The newsletter for the WKU community
February 8, 2022
Warren-Brooks Award winner selected
Ato Quayson, the Jean G. and Morris M. Doyle Professor in Interdisciplinary Studies and Professor of English at Stanford, has been named winner of the 2021 Warren-Brooks Award for his book Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2021).

Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature was selected by a committee of the Robert Penn Warren Circle as the 2021 winner of the Robert Penn Warren-Cleanth Brooks Award for outstanding literary scholarship and criticism. The committee was impressed with the book’s study of the ways postcolonial tragedies both engage and transform the traditional concerns of tragedy.

Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature examines tragedy from the Greeks through Shakespeare to the present day, while exploring the themes of suffering and ethics in postcolonial literature in order to expand the terms by which Western tragedy has long been understood. Dr. Quayson will visit WKU on Sept. 16 to accept the award and give a guest lecture.
WKU marks passing of Dr. Randall Capps
Dr. Randall Capps, founding department head of the Department of Communication and Professor Emeritus, died February 2. He was 85.

In 1962, Dr. Capps started as an instructor in the Department of English. After assisting Dr. Russell Miller with his speech and theatre classes, former Dean of the College, Dr. Raymond Cravens, asked him to stay and teach speech courses as well as manage the forensics program. The partnership with Dr. Miller and Dr. Capps would result in the creation of the first oratory-related majors in WKU history: Speech and Speech and Theatre. Because of his passion for speech and theatre, Dr. Capps founded the Department of Speech and Theatre in 1968. (The Department of Speech and Theatre would later be renamed to the Department of Communication.)

He served as the Department Head for nearly 20 years in three stints between 1968 and 1995 and became the longest-serving head in the department’s history.
HEALTHY
ON THE HILL
Check WKU's Healthy on the Hill website for the latest updates, including COVID Cases Dashboard, Vaccine Information and more.
CLIMBING HIGHER
WKU has selected 17 students as recipients of the 2022-23 Cherry Presidential Scholarship, the school’s most prestigious academic award. Learn More
CEBS professors receive grant
WKU was awarded a $20,000 “Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary Programs Planning Grant” through the Human Development Institution at the University of Kentucky to address the need for postsecondary programs designed for individuals with intellectual disabilities in the region to gain academic, career, and technical instruction in higher education.
Spotlight: Lucas Moore
Lucas Moore comes from a long line of Hilltoppers and educators. Originally from Battletown in Meade County, Moore is an elementary education major who, once he graduates, will be a third-generation WKU graduate and fourth-generation teacher.
Student Research Conference
Here’s a reminder from the Student Research Council about deadlines for the 52nd Annual Student Research Conference on March 26 in Downing Student Union.
 
  • Presenters: Student abstracts are due by Feb. 18. Learn More
  • Judges: Current or retired WKU faculty and staff, alumni and community members are invited to volunteer to serve as judges by Feb. 25. Learn More
Hearts On The Hill
The WKU Alumni Association is sharing WKU love stories in Hearts On The Hill:

During the fall of her senior year, CJ Stone was preparing to graduate in May, when along came George Nichols. And life has never been the same. (Read more Hearts On The Hill stories)
Forensics wins Illinois event
The WKU Forensics Team placed first at a virtual competition hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Feb. 5.
WKU Week in Photos
Check out this week’s installment of WKU Week in Photos by WKU's Division of Communications and Marketing.
WKU SPIRIT
Check out the latest issue of WKU SPIRIT magazine.
Athletics
February
8
Tuesday
Artist Talk

The Department of Art and Design will host an artist talk by Elvira Clayton at 6 tonight via Zoom. Her exhibition, A Higher Power, is on display through Feb. 18 at the Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center's University Gallery.
February
10
Thursday
Exhibit Opening

An opening reception for The Ancient Near East in Kentucky exhibit will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Kentucky Museum. Learn More
February
10
Thursday
Exhibit Reception

The Minority Artists Perspective Club will host a reception and artist talk for HER The Juried Show at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Intercultural Student Engagement Center (Downing Student Union, room 2041).
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