By Jessica Samborsky
Staff Writer
Members of the College’s Sigma Tau Delta chapter recently attended the 2024 Centennial Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, to present their work and gain leadership experience. Of the 40 students who attended the convention, six won awards for their outstanding work.
The chapter was founded at the College in 1995.
Dr. Felicia Steele, an associate professor of English and the advisor of the College’s chapter, is also the eastern regent of Sigma Tau Delta national, serving on the board of directors.
“They were, by far, the largest delegation of the convention, presenting critical papers and creative works, leading roundtables, and participating in opportunities for leadership development and anti-racist pedagogical training,” said Steele.
The students who won awards for their work are Matthew Chinique, Alexandria Card, Claire Kim, Kat Jorgensen, Megan Finan and Maggie Machado.
Chinique, a junior English and secondary education major, won first prize for his work, “Fun Home: Fluency in Gender Performance,” in the LGBT& Category. When taking an American literature class with Professor David Blake, Chinique was loaned the book “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel. Reading this book led to his inspiration to write about it for his final paper and then submit his work for the convention.
“Prior to that class, I had done a lot of work with queer theory, and after reading Alison Bechdel’s (arguably) most famous work, I decided I needed to apply what I had learned to what I was seeing in the book,” Chinique said.
Chinique also shared his thoughts on winning first prize.
“That prize would not have been possible without all of the support from my professors and peers, and to me, that award is symbolic of the support I have at my chapter,” Chinique said. “I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention what this award means to me as a queer person: throughout my college career, I’ve read and written more and more about queer experiences, so it’s a real honor to have my writing about queer literature be recognized.”
Jorgensen, a senior English major, won second prize for her work in the Judson Q. Owen Convention Theme Category, “In Flux,” for her work titled “Beowulf & The Mere Wife: Legacy of Monstrous Women.” The paper came out of her undergraduate capstone on literary adaptations with Dr. Jo Carney, who inspired her to submit her work to the convention. The work examined the novel and Maria Dahvana Headley’s translation, which identifies the linguistic techniques used in building her new story and defending the work she does for feminist revisions in the literary field.
“It was an honor and a joy to be recognized by Sigma Tau Delta for a paper I was so passionate about writing,” said Jorgensen. “Our student cohort is so lucky to have the support of our incredible English faculty, especially that of Dr. Steele and Professor Steinberg.”
Four students from the College received honorable mentions at the convention.
In the Critical Paper (American & World Category), Card, a senior English major, received an honorable mention for her essay “Demon Slayer: Gender Construction in Shonen.” Claire Kim, a senior English and secondary education major, received an honorable mention for her essay, “Time in This is How You [Lose] the Time War.”
Machado, a senior English and secondary education major, received an honorable mention for “Matelda: A Feminist Deconstruction” in a prize category for critical papers about poetry.
Finan, a senior English and elementary education major, received an honorable mention in the Stemmler/Dennis LGBT& Category for her work, “Transgender Protagonists in Middle-Grade Novels.”
“Reading my paper and answering questions about it is incredible because the questions get me thinking beyond just what I wrote about,” Finan stated. “This convention fosters such a friendly community of literature lovers, and I learn so much from the speakers and fellow convention-goers every year.”
Other notable highlights include Zoe Talbot's concluding two years of service representing the eastern region of Sigma Tau Delta. Talbot is currently a graduate student at the College in the English master’s program.
Diane Steinberg, assistant professor of English at the College, also completed a decade on the national board, which concludes her term as “immediate past president.” Steinberg began her presidency during the COVID-19 pandemic when colleges and universities throughout the nation closed. Her leadership remains critical, establishing the direction of the organization, beginning its second century.
“This convention fosters such a friendly community of literature lovers, and I learn so much from the speakers and fellow convention-goers every year,” said Finan. Besides being a learning experience, the entire community of Sigma Tau Delta students from the United States and beyond gathered together to share experiences and expertise, received recognition for their achievements and tackled opportunities to discover new ideas in English through engagement with other speakers and presenters.
