Events
Fall 2016
Sigma Tau Delta High Plains Conference 2016
Co-Sponsored by the Alpha Theta Eta Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta and the Department of English at Kansas State University
Dates:
Friday, October 14th-Saturday, October 15th, 2016.
Location:
Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
Purpose:
This co-sponsored conference serves all Sigma Tau Delta undergraduate and graduate students in the High Plains region. We invite critical and creative work on all topics relevant to the study of English.
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Assistant Professor of Education, University of Pennsylvania.
Address: "Hermione Is Black: Harry Potter and the Crisis of Infinite Dark Fantastic Worlds"
Friday, October 14, 5:30-6:30pm.
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas taught elementary language arts, high school English, and creative writing in public schools for several years after graduating from Florida A&M, a historically Black university in Tallahassee, Florida. She earned her M.A. from Wayne State University (19th Century British and American Literature) and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan's joint program in English and Education. Her research focuses on children's and adolescent texts (broadly construed), the teaching of African American literature, history, and culture in K-12 classrooms, and the roles that race, class, and gender play in classroom discourse and interaction. She will speak on one of her current projects, The Dark Fantastic, which explores the ways that children and teens of color are represented in early 21st century speculative fiction, comics, and multimedia. Sponsored by the Department of English and the A&S Diversity Committee.
Registration Deadline: Sept 28th
Support:
All chapters attending will receive at least $100 from the Regent to offset travel costs, with larger amounts for chapters traveling from farther distances.
Lodging:
Hotel reservations are available now at the Holiday Inn, located across the street from the conference venue. We have reserved a block of rooms for the night of Friday, October 14 and Saturday, October 15. The cost will be $99.95 per room per night. To reserve a room at this rate, please call the Holiday Inn at 785-539-7531 by September 14, 2016 and mention the Group Code "KSU English" and "Sigma Tau Delta Conference" as the event name.
Parking:
The Alumni Center, our conference venue, is across the street from the K-State Student Union Parking Garage. See < http://www.k-state.edu/maps/index.html?show=AC> for its location on a campus map.
Pay for Saturday Lunch:
Questions? Dr. Naomi Wood, njwood@ksu.edu
KSBN - Sigma Tau Delta Lending Library
The Lending Library book for 2016-17 is Spare Parts by Joshua Davis.
The Alpha Theta Eta chapter of Sigma Tau Delta has established Lending Libraries around campus where the K-State community can borrow and read this year's book. Students, faculty, and staff members are welcome to take a copy of Spare Parts from any of the designated locations around campus. Locations include the Union Program Council office (Union 301), the Writing Center (ECS 122D), Radina's in Leadership Studies, Weigel Library (Seaton 323), and the International Student Center (ISC 104). Help us keep track of the book by sending us an email with your name and the book number to sigmatau@ksu.edu. Once you've read the book, pass it along to a friend in the K-State community or return it to a Lending Library near you. Then, join the discussion.
Banned Books Week
Sept 26-30, 2016
Banned Books week is a nationally recognized event that celebrates the freedom to read. The week is dedicated to pointing out the issues of censorship by displaying a variety of books that have been challenged in the past and today. Some examples of challenged novels are The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
Past Events
Annual Convention
The 2016 Annual Sigma Tau Delta Convention will be in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The submission link closes Monday, October 26, 11:59 p.m. Central Daylight Savings Time (CDT).
Here is some info on what you can submit from the official Sigma Tau Delta website:
- Eligible members may submit ONE original critical essay, creative nonfiction, poetry collection, fiction, or drama
- AND ONE additional submission on the 2016 Common Reader, The Soul Thief, by Charles Baxter
- AND/OR a proposal for a roundtable session
For more information click here.
Past convention
Not sure if you want to attend the 2016 convention? Here are two reflections of students who attended the 2012 convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Whitney Davis, graduate of Kansas State, talks about her experience in New Orleans:
"I attended the Sigma Tau Delta conference in New Orleans as a presenter and was blown away by the immense opportunities that met me in this city. The Sigma Tau Delta conference was a chance for me to truly start broadening my horizons as an English undergraduate. It reignited my original passion for literature by connecting to those equally as passionate. The sessions were reflective, inspiring, and thought-provoking. I would encourage anyone considering to attend the conference to go. It was an opportunity that shaped my undergraduate experience as distinctive--not only educationally and professionally, but relationally as well. The beignets, open air markets, and seafood weren't bad additions either."
Another member of Alpha Theta Eta, Jessica Reyes, reflects on her experience at Convention!
"...Attending Convention as a group also increased our collective desire to be more active in Sigma Tau Delta. The energy and motivation we brought home was exponentially greater because so many of our members shared in the experience of convention. We tried to attend an array of sessions so that we had a bunch of ideas to bring home. We eagerly discussed how we could apply the things we learned to our own chapter. The Student Leadership workshops, in particular, always gave us lots to talk about. Following the Recruitment and Retention Workshop on Saturday, we considered the pros and cons of expanding our membership to non-English majors, and we were excited about a penny-war fundraising idea we’d hear about from another chapter. Returning home, my chapter-mates and I are more committed to planning and executing these projects because we shared in their inception at the convention..."
Continue reading about Jessica's Convention experience here.
Better World Books
Each semester, Sigma Tau Delta chapters all over the nation come together to support and encourage world-wide literacy. Better World Books is one organization that helps to do this. In collaboration with BWB, Sigma Tau Delta holds a book drive, allowing all used books to be gathered and transferred to Better World Books where they are sold online in order to fund literacy initiatives. With the money that each chapter earns from their on-campus book drive, Better World Books offers 6 non-profit literacy partners that will receive the funds: Books for Africa, National Center for Family Literacy, Room to Read, World Education and Development Fund, Invisible Children, or Plan USA.