SyndicateMizzou Video Podcast

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Albert Devlin - Collaboration on Campus

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:45:50 GMT

Devlin discusses work he is doing with others on campus, including his joint appointment in the Theatre department.

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Albert Devlin - The Selected Letters of Tennessee Williams

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:41:23 GMT

Devlin describes the content of The Selected Letters of Tennessee Williams. Volume I covers the period from 1920 to 1945 (with the success of The Glass Menagerie), while volume II concerns Williams’ “major period” from 1945 to 1957, during which A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof were introduced.

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Albert Devlin - Tools for researching a project

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:45:03 GMT

Devlin discussess how he goes about researching and gathering content for a new project.

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Daniel Hooley - An accidental journey

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:21:41 GMT

Dan Hooley first became interested in studying the classics through an “accidental journey,” studying the western classics as an English and Humanities graduate student at the University of Minnesota where he focused his studies on modernism and wrote his dissertation on how Latin poetry was translated by American modernists such as Ezra Pound or T.S. Eliot.

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Nancy M. West - What inspires West’s research interests?

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:31:30 GMT

Reflecting on “the ways in which personal interests affect the professional and how personal motivation often guides professional motivation,” West recalls a story about how she chose her career. “When I was in college at Rutgers University, I thought I would go to law school…. I was very committed to that…. Then one day it was career day, and a lawyer came and talked about her work. She looked so beleaguered and so unimpassioned. And she was followed by an English professor, who totally enchanted me. And that was it! I already had the law school applications and thought, ‘I can’t do this,’ and I told my professors. This was at one of the moments when the job market was just awful, and they told me, ‘Don’t do it…. You’re not going to be able to get a job in English. You’re just going to waste your time. You’re just going to end up really sad and disappointed. Don’t do it.’ I just thought this is a part of who I am. I just had an instinct that it was going to be okay. So I did it and I never regretted it.” Because of this life-changing moment, West tells students curious about pursuing English in graduate school, “You have a really hard road in front of you in terms of the job market, and there is a good chance that you won’t find a job right away. But if this is who you are, if it is part of your being, if you can’t imagine yourself _not_ doing it, then you really don’t have a choice, do you?”

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Peace Corps Fellows - Distant Education

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:42:36 GMT

This year’s group of Peace Corps fellows spent time in West Africa, southern Africa, and Kyrgystan. Their experiences were as unique as the countries in which they were located. Nathan Jensen and Jennifer Keller worked as agricultural volunteers in Mali; Amy Bowes taught English in Lesotho; and Andy Craver taught English in Issyk-Kul. Craver’s comment that she “learned a lot more from them then they did from me” echoes the attitudes of all the volunteers.

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: John Miles Foley - Teaching

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:53:46 GMT

As a Curators’ Professor and Byler Chair in the Humanities, Foley is well known for his teaching, offering a number of courses in the Classical Studies and English departments, and occasionally in Germanic and Slavic. For example, he currently teaches courses on oral tradition, a seminar on Beowulf, and courses in Homer and Greek literature. Foley notes that the Beowulf seminar reads the entire poem—“all 3,182 lines”—in the original language of Old English. In fact, he adds, “we have a feast at the end of the semester, when we perform it aloud so that the students can get a feel of what it’s like in the original.” Regardless of the topic, Foley infuses students with an appreciation for the beauty and complexity of language and verbal art.

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Speer Morgan - Proud Thoughts

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:47:47 GMT

Speer Morgan’s is justifiably proud of The Missouri Review's dedication to writers: “We’ve discovered a lot of writers and helped a lot of writers early in their career by publishing accomplishment rather than reputation.” He’s also enthusiastic about the magazine’s incorporation of student interns. “I’m very proud of the fact that we have trained and helped so many young people in the business of both writing and editing.”

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Speer Morgan - Working with Interns

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:48:40 GMT

Morgan explains that each year he cherishes The Missouri Review's student interns more and more. The magazine’s goal is to train young editors and writers by involving them in all aspects of publishing.

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Speer Morgan - Challenges of Being a Writer

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:50:22 GMT

When it comes to writing, Morgan admits that for him the process is time-consuming and slow. He also notes that his work as an editor has made him more self-conscious about his own writing.

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Speer Morgan - As a Writer and Editor

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:51:21 GMT

Morgan’s work as an editor affects his writing in several ways, and he notes that in the end being an editor has made him more realistic about the writing process.

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Speer Morgan - From Descartes to Belle Star

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:53:12 GMT

As with many writers, Morgan’s love for literature dates back to his childhood and an early fascination with books, even some that were too advanced for him to fully understand. The protagonist of his first book, Belle Star, is his favorite character and is based on stories he heard as a child.

SyndicateMizzou Podcast: Speer Morgan - Words of Wisdom

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:56:14 GMT

When it comes to offering advice to aspiring writers, Morgan admits literature is a difficult form to master. But he also maintains that it’s pivotal to never give up. He had to write three novels before he sold his first one, and this was after he’d been writing for over ten years.