On Saturday, Feb. 21, the English Graduate Program at TCNJ debuted their “Poetic 
Justice Symposium”, highlighting the work of current students of the program and alumni.
Dr. Lisa Ortiz, associate professor of English, joins us in unveiling the literary enlightenment occurred during the day-long program.
HSS: Who came up with the idea for the symposium?
Dr. Ortiz: The idea for a scholarly symposium was developed over the course of my two years as Graduate Program Coordinator in consultation with our Graduate Student Representatives. Our department included the symposium in it’s 3-5 year plan for growing the Graduate English Program and we delivered on that plan within two years. We knew that the interest was there. The outcome proved that the students also had the drive and the talents to make it happen.
HSS: What was the purpose? What was the central theme and issues addressed?
The principal purpose of the event was to engender a community of intellectual exchange outside of the seminar room. We also wanted to provide a forum for our distinguished alumni to return and share their continuing scholarly and professional work. We offered a workshop on publishing academic articles so that we could help the members of our Graduate English community to take their work to the next level and disseminate it in their respective fields. Many of our student and alumni panelists used their time to share news of future conference presentations, forthcoming publications, and pending Ph.D. applications. One alumna shared that her work, based on a seminar paper she wrote for my class three years ago, was included as a writing sample for her doctoral program application. This is a sure sign that our Program is preparing students to excel in their chosen fields.
The theme was Poetic Justice – which was inspired by the CICPC’s yearly theme of Justice. Panelists placed that topic in an array of places from a women’s maximum security prison, to a Latin American dictatorship, to the gaming industry, to the canon of African American literature.
HSS: Who presented and what did they present about?
Dr. Ortiz: We had ten panelists – 5 alumni and 5 current students.
According to Dr. Ortiz, these are the four panel themes that were featured:
“The Culture Games: Reframing Canons in Contemporary Spaces”
“Black Like Me: Defining African American Literature”
“The Memoir and the Movement: Perspectives on Female Imprisonment in Orange is the New Black”
“Crouching Authors; Hidden Meanings: Literature of Dictatorship in the Latin American Diaspora”
Story and Interview by Jack Meyers
Photos Courtesy of English faculty