Christmas with Veronica Mars

We haven't yet made the undergraduates go up to the attic to bring down the decorations, but, as Thanksgiving Break starts, the Tenants are in a holiday mood and have already selected this year's official Christmas theme song. Fortunately, the graduate students explained the lyrics to us.

Undergraduate PWE capstone students showcase their internship work

On Thursday the Professional Writing and Editing (PWE) program hosted the biannual PWE Poster Exhibition. PWE concentrators are required to complete a capstone internship  in professional or technical communication, and their posters are an opportunity for them to showcase their work for the university community. This fall, four students shared posters at the event: Nicole Atkinson, Tyler Hower, Liz Smith and Megan Sweeney.

The prize for best poster went to Tyler Hower, who interned with WVU Dining Services as a PR assistant and showcased work she did on promotional material, web content, and a training guide.

Liz Smith shared the “behind-the-scenes” world of HTML coding and editing for epubs at the Center for Literary Computing (CLC).

Megan Sweeney gave us a glimpse into the world of a newspaper editor at The Dominion Post, including when to break the rules of style.

Nicole Atkinson shared the cycle of an interview from research and preparation to multimedia artifacts for print, web, and video.

Thank you to everyone who supported these talented English majors by attending the poster exhibit, including the PWE graduate students (Alex Ries, Rachael Kelley, and Celeste Lantz) who performed the difficult task of evaluating and narrowing down the top poster presenter.

Professional Writing and Editing Poster Exhibit! Thursday, Nov. 20

Want to learn more about what a newspaper copyeditor does? Or to compare editing in a news environment to editing at the Center for Literary Computing? Want to hear about the interview process and marketing skills one intern practiced at the WVU Alumni Association? Have you been drawn to Evansdale Dining Services lately? It might have been the lure of one PWE capstone student’s work as a PR assistant.

Fall Professional Writing & Editing capstone students are ready to share their internship experiences with you. Come to the PWE Poster Exhibit in Colson 130 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 20, to see and hear about what Megan Sweeney, Liz Smith, Nicole Atkinson and Tyler Hower accomplished this term. The interns will be present between 4-5 p.m. to field your questions while you munch on Flying WV cookies.

Amanda Bailey, ABD

The new "You're ABD!" graphic.

It's officially ABD Week in Colson Hall. Here's the latest news from Ryan Claycomb:

"It is a whole good news season, as Amanda Bailey also passed her exams with aplomb, thinking through notions of readership through sensory, cognitive, and sociolinguistic theories with Lara Farina, Kirk Hazen, Lisa Weihman, and Vera Tobin from Case Western.  Congrats to Amanda!"

The Tenants are pleased to add their congratulations.

Valerie Surrett, ABD

This just in from Katy Ryan:

"I am delighted to announce that Valerie Surrett passed her booklist exam with grace and humor. Now able to tell the difference between utopias, eutopias, dystopias, critical dystopias, and anti-utopias are committee members Gwen Bergner, Michael Germana, Rosemary Hathaway, Lisa Yaszek (outside), and me. 

Congratulations on a fantastic exam, Valerie!"

The Tenants add their congratulations and confirm that the swaddling team will be at Valerie's door within the hour.

Sharon Kelly, ABD

Today was the oral portion of Sharon Kelly's booklist exam, and the conversation between Sharon and her committee (Ryan Claycomb, Brian Jara from Women's and Gender Studies, John Lamb, Lisa Weihman, and yours truly as Chair) covered both the spiritual and material aspects of life in Victorian London, from table-turning to green carnations.

Throughout, Sharon responded to the barrage of questions with aplomb and good humor. As a result, the Tenants are very happy to be able to congratulate Sharon on passing her Qualifying Exam for Doctoral Candidacy, which officially makes her ABD. If you check a Victorian etiquette book, the appropriate gift for this is paper.

Phillip Zapkin, ABD

After a very pleasant and intellectually stimulating conversation that ranged from Aristotle to By the Bog of Cats, including a detour onto Janet Yellen, Phil Zapkin's committee--chaired by Ryan Claycomb and composed of Katy Ryan, Lisa Weihman, Emily Klein of St. Mary's, and yours truly--quickly concluded that Phil was more than ready to begin writing his dissertation and unanimously agreed that he had passed his Qualifying Examination for Doctoral Candidacy.

In other words, while you cannot yet call Mr. Zapkin "Dr. Phil," it's only a matter of time. In the interim, he might answer to "ABD Phil."

Appalachian Prison Book Project Book Sale/Bake Sale This Wednesday in Colson Hall.

Hi Everyone! If you are in Colson Hall on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 between 9AM and 4PM, you should stop by the Appalachian Prison Book Project's Annual Book Sale/Bake Sale.  (And before you fortify yourself with tasty treats AND knowledge, be sure to check out the APBP on Twitter and on Facebook.)

In other awesome news: every Saturday during the Spring and Fall Academic Semesters, the APBP runs open training hours from 10AM-1PM in our workspace at the Garlow House on Spruce Street.  If you want to be trained by a certified APBP trainer in how to respond to letters, select, and wrap books, now's your chance.  We look forward to seeing you there.

October 22, 2014

9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Colson Hall, Room 130

In support of the

Appalachian Prison Book Project

Please join us for a Book Sale and Bake Sale in support of APBP. We are currently raising funds to support some important purchases for our organization, including new shelving, a printer, a table banner for our events, other special interest books, and as always, postage for mailing out books.

APBP is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to sending free books to women and men incarcerated throughout the Appalachian region.

Do Plants Have Feelings? Professor Farina's Talk on October 29 Will Answer This Question

The Youngest Tenant, October 2014 Edition

The Tenants are pleased to welcome Henry Mark Sardone-Jones, who is apparently related to Professor John Jones and who joined us in Colson Hall on October 2nd.

At 7 lbs, 13 oz., Henry is also currently the smallest tenant. The trophy for this has been placed next to his crib in the nursery in the East Wing.