Charles Dodd White is the recipient of the Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award for excellence in Appalachian Literature, the Appalachian Book of the Year award in fiction, a Jean Ritchie Fellowship from Lincoln Memorial University, and an individual artist’s grant from the North Carolina Arts Council. His novels are HOW FIRE RUNS (A Fall 2020 SIBA Okra Pick, IPPY GOLD MEDAL for Best Fiction in the South), IN THE HOUSE OF WILDERNESS (2018), A SHELTER OF OTHERS (2014), LAMBS OF MEN (2010), and the story collection, SINNERS OF SANCTION COUNTY (2011). He has also edited the anthologies, DEGREES OF ELEVATION (2010) and APPALACHIA NOW (2015). His newest book, A YEAR WITHOUT MONTHS, is a fragmented memoir available from West Virginia University Press. He teaches English at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee. 

Dear Grads,

I'm very pleased to invite you to a lunch and informal discussion with our three visiting speakers next week! 

Who: interested grad students -- with visiting speakers Dr. Tara Bynum (University of Iowa), Dr. Brigitte Fielder (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Dr. Cassander Smith (University of Alabama) 

What: Lunch will be catered by Athenian Grill (thanks to the generosity of our co-sponsors), and topics for discussion will include publishing/editing, job markets, and the state of early American / African American studies. 

Where: The Commonwealth House of the Gaines Center (232 E. Maxwell St.)

When: Fri., Feb. 3, from 12-1:30

How: Please RSVP here no later than Tues. Jan. 31 at noon; the first 20 students to respond will receive a copy of the special issue of Early American Literature that our three speakers co-edited on Phillis Wheatley! (Please see Kristen Pickett for your copy.)

This lunch, and the larger panel and reception later that afternoon ("Phillis Wheatley at 250: The Pasts and Futures of Reading and Writing #BlackJoy") are sponsored by English, the College of A&S, the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies, the Center for Graduate and Professional Diversity Initiatives, African American and Africana Studies, and History. 

We hope you can make it!

Best,

Jill

 __________________

Dr. Jill Rappoport

Chair, English Department  

College of Arts and Sciences 

University of Kentucky

jill.rappoport@uky.edu 

Pronouns: she/her/hers 

Description: Since late last year, the conversation around AI-based writing tools such as ChatGPT has grown in volume and concern over the implications for authorship, intellectual agency, the learning process, and academic integrity in educational contexts. This open forum will consider AI-based writing tools in the context of how and to what ends we assign writing-based assessments in our courses and in the unique disciplinary contexts of Creative Writing, Film, and Literature. Participants are encouraged to bring their questions, ideas, and experiences to the discussion. 

The forum will address issues such as:

•    the nature and capabilities of AI-based writing tools (particularly in relation to writing-based assignments in English courses)

•    conveying expectations for and cultivating students' understanding of academic integrity and related issues

•    assignment design for authentic, engaged, and reflective writing

•    the future and purposes for writing-based assessment in English courses

Overall, the spirit of the forum will be (1) to consider the practical implications of new (automated) writing technologies and (2) to (re)assess and (re)envision how writing enables learning and knowledge-making in our fields and in the world.

Zoom Link: https://uky.zoom.us/j/81670002572 

A sweet pairing of authors’ brief comments & cake to celebrate faculty's new books. All English students and faculty are invited.

This is the first lecture in a series on "Orthodox Judaism Today" organized by the UK Jewish Studies program.

Recording: https://uky.yuja.com/V/Video?v=7297895&node=31012841&a=7990788&autoplay=1