Brenda
Machosky will be teaching next year in the English
Department at the University of Hawai’i West O’ahu
campus. Her book, Faces of Allegory, will be published this
year by Fordham University Press.
Serkan
Gorkemli
will be teaching next year in the English Department at the
University of Connecticut Stamford campus. When asked to reflect
on his time in PWR, Serkan responded:
Just
before I came to Stanford for my campus visit for the lecturer
position at PWR, one of my mentors from grad school, who is
a fan of the Composition Blues Band, told me to keep in mind
that some of the people who would interview me are founders
of the band, so I should relax and have fun during the visit.
Since I didn’t know about the Composition Blues Band at
the time, I didn’t quite know what to make of the comment.
But having worked with not only the band members (Marvin, Clyde,
and Bump) but also Andrea and fellow instructors for two years
now, that comment now has a meaning for me: PWR is a great community,
and I will certainly miss it. The “Sweet mates,”
the fellow instructors with whom I have shared Sweet Hall 019,
of course, have directly contributed to this sense of community
that I will always cherish—I’ll miss our on-the-go,
and sometimes over-the-cubicle-wall, conversations and the end-of-the-quarter
outings, guys! But as Andrea remarked during the summer picnic
last year when Bump was leaving, “once a PWR-ista, always
a PWR-ista,” so instead of saying goodbye, I’ll
say see you later, friends!
Chris
Gerben will begin pursuing his PhD in the University
of Michigan’s Joint Program in English and Education.
Upon reflection of his time in PWR, Chris responded:
I began
my journey through PWR with a one quarter teaching assignment
two years ago. When I couldn’t secure any classes throughout
the rest of the year, I went searching for a job in the “real
world,” and figured my time spent teaching was adventurous
and noble, but resolutely over. However, I was surprised by
how quickly I missed the connection to other people who cared
about such things as deep thought and analysis, teaching others
valuable things, and of course, good writing. Simply put, I
missed people who cared about their jobs. Within months I contacted
Marvin and Andrea, and asked to interview for another year with
PWR. I have been fortunate enough to be welcomed back in, and
I now feel like I have been part of something truly special—an
impressive group of scholars who are deeply committed to academic
inquiry and their students. Sometimes you can only see something
so remarkable in hindsight, but I’m happy to appreciate
this experience in the present tense, and to end my time at
Stanford by thanking all of my peers, mentors, and friends.
