Tag Archives: research

ENWL Debut Era

We’re kicking off our Taylor Swift Era by highlighting ENWL connections to her first album! Taylor’s first album shares her name but has become known to Swifties as simply Debut. Released in 2006, this album is heavily connected to Taylor’s roots in the country music genre with her top hit from the album named after Country singer/songwriter Tim McGraw. The aesthetics from the album capture light-hearted simplicity featuring butterflies, flowers, and her acoustic guitar in shades of baby blue.

You may be in your Debut ENWL era too if you are:

  • In ENGL 110 – English Composition
  • Always over prepared
  • Just starting off in your writing journey
  • Will skip a class to go home early for break
  • Makes at least 3 drafts before submitting a paper
  • Will most likely visit the Writing Center
  • A member of the English Club

Dr. Rea is also in his Debut era because this is his first year as a professor at Millersville. “The Outside,” one of the tracks from this album, starts with the lyrics “I didn’t know what I would find” and we hope that Dr. Rea has found lots of great things in our department! This song also features a connection to Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken,” with the lyrics “I tried to take the road less traveled by” echoing Frost’s famous lines. Click on this link to read “The Road Not Taken” or check out another poem by Frost that shares Debut’s aesthetic: “Blue-Butterfly Day.”

Have you noticed any other unexpected connections to this album? Comment below to let us in on what you catch! Also, stay up to date with all our Taylor Swift content on Instagram and Facebook where we’ll see you next week with more “enchanting” fun;)

 

Research Corner – Data Logging

Week one logistics of our social media research project involved setting up data tracking log sheets and guidelines for collection. To set up our log sheet (see image below) we had to answer two primary questions a) what data is available and b) when should we collect data to make sure we are capturing meaningful information (without overloading our team with work). For our first week, we’ve settled into collecting information that is publicly available through each platform’s built in data analytic software. For data we expect to have slower growth (follower/subscriber/event attendance counts) we’ve decided to collect weekly numbers and for data we expect to change more rapidly (likes/shares/comments) we’ve decided to collect numbers at 24-hrs, 48-hrs, and at 1 week intervals until the conclusion of the study (with a total of 6-weeks for each data point). We hope that this range of data will be able to be used to determine if there is a significant impact (represented by an increase in these various metrics) from using Taylor Swift influenced content. We’ve separated our sheet into 6 sections (one for each week) with additional tabs for method notes and screenshots with sections on each tab for user added notes to document who is posting what when.

ENWL Enters Our Taylor Swift Era

With the announcement of Taylor Swift’s upcoming album titled The Tortured Poets Department, the English and World Languages Department is kicking off Taylor Swift themed events and fun leading up to a listening party on April 19th when the album drops. On this blog and social media, we will be moving through Taylor’s discography chronologically posting about unexpected connections Taylor Swift’s music has with English and World Languages (ENWL) by highlighting media, critical theories, research methods, and faculty interests tied into themes and literary connections in Taylor Swift’s lyrics and eras for each album.

This content strategy will also function as a 6-week study to measure student engagement metrics utilizing celebrity impact to generate interest in all things ENWL. Using Taylor Swift as inspiration will draw on an existing fandom to build a discourse community and provide a large base of material to fuel content. Not only will this allow us to potentially promote ENWL topics to a larger audience, but we will also be demonstrating our research techniques for this project by sharing our process on this blog including our world building strategies and research methods to show why and how ENWL research works.

The purpose of this study is two-fold: first it will establish a quantifiable content strategy to model systems of social media usage to determine the usefulness of social media to academic departments, and second it will provide additional means for students to connect with peers, professors, and ENWL media to establish community while also modeling ENWL research methods and methodologies for students to engage with. For this project, we will collect data that measures specific metrics of engagement on social media (likes, shares, comments, follower number) as well as in-person events (sign-in sheets). We will be sharing our process, documentation, and insights to show you in real time what ENWL research can do!

Join us for the next six weeks here, on Instagram (@ville.englishworldlanguage), and on Facebook (Millersville University, Department of English) as we present Swiftie connections to our discipline and envision new ways for our students to connect with each other and ENWL materials. The Department of ENWL is officially in our Taylor Swift era:)

Having and Presenting a Research Regimen in Graduate School

Graduate student William Artz discusses how to utilize a research regimen in graduate school. Read more about his experiences below! 

If one is going to graduate school, especially in the humanities, it is never too early to begin thinking about, and developing, a research regimen. What does that mean? What does that entail? It is really less intimidating than one might, at first blush, think. There are two key points that I would like to make, and ideas that I have followed for some time. Those are: never follow a recipe; and never be condescended to. These have served me well.

All scholars in post-secondary educational institutions have a particular emphasis in their given field of study. This sounds very pedantic, elitist, and just plain scary. It really is not, because if you are in graduate school, you are one of those very scholars. Use every opportunity available to you, to talk with faculty about their academic work, and you will soon realize, not only the true nature of knowledge acquisition, but also, just how addictive advanced research can be.

Though I am currently working on the Master of Art’s degree in English, given my interests, and my thesis research, I align with comparative literature and cultural studies, more than any other aspect in the field of study known as English. At the graduate level, one is able to start focusing in on specific interests, in a particular discipline. To be a bit more explanatory, in English studies there are any number of subfields, from literature, composition and rhetoric, to creative writing, film, and digital media.

Always remember to never allow yourself to be underestimated. If there is anything about which you do not understand, ask. Aside from the vacuous platitude about no dumb questions, there are no dumb questions. You should never feel at all intimidated by any institution of learning. Should not be at all scary or off-putting. If it is, determine why, and then talk with faculty; trust me, they love to talk, especially about their academic work. As you advance in your own academic career and life, it will become second-nature to use every waking moment thinking about ideas for either research articles, or professional academic conferences. At the post-doctoral level, that shifts a bit, in that one adds in the need to write monographs, i.e. scholarly books. All of this is just part of the process, and no matter what your level, there are always any number of support systems available to you. Yet again, none of this information is beyond one’s level of aptitude.

This type of scholarly endeavor should, in essence, lead to either the thesis, or dissertation; guidance and advice from faculty, however, is not only a necessity, but a must. It sounds like I am repeating myself, but is worth repeating: Aside from one’s graduate adviser, any faculty member is interested in talking about their own research interests, as well as, finding ways of optimal navigation through the maze of academic scholarship. It is a process with which to become familiar, and to use to your advantage.

The other aspect of academic scholarship, is presenting that work to others, on campus through colloquia, workshops, roundtables, and Chautauqua-like discussions, as merely examples. It is never too early to start presenting one’s research endeavors, as responses, both good and bad, are all constructive, present as often as reasonable, until you complete the program. If you have an interest in doctoral work, believe me, you will quickly come to realize the value in this endeavor.

-William Artz