Honorable Mention for Best Chapter of the Year (2016) awarded to UCF's Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society
October 25, 2016 Congratulations to UCF’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national History Honor Society for their recent award of Honorable Mention for Best Chapter of the Year. The Alpha Gamma Chi Chapter hosts academic, social, and charitable activities throughout the year. This student-led organization works with campus and community partners to...
Literacy Narratives and the Need to Make Yourself Vulnerable
October 25, 2016 In the beginning of this semester, I asked my students to write a short reflection on how they learned to read and write. The assignment was an abbreviated version of what we traditionally call a literacy narrative in the field of writing and rhetoric. Literacy narratives are popular assignments in...
UCF Percussionist Performs Soundtrack based on SunRail Travels
October 20, 2016 In October, UCF Music faculty and percussionist Dr. Thad Anderson will give two free performances of Northbound, a travel soundtrack he composed based on a light rail trip. The performances will take place on Thursday, October 27 on the UCF campus and Sunday, October 30, at the Timucua Arts White...
UCF History Professor Teaches Through Podcasts
October 19, 2016 Using various items as symbols of history, like a leather cap and goggles, surfboards, ceramic pots, a quirky, yet space-age sound, student animation and over a hundred interviews—Professor Robert Cassanello created a podcast. Listeners all over the world click on “A History of Central Florida” to take on a journey...
Feinstein at UCF School of Performing Arts
October 18, 2016 Award-winning performer Michael Feinstein takes his seat behind the Steinway Piano and accompanies Kyle Laing, a student in UCF’s musical theatre program, on Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Love Look Away,” while an audience of Laing’s peers and professors listens intently. The performance, part of a larger master class session led by...
The Citizen Curator Project
October 13, 2016 UCF faculty members Yulia Tikhonova (UCF Art Gallery), Barry Mauer (English), and John Venecek (Libraries) have been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services. The grant is devoted to the development of the Citizen Curator Project. In partnership with the Orlando community, the grantees will...
UCF Students Compete at an International Conference
October 13, 2016 The Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group for the Design of Communication (ACM SIGDOC) works to advance an interdisciplinary approach to design, development, and delivery of communication. The mission of SIGDOC includes the encouragement of research, development, and use of emerging modes of communication. In September, SIGDOC held its...
Writing Across the Curriculum and Working Across Campus: WAC Partners with Faculty Across Disciplines
October 13, 2016 With the objective of assisting faculty across different disciplines in creating and achieving effective writing instruction, the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program implements several ongoing programs simultaneously. Recent news of the WAC program includes: In September, a year-long interdisciplinary project focusing on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)...
Our Social Media Interns reporting on Assistant Professor Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz
October 05, 2016 “My favorite part of teaching- being able to bend minds!! I love that “AHA!” moment in a young person’s eyes.” The faculty at UCF serve not only as expert resources for students, but as representatives of the university in their respective fields. This week the Women’s and Gender Studies department...
The U.S. Department of Education Awards $2.4 Million Grant for Researching Ways to Improve the Teaching of English Learners
October 04, 2016 Dr. Florin Mihai and Dr. Kerry Purmensky of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures have just received a 5-year, 2.4 million dollar research grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA). Both are Co-Principal Investigators with Principal Investigator Dr. Joyce Nutta of the College...
History Alumnus Published in UCF’s Undergraduate Research Journal
October 01, 2016 Jared Muha graduated from UCF with a degree in History in May 2015. He recently published an article titled “Mexico in 1999: Taking Back the UNAM” in the UCF Undergraduate Research Journal. Currently, he is a public school history teacher in Seminole County, Florida and hopes to share his passion...
Professor Folse Delivers Opening Plenary at Panama TESOL Congress
September 30, 2016 Dr. Keith Folse (Professor of TESOL) was invited to deliver the opening plenary address to the 30th Annual Congress 2016 at the Universidad Interamericanama de Panama in Panama City on September 16, 2016. His talk compared teachers’ vs. learners’ perceptions of the most challenging aspects of learning English as a...
Architect Curtis Fentress to Discuss Orlando International Airport Project in Free Talk
September 29, 2016 The UCF School of Visual Arts is hosting a lecture by architect Curtis Fentress on Monday, November 7 in the Bridge Auditorium at UCF’s Center for Emerging Media. The talk will begin at 6 pm and advance reservations are strongly encouraged. Fentress, the principal in charge of design at Fentress...
Student-led Inquiry Project Becomes Expanded Research Project
September 28, 2016 Congratulations to Texts & Technology students Brandy Dieterle and Landon Berry on the publication of their article in Computers in Composition on the Writing Center Digital Workspace they designed for our University Writing Center. Brandy previously worked as a peer tutor in the University Writing Center and teaches composition for...
Rhetoric and Composition Graduate Student Enriches the UCF Community
September 28, 2016 Rachel E. Molko is a second-year graduate student in the Master of Arts Rhetoric and Composition program. Her recent work on exploring spoken-word poetry as a literacy tool has led to opportunities to present at the WPA conference, the Thomas R. Watson conference, and Cultural Rhetorics Conference. Hosted by the...
From Student to Colleague: T&T Milestone Series Tackles Professional Socialization
September 23, 2016 The work we do as undergraduate and master’s students tends to prepare us with invaluable foundations in a field of knowledge and skills in interpretation and writing, but the structure of those degrees tends to insulate us from a broader understanding of the university as an institution or academia as...
Be Boyd Honored as Woman of Distinction
September 23, 2016 Theatre Associate Professor Be Boyd has been honored by the UCF Center for Success of Women Faculty as a 2016 UCF Women of Distinction. Three awards were granted to women faculty members this year for “Excellence in Innovation,” which the Center defines as the adaptation of one’s expertise to a...
Monstrously Fun Young Frankenstein Also Provides Learning Opportunities
September 23, 2016 Just in time for the Halloween season, the Theatre UCF comes alive with The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein,running October 20 through 30 on the UCF Main Stage. Based on the beloved 1974 film of the same name featuring the late Gene Wilder, Young Frankenstein tells the story of...
Kourova Presented Book Picturing Russia: Research Guide to Russian Culture at the Embassy of the Russian Federation
September 22, 2016 On September 22, 2016, Dr. Kourova presented her book, Picturing Russia: Research Guide to Russian Culture, in Washington, D.C. at the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the USA. She met with the head of the Russian Cultural Center and the first secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation...
Welcome to Texts & Technology, Our Spaceship Earth
September 21, 2016 As I was riding Spaceship Earth at Epcot a few weeks ago, I had a light bulb moment: Spaceship Earth is a representation of human relationships with technology, as it is meant to be, but it can also be a symbol for the discipline of Texts & Technology. If you...