English Language and Literature Commons^™

Engl 426: Editing And Production Workshop (Syllabus), Lytton Smith Ph.D.

School of Arts & Sciences

This syllabus was developed by SUNY Geneseo Professor Lytton Smith for the fall 2026 semester.

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of editing practices, including manuscript review and selection, and correspondence with contributors.
2. Students will show proficiency at a variety of practical aspects of publishing such as copyediting, proofreading, layout, creating advertising, and soliciting work from SUNY writers and artists.
3. Students will demonstrate knowledge of contemporary literary journals.
4. Students will show ability to work collaboratively.

Note-Taking Is Not Universally Applicable, Chloe Tomasetta

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Chloe is a communications major who lives in Braintree, Massachusetts. Chloe wrote this essay in her Composition II course because she “genuinely wanted to explore the typed versus handwritten notes debate.” She said that researching this essay “gave me clarity in my preferred note-taking method,” and she adds: “I hope this essay can be helpful for students who struggle to take notes or choose a note-taking method.” Chloe loves spending time outside, as it “allows me to hear my own thoughts, which can provide clarity in my otherwise chaotic life.”

The Languages We Speak And The Biases That Erase Them, Siena Santos Edmunds

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Siena is a biology major on the pre-medical track living in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Her essay grew out of her own experience, as she found the language she used with her peers “seemed to me to be filled with all the best modes of storytelling and socializing,” but it seemed to her that her teachers “didn’t always hear what I did and thus missed out on what the language I use has to offer.” Siena is also passionate about social justice, especially in the realm of education. Her mother lacked access to school in her home country of Brazil, and that …

Romanticized Communication: Why Does Modern Dating Suck?, Brianne Riccio

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Brianne is a nursing major living in Holbrook, Massachusetts. Brianne wrote this essay because “dating in 2019 is insanely difficult and more complicated than it has to be,” and she admits that her research revealed “more faults in my own personal dating life and mentality than I had previously known.” Brianne is deeply passionate about caring for others, and enjoys writing both as a way to help her relieve her own emotional burdens and as a way to connect with other people.

American Arms: A Soldier's Perspective, Steve Prochniak

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Steve is a political science major from Andover, Massachusetts. Steve’s experience in the military had given him an understanding of the practical aspects of the weapons he was trained to use, but his essay came out of a desire to understand the societal impacts of these weapons. Writing this essay both helped Steve develop a better understanding of this complicated issue, and helped him find his passion in exploring “issues and topics that face my community.” In addition to exploring these complex issues, Steve enjoys science fiction, exploration, and just hanging around in the city of Boston.

What Are The Benefits Of Reading For Pleasure?, Abigail Pineau

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Abigail is a nursing major living in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Abigail enjoys reading for pleasure, but before researching this essay she “never knew just how impactful it was.” She said that after researching this subject it became “important for me that students and parents know just how impactful pleasure reading is.” In addition to reading, Abigail’s other passion is nursing, as she loves both helping people in need and learning how we function as humans.

Nota Bene: A Study On Latin And Its Influence, Ashley Kim

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Ashley is a psychology major currently living in Natick, Massachusetts. Ashley took Latin at her high school in Georgia, where she found it to be “one of the most insightful and unique courses I had ever taken.” She was disheartened that her Latin teacher had to struggle to find students to fill her class, and she wrote this paper with that teacher in mind to share “the message of Latin’s intrinsic benefits.” Ashley says that writing is very important for her, and she says “there can be great significance in small moments, and instead of letting those moments slip by, …

English Language Learners Marginalized In Classrooms, Nayelis Guerrero

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Nayelis is an undecided major living in Everett, Massachusetts. Nayelis was an English language learner when she first came to the United States, and her essay was inspired by this experience. She says that researching and writing this essay “made me realize the ways in which English language learners can better incorporate themselves socially.” Nayelis is also passionate about helping her community, serving both as a coordinator of a group of Hispanic women that want to jump-start their own businesses and as part of a coalition that works with police in her city to change policies around the police’s interaction …

Letters To My Unrequited Love, Ogadimma Ebele

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Ogadimma is a political science major living in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. Writing is her passion and she credits this assignment with helping to further her composition skills. In 2019, she plans to focus all of her energy on pursuing her dream of landing a career in comedy writing.

2019 Editor's Introduction, Lauren M. Bowen

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

No abstract provided.

2018 Editor’S Introduction, Lauren M. Bowen

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

No abstract provided.

Tolkien’S Medievalism In Ruins: The Function Of Relics And Ruins In Middle-Earth (2025) Edited By Nick Katsiades And Carl Sell, Deborah Sabo

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by Deborah Sabo, of Tolkien’s Medievalism in Ruins: The Function of Relics and Ruins in Middle-earth (2025) edited by Nick Katsiades and Carl Sell

Somewhere Far And Somewhere Near: A Short Story Collection, Jizelle Villegas

English Honors Projects

Somewhere Far and Somewhere Near is a short story collection that positions body horror, “where corporeality constitutes the main site of fear, anxiety and disgust,” alongside Gloria Anzaldúa’s concept of la facultad, or “see[ing] deeper realities within surface phenomena,” which is heightened in the Latina body. Stories range from depicting realistic body horror like cancer and disordered eating to the grotesque and supernatural, like spirits and vampires. I draw on Latina speculative fiction writers, Tejana scholars and my own lived experiences to explore how location and identity presses upon the emotional and psychological stakes of my Latina characters

Seventeenth Century Poetry And Music: A Syllabus (English 721), Carrie Hintz

Open Educational Resources

A syllabus for my fall English 721 class (Seventeenth Century Literature: Poetry and Music).

Remixing Dialogue: A Case Study On Perceptions Of Hip Hop Pedagogy In A Professional Learning Course, Kelly J. Thelen

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This qualitative case study examines how teachers’ decision-making and professional autonomy shift while participating in a Hip Hop Pedagogy Professional Learning course supported by structured FIXIT (Lo & Wachter, 2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023d; Wachter & Lo, 2024) game-facilitated dialogue in a rural, culturally and linguistically diverse Midwest community. Grounded in Freire’s (1970) Critical Pedagogy, Ladson-Billings’ (1995) Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017), and Adult Learning Theory (Knowles et al., 2005), the study explores the reclamation of agency by teachers in a time of constrained creativity and educator autonomy shaped by strict policy environments, an emphasis on …

Secondary English Teachers' Experiences Of Supporting Literacy Using Books That Support Diversity And Inclusion: A Hermeneutic Phenomenology, Tremonisha L. Putros

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the use of supporting BIPOC students’ literacy with books that support diversity and inclusion for secondary English teachers in the United States. The theory guiding this study is Bandura’s social cognitive theory, as it stresses personal student engagement in individual learning tasks. The Central Research Question asks: What are the lived experiences of secondary English teachers who support BIPOC students’ literacy with books that support diversity and inclusion by teaching a novel with a BIPOC protagonist in a predominantly BIPOC class? Employing a qualitative methodology, this hermeneutic phenomenology examined the …

The Dream Itself Was Home”: Imaginary Homelands As A Model For Analyzing Contemporary African Return Narratives, Renee King

Masters Theses

Although contemporary African return narratives featuring female protagonists explore a wide range of themes, they consistently portray women who struggle to situate themselves within an increasingly globalized world. In these narratives, the homeland initially functions as a stabilizing anchor that emboldens the protagonist to pursue education or employment abroad, yet works such as Doreen Baingana’s Tropical Fish and Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah reveal that the homeland the protagonists once treated as immutable ultimately exposes itself as a dream. This destabilization unsettles the notion of an unshakeable cultural identity and demonstrates how migration reshapes both the self and the meaning of home. …

It All Begins With A Dream, Eileen M. Riley

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Eileen is an English major from a military family near Fort Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. Her interest in vintage fashion led her to research representations of women in early 20th century advertisements for the Maidenform bra for her Composition II class. Impressed by the beautiful artwork she discovered in these depictions, Eileen was intrigued by the portrayals of women in roles that were traditionally held by men. Her essay explores how “these ads fed women’s desires for the gender norm dictates of that post-war time in America [and] went beyond these norms by depicting aspirational scenarios.” Eileen lives in Dorchester, …

A Close Look At The Function Of Slang, Ana Radonjic Sabbagh

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Ana is an undecided major, born and raised in Boston to Serbian and Lebanese parents. Writing has always been a passion of Ana’s, and she created this research essay as a final project for her Composition II course. She notes that “it was a topic that became increasingly interesting the more I researched it. I was thoroughly surprised by the complex history and function of slang, and I gained a new perspective on the role of language in our daily lives.” Other than writing, Ana’s biggest passion is traveling, and she loves discovering new places, meeting people from all around …

Profanity And Perceptions, Elizabeth Lefrancois

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Lizzie is an Exercise and Health Science major from Blackstone, Massachusetts. Assigned by her Composition II instructor to research an aspect of language that interested her, Lizzie chose to research swearing, which was never allowed in her home. Lizzie’s research enabled her to “open [her] eyes and see much more than a lack of vocabulary” when she heard others using profanity. She explains, “I felt as if I was programmed to think that swearing was this terrible thing that no one should do, and, because of that, I never thought about the positive side of this language.” Lizzie’s essay explores …