CSC students present at regional conference

Shannon Schneider of Cody, Nebraska, Alyssa Ermish of Wall, South Dakota, and Stephanie Gardener of Chadron presented papers in Wichita, Kansas, Sept. 20-23. Dr. Kimberly Cox, assistant professor, led the group.

“As they did last year, Shannon, Alyssa, and Stef represented CSC well while building their résumés and developing professional skills. [The conference] gives our students the opportunity to build a learning community with other students in the High Plains and Midwest regions,” Cox said.

Schneider presented a critical piece she wrote in Cox’s Shakespeare course (ENG 432), “Heavy Is the Head that Wears the Crown: Elizabethan Queenship in Shakespeare's Cleopatra and Katherine of Aragon.”

“Shannon represented the critical work happening at CSC, and demonstrated how deeply she researched during the Q and A,” Cox said. “The Q and A audience has free reign to ask any questions of the panelists about the work they've presented. All of our students offered critical, well thought out responses. There's nothing like a Q&A about your work to prepare you for professional interviews,” Cox said.

Ermish presented an original creative work, “The Perfect Date,”she wrote for the Story Catcher summer writing workshop. She also attended a session about applying to Master of Fine Arts programs.

Gardener was the first CSC literature major to attend the conference virtually, according to Cox. Gardener presented a creative piece, “Building Houses,” she wrote in Dr. Steve Coughlin’s creative writing course and further developed following a Story Catcher workshop with faculty member Markus Jones. The piece has been accepted for an upcoming convention at the University of South Dakota, according to Gardener.

Cox said several members of CSC’s Sigma Tau Delta chapter will likely submit work to the 2019 Sigma Tau Delta conference.

“There they will have the opportunity to attend professionalization panels, present their work, critically engage with the work of others, and hopefully build connections that will last the rest of their professional lives,” Cox said.