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The next faculty member under the Spotlight is Dr. Catherine Carter, a professor in the Department of English. She has been teaching for a total of about 31 years. Of that time, she has spent 22 of them here at WCU.

In this interview, you'll hear about being a recipient of the 2021 Awards for Excellence in Teaching, a few favorites of hers, how long she's been writing, what inspired her to teach, her current projects, advice she has for beginner poets and students, and more.

Her requested use of her time in the spotlight: a big thank you to teachers and proto-teachers!

Below the cut are her answers to student questions and other information:

How does it feel to be one of the recipients of the 2021 Awards for Excellence in Teaching?

I was very, very pleased. It felt like some kind of external validation of the work I do, and that’s generally a wonderful feeling. However, it’s worth noting that there are relatively few teaching awards for the thousand-plus faculty at WCU, and that we have an awful lot of very, very good teachers…which means that there also has to be a certain element of luck in receiving an award like this, which so many deserve. So I’m really grateful to have been lucky, or, if you prefer, to be privileged to receive the award, but that absolutely doesn’t mean I’m the only one who deserved it, or even, perhaps, the most deserving of it.

What’s your favorite movie?

I don’t have one, but the best one I’ve seen in the past year or two was probably Fast Color or maybe Fences.

Are you a dog or a cat person?

I’ve had both; I love them differently. Cats are a lot easier, but dogs provide a lot more interaction. Right now my spouse and I have two cats, but I think we’re about to foster an older dog for some friends who are having to move into an apartment for awhile.

How long have you been writing?

As long as I can remember being able to write—say, from early elementary school. My mother was an English teacher and my father a biologist, and they were and are both avid readers. My mother began reading children’s books and poetry to my brother and me from the moment she brought us home from the hospital, and both were the kind of parents who get up from the dinner table to check a word origin or a reference, so my brother and I had a really solid foundation for being interested in words.

Who are your top three favorite poets?

I don’t think I could pick just three, but three I like a lot are Lucille Clifton, Marge Piercy, and Jane Kenyon.

If you could choose only one memory to sum up your college experience, what would it be?

You keep asking all these questions where I can’t choose!  Maybe staying up all night talking and arguing with my friend Sonda, questioning the whole world and trying to envision a better one.

What inspired you to become a teacher?

I didn’t really plan to become a teacher; I went to graduate school because there wasn’t a lot of active career or post-grad advising of students in those days (1989), and I didn’t really know what else to do. I thought I was good at being a student, so I went to graduate student to go on doing that. And when you go to graduate school, you generally teach. I didn’t like it all that much at first, but it grew on me; the penalties for doing poor work in teaching are immediate, humiliating, and painful (and sometimes that happens even when you’re doing good work.) So over the years I worked at it, trying to get better, and I did get better. But I didn’t get REALLY better until I began working toward teacher certification in 2002; it turned out those folks in CEAP know a lot about actual pedagogy, asking questions that no one really talked about too much in my graduate program. What makes you think such-and-such an approach will help students learn better? How do you know if it did? How do you know your assessments are reliable and valid? What premises underpin the choices you make as a teacher? I learned an awful lot in those two years, and it was a huge help.

What's it like to work in the same department as your spouse?

Mostly pretty wonderful.

Why did you write the poem about the anus? 

I wrote it at a point when I was just getting interested in odes—in fact, you were in that graduate poetry seminar last spring where we read Sharon Olds’ book Odes, which was right around that time, I think.  A key aspect of the ode, for me, is celebrating what we don’t always think to celebrate, so you can’t get much better (or go much lower) in that line than celebrating the anus. And that subject lends itself to the kind of kindergarten humor which often appeals to me, as well as to readers—poetry ought to be fun and funny sometimes. But I also like poetry that’s simultaneously lighthearted and deep-down serious, and this subject allowed me to raise some serious questions: why do most cultures think food and eating are holy, but excretion is profane? Why is “shit” a curse word? Why don’t we think to be grateful for the miracles of our digestive system, start to finish? How DO we decide what’s sacred and what’s the opposite of sacred, and is anything other than cruelty and waste really the opposite of sacred? That’s why I have all that stuff about monasteries in the poem—that, and to give the shout-out to Buson’s famous haiku about the old abbot fertilizing the withered fields with his droppings.

What are you working on right now? (What are you publishing next?)

I have three projects on hand right now.

The first is that my spouse, Brian Gastle, and I are putting together a translation of the 33,000 line Middle English poem, John Gower’s Confessio Amantis, or The Lover’s Confession. We’re about 30% of the way through our second draft; we have a contract to publish it with Medieval Institute Publications at Western Michigan University.

The second is my fourth full-length collection of poetry, which doesn’t yet have a working title; I think I’m about halfway through. It uses metaphors of witches and magic to consider how we decide what’s sacred, how, societally, we think about women ageing, and global climate change. The thread between those themes is often fire—the burning of woman as witches, the hot flashes of menopause (which can be really fierce), and the warming planet. It’s also concerned, like most of my work, with how we interact with nonhuman life; I have some animist tendencies which often come out in the poetry

The third is a pedagogy book project I’ll be undertaking in earnest next spring, when I have scholarly development leave.  It’s meant to be a book for secondary English teachers about teaching poetry, mostly comprised of lesson plans for teaching poetry. There’s a long tradition of teaching poetry as some kind of literary sudoku—find a few literary devices—as if the point of poetry were a successful symbol hunt. Teachers aren’t to blame for that; it’s how they were taught, and it’s one reason why so many English teachers, even, don’t really like poetry. They’re afraid of it, and no wonder, given how we handle it. But I think having some lesson plans teachers could open right up and use to address Common Core State Standards might be really helpful to a whole lot of teachers—and I’m hoping to also draw on the work of the many amazing teachers in the region who do teach poetry by soliciting some plans and/or short essays from those teachers for the book. I expect I’ll be writing a lot of it, but it’ll also have some qualities of an edited collection, if the teachers are willing.

What is the most important thing for someone who is interested in poetry but not very good at it?

Come talk to me, and I’ll show you some non-threatening poetry? Seriously, though, read some, and keep reading, and write as much as you can, and then keep writing. Some poets may be basically born great, but the vast majority of us aren’t. If you don’t like a particular author, go read someone else. If you don’t like ten particular authors, don’t feel ashamed and inadequate—there are thousands of other ones, and you can go read some of those. If you find a poem you do like, maybe read more by that poet. If you really love a poet and that poet’s teaching a class, maybe try to go take it, if you can. You could also see if you could gather a small group of writing friends and share your work—it’s always easier to see the weak points in someone else’s work than in our own.

What advice do you have for students?

This advice is mostly for so-called traditional students: the ones who come to college at 18 and who can manage to live on or near campus and find a congenial group. It’s different for older students—not worse, necessarily, but different. But, to get to the advice: enjoy the time you have. If you need an extra year to graduate, and you can afford it, take it, rather than carrying 18 or 20 hours every semester to get through “on time.” People will tell you college constitutes the best years of your life, and I don’t think that’s so—and it’s a good thing it’s not. Imagine how sad it would be if the best days of your life were over by the time you were 22! But they are unique years, and even though they’re stressful and anxious sometimes, it’s a different kind of stress and anxiety than we know later on. So try to enjoy them. If someone says, “Let’s go do this thing [raft a river, listen to a reading, watch a film you’ve never heard of, join this student group, stay up all night talking with someone you don’t know well], consider saying, “Hell, yes!” instead of “I don’t have time.” There’ll never be enough time, but it’s also true that you’ll never have MORE time than you have right now, only less. Try to make the most of it.

Anything else you would like to share for your time in the spotlight?

As you know, I work mostly with teacher education candidates—proto-English teachers. And those students, by and large, are just amazing. They have a work ethic and a drive and purpose that I couldn’t’ve imagined when I was their age, and it has been such a privilege to work with and support them, as well as with their host teachers in our public schools. Teachers and proto-teachers, they are by and large amazing. Thanks, teachers!

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Our Remarkable Students → Meltzer Scholarship

Amanda Ghianda, a rising junior, is one of two Meltzer Scholarship winners in the English department. She is double-majoring in English (professional writing) and Interior Design with a minor in Art. As for her plans after college, she wants to work in an interior design firm, saying, “I want to design residentially in Charlotte" because she relocated there from New Jersey with her family.

Adding English to her degree took place going into her sophomore year, thanks to a medieval literature class with Dr. Gastle. Amanda had written a paper for him, and he wrote on the back of her paper something along the lines of “Please meet me after class. We need to discuss adding English to your career path.” She met with him and planned out her entire college career to make sure she could meet the requirements of both majors and her minor.

Amanda chose Western Carolina University specifically because the Interior Design program is certified by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA), but she also wanted to attend a smaller university. WCU was the perfect fit.

When she’s not studying hard or working her full-time job with Bank of America, Amanda enjoys dancing (and coaching for the Ballroom Dancing Club), reading, playing video games, and creating art. Congratulations, Amanda, and keep up the great work!

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Our Remarkable Students → Meltzer Scholarship

Jessica Stephens, a rising senior, is one of two Meltzer Scholarship winners in the English department. She is majoring in English (professional writing) with a minor in Journalism. After college, she would like to go into either marketing or publishing, saying, “It seems interesting and like the type of job where it’s not the same thing every day.”

While she remained undeclared for her first two years, Jessica always gravitated towards English before declaring it as her major this year. “I loved reading, and I seem to be good at writing,” she explained, which made an English degree so appealing.

Jessica is originally from the Raleigh area, specifically Coats, but Western Carolina University pulled her in from the very start. On her tour of the school, she immediately felt comfortable. “I just felt like I belonged here.” WCU had just the right size campus and an environment that made her feel at home.

When she’s not studying hard or working part-time at Walmart, Jessica unwinds by playing video games, exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway, and playing with her cat, Cleo (pictured above in her favorite hiding spot: on top of Jessica’s clothes). Congratulations, Jessica! We’re glad to have you in our program!

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The next faculty member under the Spotlight is Pamela Duncan, an associate professor in the Department of English. She has been teaching for a total of about 13 years, all of which have been here at WCU.    

In this interview, you'll hear about how she got started in creative writing, what inspires her, how Ron Rash is connected to her joining the WCU family, what she loves about Western Carolina University, and advice she has for first-time authors and her students in general.

Her requested use of her time in the spotlight: a mantra she repeats when times are tough!

Below the cut are her answers to student questions and other information:

How has the past year been? Was it difficult to transition to online classes?

Most of my course materials were already on Blackboard, so the main challenge for me was getting used to Zoom. There are pros and cons to teaching online. I really missed meeting with students and colleagues in person. However, I appreciated being able to meet with students in smaller groups online and having more one-on-one interaction.

At what age did you begin writing? 

I began writing fiction in my late 20s. I had written a few things here and there before that, but it was only after my grandmother died that I began to get serious about writing. She was the story keeper and storyteller in our family and, with her gone, I didn’t have anybody to tell me stories anymore. I had to learn to tell them myself. I took my first writing workshop at a community college and kept going from there.

What attracted you to creative writing?

I’ve always loved reading, and I’m an introvert, so it seems natural that my preferred way to express myself and communicate with others is through writing. Whether I’m reading or writing, I love the communion with words, images, imaginary people and worlds.

What inspires your creative writing? 

I usually begin with some question I’m dealing with in my own life. For example, my novel The Big Beautiful grew out of my own midlife crisis, wondering what came next in my life. I explored the options through my characters. I’m also inspired by my homeplace, Western North Carolina and Appalachia, and by working class mountain people like my family.

What is your first memory of WCU? 

My first memory of WCU is arriving on campus for my job interview in January 2008. I was both terrified and excited. The folks in the English Department were so kind and welcoming, though, and I knew this would be a good place for me. Also, I was excited to come home to the mountains after being in Chapel Hill for so long.

What is your favorite thing about WCU? 

The people. This campus is a real community where people care about each other.

What is your biggest success, in your opinion?

My biggest success in life, I think, has been not letting fear make my decisions for me. I was terrified to quit my job and go to grad school to study creative writing, but I did it anyway and wrote my first novel, Moon Women, there. I was terrified when that novel got published and I had to go on book tour and speak in front of people, but I did it anyway and met wonderful friends along the way. I was terrified to move across the state and start a new career as a college professor, but I did it anyway and it’s been a wonderful experience.

What piece of advice would you say has proven most helpful when publishing a first novel?

Focus on making the novel the best it can be before worrying about looking for an agent or a publisher. Enjoy that time as an apprentice when you don’t have to please anyone but yourself. Also, go to writers’ conferences, literary festivals, workshops, places you can meet other beginning writers as well as published authors, agents, and editors.

What advice do you have for students?

My advice for students is to enjoy learning. Put your heart into it. Explore things that interest you. Follow your passions. I didn’t do that as an undergrad, but in graduate school I did and it was one of the best experiences of my life.

Anything else you would like to share for your time in the spotlight?

Maybe I can share something that helps me get through tough times. I repeat like a prayer or a mantra:

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The next faculty member under the Spotlight is Dr. Beth Huber, a professor in the Department of English. She has been teaching for a total of about 26 years. Of that time, she has spent the last 16 years here at WCU.

In this interview, you'll hear about what inspired her to become a  professor, her favorite rhetorical theory to teach, how she uses  discussion questions to guide a class, her love of English and rhetoric,  advice for becoming more engaged in politics, advice for students and  future professors, and how she found her new kitten.    

Her requested use of her time in the spotlight: highlighting her colleagues in the department!

Below the cut are her answers to student questions and other information:

Why did you get into teaching? (What inspired you to become a professor?)

I applied for a TA position as many of our graduate students do because I couldn’t afford a Master’s  degree. So, I was teaching in an urban university with a very diverse  group of students. De-Anndrea was a student in my first class as a TA  and the first one to ask for an office visit. She was homeless and was  trying to figure out how to navigate college work without resources. I  become devoted to figuring out how to help her, and then I never wanted  to stop.

What is your favorite rhetorical theory to teach?  

If  you ask my former students, they’ll all tell you: I get super excited  on Nietzsche Night. I love Nietzsche because his theories of reality,  truth, and illusion are the tipping point (for me) between classical and  modern rhetoric. And Nietzsche Night is always the night where you get  the most “Ah-Ha” moments for students. It’s the night where “The Chair”  ceases to be “The Chair.” If you know, you know.

How do you decide what discussion questions to lead and guide a class with and through?  

I’m  a “big questions” kind of person. I call them “Umbrella questions” –  questions with larger socio-political implications. I don’t stay in the  texts, but rather I use the texts as a jumping off point into the world  outside the text. In my opinion, the greatest gift given by any text (be  it literature or poetry or the New York Times) is that unique vision of  the human condition.

What inspired your love of English and Rhetoric?

Language  is power. Language can shift realities – for the better or for the  worse. This is where I’ll show my age, but I started my Master’s  and later my Doctoral work with the following umbrella question: How  did the United States get into the Vietnam War and why did it take so  long to get out? As I started digging into that question, I realized  that it was all about how the language choices from the early Cold War  made Vietnam inevitable. Given those kinds of stakes, I felt that  language must be the single most important field of study.

When  would you say you really got into politics? What do you recommend for  students who want to be more active/engaged in what’s happening?

When  I truly want people to understand who I am, I say the following: My  daddy was a preacher and my mom worked in politics. And, yes, I see  religion as a political activity as well. My mother worked in or around  politics most of my life, so I don’t actually remember a time when I wasn’t into politics. To be active and engaged in this day and age,  with so much awful going on, you must have a strategy behind it. Nobody  can do everything. I have a good friend who advises “Pick your top  three!” You engage, on varying levels, with your top three (or two or  one) concerns and trust that other people are picking up the slack on  other issues. My top three currently are LGBTQ+ rights; animal rescue;  and equitable voting rights.

What’s it like to work with your son?

He’s  a better writer than I am, so it’s a pain in the ass. No, really, I’m  super proud that he’s such a great teacher and great human being. I’m  his biggest fan.

What’s one (piece of) advice you would give for future professors?

As  a teacher, put your ego aside and learn from your students. They will  teach you what you need to know to reach them if you just listen. Always  communicate with kindness and compassion because you can’t possibly  know everything they’re going through. Keep your standards high and then  act as a cheerleader to get your students to hit that bar. As a  scholar, follow your passion. Don’t let anyone tell you “that’s not what  REAL scholars do.”

What advice do you have for students?  

Be kind to yourself and just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Wake up and say “What’s next?” and don’t worry about future stuff until it’s next.

Can you tell us about your new kitten?  

My husband pulled him out of my daughter’s engine block when he was just a couple of weeks old  and he became instant family. Now, Georgie is 5 pounds tops and is in a  house with two 75 lb. dogs. So, of course, he’s the baby and he knows it. We’re grateful he found our engine block.

Anything else you would like to share for your time in the spotlight?

Yeah  – the English department at Western truly is the best (and I’m not just  blowing smoke here). Your professors are collegial and caring; socially  and politically aware and fair; some of the smartest people on the  planet. I’m so fortunate to work with these people.

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The next faculty member under the Spotlight is Dr. Laura Wright, the new Graduate Program Director in the Department of English. She has been teaching for a total of about 29 years. Of that time, she has spent the last 16 years here at WCU.

In this interview, you’ll hear about why she chose WCU, how she made her way into the field, what books/authors have inspired her love of literature, advice she has for students, and more.  

Her requested use of her time in the spotlight: a big thank you and reminder that you can always talk to her!

Below the cut are her answers to student questions and other information:

Why WCU?

My family is from western North Carolina since the 1700s. My family is from Buncombe, Haywood, and Henderson counties. So, my people are all over this region, and my father went to Western Carolina and graduated in 1960 with a business degree. I grew up in Greensboro, and we always came to the mountains because my entire extended family was up here. So I pretty much was here when I wasn’t there. I went to school at Appalachian; I always wanted to live in the mountains. When I was living in New York, my sister lived in Asheville, and I desperately wanted to be in Asheville. I hated living in New York, and I really wanted to be back in the mountains. The job opened up, and I was just like “I’m getting that job.” It’s actually really hard to get a job in this field, and I just made up my mind that I will do whatever and I am going to get that job. I was very determined to get this specific job, and, I mean, I feel like I’m really, really lucky that I got it because that doesn’t work out that way for many people.

How did you find your way in the field?

I started out at Appalachian State, and I was going to major in psychology, and then I decided I didn’t want to do that. Then I was going to major in biology, and then I decided I didn’t want to do that. I don’t know. I really liked literature, I always liked to read, I felt like I was really good at it, and it made sense to me. I just felt like it was the thing that I liked to do more than anything and made sense, and I was good at it. I also feel like that’s a really privileged position to be in because most people go to college, and they’re not necessarily thinking about do I have the luxury to do the thing that I really love to do—I'm going to do the thing that’s going to get me the job that’s going to make me money. And I just kind of decided I was going to do the thing that I really loved, and then I would figure out how to do something with it when I got out. I liked the English major because it had less structure. I felt like it was less authoritarian. I felt like I could make my own rules in it, which is kind of how I’ve always been. I think that’s a big part of it; it felt like a lot more freedom to do something in this field than to do those other things that I thought I was interested in.

What made you fall in love with literature?

I’m the older of two children in my family, and the age gap between my sister and me is like five years, so in a lot of ways I’m psychologically an only child. I’m very used to having a lot of time by myself. I think, as a result, I have a really active imagination and a very complicated inner life, very introverted. I liked books because I could get lost in them and because they showed me things I couldn’t see, just taught me about the world in ways that made sense to me. I’ve always thought that fiction has been a better teacher, for me, about the world and about people than other ways of knowing things like history or science because I think literature is good at activating the empathetic imagination, it’s good at creating empathy. There's actually been studies that say that reading literary fiction helps people become more empathetic. As an empathetic person anyway, I really sucked all that in, and it gave me fuel. It’s hard to even explain at this point what about literature pulled me in because it’s like breathing; it’s been a part of my life for so long.

Was there a certain story or work that made you acknowledge your love for literature? Has it been reflected in your work?

There’s been a lot of them, but the one I always come back to is Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale. I remember at the point when I read it, thinking I will never be able to write like this and that Margaret Atwood is saying all the things that I feel and think about the society I live in in a way that I could never express. It was this really profound moment for me because she was writing about a very specific period in American history, but she was doing it in the context of this dystopia where women’s rights were completely stripped from them and this really horrific fascist regime was in place. And I actually could see this happening around me, and I could make sense of it in this intellectual way, but she was doing something through art that activated something else. That was a moment when I realized I could never write novels because I would never be able to do what she did, and she was already doing all the things I would want to do. I’ve been really shaped in my scholarly work by women’s literature. I wrote my master’s thesis on women’s literature—African women’s literature, in particular—so I feel like the works that I’ve read by women have really shaped my feminist ethos in the world and has definitely shaped the way I think about my place in the world.

What got you involved with the eco-feminism movement?

This is a really complicated question for me. I don’t even know how to disaggregate me being a vegan—I feel like veganism is a huge environmental stake, and it's this thing that one does to try and avoid cruelty on a large scale that’s also really environmentally positive. The book that I read that really shaped my thinking with regard to eco-feminism is a book by a woman named Carol Adams, and it’s called The Sexual Politics of Meat, and it’s about the linkages between animals and women and nature and the way that all of these oppressions are interconnected. We have the word intersectional now, which I think is really useful. When she wrote that book, it was in the early 1990s, and intersectionality was not a thing. She’s doing a lot of work talking about how oppressions are linked and intersecting, and if we address just one of them, then we’re missing the larger, structural issues that are allowing for us to oppress nature and animals and women and colonized people. I feel like my whole life has been this exercise in trying to as little harm as possible to as many beings as possible.

Would you recommend entering into a doctoral program?

I have lots of ways of answering this. When I entered my doctoral program or, actually, when I entered the MA program, the United States was in a really serious recession, and I had graduated and didn’t know what I was going to do with a BA in English, and I was like well I’ll just go to grad school. Then when I was applying to PhD programs, everyone said to me “you will never get a job when you get out.” I mean, literally everyone, including all my professors. I graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 2004, and I almost didn’t get a job. I got lots of interviews, and then I got a temporary job before I got the permanent job that I have now, and it was really, really hard. Things are weird right now. I feel like we’re in this period of time where our entire society’s kind of been remade by this pandemic, and I think it’s going to impact higher education—I think it’s going to impact everything in ways that we can’t foresee right now. I taught the ENGL 618 class in the fall, and we talked a lot about this because I felt like we were all going through this together. What does this mean? Are there going to be jobs? Does it make sense to do a PhD? And I would say that I don’t think it makes any less sense now than it ever has. I would advise people who are interested in getting a PhD to definitely not do one unless you can get a full ride and an assistantship to help you with it because the last thing you want to do is incur a bunch of debt. I mean, you’re going to incur debt anyway if you get a PhD. I think if it’s the thing you love and the thing you want to do, and you feel like you have the resources to do it, then you should do it. I would never tell someone not to do something that they felt passionately about because you can’t predict where the world is going to be five years from now.

What advice do you have for students?

The pandemic is a good thing to talk about because, in teaching through it—I've taught hybrid, so I’ve had a lot of face-to-face classes—I've seen the toll it’s taken on everybody, on the faculty, the students, everybody’s families. I feel this way generally, but I think the thing I would say right now is to just be kind. Be kind, be forgiving, air on the side of grace. If you’re struggling, talk to people who might be able to help you. So being able to communicate, and it’s really hard in the age of Zoom to want to communicate. You can’t just drop by people’s offices or people’s houses or whatever. Be as forgiving and kind to yourself and to others as possible. We’re also living in these really polarized times, where we’re just, as a society, at real odds with each other, and to try and look past that and see the humanity in each other and be as caring as we can during times that are unprecedented because none of us have ever lived through anything like this. I don’t think anyone on the planet has lived through anything like this.

You say that you’ve spent much of quarantine drinking. I’m curious to know what your drink of choice is. Is it different at home than at a bar?

First of all, I knew about this question, and I was joking when I said I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time drinking, but, you know, occasionally drinking has helped me through this. I’m kind of a white wine drinker, which I think makes me the whitest white girl ever. I’m sort of a fan of gin and tonics. If I go out to a bar, I will try to drink something with bourbon in it, just a bourbon on the rocks or something like that, because I’m trying to look like the stud that I’m not. Or I’ll try something more exotic because if I’m at home, I don’t really care, but if I’m out somewhere and there’s some fancy thing that I want to get, I’ll do that, but I haven’t been out to a bar in I don’t know how long.

What is your least favorite book you’ve ever read, and why?

That’s a really tough question. I mean, I’ve read a lot of bad books. Okay, so I can think of one that I taught that I really hated. It’s a novel by a British author named Ian McEwan, and it’s called Solar, and it is a work of climate change fiction. I taught a whole class on climate change fiction some years back. His novel came out in the 2010s, and he’s a hugely famous British writer and has written a lot of things for which he’s received a lot of praise. This was a piece that was supposed to be satire, but it didn’t really work. I hated it, and the students hated it, and it was just an unqualified disaster to have on the syllabus.

Anything else you would like to share for your time in the spotlight?  

Thank you so much for asking me to do this. I am always here to answer questions and would be happy to talk to anybody about anything.

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This week, we're shining the spotlight on WCU's LGBTQ+ Archive, hosted by the Hunter Library. This interview features two of the three founders of the project, Dr. Travis Rountree and Dr. Erin Callahan. Missing is Sarah Steiner from the library, who already started by gathering oral histories from local drag performers in 2018.

Check out this interview to hear about how the project got started, what projects they’re working on, future events, and more.

You can find the Digital Collection here and Blue Ridge Pride here.

They are still looking for people to help contribute to the project! If you are part of the LGBTQ+ community or even just an ally, reach out by email (lgbtqarchive@wcu.edu) to share your story or any artifacts/letters/memorabilia you might have in a “shoe box” and would like to donate.

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Several of our students (including an alum) and faculty will be presenting at the SEACS this year in a completely virtual conference. Below the cut are the panels/links featuring Catamounts as well as the link to the keynote address, which is presented by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle.

Friday, February 26, 2021

Session I: 12:30-2:00pm

Panel 1: Latinx Studies and Pedagogy

Panel 2: Marginalized Characters and Intersectional Power Dynamics

Session II: 2:15-3:45pm

Panel 2: Political Rhetoric

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Saturday, February 27, 2021

Session I: 8:30-10:00am

Panel 1: Meaning, Language, and the Words We Use

Panel 2: Reading Global

Session II: 10:15-11:45am

Panel 1: Approaches to Knowledge and Knowing

Session III: 12:00-1:30pm

Panel 2: Pedagogy and Rhetoric

Keynote Address: 2:00-3:00pm

Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

Session IV: 3:15-4:45pm

Plenary Session on Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle's Even as We Breathe

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The next faculty member under the Spotlight is Ron Rash, a distinguished professor in the Department of English. He has been teaching for a  total of about 41 years. Of that time, he has spent the  last 17 years here at WCU.

In this interview, you’ll hear about his patronus, what fish he would be, some of his favorites, how he would spend $1 million, the picture on his office door, who his hero is, advice he has for students and aspiring authors, and more.  

His requested use of his time in the spotlight: bragging about this semester’s class!

Below the cut is a shortened version of his answers to student questions and other information:

What do you usually get at Subway?  

The largest cup of tea that they serve.

Do you believe in Bigfoot?  Have you ever seen Bigfoot?

Not sober

What is your "patronus” or kindred spirit?

Speckled trout. It’s the native fish of Appalachia.

Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?  

Sunsets

Would you rather drink coffee or tea?  

Coffee in the morning; tea in the afternoon.

If you were a fish, what kind of fish would you be?

Speckled trout

If your personality was an ice cream flavor, what would it be?

Probable vanilla

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?  

Pistachio

What is your favorite place to eat in Sylva?  

That’s tough. Mad Batter, certainly; Guadalupe Cafe; Lulu’s. I’d have to narrow it to those three.

What's your favorite movie?  

Oh wow, that’s such a tough one. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is one of my favorites; Cool Hand Luke is one; and The Tree of Life, written and directed by Terrence Malick.

What is your favorite Star Wars movie?  

Unfortunately, I do not have one. Not a big Star Wars fan.

What is your favorite time period in history?  

The period of the French Revolution because I think so much of what happened since then is tied into what happened in that revolution, both the good and the bad.

What is your favorite month of the year and why?  

September, particularly late September

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?

Does it have to be healthy? Fried okra.

If you could eat dinner with any 3 people you wanted, who would you choose and why?  

Samuel Johnson, William Shakespeare... I would say William Faulkner, but he wouldn’t talk. Who would be a third one? There’s a writer named Jean Giono, from France, and he’s always been very interesting to me, so maybe those three.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go?  

Well, I’ve been there. France. I really feel a connection to the French, their literary tradition, but I’ve actually been there. I would like to go to Brazil.

If you were given $1 million, how would you spend it?

I don’t know. I’d probably just give a lot of it to a worthy cause, some kind of conservation area. Something to do with parks and buying land up for land conservation.

What do you like to do in your spare time?  

I’m a very boring person. I like to listen to music, read, walk, fish. Those are the main things.

What are your top 3 favorite books?  

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky because that book was the first one that made me want to be a writer, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, and either Moby Dick or The Sound and the Fury.

What is your favorite book you have written?  

As far as novels, I’d say Serena. As far as short story collections, I’d say Burning Bright.

Tell us about the picture on your office door!  

It’s a photograph of logging in Appalachia, actually near Brevard, during the early part of the 20th century. And it’s just a reminder of how huge those trees were, and anyone who sees it recognizes that. One reason I think Serena is the book I feel best about is that people forget that if you had driven through the Smoky Mountains in, say, 1910/1920, you would’ve been surrounded by mountains that had been raised, almost as if they’d been skinned, and I think we tend to forget that. That particular photograph is a good reminder of that particular virgin forest that we lost.

Who is your hero?  

Well, I’ve got a number of them. I think Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who stood up to the Nazis, is certainly a man that I view that way. I admire people who are brave when it really costs them to be. It’s easy to pretend to be brave, but those people such as that show us what we’re capable of as human beings. As far as writing, certainly Shakespeare as far as the excellence that I go back to and can’t imagine writing that way, but it’s just nice to know that a human being can do that.

Why did you decide to teach at WCU?  

Well, they invited me. I certainly wanted to teach here, and for several reasons. One, because my family is so deeply rooted here, actually in this very county. I had relatives here in the 1700s. The location, the fact that it was rural. I’ve always been more comfortable in rural areas. I’ve never lived in a city, and I’d never want to. And it gave me an opportunity that I hadn’t had to do more writing.

What's your favorite thing about teaching?  

I think it’s connecting with the students. The great thing is it’s allowed me to, at least on some level, believe I’m younger than I am. Just the idea that what I think is important, the aspect of literature, is something I think has a great worth for us as human beings... that I can transfer some of that, maybe some of that appreciation (I hope), to encourage my students to read and write. Teaching literature is an act of communion.

What’s the hardest part about being an author?

It never gets easier. Each time, it’s, for me, like starting over. I mean, all the doubts, all the sense that it looks hopeless, how will this thing ever cohere... going through that. You know, I just feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to do what I’ve wanted to do with my life. I’ve had some success, and I think that even if I hadn’t, I’ve gained so much from writing that I would not have regretted it, even if I never published. I think it’s a worthwhile endeavor just to understand ourselves and understand the world around us by trying to observe it.

What advice do you have for students/aspiring authors?

For any writer, if you want to be a really good writer, you have to read. I mean, you have to study people who are better than you are. I do not know a first-rate writer who is not a veracious reader. One should also read widely. Read the writers from South America, read Márquez, read Borges. Read Achebe from Africa, read Baudelaire from France, read Mo Yan from China. I think that’s really important, but also read writers from the past. Great writing remains great writing. Anyone who’s writing today is going to learn a lot about how to create a minor character from Shakespeare. I think just reading from your time period... you’re not really learning the tradition, and part of what you want to do is to break away from that tradition, to create your own way of perceiving the world, but I think it’s hugely important to learn from the past as well as the present.

Anything else you would like to share for your time in the spotlight?

Well, I’m just grateful to be here. I’ve had great students. Actually, one of the best classes I’ve ever had in my life is this semester, and that’s really nice to know that as long as I’ve been teaching, I can still go into a class and feel like I’m connecting and also being challenged because the group I’ve got this semester, they’re so smart and so talented that they keep me really pushing. I have to bring my A game with them, and that’s good for me, too.

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Tune in to the 3 Minute Thesis Competition today at noon! Help us cheer on Muath, one of our graduate students!

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Our Remarkable Students → Making Time for Change

One of our students, Melissa Rogers (junior), has shown that it is possible to make a change in education. She created a time management skills module for first-year experience courses as part of an online textbook in Blackboard.

Dr. Bradshaw’s ENGL 101 class inspired her to work with FYE courses. He had assigned a proposal for the class to write about a change the students wanted to make at the university. He helped her submit to the correct place—Office of Student Transitions—and make her project more than just a grade. This sparked an interest in writing for Melissa, and she changed her major to English.

Melissa worked with Glenda Hensley from the Office of Student Transitions and, when discussing the process, said, “She was my intended audience and was receptive to my idea and let me go for it.”

Creating change meant working on a committee of around 20 people called the Student Transition Advisory Board. Melissa was part of the subcommittee for first-year experience students, but she headed the section for time management, working with faculty members Darby Harris (Biology) and Alesia Jennings (Chemistry).

Her work is finally paying off now that the module has gone live this fall. Her timeline involved writing the proposal in her first semester at WCU, submitting that proposal to her intended audience and being asked to join the committee in her second semester, spending her sophomore year planning and working on the committee, and going live with the module in her first semester as a junior.

Melissa is proud of her work and the way her idea was received by the school, saying, “Western is really great in its value and respect of the students here. They care about students’ perspectives, and they’re willing to listen to [them] to make their programs better. It’s really cool that I have a voice at this school.”

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The next faculty member under the Spotlight is Dr. Michael Boatright, a professor and Director of English Education in the Department of English. He has been teaching for a total of about 20 years. Of that time, he has spent the last eight years here at WCU, where he has served as Director of English Education for the last six years.

In this interview, you'll hear about his favorite food and grocery store, favorite films and who his Star Wars personality twin is, favorite books, the story behind his Beatles poster, advice for teaching online, and more.

His requested use of his time in the spotlight: boasting about his students and a reminder to VOTE!

Below the cut is a shortened version of his answers to student questions and other information:

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? 

Chocolate peanut butter swirl

What's your favorite grocery store to shop at? 

Earthfare. Happy that it’s open again

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? (What’s your favorite food?)

Anything from Plant, vegan restaurant in Asheville

If you could eat dinner with any three people from history, who would you choose? 

Nina Simone, John Lennon, R.W. Emerson

If you could travel to any time period in history, what would you choose? 

1960s London

If you could have any superpower, what would you choose? 

Telekinesis

What's your favorite Star Wars film? 

The Empire Strikes Back

What's your favorite non-Star Wars film? 

2001: A Space Odyssey

Which Star Wars character does your personality most closely align with? 

Chewbacca

What are you going to be for Halloween this year? 

COVID-safe

What is your favorite animal? 

Cats

What's your favorite hiking trail in the area? 

Rainbow Falls

What's your favorite place you have visited? 

St. Martins

What are your top three favorite books?

If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler (Italo Calvino), The Wind-up Bird Chronicles (Haruki Murakami), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)

What’s your favorite YA novel and why?

This changes often. Right now it’s The Hate U Give (Angela Thomas)

What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time? 

Read, run, spend time with my wife & cats, spin vinyl

What is your Enneagram type? 

I’d need to look into that.

Do you believe in Bigfoot? 

Yes

Tell us about your Beatles poster on your office door! 

A gift from a dear friend who’s a musician in Asheville

What was the name of the band you used to be in?

Secret of 42

Why did you decide to become a teacher?  

It runs in the family. My mother was a teacher, my grandfather was a professor, and my niece is a teacher now.

How are you navigating online classes? Have any tips? (for student teachers as well as students)

I enjoy it. Be intentional while still being flexible. Take breaks often—students feel screen fatigue as much as we do. Be protective of your time.

Any advice for future graduate students?

Figure out when you can read a book and when you can read “at” a book in order to get the information you need. Somethings need to be read in-depth, but not everything. There’s not enough time.

What advice do you have for students? 

Take care of yourself and find time, even if just a few minutes, to do something that brings joy to your life. 

Anything else you would like to share for your time in the spotlight? 

My students are some of the most amazing people that I work with, and their generation has the potential to enact real change in the world. I’m hopeful. Vote!

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The next faculty member under the Spotlight is Dr. Jonathan Bradshaw, a professor in the Department of English. He has been teaching for a total of about 14 years. Of that time, he has spent the last five years here at WCU, where he has served as director of the WRCS (Writing, Rhetoric, and Critical Studies) Program for the last two years.

In this interview, you'll hear about some of his favorites, what he likes about WCU, his journey into rhetoric studies, an important lesson he's learned over the years, and more.

His requested use of his time in the spotlight: showing off homegrown produce.

Below the cut is a shortened version of his answers to student questions and other information:

What's your favorite movie? (What's your favorite movie and why should it be Star Wars?)

I’m not actually sure that I have one. I mean, I like movies and all, but I guess I would much rather be mixing my compost or reading a seed catalog than watching a movie. I was actually an actor in a movie about Appalachian migration and music traditions, called The Mountain Minor. To further evade your question, I’m not sure why it should be Star Wars. I do consume a lot of TikTok, if that counts.

Why is Spider-Man your favorite superhero? 

Excellent question! I think it is because he has traditionally been written as the relatable hero. He was kind of a revolutionary concept when first created because most comics focused on the near-perfect hero. Peter Parker was someone who had everyday issues on top of stopping an evil villain with four mechanical arms.

What's your favorite food? 

Now we’re talking! I would have to say fried chicken. I don’t mean just any fried chicken. Well, actually, I do mean pretty much any fried chicken. But I especially mean my mother’s fried chicken. She’s taught me her approach to making it, and I can approximate it, but I can’t quite make it or find it anywhere other than her house.

What’s your favorite restaurant to go to in Sylva? 

I don’t hitch up my cart and wagon to leave my small farm in Cullowhee much these days. As much as possible, I try to grow what I eat (though I don’t nearly reach that goal and am a hypocrite for even saying it). I don’t go there often, but I do like the Coffee Shop. I love little diners.

What’s your favorite type of coffee? 

Coffee! I’m not picky, but I generally like a light or medium roast best. But I will drink weak, scalded gas station coffee without hesitation.

What’s your favorite thing to do in your spare time? 

Work in my garden. Since the pandemic started, I have probably read the equivalent of an MA degree in organic gardening and soil health. If you run into me on campus, there’s as good a chance I am, at that moment, strategizing how to get more brown material into my compost as I am to be thinking about rhetoric.

What’s your favorite thing about being at WCU? 

I love that it is an institution that is serious about teaching. All institutions use rhetoric about higher education, student learning, etc. But, at WCU, I see faculty and an institution with real commitments to student learning.

What inspired you to go into the field of rhetoric? 

What I love about rhetoric is that it has the potential to empower people to participate in the conversations that matter the most to them. I describe rhetoric to my students as thinking artfully and ethically about our communication with others. By “artful,” I mean that we can be intentional about the language that we use. Even in writing a memo or advocating for change in your community, you are not bound to the first thought that comes to your mind. You can develop a repertoire of strategies that helps you invent better engagement. By “ethical,” I mean that we should always recognize our language has consequences for others. Rhetoric gets a bad reputation as “manipulative,” and yeah, it can be. But there is nothing inherently manipulative about being intentional with your language use. It’s the ethical side that matters. If you are using rhetoric to get what you want, well, let’s start re-thinking your approach. What I love most about rhetoric is not the esoteric Athenian and Roman terms; it’s that it is always about audience. Rhetoric, at its best, practices an ethic of audience care. There is no not-caring about how your words are received. If you are using rhetoric, you care deeply about how your audience receives your words and so you fold them into your decision-making as a writer.  

As far as how I got into rhetoric? Well, I have two degrees in literary studies. I majored in English as an undergrad when my advisor told me I was at the point where I had to pick a major or there was no reason for me to be there. English was the area where I knew I would do the most writing, so that was where my interests went. I tacked on an “English Ed” side to the major as an afterthought, but then just really fell in love with teaching and planned to be a High School teacher. As an MA student, I thought I was on the track to become a literature professor, but I fell in love with teaching writing as soon as I taught my first writing class. After a couple years of teaching writing, I was just all in. And I also realized that I needed more specific ways to think about what I was doing and what writers do, which led me to the study of rhetoric. I had gotten my degrees in programs that focused solely on literary study, so I had no opportunity to study rhetoric. Once I began studying rhetoric theory on my own, a light went off. I had really struggled in writing my MA thesis and I realized why: I was grasping about for the language of rhetoric, but I didn’t have it at the time. So in a lot of ways, I arrived at rhetoric through the back door because I was always open to discovering new things rather than having a single-track mind about my education.

Are there other careers you would like to pursue outside of teaching? 

Sure, but don’t tell the Department Head or tenure review committee that :)  

My dissertation research studied communication strategies of Appalachian community advocacy organizations. I really fell in love with the two organizations I worked with there—Appalshop in eastern KY, and the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition in Cincinnati, OH—and seriously considered doing communications work after getting my PhD. In the end, I decided to give the academic track a good go before making that turn. It was a long-range plan of mine to end up back in the mountains of WNC, so I jumped at the opportunity when I got the offer at WCU.

What has been the most important lesson you've learned?

Well, I try to keep learning them, so there are a lot! However, one that has stuck with me throughout my life is understanding. I don’t mean understanding in terms of “comprehension.” I mean more understanding that everyone has experiences that are not the same as yours, and we need to always extend understanding to people around us. I can’t always know what you’re going through, or what your experience has been like, but I can extend understanding to you. In a sense, I came to understand “understanding” to mean something in between (or perhaps cross-pollinated) empathy and extending grace to others.

What advice do you have for students?

Stay in communication! Let that mean for you what it does. Stay in communication with your professors, peers, family, friends, co-workers. It is never the students who email me or visit my office that I worry about—even when they are really going through something. It’s the people I never hear from.

Anything else you would like to share for your time in the spotlight?

Squash!

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The next faculty member under the Spotlight is Dr. Brian Gastle, a professor in the Department of English who teaches medieval literature, professional writing, and required freshman/sophomore writing classes. He has been teaching for a total of about 31 years, including his time in graduate school. Of that time, he has spent the last 22 years here at WCU, where he has directed the Professional Writing and Literature programs; served as Department Head in English,;served as Associate Dean of the Graduate School; and was Provost fellow for a year, a kind of Acting Associate Provost for the university at the time focusing on tenure, promotion, and faculty affairs across WCU.

In this interview, you'll hear about what he enjoys about teaching, his favorite pieces of British literature, why he loves what he studies, his research in medieval literature, and more.

His requested use of his time in the spotlight: reading Middle English.

Below the cut is a shortened version of his answers to student questions and other information:

What is your favorite thing about teaching?

The students. Seeing them succeed and grow. And sharing with them this literature that means so much to me.

Favorite piece of Brit Lit (British Literature)?

That’s really an impossible question for an English professor to answer. I have favorites for different things. Troilus and Criseyde might be my favorite love story. Book of the Duchess as an elegy and for the psychology of loss. The Lord of the Rings for epic grandeur matched with personal friendship. Gower’s Confessio Amantis for intellectual curiosity. 

What is the appeal of researching the work of John Gower instead of someone more well known from the time periods like Geoffrey Chaucer? 

I research Chaucer as well as Gower and have a couple publications that include his works. In fact, I’m working right now on an essay on the Knight’s Tale. But Gower provided me opportunities. There is less scholarship on Gower, and still much to be done, and I was supported and befriended by Gower scholars early on, offering me publication opportunities that were important as I worked towards promotion and tenure. I am interested in just about all medieval literature, and could work on other things if I wanted, but I’ve now built up this expertise in Gower which allows me to say and do things I couldn’t when I was starting out.

Why do you love what you study so much?

Why do we love anything or anyone? That’s a question we spend our whole lives exploring. Because it is complicated and interesting and appeals to my intellectual curiosity. Because I find medieval lit [literature] in particular full of joy and hope and humor as well as sadness, and loss, and indignation. Because it can show us what humanity is or could be or should be. Because it speaks to us and can make us better people.

What advice do you have for students?

Undergraduate or graduate? Try to worry less about grades and jobs than about pursuing what interests you. Keep an eye on the market. Foster your own intellectual curiosity so that you get fulfillment from anything you do.

Time in the Spotlight: Reading Middle English.

This is the opening of Book One of Gower’s Confessio Amantis. Gower wrote a number of biting social commentaries before coming to the Confessio, which has its share of social satire as well, but in this opening he says the Confessio will focus on what he thinks is most important: Love, and how everyone is guilty of loving either too much (greed, desire, etc) or too little (lack of love for our fellow human being).

I may noght strecche up to the hevene  Min hand, ne setten al in evene  This world, which evere is in balance:  It stant noght in my sufficance  So grete thinges to compasse,  Bot I mot lete it overpasse  And treten upon othre thinges.  Forthi the stile of my writinges  Fro this day forth I thenke change  And speke of thing is noght so strange,  Which every kinde hath upon honde,  And wherupon the world mot stonde,  And hath don sithen it began,  And schal whil ther is any man;  And that is love, of which I mene  To trete, as after schal be sene.  In which ther can no man him reule,  For loves lawe is out of reule,  That of to moche or of to lite  Wel nyh is every man to wyte

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The first faculty member under the Spotlight is Dr. Paul Worley, our Graduate Program Director in the Department of English. He has been teaching for a total of about 20 years, including his time as a GA and teaching abroad. Of that time, he has spent the last seven years here at WCU and two of those as the GPD. 

In this interview, you'll hear about what made him go into teaching, some of the books he's passionate about sharing with students, and how his upbringing helped him grow to be so accepting of everyone.

His parting words: Black Lives Matter.

Below the cut is a cut version of his answers to student questions:

How are you so cool?

I'm going to assume that by "cool" this person means what many other people refer to as "ridiculous," because the people closest to me remind me on a pretty regular basis that I'm ridiculous. 

What made you choose teaching?

I read a long time ago that the only place that a left-wing intellectual can be effective in the US is education, and for the most part I think that's true although I constantly question how effective I am, personally. We live in a society (locally, nationally, and globally) that requires immediate, deep structural change no matter what topic we are discussing. This is complicated by that fact that, as a friend of mine from Yucatan, Mexico once put it, here in the US there is no plan B, that it is unthinkable that US global power won't be infinite, that the economy won't expand continually, and that people in the US are destined to always "have it better." Jarring people out of that way of thinking and introducing them to other ways of thinking, seeing, and experiencing the world is really what led me to teaching. Most days it does strike me as more effective than standing on a corner with a sandwich board, but there are days where I'm more game for that as an alternative. 

What is your favorite book to teach?

Honestly I like seeing what happens between texts when students read them. For example, right now I'm having students read the narratives of Spanish explores, and African and Indigenous Peoples, that all intersect with North Carolina in different ways. Students get to see that there's a whole different world out there that exists outside of the Anglo-US canon, one that includes a variety of experiences and perspectives on the place they call home. 

How have you grown to be so accepting to everyone? You are one of the main professors I've had that truly cares for human rights and activism. 

I'm humbled that a student would include me in that group. I think "growth" is definitely the perfect word, since our experiences shape us and continue shaping us throughout our lives. I grew up in a household where I came up amidst a lot of cognitive dissonance concerning the world "how it is." For example, I grew up evangelical, but went to Catholic schools, which in Charleston, SC in the 80s was a jarring contradiction for a kid to comprehend. Both of my parents have degrees, and my father's father was a successful barber despite being functionally illiterate. I didn't want for anything, but my mother's parents both died of chronic conditions and inadequate access to health care long before I was born. When I was younger an African American woman took care of me and my sister in the afternoons, and she gave us a much different perspective on US history and what it meant to be Black or white, particularly in a space like Charleston that is so profoundly segregated racially and economically and struggles to deal with its history. I could go on and on, but I guess I've always been troubled by this slippage between how we profess to love and value people and how society at large devalues those same people publicly. You either work towards changing that or you don't.