The Words: October 2025
Swinging into New Territory: The Baseball Class
The Words sat down with Professor Matt Burgess and Fiona Candland ’26 to discuss the English and history cross-listed course: Baseball: History and Literature. Matt and Professor Ernesto Capello, in the history department, co-teach it, and Fiona was a Research Assistant in preparation for the course.
Devoney Looser and Professor Andrea Kaston Tange get crowd Wild for Austen
On the night of Wednesday, September 24th, the back room of the Minneapolis bookstore Magers & Quinn was crammed with the Austen-curious, the Austen-uninitiated, and the Austen-Super-Fan for a discussion about Devoney Looser’s new book, Wild for Austen.
When a Highland Cow becomes a Kiwi: My Semester Abroad in New Zealand
This past semester, I’ve been fortunate enough to be studying abroad in a place that I’ve dreamed of visiting since I was very young: New Zealand! I still vividly remember opening a National Geographic magazine when I was around six or seven in my local library and becoming enraptured by the wild beauty of the country, by the full page pictures of places like the Fiordlands, the volcanic wonderland of Rotorua, and every famous filming location in The Lord of the Rings, of course. When it was time for me to start thinking about places to study away, I knew Aotearoa was where I wanted to go without a doubt.
We Can’t Shake Off How Good This Taylor Swift Lit Salon was
Students crowded into the Old Main 4 lounge on Wednesday, October 8th for the long-awaited Taylor Swift Literary Salon, courtesy of Professor Jim Dawes and student worker Callisto Martinez ’26. The evening that followed included analysis, trivia, and crafting, all centered around T-Swizzle herself.
Alumni Spotlight: Amy Vandervelde ’21 looks back on Mac and forward to her dissertation
The Words reached out to Classical Mediterranean and Middle East studies and English double major and political science minor Amy Vandervelde ’21 for a check-in this month. Vandervelde, who also served as and The Words’ Senior Newsletter Editor during her time at Mac, generously shared her insights on some valuable experiences at Mac and adventures since graduating with The Words this month.
Macalester English Honor Society organizes free trip to see A Doll’s House at the Guthrie
This past month Alpha Rho Theta, the Macalester chapter of the National English Honor Society, hosted a trip to see A Doll’s House at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. To arrange the excursion, Alpha Rho Theta proposed that the English and Creative Writing Department purchase tickets to the performance and make them available at no charge to the department’s majors, minors, and faculty. The department agreed, purchased ten tickets and, in a department-wide email, asked for responses from those interested in seeing the performance.
Immortal Man: Prof. English brings afterlife to Kendrick Lamar and Tupac Shakur Literary Salon
On Wednesday, September 17th, attendees of Professor Daylanne English’s Literary Salon, “Immortal Man: Kendrick Lamar and the Afterlife,” were beckoned into the Old Main fourth floor lounge by Parliament’s funky beats and a lovely display of fresh fruit. This salon gifted attendees with a sneak peek into Prof. English’s insights in her upcoming book, Soul Sounds: The Afterlife in African American Literature and Music.
From The Mac Weekly: MacFest play readings: Suspense, trans identity and youth
Obtaining tickets to Macalester’s annual staged readings of student plays is no small feat. The tickets, though free, are given on a first-come-first-served basis and the box office begins distributing them only a half hour before the show’s start. The show’s 50 tickets per performance usually run out within minutes. I was lucky enough to get my hands on one this year, so here’s a recap for those who missed it.
Student/Faculty Accolades
Read the monthly roundup of student/faculty accolades here.