CU English Majors Compete in WVU Symposium, One Wins Honorable Mention

Athens, W.Va. – Four Concord University English majors were invited to present literary papers at the 15th Annual Literature Symposium for Undergraduate Students, sponsored by the West Virginia University Department of English and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences in Morgantown on February 17.

The students included the following: Amanda Barie of Princeton, LeAnne Davis of Buckhannon, Derek White of Princeton, and Dustin Williams of Bluefield.

LeAnne Davis a senior at Concord earned Honorable Mention for the presentation of her paper. The title of the presentation was "Crossing the Societal Bridge Womanhood: A Feminist Examination of Dorothy Wordsworth and Her Works."

The titles of the other CU students' presentations were as follows: Amanda Barie: "Dargan's Appalachia: A Small-Scale Model;" Derek White: "Stunted Psychological Development: Effects of the Fact-Based Education in Dickens' Hard Times;" and Dustin Williams: "Iniquity Interloping: Naive Vulnerability to Evil Predation in Coleridge's 'Christabel.'"

Undergraduate students at all West Virginia colleges and universities were eligible to submit papers written during the 2006 calendar year for consideration. The range of possible paper topics spanned analytical, theoretical, and interpretive studies of literary works, film, and culture.

The eighteen students selected to participate in the symposium this year represented Fairmont University, Marshall University, West Virginia University, and Wheeling Jesuit, as well as Concord University. Each presentation was evaluated on the following criteria: 60 percent substance and 40 percent performance. The substance category included clarity of ideas, coherence, development, support, unity, and interest, while the performance category consisted of distinctiveness, pace, tone, eye contact with audience, etc.

Dr. Elizabeth Roth, a Concord University English faculty member, also served as a judge for candidates from other universities at the symposium. She noted that selection to the symposium was quite an honor. “I have been impressed by the quality of the papers presented at this event each of the four years I have attended it,” she said. “Our department is proud of the fact that CU English majors have been selected as presenters each year from 2003 to the present.”

Cari Carpenter, the coordinator of the WVU Undergraduate Literature Symposium, recommends the symposium as a positive experience for both students and faculty. "The Symposium is an excellent opportunity for literary enthusiasts across West Virginia to share their insights. If students are thinking of going on to graduate school, it gives them a realistic taste of academic life,” she said. “The undergraduates aren't the only beneficiaries of this event; faculty [members] from across the state have an opportunity to meet one another and share ideas.”

Carpenter said that the eighteen papers represented “the state's best undergraduate scholarship in English,” and that the symposium was a place where students could present their “intellectual discoveries in a professional and stimulating environment.”

-CU-

PHOTO: (from left to right): Amanda Barie from Princeton, Dustin Williams from Bluefield, LeAnne Davis from Buckhannon

Corrie McKee a junior majoring in English and journalism wrote this news release. Her hometown is Nitro.