Faculty member Patrick Hicks' article,  A Chaucerian Pilgrimage (Adobe Acrobat .pdf 34 KB), was published by The Chronicle of Higher Education in October 2009. Photo: Ezra Winter, Canterbury tales mural (1939), Library of Congress John Adams Building, Washington, D.C.

Highlights

• Faculty members Sandra Looney and Janet Blank-Libra have both won Augustana’s most prestigious faculty teaching award, the Vernon and Mildred Neibuhr Faculty Excellence Award. Patrick Hicks and Jeffrey Miller have been award nominees.
• Janet Blank-Libra won the Augustana Student Association Best Teacher Award in 2008. Cheryl Jackson, Patrick Hicks, and Jeffrey Miller have been award nominees.
• Three English majors—Lacey Horkey ‘06, Sarah Ochsner ‘06, and Naomi Gades ‘07—were consecutive recipients of the prestigious Augustana Covenant Award for Excellence from 2005-2007. The award recognizes individual students whose academic record and contributions to the community exemplify the college’s core values.
• Two English majors – Kristen Wilcox ’08 and Sara Eiesland ’09—have delivered the student addresses at the most recent commencement exercises.

Opportunities

• Students have the chance to graduate with honors through the Alpha Xi Mu chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the national English honors society.
• The Writers Guild is a student-led writer’s workshop and showcase where you can sharpen your work with the support of your peers.
• Many department majors share what they’ve learned with the Augustana community by tutoring in the Writing Center, where students from all over campus come for help with their writing.

Special Features

• Every spring, English and Journalism majors and faculty take a break from rigorous study to participate in the Walter Neff Memorial Invitational Bowling Tournament. Named in honor of the protagonist of the film Double Indemnity, the tournament includes prizes for best and worst individual score. (Note that faculty most often compete for the worst score.)