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Dr. Lewis Helps Edit a Literary Series
The bimonthly show features a
different guest for each program,
and the discussion ranges across a
spectrum of topics. The inaugural
show, which paired a student
and faculty member—Melanie
Monnier and Dr. Elizabeth
Haller—centered on a
Lord of
the Rings
theme, and explored
questions of film adaptation
and casting choices. Subsequent
programs have featured as guests
Drs. Ric Dias, Pen Pearson, Erin
Fouberg, and Lysbeth Benkert-
Rasmussen. Conversation topics
have ranged from career options
for students and Shakespeare’s
plays to the Electoral College and
more personal stories.
English
Club TV
has allowed students
to interact with professors and
staff and to learn about fun facts
and personal interests of NSU
instructors. Show host Ashley
Jenkins explained that this is an
aspect of the show that she finds
greatly appealing: “What I really
like about
English Club TV
is
learning about everyone’s path to
being a professor. It’s easy to forget
that our faculty were all university
students once, and it’s interesting
to hear how everyone got from
point A to point B.” Jenkins points
to all the fun facts students will
learn about their professors as
one reason to tune in to the show:
“I think students should watch
because they will learn a few facts
about NSU’s faculty that they
wouldn’t have learned in class.
Why does Dr. Pearson always wear
a triceratops necklace? Why did
Dr. Dias, admittedly, hate graduate
school? Which Marvel movies does
Dr. Benkert enjoy?” And perhaps
it’s not just students who would
like learning those facts.
A victim advocate has the unique
ability to devote attention to the
various needs of the victim while
at the same time acting as a liaison
with criminal justice system
officials to keep the victim and
their support network informed
of the progress of the criminal
case. Law enforcement agencies,
shelters, and court services are
some of the system components
that utilize victim advocates.
NSU is the academic partner in
the state-based training offered
by the Office of Victims of
Crime. In summer 2016, five select
students in Criminal Justice and
Human Services participated in
the first annual South Dakota
Victim Assistance Academy. The
students, who participated in a
simultaneous course titled Applied
Victim Advocacy, included
Rachel Albright, Grace Evenson,
Amanda Hieb, Kristine Maag,
and Nicole Mohr. The three-credit
course provided students with
an introduction to the practice
of victim advocacy; specifically
and most importantly, central to
the course was hands-on victim
advocacy training, which was held
at the Law Enforcement Training
Center in Pierre between June 19
and 24.
The series was begun in 1991 under
General Editor Horst Daemmrich
of the University of Pennsylvania,
with whom Lewis studied while
earning her Ph.D. Since assuming
her role as editor, Lewis has
overseen the publication of six
volumes:
Becoming Fiction: Reassessing Atheism
in Dürrenmatt’s “Stoffe,”
by Olivia
Gabor-Peirce
Serious Fiction: J. M. Coetzee and
the Stakes of Literature,
by Duncan
McColl Chesney
Seven Essays: Studies in Literature,
Drama, and Film,
by Abdulla M.
Al-Dabbagh
The Final Crossing: Death and Dying
in Literature,
edited by John J. Han
and Clark C. Triplett
Somnambulistic Lucidity – the
Sleepwalker in the Works of
Gustav Meyrink,
by Eric Klaus
(forthcoming)
Celebrating the Sacred in Ordinary
Life: James Joyce and the Renaissance
Magus,
by Thomas D. Absher
(forthcoming)
The series advances the study
of themes and motifs across the
spectrum of world literature in
order to investigate the patterns
that inform literary production as
a whole and the creative treatment
of inherited culture in national
literatures and by individual
authors. Lewis finds her work as
series editor extremely rewarding,
because it allows her to put her
experience as a seasoned scholar to
use in mentoring younger scholars
who may be seeking tenure at their
home institutions or are entering
the academe having recently
completed their
Ph.Ds.But well-
known scholars also propose books
for the series, and the opportunity
to read their work and see it
through the publication process
is likewise rewarding. In the end,
scholarship is about a conversation
concerning complex topics that
are worthy of exploration, because
they allow us to understand the
human journey just a little bit
better. When Lewis facilitates the
final publication of a volume, she
donates a copy to the NSU library,
thus enriching the collection in
world literature.
English Club TV Makes Its Debut
Students Gain Applied Skills in Victim Advocacy
Victim advocacy is activity
committed to providing
comprehensive services and
support that address the
physical, emotional, and
financial needs of individuals
and communities that result
from victimization.
Students and faculty tuning in to the NSU television this year will notice a new program: English Club TV.
This new student-run television show is hosted by two English majors, Ashley Jenkins and Holly Holborn,
and centers on discussions of books, ideas, film, and a host of cultural issues.
Dr. Ginny
Lewis,
Professor of
German, has
been serving
as series editor
for the scholarly publishing
company Peter Lang of Zurich
and New York, having taken
over, as one of three editors, the
Studies on Themes and Motifs
in Literature series in 2015.