KEARNEY – Forty-five students from the University of Nebraska at Kearney will present their scholarly and creative work during the 25th annual Student Language and Literature Conference.
The event, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday (April 13) inside Thomas Hall on the UNK campus.
The conference, hosted by the UNK English Department, features 14 themed panel sessions when undergraduate and graduate students will present criticism on literary works, read their original poetry, essays and fiction pieces and engage in discussion with fellow presenters and the audience. Sessions begin at 9 a.m., following an opening reception, and the conference concludes with an awards ceremony and closing reception at 3:30 p.m.
Scheduled sessions and presenters (listed by hometown)
Past Selves, New Selves: Short Fiction – 9:05-10:05 a.m., Room 201
Kearney – Brandon Meseure, “The Long Fingers”
Lincoln – Emily Lillich, “Quick Vacation”
Minden – Shelby Larsen, “The Rescued”
Omaha – Natalie Torrez, “Cupid’s Plight”
Spotlight on First-Year Writing I – 9:05-10:05 a.m., Room 212
Hartington – Blase Rokusek, “Youth Football and Traumatic Brain Injury: Is Football Safe for Kids to Play?”
Harvard – Codey Noack, “Never Too Late Unless You’re Dead”
Indianola – Shelby Chartier, “Sororities”
Kearney – Marquette Bontz, “Effects of Porn Use in a Marriage: How Does Pornography Affect Heterosexual Marriages?”
Stirrings of Liberty and Visions of America – 10:10-11:10 a.m., Room 113
Atkinson – Chase Harrison, “Revolutionary Identities and Their Lasting Impressions in Franklin’s Autobiography and Equiano’s ‘Interesting Narrative’”
David City – Hope Rerucha, “Manipulated History Magnified in Gore Vidal’s ‘Burr’”
St. Paul – Anna Peregoy, “‘The Indifferent’: Donne’s Conceit”
Linguistic Perspectives on Popular Culture – 10:10-11:10 a.m., Room 111
Bladen – Kaitlin Schneider, “Participles and Parkour: Analyzing Grammatical Constructions”
Columbus – Danielle Tilley, “Sexism in Language”
Plainview – Ashley Shaffer, “Politeness and Face-Threatening Acts in George R.R. Martin’s ‘Game of Thrones’”
Challenging Conventions: Art, Love, and Fashion in Victorian Literature – 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Room 214
Gibbon – Mary Spencer, “Maiden No More: Following the Path to Fallen Woman in ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’”
Grand Island – Abigail Richling, “Wandering the World Wide: The Artistic Quest in Victorian Poetry”
McCook – Erica Wood, “The Evolution of Marriage for Love in 19th Century Literature”
Fascinations – Observing Others: Short Fiction – 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Room 117
David City – Hope Rerucha, “A Sister Like Mine”
Gering – Allison Witcofski, “Dad Jokes”
Hays, Kansas – Travis Reynolds, “An Island”
Lincoln – Emily Lillich, “The Mountaintop”
Alternative Literacies Within and Beyond the Classroom – 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Room 201
Fairbury – Abby Jones, “Using Alternate Literacies to Enhance Composition Instruction”
Kearney – Brett Bebensee, “Changing the Perspective: Video Game Literacy”
North Platte – Tessa Burford, “Hip-Hop Education: The Importance of Representation and Inclusivity”
Of Life and Death: Poetry – 12:20-1:20 p.m., Room 113
Kearney – Brandon Meseure, “To My Future Child,” “Final Words of a Dying Youth” and “Reflections”
Kearney – Abbigail Hix, “Chatham,” “Growing Up” and “Eckleburg”
Kearney – Elizabeth Williams, “The Descending Diamond Tip,” “Sunflowers” and “These Streets”
Omaha – Natalie Torrez, “The Impossible,” “A Date with Death” and “The Place of My Birth”
Wilcox – Laura Lyons, “Sleep,” “The Spark” and “Of Monsters”
Rants and Rage: Short Fiction – 12:20-1:20 p.m., Room 214
Gibbon – Angie Clevenger, “The Breakdown”
Grand Island – Abigail Richling, “Katabasis”
North Platte – Jessie Lovett Allen, “Water Gun”
Pierce – Zach Weber, “Frank”
The Dream and Nightmare Factory: Hollywood in Literature and Film – 12:20-1:20 p.m., Room 119
Bertrand – Savannah High, “The Portrayal of Parenthood in Hollywood Novels”
Dunning – Keesha Albrecht, “Writers in Hollywood: An Analysis of ‘Sunset Boulevard’ and ‘The Goldfish Pool’”
Kearney – Macie Wicht, “Here’s to the Ones Who Dream”
North Platte – Devyn Crisman, “What’s the Trigger?”
Opportunities in the English Major – 1:25-2:25 p.m., Room 107
UNK students Kaitlin Schneider, Kenna Grove, Allison Witcofski and Shelby Larsen join faculty members to discuss career and publishing opportunities for English majors
Medievalists and Medievalisms – 1:25-2:25 p.m., Room 106
Broken Bow – Dani Williams, “The Language of the Common”
Gering – Megan Gifford, “To Soviet Russia, Mordor, Infinity, and Beyond: Dantesque Elements of Popular Culture”
Kearney – Jo Lind, “The Game Begins Anew: Cyclical in Nature”
Cryptozoology, Popular Culture, and the Law: Contemporary Approaches to Shakespeare – 2:30-3:30 p.m., Room 106
Gering – Allison Witcofski, “The Law, the Merchant, and the Playwright”
Humphrey – Emily Hemmer, “Walking the Line: ‘Game of Thrones’ and Shakespeare”
Lincoln – Mackenzie Marrow, “A Skinwalker King: A Study of Shakespeare’s ‘Richard III’ through a Cryptozoological Lens”
Spotlight on First-Year Writing II – 2:30-3:30 p.m., Room 119
Giltner – Kaylee Rhoades, “The Road to Everlasting Life”
Gothenburg – Kaelyn Young, “This Will Offend You from ‘Fahrenheit 451’”
Grand Island – Grace Bartling, “Elephant”
Kearney – Angela Scarrow, “Life as My Little Brother”
Big Sky: Nebraska in Prose and Poetry – 2:30-3:30 p.m., Room 107
Colorado Springs, Colorado – Kimberlee Haberkorn, “The Sacrifice”
Elm Creek – Riley Sutherland, “New World”
Gibbon – Angie Clevenger, “Staying the Course”
Kearney – Sierra McQuade, “Midwestern Cafe?,” “Sandhills” and “Museum Home”
