Image a room full of English majors and professors. Throw in some artists for good measure, a bit of food, and the twin buzzes of creativity and critiques. On the seventh floor of the Glickman Library, with a surprising lack of tweed jackets, students and faculty gathered for the English Department Mini-Conference. The conference consisted of several panels of both students and faculty presenting to their peers. In the back of a room, student majoring in art showed self portraits.
Kathleen Ashley, English professor, was the driving force behind the conference. She organized the event and reserved the space for it. At the time, it was not planned to coincide with the Thinking Matters symposium. After she reserved the space “[Thinking Matters called and said ‘you’re cutting our space,'” said Ashley. This lead to partnership between the two conferences; Thinking Matters even provided the bulk of the funding for food. “It really does fit with Thinking Matters,” said Ashley. “So, we’ve been working together.
According to Ashley, the idea for the conference started with a desire to acknowledge the work of faculty, some who have been at USM for over 15 years, and students. “My concept was to do something to feature our smart faculty and students,” she said.
The conference was structured so that presenters came up in panels consisting of three or four presenters. Each was given approximately 15 minutes and then, if time was left over, there was a question and answer session. According to Betsy Scholl, English professor, “It was interesting, each of the themes dovetailed together.”
Jessica Healy, English major and senior, presented with the first panel. She also remarked on the structure of the panel. “All of the themes blended together,” she said. “There was a harmony between the themes.”
While Kathleen Ashley will wait for feedback on the conference before deciding to do it next year, students and faculty recognized the value of it. “It gives the opportunity for students to exercise what they have learned,” said Healy.