This month has been busy! Here’s the simplest breakdown of my June:
Publications
I’m excited to have seen two pieces published this month, both on country music: one a feature on 1990s country at PopMatters, the other a personal essay on queer country. I’ve gotten very positive feedback, and though I recognize the PopMatters article made idiosyncratic choices, a scholar I cited in the article loved it, which felt exceptionally validating.
Conference with awards
I was ecstatic to attend my first conference with the National Federation of Press Women and to be nominated for the organization’s highest honor, the Communicator of Achievement award. There were five nominees, and I did not win, but the person who won was beyond deserving, and I was honored to sit at her table and hear about her decades of experience in journalism.
The conference was great, as was my time in St. Louis. I attended workshops on AI and the significance of history in contemporary news, the latter featuring Lynne M. Jackson, the great-great granddaughter of Dred and Harriett Scott, whose Supreme Court case was considered a key event precipitating the U.S. Civil War. I also attended the Contest Directors meeting as the Illinois Woman’s Press Association’s High School Communications Contest Chair and visited the St. Louis Artists’ Guild and the Missouri History Museum. I really hope to go next year to this conference, which will be in Colorado.
Research
Last night I returned from nearly a week in Ohio as part of the Summer Research Institute at Bowling Green State University. I had so much fun. About fifteen scholars from the U.S. and Canada convened and explored different archives on campus, and I could not have been more excited to explore their Music Library and Sound Archives. I got to hear an original vinyl LP of Ella Fitzgerald from the early 1950s!! Listening felt like an out-of-body experience. I also got to hear recordings from mass meetings during the civil rights movement in the ‘60s.
Most of the scholars used BGSU’s Popular Culture Library, separate from the Music Library, as most of the projects were not centered on music. It was fantastic hearing about scholars’ research on topics like romance novels, Star Trek, children’s television, tourism in Mexico, and comic books. This week just confirmed that I belong in a community with other scholars and academically minded thinkers.
While at BGSU, my list of readings for my project ballooned–it’s now sixty-seven texts (books, excerpts, and articles), give or take a few that are questionably useful. This could turn into an article, a dissertation, and/or a book.
Writing
I’ve also been working on a story for Tellin’ Tales Theatre for their Young Adult Writers workshop and its upcoming show, “Unleashed Truth,” on Sunday, July 21 in Chicago (details forthcoming). And I’m substantially revising my personal essay on Ella Fitzgerald’s music before pitching it to different websites.
Work and New Work Opportunities
I’ve really been enjoying tutoring, especially in-class embedded tutoring–like being a teaching assistant–this summer in an ESL class. I’ve also worked on a group project relating to embedded tutoring.
In addition, I had a job interview on Zoom for a full-time writer position in the Marketing department at Earlham College, my alma mater in Richmond, Indiana. I would be ecstatic to get a full-time writer job.
More will be revealed!
Having the opportunity to explore the music library and sound archives at BGSU sounds like it was an incredible experience! One day, I would like to do the same thing if given the opportunity!
You definitely have the intelligence, skill and knowledge to write a dissertation and/or a book(s). I am quite confident that it is only a matter of time before you do so.
As for your experience doing embedded tutoring in an ESL class, I would like to talk to you about that. Unfortunately, I have not been getting good feedback from students about the ESL classes at Truman. I don't think it is only a Truman problem per se, as their complaints are also relevant to what is happening at other City Colleges, non-profits in and outside of Chicago and of course for-profit providers of language instruction, but it is a serious one that is significantly affecting student retention.
I do believe that it is related to curriculum development, course design, hiring, instruction and evaluation.
I wish you the best on the Zoom interview that you had with Earlham College for the marketing position there. They would be foolish not to hire someone as talented as you! Also, I know someone who works in a similar capacity at Loyola. She volunteers at CHIRP as a DJ and might be able to open a door for you although there are no guarantees. Let me know if you want to talk with her, and I will introduce you.