NIU Today

When Carol Multack (B.A., English, 2012) decided to return to college, she was a bit apprehensive. “I’d not been in a classroom in over 20 years, and not only was I going to be twice the age of my classmates, I was behind on technology and feeling overwhelmed,” she said. “In the first two months...

For many students, knowing the path from degree to career can be difficult. Today’s job market is challenging. Students in business or computer science might have a strong sense of what doors their degree can open for them. But for students in the humanities, those doors can be harder to see. A trio of recent...

NIU English professor Amy Levin, who spent the month of February as the first U.S. Fulbright Scholar in a public university in Myanmar (Burma) in almost 30 years, will present an upcoming talk and slideshow on her recent experiences. Her informal presentation, titled “Teaching ‘Hamlet’ in Myanmar,” will be held from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m....

Cathy Doederlein, internship coordinator for the humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, spent a lot of time on campus growing up: “I definitely consider myself a kid of the university,” she says. Both of her parents, Sue and Arthur Doederlein, came to the area in 1969. Since then, the Doederlein name has...

Erin Vobornik, a second-year graduate student at NIU who is working on her master’s degree in English linguistics, was named a 2013 fellow of the  Linguistic Society of America. Vobornik, who earned a bachelor’s degree in French from NIU in 2008, was awarded  the Dictionary Society of North America Fellowship. This fellowship provides $1,700 tuition for...

The NIU community is mourning the loss of Lucien Stryk, an internationally acclaimed Zen poet and former star English professor who died Jan. 24, in London. He was 88. Stryk was born in Kolo, Poland, in 1924, and moved at a young age to Chicago with his family. After serving in the U.S. Army in...

Amy K. Levin is no stranger to “firsts.” Among her many credits are “Africanism and Authenticity in African-American Women’s Novels,” one of the first texts to study African influences in novels by African-American women. She also edited and wrote parts of “Gender, Sexuality and Museums,” the first major repository of key articles, new essays, and...

NIU faculty standout William Baker, who holds a joint appointment with University Libraries and the Department of English, will present a Board of Trustees Professorship Seminar at noon Monday, Oct. 1, in the Capitol Room of the Holmes Student Center. The event is open to the public, with refreshments to be served before the seminar,...

In 1875, Robert Todd Lincoln, the only surviving son of Abraham Lincoln, petitioned to have his mother institutionalized for insanity. Mary Lincoln had no knowledge of her son’s intentions until Chicago police officers showed up outside of her hotel to escort her to the courthouse. For three hours, 17 witnesses testified to Mary Lincoln’s erratic behavior...

John Mravik’s life is like a book filled with a series of tragic – and even near-death – chapters, along with a few joyous ones. One of those joyous chapters will be written Friday evening when the Elgin resident accepts his  master’s of arts degree during the graduate school commencement. He’ll receive his diploma while...

The Presidential Commission on the Status of Minorities (PCSM) at NIU has announce that NIU staff members Suzanne Coffield, Ellen Franklin and Wesley Coats (who is retired) are the recipients of the 2012 Deacon Davis Diversity Award. Named in honor of Deacon Davis, founder and former director of the CHANCE (Counseling Help & Assistance Necessary...

NIU’s annual Showcase of Student Writing, sponsored by the First Year Composition Program in the Department of English, will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom of the Holmes Student Center. The showcase provides a forum for hundreds of students in various English classes to share their...