Sneak Peak: Check out the tentative course schedules for the Winter and Spring quarters!

A Closer Look: Getting to Know the English D epartment

In this issue of Ex Libris you’ll get a close-up look at the some of the people who work to keep the M.A. in English and the M.A. in Writing programs running, but first things first! My name is Cecilia O’Keefe, but please! call me Ceci. I am currently a second-year graduate student in the MAE and a graduate assistant in the English Department, and when I’m not tutoring in the Writing Center, working on my own papers, or racing (my specialties are the ½ marathon and triathlons) I keep myself busy editing the Ex Libris newsletter and updating the Websites of our two graduate programs.

The second youngest in an Irish Catholic family of 17 (Mom, Dad, and fifteen children), I grew up on the southside of Chicago in the Beverly neighborhood. I attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory Academy on the city’s Westside, and then headed to Baltimore, MD, to do my undergraduate studies at Loyola College. After earning my B.A. in English in 2003, I came back home to continue my studies at DePaul, and so far it’s been a wonderful experience.

When I received my assignment to work with the graduate directors, I felt more than a little trepidation; after all, I would be the lone 20-something working with all these… well, for lack of a better term… old guys, and while I knew there would be plenty of intellectual stimulation in the Grad Wing, I wondered whether the few hours I’d be tutoring in the Writing Center would provide the peer stimulation and support that I needed. From Day One, however, my fears were laid to rest. Yes, there has been intellectual stimulation galore, and I’ve enjoyed listening in on, and participating in, lively discussions about medieval studies, linguistics, Irish writers, you name it, but what surprised me was how welcome these “old guys” made this 23-year-old feel. Mrs. Flood, the assistant director of graduate programs in English and the voice behind all those helpful and informative emails, is more fun than some of my girlfriends, and her sense of humor is a sublime treat on my long days on campus. Dr. Bartlett’s laid-back, approachable attitude supports this comfortable and welcoming environment, and thanks to Dr. Sirles’s insistence on downloading the American Heritage Dictionary onto my computer, my vocabulary has swelled significantly. In fact, I had no idea there were so many useless words in the English language! Let me now introduce you to the three other people who work in the Grad Wing.

Click here to learn more about Jan and your Program Directors

Faculty News:

Meet the New Faculty and Staff in the English Department

Learn about the new GAs

More Faculty News?: Submit citations,works in progress

Places to Explore and Things to do! We are lucky enough to be living in such a culturally rich city where there is an abundance of fun and interesting places to go, explore, and most importantly, EAT! For those of us who are Chicago veterans or those who have been here a short time but haven't missed a step in taking advantage of their surroundings, here is our chance to help out the newcomers and those who just do not know where to begin. If you have recently been to a great restaurant, museum, club, etc., let us know and share the wealth with your peers!

I love to check out different restaurants whenever possible and recently went to Grizzly's Lodge (773) 281-5112 at 3832 N. Lincoln where I ventured to try some of their wide variety of wild game dishes. I am happy that I did. WARNING: Vegetarians may not want to proceed! My sister, brother, and I threw caution to the wind when we started with the blackened alligator. This was the dish featured at the Grizzly's tent at the Taste of Chicago and for good reason; it is a fair sized bowl of extremely tender alligator meat sautéed in perfectly seasoned Cajun style spices. Each of us ordered a different wild burger for our entrees; venison for me and ostrich and buffalo for my sister and brother, respectively. Each had great flavor, but the buffalo won the highest praise, perhaps because the taste most closely resembles that of beef. For those of you who are meat eaters and adventurous, Grizzly's is a must! Prices range from under $10 for sandwiches to just over $20 for some of their pricier entrees.

News and Events!

The DePaul Humanities Center is pleased to welcome writer and literacy advocate Janis F. Kearney as a Visiting Fellow of the DePaul Humanities Center for 2004-2005. During her tenure with the Center, Ms. Kearney will be available to visit classes and meet with faculty and student groups to talk about her work and interests, including advocacy around issues of literacy. Click for more details on Kearney as well as contact information

Looking for a PhD program in Rhetoric and Writing? The Bowling Green State University Rhetoric & Writing PhD Program seeks to prepare women and men to be scholar-teachers who understand the professional synergy of mastering knowledge, advancing it through their own inquiry, and sharing knowledge and habits of inquiry with students in the writing courses they teach and administer.

In pursuing this broad goal, students and faculty in the program utilize a range of the
intellectual approaches (rhetorical, cultural, empirical, political) that characterize the field of rhetoric and composition. For more information, check out the program's website

More News and Events!