English Language and Literature Commons^™

Zine Labs As Centers For Public Interest Communication Design, Mina Bikmohammadi, Abigail Boafo, Ryan Cheek, Rachel M. Schneider, Carleigh J. Davis, Erin Clark

English and Technical Communication Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper introduces Zine Labs (ZLabs) as centers for public-interest communication design that treat as practices that foreground making, collaboration, and community knowledge. Launched in 2024 with multi-institutional support, the project established parallel ZLabs that partner with local artists, libraries, and community groups to run pop-up, hands-on events in flexible, welcoming spaces. We show how ZLabs prioritize process over product, negotiate privacy and anonymity alongside inclusion. We also resist top-down branding so community identities can lead. We report classroom applications, courses in AI, information design, and public writing, where students used zines to connect questions of technology, access, and ethics …

Terminating Pregnancies In Boccaccio, Anne C. Leone

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

Analyzing examples from the Decameron (1349-51), De mulieribus claris (1361), and the Corbaccio (1365), I argue that Boccaccio (1313-75) demonstrates an awareness of theological, legal and medical opinions on abortion and contraception at the time. However, he is more attuned to the practical concerns of pregnancy than are many of his contemporaries. Acknowledging the variety of situations facing pregnant people and some parts of their lived experience that were ignored by many religious and legal authorities, Boccaccio highlights a disconnection between theory and practice, and thereby raises questions about the limits of abstract knowledge in the face of practical concerns.

“It Would Literally Take The World To End For Us To Do This”: Writing Center Consultants’ Affective Responses To Consulting Modalities, Anita Long, Destiny R. Brugman

The Writing Center Journal

This article discusses findings from semi-structured interviews with writing consultants about their affective experiences working across three different consulting modalities: in person, asynchronous, and synchronous. This study offers affect as a lens for understanding consultants’ responses to and strategies for consulting in multiple modalities and argues that by attending to affect, emotion, and disposition in consulting we can better support our consultants when they’re consulting in different modalities.

“I (Still) Need Help On Many Things”: A Writing Center Replication Study Of First-Generation College Students’ Writing Challenges And Cultural Capital, Red Douglas, Ashley Cerku, Isabelle Lundin, Mary Gallagher, Xavier Iriarte, Sophia E. Williams, Kaylie Williams

The Writing Center Journal

Research has increasingly addressed first-generation (FG) students both in and outside the center (Baelemian & Feng, 2013; Bond, 2019; Denny et al., 2018; Ward et al., 2012), but there remains a need to address this unique student population from the perspective of critical theory. In a replication study of Bond’s 2019 “‘I Need Help on Many Things, Please’: A Case Study Analysis of First-Generation College Students’ Use of the Writing Center,” we examined the needs and perceptions of self-reported FG students in a writing center at a large, regional, public R2 university in the Midwest. We gathered preexisting digital data …

“I Just Need Another Set Of Eyes”: Understanding Students’ Idea Of The Writing Center, Isabelle M. Lundin, Neal Lerner

The Writing Center Journal

In this article, we describe writing center clients’ “idea” of the writing center based on interviews with 26 writing center users and qualitative coding of interview transcripts. Participants’ constructs of the writing center provide a lens to better understand how they perceive writing as an activity, the “writing culture” of the institution, the role of the writing center in their writing processes, and, ultimately, if they see writing centers in the way we would expect them to. The tensions we derived from our data are (1) between who and what tutors are and offer: discipline-specific expertise (including the disciplines of …

Exploring The Efficacy Of A Source-Based Writing Tutoring Intervention For Multilingual Students In The Writing Center, Dana Lynn Driscoll, Osman Ozdemir

The Writing Center Journal

Source-based writing skills, which include evaluating, synthesizing, and citing sources, are skills that students are expected to acquire as part of college-level writing. Unfortunately, many multilingual writers (MLWs), especially those in advanced degree programs, lack programmatic support and instruction. Thus, writing centers represent a critical site to offer MLWs tutorial-based support. Our study examined whether or not writing centers can help MLWs develop—and transfer—source-based writing skills in a sequence of three tutorials. We recruited five advanced student MLW participants from different cultural backgrounds who were uncomfortable with source use. Through pre-and postwriting samples, interviews, writing process recording videos, and a …

Front Matter, Georganne Nordstrom, Isaac K. Wang, Sherry Wynn Perdue

The Writing Center Journal

Front matter and introduction for Writing Center Journal 43.2.

Back Matter, Georganne Nordstrom, Isaac K. Wang, Sherry Wynn Perdue

The Writing Center Journal

Back matter for Writing Center Journal 43.2.

Women Of The Fairy Tale Resistance: The Forgotten Founding Mothers Of The Fairy Tale And The Stories That They Spun By Jane Harrington, Rebecca Mccurdy

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This article gives a review of Jane Harrington's Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance: The Forgotten Founding Mothers of the Fairy Tale and the Stories That They Spun. The review highlights the book as a missed opportunity due to improper citations, an odd tone, and a confused view of who the intended reader is.

Speculative Poetry And The Modern Alliterative Revival: A Critical Anthology, Edited By Dennis Wilson Wise, Douglas A. Anderson

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Book review, by Douglas A. Anderson, of Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival: A Critical Anthology (2024), edited by Dennis Wilson Wise

Nordic Sagas As Children’S Literature: Victorian And Edwardian Retellings In Words And Pictures By Velma Bourgeois Richmond, Maria K. Alberto

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Memory And Medievalism In George R.R. Martin And Game Of Thrones: The Keeper Of All Our Memories, Edited By Anna Czarnowus And Carolyne Larrington, Kris Swank

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This review of Memory and Medievalism in George R.R. Martin and Game of Thrones, edited by Anna Czarnowus and Carolyne Larrington, evaluates the collection’s contribution to medievalist scholarship on Martin’s works. It highlights the volume’s thematic breadth—from historical reimaginings and institutional critiques to emotional theory and portrayals of violence—while emphasizing the fresh perspectives offered by European non-Anglophone scholars. The reviewer praises the essays’ nuanced engagement with medieval traditions and their relevance to Martin’s narrative choices in both the books and the HBO adaptation. Ultimately, the review affirms the collection’s valuable contribution to the study of Martin’s medievalism.

Historical Dictionary Of Horror Literature, Edited By Mark A. Fabrizi, Douglas A. Anderson

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Book review of Historical Dictionary of Horror Literature (2023) by Mark A. Fabrizi

Once Upon A Place: Forests, Caverns & Other Places Of Transformation In Myths, Fairy Tales & Film By Holly Bellebuono, Isabella Martins-Simonsen

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Germanic Heroes, Courage, And Fate: Northern Narratives Of J.R.R. Tolkien’S Legendarium By Richard Gallant, Cami Agan

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

C.S. Lewis On Literature: An Introduction To His Literary Criticism, Literary History, Literary Theory By Marcus K. Paul, James Hamby

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Owen Barfield’S Poetry, Drama, And Fiction: Rider On Pegasus By Jeffrey Hipolito, Landon B. Loftin

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

But I Made You Look: Mysticism, Desire, And The Refusal Of The Literal, Züleyha Çetiner-Öktem

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In response to the review of her edited collection in Mythlore #142, the author elucidates her decision to provide only a vague description of a controversial piece of art.

Tolkien’S Tune For “Namárië” Is An Actual Gregorian Chant, Nancy Martsch

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In response to Tom Emanuel’s essay on the Tolkien Society’s Enyalië ceremony (Mythlore #146), notes the origin of Tolkien’s tune for the poem.

Tolkien’S Exceptional Visit To Holland, Revisited: An Acquaintance With Maartje Draak, Bart Jaski, Kris Swank

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This note revisits J.R.R. Tolkien’s trip to the Netherlands, March 28-31, 1958, including his attendance at the Rotterdam Hobbit-maaltijd (“Hobbit Meal” or “Hobbit Dinner”), and afterwards. It focuses specifically on his interactions with Prof. Dr. Maartje Draak, a prominent Dutch Celticist. Although Prof. Draak is not mentioned in René van Rossenberg’s paper, “Tolkien’s Exceptional Visit to Holland: A Reconstruction” (Mythlore 1996), items from Prof. Draak’s archives at Utrecht University and an offprint paper she sent to Tolkien in 1959 allow us to recover Tolkien’s acquaintance with this important Dutch scholar, to enhance our picture of the famous Hobbit Dinner, …

Credit Where Credit’S Due: Douglass Parker And J.S. Ryan, Matthew Thompson-Handell

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This Note presents evidence that J.S. Ryan's 1966 essay on Germanic influences on Tolkien plagiarized some content in Douglass Parker's 1957 review essay on The Lord of the Rings "Hwaet, We Holbytla."

Tolkien's Invasion Of Dragons, Ian Gunn

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Throughout his life, Tolkien’s works demonstrate a particular interest in the heroic legendary past and how the memory of such tales can enlighten and vivify society. In his own writings on dragons, adventures, and legendary tales (both historical and fictional), Tolkien participates in the restoration of our memories of the high and the perilous.

The Soldier’S Stigmata, Part I: Habitus And Speaking Of The Future Otherwise In Lois Mcmaster Bujold’S “The Borders Of Infinity”, Andrew Hallam

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

THIS IS A TWO-PART ARTICLE. IN ORDER TO READ OR DOWNLOAD THE OTHER PART, FOLLOW THE LINK AT THE END OF THIS ABSTRACT.

This article will explore the connection between Lois McMaster Bujold’s novella “The Borders of Infinity,” the Aristotelian theory of habitus as developed further in the letters of the Apostle Paul and by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, and the four senses of interpretation of scripture first conceived in antiquity and later refined by medieval philosophers. Habitus as a durable disposition, state, or condition (Aristotle) is a structured and structuring social practice or set of social practices (Bourdieu) that …

Eleanor Arnason’S Fantastic Mitochondrial Humor, Sandra J. Lindow

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Eleanor Arnason’s Fantastic Mitochondrial Humor

In this essay I explore Brian Attebery’s description of mitochondrial fantasy to explain how humor works in Eleanor Arnason’s short fantastic fiction. Mitochondria are the energy powerhouses in cells. They are symbiotic creatures that once were separate but became an evolutionary part of a female egg cell, providing a history that can be traced to a Mitochondrial Eve. In Fantasy: How It Works, Attebery uses mitochondria metaphorically to explain how fantastic ideas evolve. Attebery describes fantastic mitochondria as “a cellular dynamo that lives within the tissues” of a story (91). He demonstrates how stories lead …

Literary Tributaries: Classical And Romantic Influences In The Wind In The Willows, Landon Burgess Loftin

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Some interpreters of The Wind in the Willows have suggested that Ratty’s beloved river should be understood as a symbol of the imagination. Whether this is true or not, we may benefit from thinking of Grahame’s own imagination as a river that derives much of its force from both Classical and Romantic tributaries. In what follows, I will explore the lower reaches of these tributaries, not only to contextualize and illuminate The Wind in the Willows, but also to address several persistent questions about its composition and reception. I turn first to the Classical tributary, which flows with the imaginings …

Saunders Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, And The Place Of Magic In Fantasy, Alexander Retakh

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Welsh writer Saunders Lewis was, just as his almost exact contemporary J.R.R.Tolkien, a politically conservative Catholic with a deep interest in medieval myths. Both authors wrote fantasy based on Celtic tales, such as Lewis's play Blodeuwedd and Tolkien's poem The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun. While the latter follows the dicta of Tolkien's own "On Fairy-stories," Lewis created a more modernist work. Despite biographical and ideological similarities, the two approached their sources differently. Tolkien looked for unifying aesthetic principles that he called "unhazy unromantic momentariness," while Lewis used the traditional material to escape the constraints of romantic and realistic …

Fathoming The Mathom-House: Museums And Material Heritage In Tolkien’S Legendarium, Stuart Bowes

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

As a renowned author and philologist, J.R.R. Tolkien has long been associated with the processes of literary transmission performed by libraries and archives. His engagement with the comparable cultural institution of the museum is less evident. By charting the gradual integration of the Michel Delving Mathom-house into Middle-Earth, this paper considers Tolkien’s fictional interpretation of a contemporary museum and how it served to enrich his legendarium. It first traces the textual history of this collecting institution from its marginal addition in the drafts of The Hobbit to its considered treatment in The Lord of the Rings. A pivotal development …

Lothlórien: Gendered Spaces, Cartographic Nominalism, And Galadriel’S Queerness, Bo Kampmann Walther

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Tolkien’s portrayal of Lothlórien is layered with complexities that reflect broader tensions between the feminine landscape and the masculine impulse to understand, name, and rationalize the world. This article examines the ‘fight’ over Lothlórien and its entitlement to truth from both female and male perspectives. It combines a close reading of passages from The Fellowship of the Ring with theories of name-giving, power, and mapping. The article concludes by evaluating these insights through the lens of Kristeva’s concept of the “abject” and discussing what ‘queer’ might mean in the Tolkien oeuvre.

Unknowing In Tolkien's Legendarium And The Agnosia Of The Elvish Tradition, Benjamin Blakeslee-Drain

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

The many layers of Unknowing in Tolkien’s legendarium make some of the most profound statements in his work. Unknowing creates space for the reader to have a more active and intimate experience with the text, and supports the central Christian moral message in The Lord of the Rings. The theme of Unknowing ties the legendarium to a larger set of scriptural and Christian writings, including the Book of Job, Mystical Theology, and The Cloud of Unknowing. Finally, Unknowing is shown to be a function of the legendarium reflecting a dominantly Elvish perspective. By dismissing the assumed authority of that perspective, …

Tolkien On Kennings And The River-(Woman’S) Daughter, Derek Simon

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

THIS IS A TWO-PART ARTICLE. IN ORDER TO READ OR DOWNLOAD THE OTHER PART, FOLLOW THE LINK AT THE END OF THIS ABSTRACT.

While the River-daughter is a prevalent poetic name for Goldberry, Tom introduces her as the River-woman’s daughter when singing and skipping along the banks of the Withywindle. The River-woman variant occurs only once in Goldberry’s narrative but is not easily dismissed. The contrast between the two variant names raises several questions on how to read Goldberry’s enigma. Tolkien’s brief commentaries on the kenning as a poetic device serve as the starting-point for exploring the literary function of …