Category Archives: Events

My Story Episode 20: Harry Potter and Pedagogy

 

2016-11-09

Episode 20 of the BYU English Society’s podcast, My Story, features Nicole Westenskow, Whitney Sommerville, Tyler McCombs, and Stephen Nothum. This dynamic team of English Teaching Majors came together a few years back as a unsettled group BYU students. After doing their time at the university they are all now teaching full time here in Utah, and have made themselves known to the world for their unique achievements while here at BYU. In this episode the groups shares with us their unique pathway to the English Teaching Major, and highlights their experience while conducting research on Harry Potter and Pedagogy (for those of you who don’t know, that means teaching methods). This episode is a must listen for all of those Harry Potter fans, English Teaching hopefuls, and anyone else who wants to know a whole lot about what it means to be an English Major. Play the podcast embedded below, and check out all of our awesome episodes featuring stories on how to apply your English by visiting the BYU English Society SoundCloud page.

Check out the interview HERE

Major English News Episode 005

The BYU English Society presents its weekly video digest, featuring host Davis Blount and guest hosts Jacquelyn Dunn and Maddison Driggs.

Poetry Slam Promo:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSr9JlIIuEY

My Story Podcast:  https://soundcloud.com/byu-english-society/05-my-story-episode-005-kathy-cowley

Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest

Major English News Episode 004

The BYU English Society presents its weekly video digest. This week, host Davis Blount deals with hate mail and he and Chalene Riser give the skinny on events this week.

Poetry Slam Promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSr9JlIIuEY&feature=youtu.be
My Story Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/byu-english-society\
Three-Minute Student Reading Series: Come listen to invited readers read anything from flash fiction to tweets. Open mic to follow. Friday, Sept. 25, 3322 HBLL, 6:30 p.m.

Major English News Episodes 001 and 002

The BYU English Society presents the first two episodes of its weekly video news show, Major English News.

Episode 001: Introducing Major English News and BYU’s English Society. Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Episode: 002: Mourning Learning Suite, discussing the opening social, future poetry slam, new English major advisement (http://english.byu.edu/academics/undergraduate-advisors?ticket=ST-1231958-xbGOIiCiy3ViaGMkKoDi-smaug3and info about this week’s audio podcast, featuring Jenny Poffenbarger talking about her internship at the church (https://soundcloud.com/byu-english-society).

Reading Series: Robert Pinsky

robert_pinsky_credit_eric_antoniouLast week at the English Reading Series we had the privilege of hearing from Robert Pinsky. Not only did Pinsky serve as poet laureate, he also turns out to be a marvelous reader. I’ll be the first to admit that my eyes tend to glaze over a bit when I hear poetry read aloud (sorry, no tar and feathers, please), but Pinsky had an entertaining and almost magical way of reading. He read a bit out of his translation of Dante’s Inferno (which I didn’t know about but seriously, it was so much better than the other translations I’ve read–no offense to other translators), and then he took requests for individual poems. He also answered several audience questions, such as “What advice would you give an aspiring writer?” His answer–take note, you aspiring writers out there–was to “Make your own anthology of works you love.”

This week’s reading (Friday at noon in the library auditorium) will be from Wade Bentley, one of Utah’s own poets. Don’t miss it!

Did you attend Robert Pinsky’s reading? What did you think?

Reading Series: Patrick Madden and Kristen Eliason

The English Reading Series kicked off with a bang with readings from Patrick Madden and Kristen Eliason!

Pat Madden 2 Pat Madden, a professor here at BYU, kept us laughing by reading from his personal essays. A master of hyperbole, Madden apologized to the reader for the few tiny factual errors in his personal essay collection (now, was it Helen who sang the alto part, or was it Mary?–we may never know). He discussed and read from some purposefully unfinished essays, complete with pictures of Kiss and music clips. To finish off, he read his own eBay listing for a writer’s unfinished bottle of water, surprising the audience by planting his own students in the audience to interrupt and ask questions. (I was one of those lucky students.)

Kristen Eliason read to us primarily from her book Picture Dictionary, an unusual work of Kristen Eliasoncreative non-fiction written in the form of a Japanese picture dictionary. In Picture Dictionary and in the haiku from her chapbook Yours, she enthralled us with her fascinating use of language and form. My favorite part, though, was hearing her poem about cuddling (which, as she pointed out, is perfect for students at BYU, who are preoccupied with cuddling), describing the predicament of having to figure out what to do with your arm when cuddling. When she described the out-of-place arm as a “chicken wing,” she spoke to my soul.

If you missed the readings by these fantastic authors, don’t make the same mistake again–the Reading Series takes place every Friday at noon in the library auditorium, with different authors each time! And you really don’t want to miss out this week–ROBERT PINSKY, former poet laureate, aka one of the very best poets currently living in the United States, is reading (this reading only will be in the JSB auditorium–after this week the Reading Series will return to the library auditorium). Be there or be square! (Or, I should say, miss out on an amazing opportunity that you may never have again!)

BYU English Society Opening Social

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We had a very successful opening social this past week! More than a hundred English students showed up for a night of pizza, friends, and fun. We even got to see our department chair, Dr. Philip Snyder, dress up in toga and reenact a scene from Shakespeare as part of preview for the upcoming play this semester. Students also got to meet with senior members of ES to learn more about how they can get more involved with the English major, such as the editing minor or creative writing communities on campus. Finally, faculty members and alumni showed up to tell their stories about how studying English has influenced their lives in positive ways. In all, the opening social was a huge success. We’re grateful for everyone who showed up and helped out with this event. Let us know if you want to help out with future events or if you’d like to get more involved with our society.

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Come to our Opening Social!

English Society Opening Socia 2014Join us for food and fraternizing on Tuesday, September 9, 2014 for the English Society’s Fall opening social.

All interested are welcome to eat and greet, hear about English Society events coming up, and learn about focus groups within our club.

RSVP via Facebook for a chance to win a $50 BYU Bookstore gift certificate.

Update: In case of bad weather, gather at the base of the spiral staircase, east side of the basement of the JFSB. The party will go on!