The Words, March 2016
ACTC Conference a Major Success
By Josh Weiner ‘16
Macalester hosted the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC) English Majors Conference on Friday, February 19th. Students, faculty, family and friends from five area colleges gathered in the Campus Center to present papers, discuss literature, and – of course – to eat. The Majors Conference is an annual event; the five participant colleges – Macalester, the University of St. Thomas, St. Catherine University, Augsburg College, and Hamline University – take turns hosting the conference.
Students adapted and edited papers they had written for class into a conference presentation. Once at the conference, they gave that presentation to groups of their peers. The hard work that went into condensing a long term paper into a pithy presentation was obvious; conferences attendees were engrossed in the presentations, and various faculty members expressed how pleased they were with the quality of the talks. The presenters were broken into four topical – albeit broad – groups, two in the morning and two in the afternoon.
After introducing themselves and breaking the ice over coffee and cinnamon rolls, participants headed to the morning sessions. The morning sessions included a panel on British Literature moderated by Dr. Cecilia Farr, an English professor from St. Catherine University, and a session on World and Multicultural Literature, moderated by Professor Laura Zebuhr from the University of St. Thomas. Each session had five student participants, one from each of the participating institutions. M.L. Kenney ’18 presented her talk, titled “Hamlet as Enigma, Performer, and Revenger,” in the British Literature session. The talk was adapted from a paper she wrote in the Fall for Professor Penelope Geng’s “Shakespeare Studies” course. Professor Geng, part of the conference’s Macalester faculty cohort, was at the session to hear Kenney’s talk. Noah Borochoff-Porte ’16 represented Macalester at the World & Multicultural Literature panel, presenting his paper, “Lacan and Invisible Man: The Ethics of Racial Determinism,” which he wrote in Professor Daylanne English’s fall capstone course on Afrofuturism.
The sessions ended with a Q&A session guided by the panel moderator, during which each of the presenters fielded tough questions about their papers. The discussion was rigorous but supportive. Then, participants, advisors, and guests made the short jaunt over to Weyerhaeuser Hall for a catered lunch. Whilst noshing on delicious Mexican food, attendees were welcomed by Macalester Professors and Conference Organizers Penelope Geng and Matt Burgess, as well as by Macalester President Brian Rosenberg.
President Rosenberg is himself an accomplished literary scholar; he received his PhD in English from Columbia University, published two books on Charles Dickens and Mary Lee Settle, and taught English at The Cooper Union, Allegheny College, and Lawrence University. He spoke of the many valuable lessons he has learned from the study of literature. For example, it was Charles Dickens who Rosenberg says imparted on him a “deep suspicion of institutions.” That lesson was an ironic one, he laughed, “because I am now the President of a college.” Striking a more serious note, he said he believes learning empathy is the most palpable benefit of an education in the humanities.
President Rosenberg finished his brief welcome by presenting Professor Geng with a poster. The poster was from a February 4th event (read: Marlon James and Dave Eggers in Conversation) at the Mid-Oceanographic Institute, co-starring Professor Marlon James and heavyweight writer Dave Eggers. It bore the signatures of both award-winning authors. “If Marlon knew I kept this for myself,” Rosenberg said of the poster, “he would never let me forget about it.”
After lunch, it was back to the Campus Center for more student presentations. Natalie Spanos ’18 represented Macalester at the Creative Writing session, where she read “My Father’s Eyes” and “Vestiges.” Meanwhile, Greer Silverman ’16 presented some of her independent capstone work in the form of a paper titled “From the Harbor Freeway to Mulholland Drive: Mapping Trauma Across Los Angeles” in the American Literature session.
Students, faculty, and guests unanimously declared the event a success. Macalester hadn’t hosted since 2011. However, under the expert tutelage of Department Coordinator Jan Beebe, the event ran so smoothly that new attendees were none the wiser. Next year’s conference will be hosted just up Snelling Avenue at Hamline University.
