English Showcase Day and Poets!

One of the cool things the Coe Admission Department does is have days dedicated to certain majors on campus. It allows prospective students who are interested in those majors to come to campus and really "dig into" that area of study. This digging includes meeting current students involved in that major, sitting in on classes, meeting faculty, and learning about the curriculum.

On Monday (November 18th) it was time for the English and Creative Writing department to shine! I headed over the Clark Alumni House early on Monday morning to greet families and talk with them before my Rhetorical Theory and Practice class. While I was in my class, the prospective students got a chance to sit in on History of English Literature, taught by Gina this semester. Everyone met back up for a panel to discuss the department and answer questions. The panel was followed by lunch.

By 1 PM, everyone had already had a jam-packed day. While some of the students headed to another class, Ryan and I got to give the other students a tour. It was neat to pair up with Ryan because we were able to bounce off each other; highlighting our strengths throughout the tour. I was also lucky to have Ryan on tour because I was losing my voice (darn you cold!).

The day officially ended with a poetry reading. Nick, our new poetry and film professor, is also part of Canarium Books. He invited two of the poets he's helped to publish.

Let me tell you, they were fabulous. First up was Farnoosh Fathi. Her reading was unique; she passed out copies of her books and had each of us read from one poem, aloud, at the same time. It was suppose to represent the din of the marketplace and the source of inspiration for her poetry. She then had some of the audience read some of her poems aloud and read a poem for us.

Farnoosh was followed by Darcie Dennigan. She was another great poet with a lot of spunk. Darcie read several poems along with telling us a lot about where her poetic inspiration comes from.

It was awesome to be able to showcase my major at Coe and have prospective students meet the professors who have been so influential over the years. I hope the students got a good look into our department and decide to come back!