Dr. Nicole Pfannenstiel (she/her/hers) is an Associate Professor of English and the Graduate Coordinator. Dr. Pfannenstiel received her MA in English and PhD in Rhetoric, Composition, and Linguistics both from Arizona State. Her research revolves around “Sense of belonging and Graduate Pedagogy” and she has been working in graduate education for over 20 years. As the Graduate Coordinator, she states that “I want to work with student-centered pedagogical theories from undergraduate education to improve the graduate student learning experience. I work to bring high structure to graduate education, to draw attention to the hidden curricular pieces. My aim is to break down silos and barriers so our program supports all students, including marginalized students even more underrepresented in graduate school, attending, completing and succeeding in our graduate program.”

Earlier this year Dr. Pfannenstiel was recognized for her outstanding commitment to students on this campus with the 2023 Sarah Lindsley Person of the Year Award, presented by Millersville’s Student Government Association. She remarked about this honor that “there is no greater honor at a teaching focused institution than to be honored by the students.” She was also recently nominated for the EVA awards for her EPPIIC Professionalism for her continued commitment to helping students understand and take-on professional roles.

She carries the remarkable ethos that brought her these awards and recognition into her scholarship. Dr. Pfannenstiel’s new book Web Writing, which is published as a peer-reviewed Open Educational Resource (OER) on paadopt.org, is part of an ongoing grant to remove financial barriers to studies by creating OER textbooks to alleviate one of the hidden costs of education. Web Writing itself explores a rhetorical approach to web writing, content management, and meaning making in contemporary social media. This book works alongside her WRIT 318 curriculum focused on building an understanding of the rhetoric and content strategy of writing online. You can access the entire book for free here: (https://paadopt.org/bookshelf/web-writing/ ).

Here are some of Dr. P’s favorite Media!

Favorite book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and so much P&P fanfiction.

Favorite movie: Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Favorite TV show: Bones (2005)

Favorite videogame: AFK Arena – I am obsessed with casual games – this is my favorite mobile casual game with RPG elements.

What does it mean to Dr. Pfannenstiel to be an English and World Languages Scholar?

“When I stepped in as Graduate Coordinator there were several external pressures on graduate programs and graduate education. In the last five years those external pressures remain, but have shifted. In collaborative work with Dr. Kaitlin Mondello, we’ve found a focused attention on PhD programs and preparing PhDs for the reality of the professorate profession AND alt-ac positions. However, there is very little attention on regional, public, master’s granting institutions. We know our graduate programs are an important public good, we also know that students need different supports to support their work through the skill development required at the graduate level. When I began graduate school, the mentality was sink or swim. This doesn’t have to be the pedagogical approach. I was required to complete assignments, that I now see align with skills I’m using on a daily basis as a professor – bringing transparency to these assignments and overall curricular design is one of the most important decisions I’ve made as an educator. My goal is to work with all faculty, especially graduate faculty in the English & World Languages department, to bring transparency into our curricular design in ways that support graduate-specific skill development and professional development. Then, to continue collaborating with Dr. Mondello on publications and presentations so we raise scholarly awareness about the need to rethink approaches to graduate pedagogy. Essentially, I identified a need in a student population. I’ve devoted countless hours to research, presentations, grant funded projects, and hopefully in the near future publications to research and enact new pedagogical approaches to benefit learners. I think this is a really important way English and World Languages scholars carry our focus on the human experience into the real world. All areas of the English & World Languages department center the human experience in their research – I am extending those in specific ways. I see my research questions centered in the human experience. I see my research, presentations and grants as reflecting the scholarship valued by peers in the professorate. I see being a scholar as connecting my research to benefitting a community – specifically graduate students!”

Thank you Dr. Pfannenstiel for sharing your knowledge and commitment to your students!

Full-time fantasy author Seth Ring was able to join us this past week for a Q&A session to meet with students and answer questions about being a writer, building community, and to share insider knowledge about traditional and indie publishing methods. Seth has been publishing since 2018 and in 2021, he became a full-time writer. Now, with 25 books published and more on the way, Seth reflects on what he has learned, the communities he’s helped to build, and the sense of hope that is central to his works.

Seth is a Lit-RPG (Literary role playing game) fantasy author, drawing his stylistic and thematic design from conventions of game theory to shape his world-building and plots. He was initially drawn to this genre because he read a bad Lit-RPG novel and realized – “I can do a better job than this.” Seth leverages his base in Lit-RPG fantasy to expand into various other genres including traditional fantasy, horror, and western (as well as upcoming forays into Regency romance and utopian thriller) drawing inspiration from stories he read as a child that helped him learn to both escape and navigate the world. Seth describes his writing and publishing journey as initially “so much harder than he thought it would be” stating that there was a huge learning curve but that having a firm understanding of what you want, determining “where am I actually trying to go?,” is critical to creating an writing identity that is fulfilling. Whether you are mainly focused on commercial sustainability or artistic expression, Seth reassuringly asserts that “there are a million different ways to become an author.” Seth balances his ideals of writing between practical considerations and artistic sincerity, describing the reality of writing as a career occurring along a “sliding scale of money to craft” because there comes a time when a writer realizes “I wish I could eat this manuscript but I can’t.”

There are pros and cons to publishing on either side of the industry, with traditional publishers being outsold by Indie publishers but Indie publishers won’t put you in a bookstore. Seth cites the internet as a cause for the shifting industry which has “radically changed distribution but introduces some risk.” The internet is rife with pirating and AI copy-cats, but Seth isn’t worried about it mostly because even if someone reads stolen or plagiarized content, if they like it, they will most likely find their way to the source (ie Seth). In fact, this is how Seth gained his top three Patrons on his Patreon, so for Seth “Pirating is not necessarily a net loss because I’m going to keep writing better books.” He also encouraged writers to not be discouraged by the difficulties of modern day publishing, only to keep pressing on and continue writing because the “worst think you can do as a writer is to stop writing.”

Seth also emphasized that establishing a platform for engagement (like Patreon) is a key resource to building your reputation as an author and establishing a community. While Seth admits that there is an element of luck to growing an online community, he’s also found that consistency, time, and content strategy can make a big impact. For Seth, while the internet does pose some risk, the benefits are worth it because the internet offers a unique way for readers to “engage with the people who wrote the books we love.” This engagement is not only key to Seth’s strategy, but also influences to some extent the works he creates. On a practical level, Seth feels responsible for “carrying those stories forward,” creating a consistent experience for his fans by communicating with them about when to expect updates and new releases. However, on an artistic level, Seth says he has a “strong sense of ownership over all of his stories” and that a “story doesn’t have to go the way they want it to go.” In this way, Seth has built a fan-base of recurring readers, even though some may not always like his works—they keep coming back. Seth recognizes this pattern of readerly interest as something that ebbs and flows; “people enjoy something in a season of their life, not all are going to stay forever, but if they are engaging in a constructive way that’s great.” Ultimately, Seth says if something sticks with the reader after picking up one of his works, he considers it a success because “people need connection” and he feels “I can provide something at least” to help foster those connections.

It is the hope and courage drawn from connections—between characters, their worlds, or even the divine—that are at the core of Seth’s work. Some of Seth’s inspiration for writing is drawn from his own experiences with loneliness and isolation in which stories and the characters in them were his “first gateways to connection” and that “stories have tremendous power to reshape the narrative to what we tell ourselves.” For Seth, stories and later writing itelf were a way out of dark places, offering Seth a means to process the world and find hope and courage to continue moving into the future. His books now carry this purpose forward with the intention that “when we start allowing for connection in our perspective, hope naturally follows.”

Want to read Seth’s work? He recommends starting with Battle Mage Farmer: Book 1 Domestication that he describes as a really fun story and a good introduction to his style of storytelling.

You can read his books by purchasing them on his site (https://sethring.com/ ) or from alternate vendors like Amazon, or by borrowing them from the Lancaster Public Library System. You can even become a Patron (https://www.patreon.com/SethRing ) and get fast access to new chapters as they are released. You can interact with Seth and other fans on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/ygz8wfCECR ), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mrsethring/ ), YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@SethRingWrites ), or even email him directly at seth@sethring.com

The ENWL Department has two events planned for next week. Come out and learn more about the publishing industry on Tuesday and celebrate Writing on Friday!

Author Seth Ring Visit

On Tuesday October 17^th from 6:30-7:30 PM in the Reading Room in the McNairy Library, author Seth Ring will share his knowledge of the self-publishing industry. Seth is a successful science fiction author with a number of running series including the Titan Series and Battle Mage Farmer. You can check out his website at https://sethring.com/ and join us on Tuesday to learn more about the publishing industry.

National Day of Writing

Get ready to write! The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has established October 20^th as the National Day on Writing. We will be celebrating all things writing with an event on Friday October 20^th from 12-2 in the Reading Room and Writing Center in the McNairy Library. From 12-1 we will have writing activities including word bracelet making, blackout poetry, creative writing games, and more. Then, from 1-2 we will have an open mic for everyone to share their work or the work of another author.

To sign up for the open mic, please scan the QR code on the flyer.

To learn more about the National Day on Writing click here.

Dr. Emily Baldys (she/her/hers) is an Associate Professor of English and our new Assistant Chair of the Department of English & World Languages.  She received promotion and tenure this summer and we offer our sincere congratulations! Her areas of interest and expertise include Victorian British literature, Critical Disability Studies, and popular romance. You can read her most recent publication “Imagining the ‘Survival of the Unfit’ in the Novels of Olive Schreiner and Mona Caird,” published this past spring in Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies here: http://ncgsjournal.com/issue191/baldys.html . She received her BA in English from Bryn Mawr College and her MA and PhD in English from Penn State.

Dr. Baldys is a fantastic professor both inside and outside the classroom, receiving MU EPPIIC Values Award nominations for her inclusive practices two years in a row. This semester she is teaching Early British Literature, Shakespeare, and ENGL 110 courses as well as leading independent studies for others. She is also continuing her role as the faculty advisor for MU’s ADAPT chapter. We are so proud and privileged to have Dr. Baldys teaching and working with us!

Dr. Baldys’s Favorites

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is Dr. Baldys’s favorite book – you can read it for free online through the McNairy Library by clicking the link below.

Read Jane Eyre

Normal People is Dr. Baldy’s current favorite TV show – it is currently streaming on hulu.

And although it was difficult for her to choose, Ghostbusters came out on top for her favorite movie. She said: “I will never not watch Ghostbusters if it’s on.”

Ghostbusters is currently available for free on DVD from the McNairy Library. Click the link below to reserve it.

Get Ghostbusters!

What does it mean to Dr. B to be an English and World Languages Scholar?

“Practically speaking, it means I am lucky enough to talk about the books, shows, and films that I love with brilliant people every day! I think and hope it also means that my students and I are especially well equipped to critique the many texts that we encounter in our daily lives: that we might watch Barbie or stream Bridgerton or devour the latest BookTok must-read, and while we’re doing that we can not only hear the echoes of earlier texts but also think like a literary critic about the underlying messages and values that shape our world.”

This fall semester, the department of English and World Languages welcomed a new department chair. Dr. Justin Mando (he/him), who has been a professor for the department since 2016, has already made many positive improvements and ideas within his first month as chair. This week, the department would like to highlight Dr. Mando and provide an opportunity to get to know him beyond the classroom.

Dr. Mando received his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Vermont. He then received both his M.A. and Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon University. There are many different fields of study that he specializes in, including environmental rhetoric, rhetoric of place, discourse analysis, and composition studies. This semester, Dr. Mando is teaching a special version of the science writing course that is paired with Meteorology students taking climate dynamics. In connection with his interest in environmental rhetoric and science writing, his favorite book is Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, a text that details the author’s exploration of life and nature.

Connecting with the theme of exploration, I asked Dr. Mando what it means to be an English and World Languages scholar. His response below highlights the importance of this field and why students need to have humanities courses. He states:

“I find this field meaningful for so many reasons, but what stands out to me the most right now is how we study and teach effective citizenship. For a democracy to thrive, we need citizens who are socially conscious, who can read and think critically, respectfully engage and challenge people’s ideas, and who are able to argue persuasively for the common good of all. We develop these skills by studying language, literature, and rhetoric.”

The department of English and World Languages is so excited to have Dr. Mando as our new chair, and cannot wait to see all the wonderful things he accomplishes within this new position!

August of 2021 was the beginning of the end of a certain chapter in my life. Like other students, I was happy to return to in-person classes and clubs on campus. My junior year had been completely virtual, and I was greatly missing the connections made in the classroom and in my social life. Although the excitement to return for my senior year grew stronger each day, so did the sadness of knowing this would be my last year at Millersville. I would torment myself with the question of “what will I be doing a year from now,” hoping that I could somehow find a way to align myself with my future goals. I knew that going to graduate school was something that I wanted to do, but where and when was something that overwhelmed me to think about. That is, however, until I learned about the Master of Arts in English program that was offered at Millersville.

When I looked back on my undergraduate years, I was able to see how much I had grown and changed in a positive way from being a student at Millersville. My freshman year, I was a quiet and uncertain student who didn’t believe in herself. Over the course of four years, I had turned into a student who was confident in her academic abilities, and knew the value in herself not only as an academic, but also as a teammate, peer, friend, and partner. The different skills I had learned in my English courses, such as learning how to compose a range of texts, fostering my creativity, and expanding my analytical thinking, had only reinforced that furthering my education in the subject was the best choice for me. Speaking with Dr. Pfannenstiel that spring semester my senior year, I saw a direct path on how to achieve my goals by staying at Millersville.

Although some may assume that staying at the same university for both undergrad and graduate degrees may limit one’s growth, I would argue that it only helps to expand it. Since I already knew the campus, department, and professors I would be working with, I didn’t have to worry about any of that when the school year started. Instead, I could just focus on my studies and figure out how to make the most out of my two years in the program. Another major reason I chose to further my education at Millersville was because of the opportunity to have a graduate assistantship in the English department. Working with Dr. P, Dr. Baldys, Dr. Mando, and my amazing fellow GA Becca on a daily basis has helped me grow as a professional and as a scholar in ways I never could have expected. Their kindness and knowledge have inspired me to look towards my own future, as the skills and connections they have provided me with have helped me to become more excited by the unknown rather than fearful.

Millersville has and continues to be a place where I am changing and growing in a positive way each and every day, and I am so thankful to my past self for choosing to stay here to continue my journey into higher education. Although this chapter will be closing soon, I now have direction on where the next one may start.

Click here to learn more about our graduate programs: