"TRANSITIONS: A STUDENT/FACULTY-GUIDED, INTERDISCIPLINARY READING AND WRITING SEMINAR." Four faculty and up to 16 students read, study, discuss, and write about eight works of contemporary literature, and/or drama during the spring semester. Faculty select four works, and four teams of students each select another work. A faculty mentor works with each team to present the work to the class. Faculty include Carol West (English), Alex Vernon (English), Mark Sutherland (Biology), and Kim Maslin (Politics) who meet in summer workshops to mull over a variety of books that explore medicine in literature and language.
VISITING FACULTY. The Foundation brings outstanding visiting faculty to teach classes in creative writing, theatre, and language, as well as to work with students outside the classroom.
Creative Writing Residency. A visiting resident guest writer in Spring 2013 teaches creative writing courses and works outside the classroom with students individually and in workshops. Shop Talk lectures and Word Garden readings enhance creative writing programming.
Creative Writing Program Assistant. Writer Hope Norman Coulter plans workshops and similar activities while teaching creative writing courses.
Visiting Assistant Chinese Language Professor. Wenjia Liu teaches Chinese language and culture and serves as a resource for students and faculty while at Hendrix.
Visiting Theatre Director. University of Nebraska Theatre Director Virginia Smith directs a student production of Anatomy of Gray by Jim Leonard. Smith visits theatre and other classes and works with students and faculty on a variety of projects during the fall semester.
Visiting Playwriting Instructor. Playwright and newspaper columnist Werner Trieschmann teaches playwriting courses.
SPANISH HOUSE. Students immerse themselves in a foreign language—Spanish this year—by speaking it exclusively while "at home."
WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM. The Writing Center strengthens Hendrix’s commitment to writing in every field of study. The Center, located in the College’s Bailey Library, is available to assist students with their writing assignments in any class. Peer tutors facilitate the writing process and help direct attention to problem areas. As Hendrix’s international student community grows, the Center continues to support teaching English as a second language.
WRITING AND OTHER COMPETITIONS. Writing competitions encourage students and alumni to strive for excellence in their written work.
Literary Contest. The two best stories or plays, poems, and essays, submitted to Hendrix’s literary/art magazine, the Aonian, receive cash prizes.
Student and Alumni Playwriting Contests. Current and former Hendrix College students are eligible to participate in one of two contests. Plays must be original and must never have been published or produced on the stage or in any other venue. Deadline is December 7, 2012. Playwrights of exceptional entries receive honoraria, as recommended by the judge, and winning plays may be produced as dramatic readings on Hendrix’s Cabe Theatre stage.
ENGAGED LEARNING. Students and faculty pursue a wide range of activities that extend their study of literature and language far beyond the campus.
Study Abroad Scholarships. Scholarships support students studying literature and language on university campuses in England, Spain, Germany, Russia, India, China, Argentina, and Scotland.
Hendrix in Madrid. Eight students pursue intensive summer course work in Spanish language and literature while exploring cultural sites and locales of Madrid and the surrounding countryside.
Hendrix in Lyon. Eight students attend a four-week summer language program in French while experiencing the culture, art, and music of Lyon.
British Studies at Oxford. Hendrix students receive financial assistance to participate in a summer study program in Oxford, England, that is sponsored by Rhodes University.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES AND MATERIALS. A variety of programs and materials enhances learning in and out of the classroom.
English Department Discussion Series. Students and faculty talk informally about the discipline and opportunities for advanced study.
Coles-Percy Mini-Retreat. Hope Coulter meets with students in this one-day retreat to discuss the work of Walker Percy and Robert Coles.
Archival Research. English department students travel with a faculty member to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas-Austin to conduct research.
Hemingway Pilgrimage. Students in Alex Vernon’s Ernest Hemingway seminar take a field trip to the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Home & Museum in Piggott, Ark.
Foreign Language Activities. French conversation classes with a native speaker, German games and holiday celebrations, Chinese conversation hour, and Spanish-language dinners create unique opportunities for students to experience and enjoy the cultures of the languages they study.
Honor society. Funding supports activities of Pi Delta Phi, the French honor society.
The Life of an Illness: Book Discussion Group. Students and faculty meet twice throughout the year to read and discuss texts that explore illness. Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Emperor of All Maladies and Sandra Steingraber's Living Downstream will be the focus of this group's discussions.
Classics and Spanish Summer Reading Groups. Students choose books related to their respective academic areas and convene over dinner with faculty to reflect upon literary texts in the fall.
Traveling Exhibitions. Two exhibitions from the National Library of Medicine - Harry Potter's World: Renaissance, Science, Magic, and Medicine and Literature of Prescription: Charlotte Perkins Gilman and "The Yellow Wall-Paper" - will be displayed in Bailey Library.
Playwright Commission. The Theatre Department works with renowned playwright Lee Blessing to commission a new work.