The Weekly: Undergraduate News
...Coming to your inbox Mondays
Issue #27 for the week of 3/15/2021
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From the Director of Studies |
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Happy break, everyone! A brief respite this year, but I hope vivifying all the same. Seniors, you are entering the home stretch of thesis-writing, and we wish you good speed! You too, juniors, working on the second draft of the JP.
I will begin with an important announcement for seniors: with the change in the date of Commencement, we are also rescheduling Class Day for English, which will now take place virtually at 4 PM on Friday, May 14. Please shout the news from the rooftops, inform your family and loved ones, and ready yourselves for the most warm, most erudite, most welcome and welcoming celebration of the literary life ever to have illuminated the zoomscape.
Looking even further ahead, I want to point juniors especially, but also all curious parties, to the new website for the Common Exam. You’ll find there a wealth of information about the ten books on the list of Common Works for the class of ’22, and about the Common Exam itself (including sample questions). There are still some unfinished pages, but you’ll see how much has been done; many thanks to the faculty who have participated so far, and to grad student Jeewon Yoo, who has done so much for the design and the substance of the site. Before the end of the semester, we’ll be polling you juniors to add a final, eleventh work to the current list, which you will receive over the summer. We’ll also be starting discussions of the new list for the class of ’23, and looking for ways to involve all concentrators in choosing those works.
Speaking of Common Works, we have a couple of events coming up, a discussion of King Lear this Thursday at 4:30, and of Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of the play to film, Ran, on April 1, both with grad students Lisa Kraege and Moeko Fujii. On Wednesday the 17th at noon, there will be a Taste of Success Lunchtime Career Conversation with Bhaamati Borkheteria ’20, a software engineer at Amazon. And exhort your sophomore friends to come to the English Open House on Tuesday, March 23, at 5 PM. The season for sign-ins is upon us.
And a special afterword, by a recent graduate, a hopeful prophecy at our reviving moment—scroll down to read, but skip nothing, nothing in-between! It’s all too good…
Director of Undergraduate Studies
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Undergraduate Administrator
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ACADEMIC DATES & DEADLINES |
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2021
March 2021
March 13-16
Spring Recess
March 17
*Classes Resume
*Undergraduate Selection of P/D/F begins
*A Taste of Success: Lunchtime Alumni Conversations. Bhaamati Borkheteria '20 English & Tech.
via Zoom 12:00 p.m. EST
March 18
King Lear. Read. Meet. Discuss. A Common Works Event
via Zoom 4:30 p.m. EST
March 19
Application Due: Thesis Proseminar Summer 2021
5:00 p.m. via Dropbox
March 23
Sophomore Open House Webinar
via Zoom Webinar 5:00 p.m. EST Registration Required.
March 25
A.B. Concentration Declaration Period Begins
April 2021
April 1
Akira Kurosawa's Ran. View. Meet Discuss. A Common Works Event
via Zoom TBA
April 2
A Taste of Success: Lunchtime Alumni Conversations. Claire Greene '10
English & Medicine
via Zoom 12:00 p.m. EST
April 6
*Deadline to Drop Spring Term Courses
*Deadline to Select P/D/F Option
April 13
*Declaration Day
*Junior Fall Term 2021 Course Selection
*Junior Independent Work Due
*Senior Thesis Due
April 14
Sophomore Fall Term 2021 Course Selection
April 15
First-Year Fall Term 2021 Course Selection
April 27
Spring 2021 Term Courses End
April 28
Reading Period Begins
May 2021
May 5
*Reading Period Ends
*Dean's Date
May 8 - 14
Spring 2021 Final Exams
May 16
Commencement
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Additional Dates for Juniors: |
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Additional Dates for Seniors:
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2021
March 22, 2021
Second JP draft due
April 13, 2021
Deadline for Submitting Junior Independent Work
Please see the below information regarding O.U.R.'s funding cycles and the Departmental resources for research funding support.
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2021
March 8, 2021
Deadline for submission of non-thesis materials for department prizes
March 19, 2021
Deadline Submission Class Day Materials
April 13, 2021
Senior Thesis DUE
May 6-7, 2021
Senior Departmental/
Comprehensive Exams
Please see the below information regarding O.U.R.'s funding cycles and the Departmental resources for research funding support.
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LINK TO DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH UG WEBSITE
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The COVID-19 Dashboard now includes data from the undergraduates living on campus and those living locally with access to campus for the spring semester. Please keep in mind that the Dashboard is updated weekly on Mondays with results from the previous week, not in real time.
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Cameron Lee ’22 wins film criticism prize for essay, review |
Film criticism can affect beyond the understanding of particular works, to cultivate living attuned to interactions between internal and external environments. . . .
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DEPARTMENT'S CLASS DAY CELEBRATION
CHANGE OF DATE:
FRIDAY, MAY 14 at 4:00 PM EST
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DATE CHANGE!
The Department of English
2021 Class Day Celebration
Friday, May 14 at 4:00 PM EST
via Zoom
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Seniors,
Please check your emails!
In the coming weeks, you will need to review emails from the Undergraduate Administrator, Kelly Lake (kalake@) and the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Jeff Dolven (jdolven@) if you haven't been already.
There will be a lot of information shared and we will be asking for a lot of information from you as well. Please make every effort to respond by these deadlines for information and materials as you do in your course work. It will help us to provide the best possible Class Day experience possible.
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Find links to recent public-facing writing by English Department alumni, faculty and current students (undergraduate and graduate) that addresses urgent contemporary topics, including the pandemic, the national reckoning with racism, the environment, and the role of arts in times of crisis. |
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Avidly:
The Poetry of the Past
By Virginia Jackson & Meredith Martin
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On Sunday, February 7th, a month after the insurrection at the capitol and two days before the beginning of the impeachment trial, some of America watched the Superbowl. . . .
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The New York Times Opinion:
What This Wave of Anti-Asian Violence Reveals About America
By Anne Anlin Cheng
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Too often, attention to nonwhite groups is only as pressing as the injuries that they have suffered. . .
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English Concentrators:
Thesis Writers and Junior Papers
English Writing Room
Sundays Spring 2021
1:30 - 4:30 p.m. EST
Sunday Writing Room Zoom:
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Here and There:
Issue 4:
Gratitude & Family
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Here and There Podcast Episode 3:
Reimagining the Archive,
A Conversation with Rene Boatman and Autumn Womack
Senior concentrator Isabel Griffith-Gorgati interviews Rene Boatman & Autumn Womack about Toni Morrison's legacy and archive at Princeton.
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Intersections Working Group presents
The Smell of Risk:
Environmental Disparities and Olfactory Aesthetics
by Hsuan L. Hsu
Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST
via Zoom
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The first 20 Princeton affiliates to register for the event will be reimbursed for a copy of the book (Digital or Paperback) available on Amazon.com or at NY University Press (links at bottom of page)
Book reimbursements can only be provided to University affiliates but the event is open to the public and all are welcome and encouraged to attend.
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The Department of English
A Taste of Success:
Lunchtime Alumni Career Conversations
English & Tech with Bhaamati Borkheteria '20
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST
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Join English alum Bhaamati Borketeria '20, a Software Engineer with Amazon and Professor Rebecca Rainof, Outreach Coordinator, as they discuss Bhaamati's experience concentrating in English and how a degree in English facilitated her path.
Bring your lunch and your questions!
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King Lear
by William Shakespeare.
Read. Meet. Discuss.
A Common Works Event
Thursday, March 18, 2021
4:30 - 6:00 p.m. EST via Zoom
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Join graduate moderators, Lisa Kraege and Moeko Fujii to discuss this Shakespearean classic and Common Works text.
Open to current university concentrators and prospective concentrators. Class of 2022 concentrators are strongly encouraged to attend as this is connected to the Common Works.
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Summer Thesis Proseminar 2021
with Professor Autumn Womack
Application information in your email
Application due Friday, March 19 at 5:00 p.m. EST
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The Summer Thesis Proseminar is an intensive and collaborative thesis writing workshop that offers preparation for your Senior Thesis. Over the course of the summer, you’ll receive mentoring and research advising from a member of the Princeton Faculty along with directed feedback and support from fellow workshop participants. While the primary goal of the workshop is to encourage students to immerse themselves in thesis work, we will also think more broadly about what it means to embark upon a long-form writing project. Through weekly workshops with other English majors, students will refine the questions and research materials that will orient their thesis while staking out new and exciting lines of inquiry.
And here is a report from one of last year's students:
“The summer thesis seminar helped me to determine my research question and to better understand the conversations I’d need to enter in order to answer. Professor Womack is an incredible instructor who works to make the seminar helpful for the specific students in it. She provided examples of successful long form research papers and pushed us to be intentional and specific about the questions we asked. To me, the seminar was just the right amount of work to lay a solid foundation heading into the fall without being overwhelming. As someone in the CWR program, I can also attest that the process is beneficial for both creative and critical theses.” Paige Allen '21.
There are six places available for students who want to get a running start on the thesis, and are ready to commit to six two-hour sessions on Wednesdays from June 30 to August 4.
Application is available on our website (Juniors check your email too).
Please note that you will also have to ask a faculty member to send a recommendation directly to the DUS by Thursday, March 18, so plan ahead.
Applications Due Friday, March 19 by 5:00 p. m.
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The Department of English
Sophomore Open House
Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. EST
Webinar Registration
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Join us to meet current concentrators and the Department of English Professors Jeff Dolven (DUS) and Rebecca Rainof (Outreach Coordinator), to learn more about concentrating in English, Department courses, and what the Department of English can offer you!
Registration Required.
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Class of 2023, want to declare English? |
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The Department of English
Sophomore Sign-Ins
March 25 through April 13, 2021
Advisor Appointments Available in WASE
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Class of 2023, want to declare English as your major?
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Akira Kurosawa's film
Ran
View. Meet. Discuss.
A Common Works Event
Thursday, April 1, 2021
4:30 - 6:00 p.m. EST via Zoom
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Join graduate moderators, Lisa Kraege and Moeko Fujii to discuss this Shakespearean classic and Common Works text.
Open to current university concentrators and prospective concentrators. Class of 2022 concentrators are strongly encouraged to attend as this is connected to a Common Work (King Lear) .
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The Department of English
A Taste of Success: Lunchtime Alumni Career Conversations
English & Medicine with Claire Greene ' 13
Friday, April 2, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST via Zoom
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Join English alum Claire Greene '13, a University of California San Francisco Medical Student, and Professor Rebecca Rainof, Outreach Coordinator, as they discuss Claire's experience concentrating in English and how a degree in English facilitated her path to medicine.
Bring your lunch and your questions!
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The Department of English with Program in American Studies & the Office of Dean of the College
A film Screening & Conversation with
Filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung & Prof. Anne A. Cheng
MINARI
April 5, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. EST via Zoom
Registration Required
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Location: virtual - registration required
Speakers:
Filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung in conversation with Prof. Anne A. Cheng
Please join us for a screening of MINARI, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and a Golden Globe. A delicately wrought drama about what roots us, MINARI follows a Korean-American family that moves to an Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. Tracing the material and emotional challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks for this young family, MINARI shows the resilience of family and what it means to forge a home when you are seen as strangers from a different land.
The first 100 registered will be invited to a free, virtual screening of the film which will be available for viewing anytime between 12:30pm to 4:30pm on April 5th, 2021. A conversation between filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung and Professor Anne Anlin Cheng via zoom will follow the film screening at 4:30pm. All are welcome to attend the conversation, even those who could not attend the screening.
Sponsored by: The Department of English, Program in American Studies, Office of the Dean of the College
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Intersections Working Group presents:
The Cry of the Senses and The Fact of Resonance
by Ren Ellis Neyra by Julie Beth Napolin
Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST
Registration is Required
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The first 20 Princeton affiliates to register for the event below will be reimbursed for copies of the books (Digital or Paperback) available on Amazon.com or at NY University Press (links at bottom of page)
Book reimbursements can only be provided to University affiliates, but the event is open to the public and all are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Links to Purchase the books:
THE CRY OF THE SENSES
Amazon:
Duke University Press:
THE FACT OF RESONANCE
Amazon:
Fordham University Press:
Register for the Event Here:
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Save the Date:
Major's Colloquium 2021
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. EST
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RESEARCH FUNDING INFORMATION |
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The Maren Grant for Senior Thesis Research
The Maren Grant for Senior Thesis Research supports work toward the thesis for seniors in the English Department. Students should apply through SAFE, and choose the Maren Grant among their funding sources.
Please apply to all funding sources for which you are eligible.
Applications to the Maren Grant for Senior Thesis Research may be made in any of the three OUR funding cycles:
- for thesis research in the summer before senior year;
- in the fall of senior year;
- or in the winter before the thesis is due.
Awards are typically between $200 and $1200.
Deadlines are early: be sure you consult OUR and plan ahead.
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The Maren-Annan Grant for Departmental Research
The Maren-Annan Grant for Departmental Research supports student research for the Junior Paper and, under special circumstances, for other work for juniors or seniors within the context of a course in the English Department (excluding the senior thesis).
Applications should be made through SAFE, by choosing “Undergraduate Independent Projects” under “ACTIVITY.”
Please apply to all funds for which you are eligible along with the Maren Grant.
Allowable expenses correspond to those listed for senior thesis research on the OUR website.
Applications may be made at any time, but we recommend submission at least four weeks before any planned travel.
Awards are typically between $200 and $1200.
Consultation with your JP advisor or the instructor for your class is essential.
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Summer O.U.R. Funding Cycle:
O.U.R.'s Application Opens: Friday, February 19, 2021
O.U.R.'s Application Closes: Sunday, March 21, 2021
O.U.R.'s Award posted: Friday, April 16, 2021
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Your application for all funding must be made through S.A.F.E.
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Students applying to the OUR senior thesis research funding program are required to apply for all departmental and programmatic funds for which they are eligible in one single application.
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You will be able to save your application in SAFE and go back to it, but you must complete and submit the application by the earliest deadline of all the funding sources to which you are applying; no changes will be accepted once applications are submitted and locked, except for the selection of additional funding opportunities when eligible.
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Student Activity Funding Engine (S.A.F.E.)
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OTHER EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES |
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Call for Submissions:
Student Original Writing & Art Work
Here and There (The Department of English's Lit Review) in collaboration with The Black Writers Workshop
Deadline: March 20, 2021
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The English Department’s literary review, Here and There, will be collaborating with Princeton’s Black Writers Workshop this spring to produce a special issue featuring Black student writing at Princeton.
Students of all years and majors are welcome to submit work through our submission dropbox. We welcome written submissions of all forms (both academic and creative) as well as visual art.
The Black Writers Workshop hosts writing workshops that will be held throughout the semester and are low-pressure and student-led. If you can’t make it to the first workshop or have any questions, please email Hailey Colborn at hcolborn@princeton.edu.
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TIME WITHIN TIME
Center for Human Values
Film Forum Spring 2021
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The Film Forum started in the fall of 2005. It is dedicated to the discussion of films that not only delight us in the spectacular ways cinema most naturally does but also leave us puzzled, challenged, unsettled, or even irritated. The films we show cry out for discussion and have afforded us on many Monday nights with the pleasure of intelligent and passionate conversation.
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Spring 2021 Academic Fellowship Information Sessions
March 24 through April 17, 2021
via Zoom
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Check out the OIP Events Calendar and weekly OIP Newsletter, and like the OIP Facebook page for updates. All spring 2021 events (and advising appointments) will occur over Zoom using the links specified below.
From March 24 to April 17, we will be hosting an informal fellowships café series (on Zoom) on Wednesday afternoons at 4:30 p.m. ET, featuring recent alumni and seniors speaking about their fellowships clustered around a particular focus, such as STEM, sustainability and the arts. We will post those on the OIP calendar. Students and alumni should request access to resources and recordings of taped presentations by emailing fellow@princeton.edu and request the Dropbox Fellowships Link for Spring/Summer 2021. Following each presentation, we will add updated slides and other information there.
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Call for Submissions:
The Foundationalist
Yale University's Literary Journal
March 21, 2021 Midnight Deadline.
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The Foundationalist accepts undergraduate literary essays, poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. We would also be happy to accept anything that had been written for class. There are no page limits or themes. We simply want students to submit their best work! In the past, we have published works from across the globe; giving writers the opportunity to join a community of over 125+ other authors from 70+ universities. If selected, the author’s writing will be published on academia.edu and in print format.
The deadline is March 21, 2021 at midnight.
On behalf of the editorial board of The Foundationalist,
Cathy Duong and Shayley Martin
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Summer 2021:
Princeton's Department of Classics Intensive: Ancient African Language of Gəˁəz (classical Ethiopic)
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This summer, Princeton’s Department of Classics will be offering an intensive class for Princeton undergraduates and graduate students in the ancient African language of Gəˁəz (classical Ethiopic). If you are at all interested, please fill out the Google Form at https://forms.gle/mcRbjWQoYz6ve2gc6 to be updated on exactly where and when this class will happen.
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Summer Post Graduate Opportunity |
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is seeking new college graduates to join its team of Corporate Legal Assistants for immediate and June full-time hire. Corporate Legal Assistants work across an array of practice areas to provide clerical support to a team of world-class lawyers. To apply, applicants should furnish the Corporate Legal Assistants Manager with a cover letter, resume, short writing sample, and transcript. For more information, please reach out to one of DPW’s recent alumni of Princeton or David Ehmcke (david.ehmcke@davispolk.com) in Client Services.
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Remote Internship Opportunities
Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents
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Massie & McQuilkin seeks intelligent and versatile interns interested in a career in book publishing. The ideal candidate will be able to commit 10-15 hours a week, 2 days a week, though we are flexible in regard to scheduling. Internships last about 3 months, with academic credit available. This internship is unpaid. Due to COVID, all internships for the spring semester will be remote.
The intern’s main duties will revolve around managing and responding to unsolicited queries and manuscripts, and will involve evaluating this material with an eye to its quality, relevance to the agent queried, and its viability in the marketplace. A critical eye is necessary for this position. Additional projects may be assigned that will address other aspects of agenting, including foreign rights and contracts. As with any internship, a part of the position will be general administrative work, but we will do our best to work with individual interests.
To apply, please email Max Moorhead (max@mmqlit.com) and Maddie Woda (maddie@mmqlit.com) with a cover letter in the body and your resume as an attachment. For more information, see our website.
Please submit your application during the following periods:
Spring: November 1-December 20
Summer: March 15-April 15
Fall: August 1-September 1
Maddie Woda (she/her)
Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents
27 West 20th Street, Suite 305
New York, New York 10011
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University Center for Human Values offers events of interest:
To access the events that the University Center of Human Values presents please use this:
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Humanities Council Faculty Bookshelf:
Visit the Humanities Council's Faculty Bookshelf! Browse by author or discipline to explore the University's cutting-edge humanities scholarship.
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Center for Career Development:
While our physical office may be closed, the Center for Career Development is still here to support you.
Wherever you're studying, you can access virtual advising, programs, resources, recruiting and more. The Center for Career Development serves Princeton undergraduate and graduate students of all years and interests.
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Writing Program
For Juniors and Seniors:
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80-minute, Discipline-Specific Appointments: From formulating a plan for semester- and year-long projects to conducting research and drafting and revising, our trained Graduate Fellows are available as students tackle the challenges of independent work! Make an appointment now: https://writingcenter.princeton.edu/s/80MIN
The Virtual Writing Lab (Sunday-Thursday 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. ET): Having a hard time getting motivated working on your JP or Thesis? Looking for a sense of community? Don’t go it alone! Join our Zoom-based virtual lab to write with peers, consult Fellows as needed, and tackle your short and long-term writing goals! Join here any time we’re open.
Writing Partnerships: Pair up with an experienced Graduate Fellow for a standing weekly appointment to structure the JP or thesis writing process and avoid a pile-up of writing at the end of the semester. If you’re interested in setting up a partnership, write to Dr. Creedon (greedon@princeton.edu).
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Mark your calendars. It's time to dig through the baby pics.
CLASS DAY 2021
NEW DAY & TIME:
May 14, 2021 at 4:00 p.m.
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Class Day 2021 is just around the corner! 98 days away!
We in the Department of English Undergraduate are already working to put together a wonderful experience to celebrate you, your family and loved ones, and your graduation.
To aid us in this, we need your help!
Please send us as jpeg/png/doc/pdf/mp4:
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Your favorite baby/ young person picture (think those photos of cuteness you, creative you, "little reader" you, or the one you like the most!)
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We've been in quarantine and socially distant, so definitely include a picture(s) of you now or recently. Please think of ones that "express you" or a photo of you that you love (and your family might too.)
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See #2 - we've all been socially distant and not on campus, SO....If you have them, please send us photos that we can share of you and other concentrators.
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We'll also be sharing a bit of what drew you to English. Please include a brief favorite poem or passage that resonates with you, one which knocks you over, makes your heart sing, your brain buzz, or the one that captured your interest and brought you to your thesis! We like you to share this as a very brief video of you reading this in the place you've found refuge to read this year. (Kindly send a text copy with title and author too!)
(Kindly label your files with your full name and what they are (eg: "myname_babyphoto.png" We accept pngs, jpegs, pdfs, word docs, and mp4s are all welcome.)
MATERIALS ARE DUE FRIDAY,
MARCH 19, 2021.
(this due date is 4 days away!)
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Day will be done and Phoebus’ panting steeds
Will swim the seas before I’ve put in words
All things that take new shape. We’ve seen times change
And nations rise in strength while others fall;
Though once so powerful in men and means
It ably bore ten years of bleeding war,
Since-humbled Troy has only aging ruins
And ancient graves to show for its old wealth.
Yet now the rumour runs that Dardan Rome,
Along the Tiber’s Apennine-born waves,
Lays her foundations for a massive feat:
She’ll change through growth to someday lead the world —
So prophets say and oracles foretell!
For I remember, when Troy was to fall,
That Helenus, king Priam’s son, forewarned
Aeneas as he mourned his doubtful state,
“O goddess’ son, heed well the sooth I say
And, with you safe, Troy will not wholly fall,
But, spared by flame and sword, will come with you
To lands more kind to you and Troy than yours.
I see a city of your Phrygian heirs,
Unlike all that have been, are, or shall be!”
From Book XV
Translated by Luke Soucy '19, from his complete version of the poem, the first selection of which is forthcoming in Arion.
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Woodcut. From: “Les XV. livres de la Metamorphose”, Paris (D.Janot) 1539. |
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Suggestions, events, additions, or questions?
Department of English
22 McCosh Hall
Princeton, NJ 08544
(609) 258-4061
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