Ohio’s Historic Haunts: Ghost Stories with Author James Willis

Join the Gardner-Harvey Library and author James Willis at Verity Lodge on October 11 at 6:00 p.m. for ghost stories around the fireplace. 

James is the author of various books such as 'The Big Book of Ohio Ghost Stories', 'Weird Ohio', and 'Central Ohio Legends & Lore'. This talk will delve into the connection between actual history and ghost stories from Ohio. 

Light refreshments will be available.  All are welcome to attend at no charge, with copies of James' book 'Ohio's Historic Haunts' for sale by the author.

"They return to warn us of our mistakes"by Kenno_mcdonnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Author Mary Erdmans (On Becoming a Teen Mom) Meets Readers

Please join us on Wednesday, March 30, at 11:00am in the Blue Chairs Area of the Gardner-Harvey Library to meet author Mary Erdmans.  Light refreshments will be served.

She is the co-author of On Becoming a Teen Mom: Life Before Pregnancy and is currently a Professor of Sociology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She will talk about the book and answer questions from the audience. Here is a synopsis of the work:

"In this myth-shattering book, the authors tell the life stories of 108 brown, white, and black teen mothers, exposing the problems in their lives often overlooked in pregnancy prevention campaigns. Some stories are tragic and painful, marked by sexual abuse, partner violence, and school failure. Others depict "girl next door" characters whose unintended pregnancies lay bare insidious gender disparities. Offering a fresh perspective on the links between teen births and social inequalities, this book demonstrates how the intersecting hierarchies of gender, race, and class shape the biographies of young mothers."

This event will count toward the 2 event minimum to qualify to win a Kindle Fire from the library this semester.

Learn About Becoming Published from Cedar Sanderson

Join us on Monday, April 11th from 2:30-3:30 in the Gardner-Harvey Library's Blue Chairs Area for a presentation by author Cedar Sanderson. Light refreshments will be served. All are welcome to attend.

Publishing is a complex path to take once you have successfully completed writing your magnum opus. Cedar will talk about the various paths to publication and which one she chose. If you are interested in becoming published and taking control of your own writing output, come prepared to take home much food for thought.

Cedar Sanderson is a senior at Miami University, but she is also a successful author with six novels out and numerous shorter works. She was nominated for the Hugo Awards in 2015 for her writing, and her articles on writing and publishing can be found at Mad Genius Club, a blog for writers, by writers.

This event will count toward the 2 event minimum to qualify to win a Kindle Fire from the library this semester.

Doing This and That When We Write: Editing and Writing, Writing and Editing, About American Literatures

Join us on Tuesday, April 19th from 2:00-3:00 in the Gardner-Harvey Library's Blue Chairs Area for a presentation by Dr. Helane Androne.  Light refreshments will be served.  All are welcome to attend.
She will discuss the process of editing her collection of essays, Multiethnic American Literatures: Essays for Teaching Context and Culture, from inspiration to completion. She will also talk about her experience picking back up on her own book about Ritual in Chicana fiction and getting that into publication (July 2016).

Dr. Androne is a Professor of English on the Middletown campus and is the Director of the Ohio Writing Project.

This event will count toward the 2 event minimum to qualify to win a Kindle Fire from the library this semester.

Learn About Writing and Publishing From Author Kathy Merman

Join MUM English instructor Dr. Kathy Merman at the Gardner-Harvey Library on Monday, March 14 from 2:30pm-3:30pm.

Dr. Merman will share her insights on the writing process and offer guidance for getting published.  Her suggestions are drawn from her experiences publishing in print and online, including her novel, Wooden Dice.

Join us in the Blue Chairs Area in the Library.  Light refreshments will be served.  All are welcome to attend.

"Fighting the Fog" - Author Reads and Discusses Her Writing Process

Join MUM Professor Andrea Hulshult at the Gardner-Harvey Library on Thursday, October 29 from 2:30pm-3:30pm.

She will be speaking about her novel, "Fighting the Fog," and the nine-year writing journey this book took her on. She will also discuss the writing process, importance of research, and different writing strategies. Light refreshments will be served.

The Journal-News recently featured Andrea in the article: “Local author’s book helps others cope with loss.” You can access the article here: http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/local-authors-book-helps-others-cope-with-loss/nmwj5/. 

Bio:

Andrea Hulshult is a visiting English professor and teaches Technical Writing. She is also a member of the agile faculty community. She is a resident of Liberty Township where she lives with her husband and two daughters. She leads the West Chester Library's Writer's Group.

"Fighting the Fog" Synopsis:
When Melanie "Mel" Alexander becomes a widow at age thirty after her Green Beret husband is killed in action, her life is immediately engulfed in a black fog. In this darkness, she quits her promising career as a special agent tracking missing people and retreats to her Washington, DC, brownstone to mourn. Her best friend, Kai Silva, moves in with her to help her cope. In order to try and reengage Mel with the world of the living, Kai convinces her that they should put their instincts to work as private investigators. After four years, Kai insists that they take a beach vacation after tracking a client to Costa Rica. Can sun, surfers, and her best friend bring Mel out of her fog and help her live and love again?

Kuznekoff Speaks On Texting and Learning, and Gender in Online Gaming

Join Jeffrey Kuznekoff (Communication) at the Gardner-Harvey Library to discuss his research and publications on October 1 from 2:30pm-3:30pm.  

Dr. Kuznekoff will discuss two main areas of research: the impact of texting on student learning and how people respond differently to men and women in online gaming. His work on the texting in the classroom has demonstrated that active use of mobile devices during class hinders student learning, note taking, and performance on tests. Dr. Kuznekoff's most recent research has demonstrated that men and women are treated differently in an online multiplayer video game, with women receiving more negative comments than men. Light refreshments will be served.

Jeffrey H. Kuznekoff is an Assistant Professor of Communication and joined Miami University Middletown in the fall of 2013.  His research interests focus on how people use new communication technologies to interact with others and the ways that communication is altered by these new technologies.  His general areas of research interest include: computer-mediated communication, interpersonal communication, and instructional communication.   His most recent work examines the influence of student texting messaging, during classroom lecture, on student learning (Communication Education) and investigating issues of gender voice in multiplayer video gaming (New Media & Society).  He has received several teaching awards, including the 2012 Pamela J. Cooper Award for Teaching by the Central States Communication Association.

Research Reception this Thursday in the Library

As we approach the end of the semester, we would like to take the time to highlight all of the great work our faculty and staff have done. This coming Thursday, May 7th, the library will be holding a Research Reception to honor Miami Middletown faculty/staff for your scholarly activities.
When: Thursday, May 7th, 2:00-3:00 PM
Where: Gardner-Harvey Library, Miami University Middletown
What: Light refreshments will be served.

There is also still time to have your research added to our display. Just email Jessie Long at longjh@miamioh.edu with the titles or citations of any journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, books or other work that you have completed within the last 2 years.

Thanks again to everyone who has already sent us their research lists. We hope to see you all on Thursday.

Celebrate National Poetry Month with Sarah Rose Nordgren!

Sarah Rose Nordgren will read and discuss her poetry at the Gardner-Harvey Library on Wednesday, April 1, from 4:00pm-5:00pm.

Sarah, a Visiting Assistant Professor of English on the Middletown campus, is a widely-published poet. Her poetry collection Best Bones was published in 2014 by the University of Pittsburgh Press and was the winner of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize.

The poems of Best Bones allude to landscapes of history, fable, and childhood myth, yet are fraught with modern day predicaments that create an atmosphere at once familiar and strange, playful and haunted, and verging on disaster. With imaginative intelligence, Nordgren maintains a snow-globe control of the whole scene.


Please join us for the reading.  Light refreshments will be served.

Meet Middletown Author Kat Fugate!

Kat Fugate will give a reading and discuss her writing process on Tuesday, March 10, from 4:00pm-5:00pm. Kat, an English teacher at Middletown High School, is the author of the gripping young adult novel Intuitive and its forthcoming 2015 sequel Transcendent. She earned a graduate degree from the Ohio Writing Project at Miami University.

More information on Kat and her books is available at http://www.katfugate.com

The event is free and all are welcome. Light refreshments will be served.  See our flyer for directions and more information.