with Science.” Johnson will present a version of this work at a University Honors Colloquium on the campus of Texas A&M University-Texarkana on Nov. 7 from 6-7:30 p.m.
During a session titled “Analyze This,” A&M-Texarkana MA in English graduate and university lecturer Daniel T. Jones, who plans to pursue his PhD in fall 2017, presented his paper titled “Madness and Sanity and the Desire of the Idiot: Fragmentation and Gazing at the Other in Sakaguchi Ango’s ‘The Idiot.'”
English graduate student Carter Jones, who recently earned the new Master Teacher of Writing Certificate from the English program, presented a paper titled “Lexical Diversity & Grading Microtrends.”
Dr. Joy Goldstein, Assistant Professor of English, presented a paper titled “Cultural History and the De/encumbering of the Word ‘Race’ in the 21st Century” during a session on “Reinventing Languages: Making It Up as We Go Along.”
Allison Stanley, a graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts in English, presented her work “The Cake is a Lie” in the “Musical Translations—Lost and Found” session.
“To my understanding, Allison Johnson was the only undergraduate at the conference presenting her work. We often advertise that Texas A&M University-Texarkana offers a ‘Degree of Distinction.’ The trip and the presentations made over the weekend offer yet another example of the truth in this statement,” said Dr. Julien.
“We would all like to thank Dr. Bill McHenry, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research for funding our graduate students, Celeste McNeil and Michael Stephenson with Student Life for funding our undergraduate student, and Dr. Del Doughty, Dean of the College of Education and Liberal Arts, for funding our lecturer. They made an incredibly valuable trip for our students possible by covering their travel, lodging, and conference fees. Without their recognition of the need to support undergraduate and graduate student research, many, if not all, would have been unable to make the trip.”
This was the second year the English department has been able to take students to the Arkansas Philological Association annual conference.
“Trips such as these bind students to each other, the faculty and the program. These trips professionalize students in innumerable ways and contribute to their future plans post-graduation from A&M-Texarkana,” Dr. Julien said.
The Arkansas Philological Association is focused on the study of ancient Greek and Roman languages, literatures and civilizations. While the majority of its members are university and college Classics professors and students, members also include scholars in other disciplines, primary and secondary school teachers, and interested lay people.
