Dear Editors, We’re writing as the Directors of First Year Writing and the First Year Experience with support from the Chair of the English Department, because we see plans evolving for the fall that trouble us greatly. We think our students will be troubled, too, when these plans become public, so we want to tell you about them now, while we still have time to change them. As the college considers how to cut its budget for the fall, it’s weighing a proposal to raise the class size in English 110 from twenty students to twenty-five. That increase may not sound significant—we’re talking about five students, or an increase of…
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Professor, Advisor, and Supporter: Meet Professor William Orchard
Think about it; most of us will have a professor who pushes us beyond our comfort zone throughout our time in college. Over the course of fifteen weeks we will grow to either be inspired by them or question how they’ve managed to become a professor at all. In Professor Orchard’s case, he strives to inspire students through his thoughtful yet challenging assignments. Orchard currently teaches the English Honors Senior Seminar “Bad Romance: Fragments, Heartbreaks, and Other Tales of When Love is Not Enough.” It’s a class where students are encouraged to explore how failed relationships can give people the opportunity to visualize a different way of being in this…
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Professor, advisor, and author: Meet Professor Walkden
Face it, meeting with an advisor to declare one’s major can be anxiety-provoking. Some students question whether they’re on the right track, and many hope they’ll get an advisor who will guide towards the best possible choice. Students who visit the English Department don’t have to worry about being alone in the major-choosing process, as Professor Andrea Walkden is there to save the day. Walkden, who has been working at Queens College for ten years, is one of the advisors students can see if they’re an undergraduate majoring or minoring in English. What makes her an effective advisor is way she converses with her students. She cares about students’ interests…
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English Professor lives a fairytale life
Most kids dream of growing up in the world of fairy tales, but Veronica Schanoes, an English professor at Queens College, figured out how to do it for real. Schanoes wrote her own adaptations of classic folk and fairy tales. In her short story, “Ballroom Blitz,” she sets the classic tale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” at a punk dive bar in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In doing so, Schanoes makes old stories relevant to a modern audience. “I have always loved [fairy tales]. I have always been fascinated by stories that have been told over and over again, stories that are able to hold so many different meanings…
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The Department of English: preparing students for the real world
In a way, every Queens College student is linked to the English Department. Students are required to take a writing-intensive class. Others, including non-English majors, participate in QC Voices, a website featuring student perspectives, or Utopia Parkway Journal, a student-run literary journal. For students majoring in English, the reasons behind their decision may vary. But one thing is certain–they want to increase their language skills. Jose Fana, whose native language is Spanish, is a 28-year-old senior majoring in English and psychology. Spending four years as an English major sharpened his English. “I have been getting better at my writing, and I feel that I am a more professional student. In…
