WAQAS AHMAD KHWAJA WAQAS AHMAD KHWAJA
2923 Evans Woods Drive, Atlanta, GA 30340-4815
Department of English, Agnes Scott College, 141 East College Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 471-5056; (770) 934-3084 (R)
E-mail: wkhwaja@agnesscott.edu
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EDUCATION return to home Ph.D English, Victorian Fiction--Emory University, May 1995 M.A. English, Emory University LL.B. Punjab University Law College, Lahore, Pakistan, 1975 B.A. English Lit., Political Science, Government College, Lahore, Pakistan, 1971 F.Sc. Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Government College, Lahore, 1969 TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS return to home Postcolonial Studies; Victorian Literature; Narratives of the Empire; Romantic Poetry; Gothic; Catherine Sims Faculty Enrichment Fund, award for research travel, Summer 2006 Professional Development Grant for research on Oriental influences on British Catherine Sims Faculty Enrichment Fund, award for research costs, Summer 2005 Professional Development Grant for research on Pakistani vernacular writers, Professional Development Grant for ongoing research in Postcolonial Studies in Jessie Ball duPont Grant for developing first-year seminar course on "Strangers in Human Relations Award for "Promoting Unity of Spirit and Diversity of People," Rotary Grant for University Teachers, to teach South Asian Literature and pursue Honorary Fellow of Writing & International Writing Fellowship, University of Graduate Fellowship, Rotary International, Pakistan, for Graduate work in English Teaching and Graduate Assistantships, English Department, Emory, 1980-1982 Graduate Fellowship, English Department, Emory University, Summer 1981 TEACHING EXPERIENCE--LITERATURE return to home 2004 – 2007 Agnes Scott College, Chair, English Department 2004 - current Agnes Scott College, Associate Professor, English Department 2001 – 2004 Agnes Scott College, Assistant Professor, Tenure Track 1995 – 2001 Agnes Scott College, Visiting Asst. Professor 1995-1996 Emory University, Visiting Faculty: 1990-1991 Punjab University, Lahore, Visiting Professor: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT return to home Kemper Faculty Development Workshop, Agnes Scott College, Aug. 15 – 17, 2007
BOOKS click here for covers and content No One Waits for the Train, A collection of poems exploring the possibility of healing through recovery of The Aesthetics of Civilized Life: Interplay Between Artistic Design and the Truth of Experience in Mariam's Lament and Other Poems. Lahore, Pakistan: Sang-e-Meel. 1992 Short Stories from Pakistan, Edited, with translations, notes, and a critical introduction, UBS and South Asian Writers and Landscapes, A critical account of the Iowa IWP experience. Lahore: Sang-e-Meel. 1991 Mornings in the Wilderness, An Anthology of Pakistani Literature. Edited, with translations from Urdu, notes Cactus: An Anthology of Recent Pakistani Literature. Edited, with Translations from Urdu and Punjabi. Editorial Assistant. Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States. Lee Pederson, Susan McDaniel, and Marvin Bassett, Poems anthologized in A Dragonfly in the Sun. Karachi: Oxford UP. 1997 OTHER PUBLICATIONS: ARTICLES return to home Over seventy articles published on literature and culture in scholarly journals, magazines, and literary editions of Pakistani newspapers in addition to nearly a hundred columns on literature, politics, social and economic issues, and culture in The Friday Times, The Frontier Post, The News International, The Pakistan Times, The Nation, etc. A selective list of articles on literature is provided here: LITERATURES IN ENGLISH return to home “What Upsets Muslims About The Satanic Verses,” South Asian Review, Vol. XXV, No. 2, Fall 2004 Review article, Postcolonial Plays: An Anthology, ed. Helen Gilbert, 2001, in Journal of Commonwealth and “The South Asian Diaspora in the Arts,” UGA Series on Globalization and Global Understanding, ed. Sujata "The Gothic Conventions and Henry James' Ghost Stories," Spectrum, Journal of the Department of English, "Byron's Cain: A Tragic Affirmation," The Frontier Post, Aug. 16, 1991 "Sara Suleri's Meatless Days: Tell Me Where is Fancy Bred," The Frontier Post, Aug.9, 1991 "The Carnival of Character in Bapsi Sidhwa's Fiction," The Frontier Post, May 17, 1991 "Zulfikar Ghose--Hybrid Jazz of No Tradition," The Frontier Post, Jun. 22, 90 "Two African Writers: Taban Lo Liyong and Niyi Osundare,” The Pakistan Times, Feb. 17, 1989 "Taufiq Rafat and the Creation of an Idiom," Star, Karachi, Jul. 16, 87 "Voodoo & Violence--the Concept of Power in Wole Soyinka's A Play of Giants,” The Nation, Jul. 03, 1987 "Sea-shells in the Soul--Interview with poet Michael Lynch," The Nation, May 22, 1987 "Rudyard Kipling: The Charmed Circle I," The Nation, May 08, 1987 "Approach to Middlemarch," Cactus, Lahore, Dec. 1985 "Writing and Deceit," Viewpoint, Lahore, Sep. 1985 "The Aesthetics of Post-Creation in Ulysses," Spectrum, Fall 1984 "The Lost World of Intizar Husain," Herald, Dec. 1992 "Disclosure and Disguise in Ghulam Abbas' Fiction," The Frontier Post, Jul. 13, 1990 "Ghulam Abbas: Artist Paring his Fingernails," The Frontier Post, Jun. 29, 1990 "Mazhar-ul-Islam: The Riddle of the Self," The Frontier Post, Jun. 01, 1990 "The Fire of Bones--Fictive Presences in Mazhar-ul-Islam's Tales," The Frontier Post, Jun. 08, 1990 "Ashfaq Ahmad: Shadow of a Dream," The Frontier Post, May 11, 1990 "Ashfaq Ahmad: Eleven Lovers and the Spoken Word," The Frontier Post, May 04, 1990 "Sadat Hasan Manto--Self-consuming Artist," The Friday Times, July 27, 1989 "Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi: The Elusive Tragedy I," The Friday Times, Aug. 17, 1989 "The Elusive Tragedy II," The Friday Times, Aug. 24, 1989 OTHER LITERATURES return to home "Oral tradition: Legacy of a Rebel--Punjabi Poet, Ustad Daman," Herald, May 1993 "Ferenc Temesi (Hungarian novelist)--Mendicant of the New World," The Frontier Post, Sep. 7, 1990 "Shlomo Nitzan (Israeli fiction writer): Failure and Despair," The Frontier Post, Sep. 14, 1990 On Korean poet Shin Toon Chun, "Zen and the Itch of Poetry," The Friday Times, Jul. 20, 1989 "Pulling off a Glasnost: Alexander Tkachenko (Russian poet)," The Pakistan Times, Mar. 10, 1989 SHORT STORIES, FOLKTALES RETOLD, PORTRAITS AND SKETCHES return to home “Strangers in the Metropolis,” article in Emory U. Dept of English publication Loose Canons, Mar. 2002 "The Break," Mornings in the Wilderness, Sang-e-Meel Publications, 1988 "Death of a Princess: A folktale from Cholistan," The Friday Times, Aug. 3-9, 1989 "The Man From Nahtaur," The Pakistan Times, May 26, 1989 "Prince Jallat and Mehbooba," The Friday Times, July 13-19, 1989 "The Hippopotamus," The Pakistan Times, 1989 "A Crusty Mechanic," The Pakistan Times, Jan. 30, 1990 "A Love For Pigeons," The Pakistan Times, Feb. 06, 1990 "Aayee Bo Kataa!," The Pakistan Times, Feb. 09, 1990 "The Sacrament of Spring," The Pakistan Times, Feb. 20, 1990 "Billa," The Frontier Post, April 12, 1991 "The Thief Who Shouts," The Frontier Post, May 31, 1991 "The Story of Prince Bairam and the Fairy Bird," The Frontier Post, June 28, 1991 "Beauty and the Bandit," Aug. 02, 1991 "The Story of Sassi and Pannu, or Love Will Find A Way," The Frontier Post, Aug. 30, 1991 "Lahore, Through the Looking Glass," Herald, Sept. 1992 POEMS (a selective list): return to home “Following Bulleh Shah,” Poetry Calendar 2007, 365 Classic and Contemporary Poems, Alhambra “My Inside is Empty,” Alhamra Literary Review, Vol. 3, 2006 “Following Bulleh Shah” (original work) and translations of Faiz, “My Companion, My Friend” and “On “Following Bulleh Shah,” The News International, Pakistan, Aug. 28, 2005 “riverflow,” Atlanta Review, Fall/Winter 2002 “April ’77,” “Among Burning Nettles,” “The Tribal Shadow,” “The Legend of Roda and Jalalli,” “The Neighbor,” “My Underwear,” and “The Lost Land,” World Poets from Iowa, Tong-choon Shin, ed. “The Sculptor,” Frank: An International Journal of Contemporary Writing and Art, David Applefield, ed. “City Studies: April ’77,” Passage V & VI, Erika Boehm, Malcolm Berd, eds. (Triton College: Illinois, 1980) “Old Age,” Passage II, Robert F. Hlavin, Malcolm D. Berd, eds. (Triton College Press: Illinois, 1976) and in occasional anthologies published by the Quaid-e-Azam Library, Lahore, Pakistan: Next Moon (84); Inspirations (85 and 91); A Various Terrain (86); Silence on Fire (88); Winter Voices (89). LAW PRACTICE AND TEACHING return to home Lawyer/Advocate, High Court, Taxation, Companies, & Writs, Lahore, Pakistan, 1983-1993 Punjab Law College, Lahore, Visiting Professor, Jurisprudence, Torts, 1988-1992 Quaid-e-Azam Law College, Lahore, Visiting Professor, Jurisprudence, Torts, 1988-1991 JOURNALISM AND EDITING return to home “Ramadhan,” op. ed. article, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Nov. 22, 2001 Weekly Column, "A Writers' Notebook," The News International, Lahore, Feb.-Jul. 1992 Weekly Essay, "My Word!," The Frontier Post, Lahore, Dec. 1989-Jan. 1992 Weekly Column, "My Word!," The Friday Times, Lahore, 1989 Senior Assistant Editor, MAG Weekly, Lahore, Karachi, 1984-1985 Special Correspondent, Pakistan and Gulf Economist, 1983-1984 SELECTED CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, AND SYMPOSIA return to home “Contested Spaces, Competing Narratives: Towards Human Rights and Democracy in Pakistan, Roundtable A Reading in Celebration of the Creative Writing Program at Agnes Scott College, Panel, AWP Conference, “Gender Inversion in Oriental Islamic Literature: The Female Voice in Poetry by Male Writers from the “De-scribing Empire, Writing War,” Panel Presentation, Moderator and Discussant, AWP Conference, “South-Asian Writers Speak: Women, War, and Trauma,” Moderator and Discussant, South Asia Institute, ADE-ADFL Seminar East, participated in (i) Workshop for new chairs, and (ii) Workshop for Graduate study, “Partition and its Discontents: Indo-Pak Relations in the New World Order,” The Burke Nicholson Forum, “History Adrift: Fictional Worlds and Imagined Realities,” chair, panel presentation, and reading, AWP “A World of Parting, Separation, and Ceaseless Longing: The Poetry of Agha Shahid Ali,” British Postcolonial “U.S. - Islamic Relations,” Hope Not Hate Series, Association for Informed Democracy, Panel presentation, “Pakistani Writing in English,” Poetry Reading, AWP (Associated Writers and Writing Programs) Conference, “Regions Unframed: A Symposium of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies,” Roundtable I: Text and “‘[R]ooms where one plots only to die:’ The Poetry of Agha Shahid Ali,” South Asian Literary Association, “Politics of Language in Anita Desai’s In Custody,” Eleventh Annual British Commonwealth and "'Snagged/by two cultures'--Three Pakistani Poets in Search of a Voice," Tenth Annual British “Globalization and Change in South Asia,” University of Georgia Center for Humanities and Arts, invited to "Generic Interventions and Retrogressions in Postcolonial Fiction: A Case Study--Rohintan Mistry's A Fine Chaired session, "Acts of Enclosure," BCPSC, Georgia Southern U, Savannah, Feb. 26, 2000 "Use of Folktales in Achebe's Things Fall Apart," Paper, Panel on African Diaspora and Postcolonial “Strategies of Survival in African Postcolonial Fiction: Ambiguity at the Heart of Things Fall Apart,” “The Parable of the Self: Gender Transference and Transgression in The God of Small Things,” Paper, "Taufiq Rafat and Zulfikar Ghose: Geographies of Location and Dislocation in Pakistani English- "What Upsets the Muslims about The Satanic Verses," Paper presented at the Third Annual World "Response of Muslim Writers to the Partition of India," Paper, Fifth Conference on Commonwealth "The Use of Gothic Conventions in Henry James' Ghost Stories," Paper, Seminar on American "Pakistani Poetry in English: Topics and Themes," Lecture, question and answer session, Alhamra "Writing and Deceit," Paper, Islamic Philosophic Association, Lahore, 1992 "Literary Dialogue," with Alex Haley--Bombay, Lahore and Amman, Worldnet, USIS, 1991 "Pakistani Writings in English: Bapsi Sidhwa & Sara Suleri," Lecture, British Council, Lahore, 1991 "The Creative Process," Seminar, moderator, reading, Shakir Ali Museum Lahore, 1990 "Pakistani Literature: Resistance and Acquiescence," Lecture for African Official, National Institute "Literature: The Pakistani Context," Paper, short story, poetry reading, National Seminar on Pakistani "Literature and Democracy," Keynote speaker, USIA, Lahore, 1989 "Imagination of the State and the Writer," Paper, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, 1988, "Kipling: The Charmed Circle," Lecture, Asian Study Circle, British Council Lahore, 1985 CONSULTANCIES, INVITED EVENTS, AND COMMUNITY SERVICE return to home “Young Professionals Briefing on Iraq,” Presentation & Panel, Southern Center of International Studies, Panelist, presentation and discussion on Religious Pluralism with Prof. John Esposito, Teaching and Lecture/discussion, Chitra Divakuruni’s Sister of My Heart, Alston Students’ Center, Jan., 2005 Featured speaker, Anti-war rally, Decatur, Georgia, Dec. 2004 Lecture/discussion, “Postcolonial Studies,” Lahore Gymkhana, Lahore, Pakistan, May 26, 2003 Talk/discussion, Shakespeare’s Tempest, Alumnae Reading Group, Nov. 2002 Presentation/discussion, The Middle East: A Region in Crisis, “Pakistan: Cultural and National Identity,” Speaker, Decatur Interfaith Service of Remembrance, Presentation and Benediction, First Baptist Church of Presentation and Panel Discussion, “Democracy in South Asia,” South Asians for Unity (SA4U), Emory Organized and Moderated Panel Discussion, “Terrorism and the Police State: Human Rights’ Abuses in Panelist, Strategic U.S. Options for Indo-Pak Relations, Panel Discussion, IACA, Palace Hotel, Norcross, Talk/discussion, Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke, ASC Alumnae Reading Group, Jan. 23, 2002 Lecture and Discussion, "Decolonizing Gender: Women in Pakistan," Brenau University, March 20, 2000 Judge, Mikki Griffis Morris Poetry Competition, Georgia Poetry Society, 2001 Speaker, "Pakistan: A Victim of Terrorism Within," American-Pakistan Convention, Oct. 13, 2001 Panelist, Discussion on Sept. 11 events, AIB, Inter-Faith Television Network, Sept. 25, 2001 Interviewed by Martha Ezzard for Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Sept. 24, 2001 Faculty Consultant, AP English Literature Reading, ETS, 1998; 1999 & 2000 (declined) Essay Evaluator, GMAT, ETS, 1997-1998 Essay Evaluator, TOEFL, ETS, 1998-1999 Featured Speaker, "New Moon on the Horizon," Pakistan Day Celebrations, Rich Auditorium, Aug. 15, '98 India and Pakistan, Sept. 6, 1997 Lecture, "Literary Criticism and Critical Theory," Lakeside High School, AP Literature, Seniors, June 3, 1997 POETRY READINGS return to home A Reading in Celebration of the Creative Writing Program at Agnes Scott College, AWP Conference, Poetry Reading: Twelve American poets (Kathryn Stripling Byer, Claudia Emerson, Dorianne Laux, Poetry reading, Featured poet, Annual Convocation and Dinner of the South Asian Literary Association, Poetry reading, Hamara Mushaira, South Asian Literary Association Conference, Washington Hilton, Poetry reading, Associated Writers Programs’ Conference, Vancouver, Canada, March, 30, 2005 Poetry reading, British Commonwealth & Postcolonial Studies Conference, Savannah, GA., Feb. 26, 2005 Poetry Reading, “Pakistani Writers in English,” AWP Conference, Chicago, March 24-27, 2004 Featured poet, An Evening of Poetry with Waqas Khwaja, Avari International, Lahore, May 25, 2003 Co-organized a Mushaira/Goshthi (Poetry Reading) for the combined Department of Middle Eastern Participated by invitation in a Peace Vigil by Gandhi Foundation, Martin Luther King Memorial, translated Poetry Reading, Featured poet, 14th Annual Decatur Arts Festival, Decatur, GA., May 25, 2002 Poetry Reading, Featured poet, 13th Annual Decatur Arts Festival, Decatur, GA., May 27, 2001 Poetry Reading, Featured poet, Cultural Complex, Alhamra, Lahore, May 16, 2000 Poetry reading, Blue Ridge International Conference on Humanities and the Arts, Appalachian State U, Michael C. Carlos Museum, March 1, 1998 Poetry Reading, Agnes Scott College, May 03, 1996 GUEST LECTURES, DEPT. OF ENGLISH, SENIOR COLLOQUIA, AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE return to home E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India, Senior Colloquium on the Bloomsbury Group, Fall 2002 In Custody, Senior Colloquium on "Self-representation and the Artist," Nov. 2001 In Custody, Senior Colloquium on "The Figure of the Artist," Oct. 2000 Dracula, Senior Colloquium on “Millennial Texts,” Oct. 26 & 28, 1999 Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, Senior Colloquium on "Comedy and Wit," Oct. 08, 1998 Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, Senior Colloquium on "The Figure of the Artist, Oct. 23, 1997 Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, Senior Colloquium, Nov., 1995 SUPERVISED STUDIES return to home 2006-2007 Member, Dissertation Committee, Kathryn Crowther, Victorian Studies Ph.D. candidate Spring 2007 Directed Study, Creative Writing: Poetry (Eng. 415) Brittany Babbit Summer 2006 Hubert Scholar Credit Internship, Diana Davis (Eng/WS 450) with a Baha’i NGO in Summer 2006 Evaluation of Fouzia Tanweer Sheikh’s Ph.D. Thesis, “Nature Imagery in Al-Qur’an,” Spring 2006 Student internship (Eng. 450), Katherine Gray, with on-line literary journal Verb Spring 2005 Special Study (Eng. 410), Madeline Shepherd: on Irish travel writer, Redmond O’Hanlon Fall 2000 Independent Study (Eng. 410), Erica Blanchard, Romantic Poetry Spring 2000 Special Study (Eng. 410), Nawal Durrani & Darlene Joseph, Postcolonial Theory from Fall 1999 Special Study (Eng. 410), Nawal Durrani and Darlene Joseph, Middle-Eastern Literature COLLEGE SERVICE, ETC. return to home 2006-2007
Chair, English Department, performed all duties and responsibilities incidental to this office including hiring full- and part-time faculty, advising students, mentoring new faculty, preparing course rotation projections, scheduling classes for the upcoming year, supporting initiatives to bring in guest writers, writing the annual report, formulating the annual assessment plan, and, in consultation with Department faculty, exploring areas of improvement for the Department, 2006-2007
Wrote and submitted the Annual Department Report, 2006-2007
Organized, with Alhambra Publications, Poetry Reading: Twelve American poets (Kathryn Stripling Byer, Claudia Emerson, Dorianne Laux,Geoffrey Brock, Martha Collins, Michael Heffernan, Vivian Shipley, Robin Becker, Terri Witek, Waqas Khwaja, Marilyn Hacker and Linda Pastan) from the Alhambra Poetry Calendar Anthology 2007, co-sponsored by Agnes Scott English Department with Alhambra Publishing, Agnes Scott College, March 1, 2007
Helped Global Awareness: India students organize “A Night Under the Stars,” showcasing India, its dances, music, food, clothing, etc., proceeds going to charity, Spring 2007
Completed Cynthia Wu’s first-year departmental review, wrote a summary of the proceedings for her departmental file and submitted the summary to the Dean, May 2007
Led departmental review of Cynthia Wu’s request to speed up her tenure process by a year and submitted a letter of approval and support to the Dean, April, 2007
Finalized 9 annual donor-established awards for English, in consultation with the English Department, and presented the awards at the Annual Convocation, April 26, 2007
Member Search Committee, along with Professors Douglas Falen and Tina Pippin, Religious Studies Department, for a tenure-track hire in World Religions (search successfully concluded), Spring 2007
Member of the President Kiss’ Inauguration Steering Committee and co-chair, with President Kiss, of the Academic Program Committee to organize the symposium: “Speak Up, Stand Up: A Feisty Agenda for 21st Century Women,” 2006-2007
Initiated and successfully led the effort to cultivate department support for separate capstone courses in the two concentrations offered by the English Department, following it up by introducing the option of Eng 481 as the new, autonomous, capstone course for English Literature-Creative Writing majors and freeing up Eng 480 to focus entirely on scholarly academic writing for all English Literature majors, as well as any of those pursuing the hybrid English major who choose to take it in preference to Eng 481, in the upcoming year, 2006-2007
Supported Willie Tolliver’s efforts to introduce Department Honors for qualified English majors and shepherded Department discussion in finalizing the policy for implementing them, 2006-2007
As co-chair of the Cultural Events Committee with Lisa Alembik, arranged, organized, promoted, and oversaw the completion of a full roster of cultural programs for 2006-2007. The 2006-2007 Events Series kicked off in collaboration with the Decatur Book Festival, presenting keynote speaker Arianna Huffington, followed by First Year Book author Catherine Clinton. Martine Watson Brownley ’69 gave the Dabney Adams Hart Distinguished Humanities Lecture; Tracey Laird delivered the Joseph R. Gladden Jr. Public Lecture; the Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation featured Pearl Cleage, and the Faith and Learning Lecture was delivered by Rev. Canon Dr. Samuel Wells. The theme of the popular Ethics Lecture Series was “Is Nature Ours? Ethics, Economics, and the Environment.” Performers included Peruvian folk singer Susana Baca, folk guitarist Joe Hickerson and Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana. The ASC Writers’ Festival featured two Pulitzer Prize winners, playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and poet Yusef Komunyakaa, in addition to author Beatriz Rivera-Barnes. The Blackfriars presented “Uncommon Women and Others,” “The Odyssey” and a week of plays from Suzan Lori Parks’ “365 Days / 365 Plays.” The Dalton Gallery’s “Blackbird on your shoulder” included “An Evening of Storytelling through Song and Spoken Word” and a visit by filmmaker Ross McElwee. Spring semester brought the exhibit ”The Velocity of Gesture, or How to Build an Empire.” Studio Dance Theatre presented “Danceworks 2006” and “Spring Forward: A Celebration of Dance,” 2006-2007
Facilitated the participation of creative writing students, a first for Agnes Scott College, in the AWP (Associated Writing Programs) Conference, Atlanta, Feb. 28 – Mar. 3, 2007
Introduced Professor Martine Brownley, Dabney Hart Scholar, English Department, for the Dabney Hart Lecture, Agnes Scott College, Oct. 25, 2006
Member Africana Studies Committee—meetings and discussions throughout the year for implementing the major, arranging events for the Black History Month, and other incidental matters, 2006-2007
Regular participation in ongoing meetings and discussions of the Creative Arts Conference as Chair of the English Department and member of the creative writing faculty, assisting substantively in formulating a joint priority list of objectives and chairing the publications committee, 2006-2007
Full written response to Prof. Douglas Unger’s Creative Writing External Review, Oct. 2006
Arranged a classical dance performance and lecture for Global Awareness: India participants and the Theater and Performing Arts students by famed South Indian artist, Maduarai Muralidaran, Oct. 3, 2006
Presented a poem (by invitation) at “Fence”, an event commemorating the martyrs of the 1906 Atlanta riots, Agnes Scott College, Sept. 20, 2006
Presentation and panel discussion on “Tips for Academic Success,” Orientation for new International students, Agnes Scott College, Aug. 25, 2006
Secured the hiring of Professor Brian Artese on a two-year contract to obviate the need for adjunct faculty to teach Eng 110, Aug. 2006
2005-2006
Chair, English Department, performed all duties and responsibilities incidental to this office including hiring of full- and part-time faculty, conducting searches for tenure-track faculty, preparing course rotation projections, scheduling classes for the upcoming year, advising students, supporting initiatives to invite guest writers, and , with the support of Department faculty, exploring areas of improvement for the Department, 2005-2006
Wrote and submitted the Annual Department Report and the Annual Assessment Plan, 2005-2006
Mentor for Kathryn Crowther, Mellon Fellow, Department of English, Agnes Scott College, 2005-2006
Participated as department chair in Prof. Charlotte Artese's third-year review, 2005-2006
Located and facilitated the hiring of qualified specialists as adjunct professors to fill in for Prof. Charlotte Artese during her maternity leave and Prof. Steve Guthrie during his sabbatical, 2005-2006
Facilitated the hiring of adjunct help for Eng. 110, 2005-2006
Finalized 9 annual donor-established awards for English, in consultation with the English Department, and presented the awards at the Annual Convocation, April, 2006
Supported and facilitated Prof. Amber Dermont's initiative to bring in four celebrated writers for readings for creative writing majors and the college community at large--Reginald McKnight and Sabrina Orah Mark in Fall (Nov.17, 2005) and Z. Z. Packer and Holiday Reinhorn for Spring (April 12,2006)— with money from the Snow and Williams funds, 2005-2006
Successfully completed searches as chair for two positions advertised by the Department of English, reviewing the credentials of 270 candidates for 20th c. American Literature and around 150 for Creative Writing, interviewing short-listed candidates with department faculty at the MLA Conference in Washington, D.C., arranging campus visits and schedules for the top three candidates in each category, and moderating deliberations to finalize our choices, 2005-2006
Member, Africana Studies Committee—meetings and discussions throughout the year about instituting an Africana Studies major and organizing events for the Black History Month, 2005-2006
Member and Co-Chair, Cultural Events Committee--meetings and discussions about programming for next year and projections for the next three years, 2005-2006
Member, Creative Arts Conference--meetings and discussions throughout the year about greater collaboration between disciplines and long-term vision for the conference, 2005-2006
Organized lecture in collaboration with Alliance Francaise by Gilles Elkaim, “The Notion of Adventure in the 21st Century”, Oct. 12, 2005
Organized lecture in collaboration with Alliance Francaise by Iran-born French activist and writer Chadhortt Djavann, “Secularism and Political Islam: Reflexions on the Islamic Veil”, Oct. 20, 2005
Organized lecture in collaboration with Alliance Francaise by Eric Maurcie, “France and the US: Love, Hate and Misunderstanding through the Press of the two Nations”, Nov. 17, 2005
Co-organized with The Chattahoochee Review the Southeastern Independent and Small Press Festival with several workshops for creative writers at Agnes Scott College, September 23-24, 2005
Interviewed prospective students at the Scholars Weekend, Feb. 19, 2006
2004-2005
Chair, English Department, performed all duties and responsibilities incidental to this office including hiring of full- and part-time faculty, preparing course rotation projections, scheduling classes for the upcoming year, advising students, supporting initiatives to invite guest writers, and, in consultation with Department faculty, exploring areas of improvement for the Department, 2004-2005
Wrote and submitted the Annual Department Report and the Annual Assessment Plan, 2004-2005
Prepared a compact proposal for a literary magazine with an international reach in defining a negotiated area of agreement between Agnes Scott College, the Department of English, and an interested donor-director from a well-established southern foundation, Spring 2005
Conducted search for a one-year, full-time, Kirk-Fund, fiction writer for the Creative Writing program which led to the hiring of Amber Dermont for 2005-2006, Spring 2005
Planned and helped organize the Agnes Scott Writers’ Festival, with readings and workshops by Oliver Sacks, Linda Hogan, and ASC alumna Caroline Murnane, April 14-15, 2005
Finalized 8 annual donor-established awards for English, in consultation with the English Department, and presented the awards at the Annual Convocation, April, 2005
Helped organize reading by poet Stephen Burt, April 8, 2005
Arranged reading by Yusef Komunyakaa, March, 25, 2005
Interviewed prospective candidates during the Scholars’ Weekend, Feb. 20, 2005
Participated in Creative Arts Conference meetings on plans and visions for the future, 2004-2005
Prepared self-study report for the English Department’s Creative Writing Program, Fall 2004
Initiated, oversaw, and completed self-study of two programs in the English Department—English 110 and Creative Writing, Fall 2005
Organized reading and workshops for author Julia Glass, Nov. 8-9, 2005
1997-2004
Fulbright Study Abroad Advisor, sabbatical replacement for Christine Cozzens, 2004-2005
Faith and Learning talk, “My Journey to Agnes Scott,” Alston Students Center, September, 2003
Organized & led a Global Awareness trip to India with Dean Rosemary Zumwalt for 18 ASC students, course on Indian History, Literature, and Culture taught in Fall 2003, the 3-week trip took place in January 2004
Organized Indian Film Festival screening movies directed by India’s leading Film Directors, Fall 2003
Helped organize “A Night Under the Stars,” showcasing India, its dances, music, performance arts, Fall 2003
Organized a visit and reading by Sri Lankan novelist Romesh Gunesekera, Mar. 4, 2003
President’s Diversity Committee, Agnes Scott College, Member, 2002
Pre-Law Advising Committee, Agnes Scott College, Member, 2001-ongoing
International Education Advisory Group, Agnes Scott, Member, 2001-2004
Interviewed Writers’ Festival author Bapsi Sidhwa for college archives, Spring 2002
Panelist, Discussion on Diane Eck’s Pluralism: A New Religious America, Agnes Scott, Mar. 6, 2002
Department of English, Interview Committee, with Profs. Steve Guthrie, Christine Cozzens, and Willie Tolliver, for Candidates in Modernist and Postmodernist Literature, MLA, Dec. 27-30, 2001
Panelist, Response to Thomas Friedman’s Lecture, “Global Perspectives,” Agnes Scott, Oct. 29, 2001
ACME, Faculty Lecture Series, "Strangers in the Metropolis: Vampires or Victims," Nov. 5, 2001
Keynote Speaker, Teach-in/Speak-out, "Terrorism in the Islamic World: Forming a Perspective," Sept. 26, 2001
Teach-in, Panel Discussion, World Trade Center Bombing, "The Taliban Connection," Sept. 19, 2001
Faculty Advisor for International Students, 1996-1999
Placement Test, Grading and Evaluation, Sept. 02, 1996
Judge, Poetry Competition, American Academy of Poets, Agnes Scott Chapter, 1997
Reader/Evaluator, Poetry Competition, Writers' Festival, Agnes Scott, 1997-2002
Arranged former Pakistani Prime Minister Ms. Benazir Bhutto's visit to the campus as the Women's History Month speaker for Agnes Scott College's Millennial Speaker Series, gave introductory lectures for students on her visit and the course of Pakistani politics since 1947, and introduced her for her talk, March 2000
Talk, "Benazir Zardari and the Bhutto Legacy," Dean's Colloquium, Agnes Scott College, March 1, 2000
Interviewed Ms. Benazir Bhutto, with Profs. Johnson and Campbell, for college archives, Mar. 2000
Proposed and organized (with Prof. Sizemore from Spelman) the visit of Prof. Ato Quayson for a lecture and seminar on Postcolonial Literature at Agnes Scott College and Spelman College, October, 1999
Organized a seven-day conference marking the 50th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence—speakers included Prof. Ayesha Jalal, Prof. Rafat Hasan, Dr. Omar Noman, Ms. Sameena Nazeer; topics addressed: Position of Women in Pakistani Society, Islam and Minorities, Economic Conditions, Cultural Identity and Nationalism; showed videos on ancient history, old Lahore, festivals, and classical dances; screened Ghunghat (The Bridal Veil); arranged a multilingual mushaira (poetry recital) presenting poems by classical and modern Pakistani writers in the original Urdu or Punjabi with translations in English—Agnes Scott College, Oct. 6-12, 1997
English, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, and French (fair reading knowledge) ORGANIZATIONS return to home Modern Language Association of America (MLA), since 1995 South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA), since 1998 South Asian Language Association (SALA), 2002 Association of Departments of English (ADE), 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007 |