Recent Highlights
12/7/12
English Club Food Drive
The food and supplies collected will go to support food banks in Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County.
11/8/12
Coastlines Alumni Reading
Poet Victoria Fedden
10/18/12
National Day on Writing Event
Congratulations to our Flash Fiction Prize Winners
Amanda Brahlek Megan Hesse
Barbara Hamby, our featured visiting writer who teaches creative writing at Florida State University
Coastlines team tabling at NDOW event
04/10/12
Congratulations to our English major, Rebecca Guillaume, on her fantastic performance singing the National Anthem to introduce President Obama.
03/13 - 03/15/12
Nonfiction Reading by Sanders Writer in Residence Eula Biss
02/23/12
Literary Agent Laura Strachan delivered a lecture, "To Query or Not to Query," on Thursday, Feb. 23rd. Laura Strachan established her literary agency in 1998 to combine her lifetime love of books and good writing with her background as a licensed attorney. She is a current member of both the Maryland and District of Columbia Bars, as well as the Author's Guild, and was cited in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue of Poets & Writer's Magazine as one of "21 Agents You Should Know."
02/8/12
Writing for Nonprofits class was featured in the Weppner Center's newsletter and blog. The article highlights one of our English majors, Chelsea Perales .
Poetry Reading by Blossom/Bingham Visiting Poet Christina Davis
02/1/12
Mary Blossom Lee visiting poet Christina Davis.
Visiting poet Christina Davis with Professor Susan Mitchell.
Fiona McCrae, Editorial Director and Publisher of Graywolf Press
11/7/11
Fiona McCrae speaking with Professor Susan Mitchell.
Fiona McCrae speaking to the audience.
National Day on Writing Event
10/20/11
Bestselling Novelist, Cristina Garcia, visits FAU and signs books for students.
Amanda Schoen, winner of the Flash Fiction Prize for the National Day on Writing, reading her essay.
Coastlines and English Graduate Student Society
10/7/11
On Friday night, Coastlines literary magazine and the English Graduate Student Society (EGSS) held a reading of creative work by students in the MFA program followed by a potluck to welcome all the new graduate students to the department.
Community Organizations Visit Writing for Nonprofits Class
11/16/11
On Wednesday, November 16th, Janet Erlick, the Executive Artistic Director of the award-winning Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theatre, visited Professor Hinshaw’s Writing for Nonprofits class (ENC 4930). Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theatre is a non-profit organization that serves as an educational center for children and families across South Florida, and aims to spread the appreciation of art through acting and music. The classes and programming FLCT offers are designed for children of ages 4 to 18, and provides formal training that encourages self-esteem, discipline, and creativity. The theatre also serves residents of Broward through outreach programs, such as “A Bridge From Me To You” which is a conflict resolution and anti-bullying program presented in public schools. Director Janet Erlick came to give insight into how she got started working for a non-profit organization, and to promote the art and value of teaching theatre to children. Erlick was presented by service-learning students (pictured below) Elizabeth Saling, Zachary Little, Wesley Durham, and Kevin Fiol. Throughout the semester, these service-learning students participated in projects with Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theatre, writing guides to their shows, material for newsletters, and doing research on the benefits of creative drama.
11/2/11
On November 2nd, 2011 the founder of The Toby Center, Dr. Mark Roseman came to Dr. Hinshaw’s Writing for Nonprofits ENC4930 course to speak about the services of The Toby Center. The Toby Center is a nonprofit organization in Boynton Beach that provides services to families in transition by offering couples, separated parents as well as single parents and children a comfortable, safe environment for relationship rebuilding, family mediation, supervised visitation, support groups, parenting education and workshops. All of their services are offered on a sliding-scale, which makes it affordable for everyone. Dr. Roseman came to promote The Center's holistic approach and to speak of the benefits it provides to families all throughout Palm Beach County. Service learning students Morgan Zeidman, Nicole Wieder (pictured here with Dr. Roseman and Professor Hinshaw), and Amanda Kennedy (not pictured) introduced Dr. Roseman to Florida Atlantic University and their fellow service learning classmates. During the course of the semester, these students have been working on projects such as setting up The Toby Center's Family Harvest Festival, updating their social media outlets, as well as writing thank you letters to the benefactors of The Center.
10/26/11
On Wednesday, October 26th, Kara Justi, the Chief Development Officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, paid a visit to Dr. Hinshaw’s Writing for Nonprofits (ENC 4930) class. Big Brothers Big Sisters is a nonprofit organization located in West Palm Beach, FL with the mission to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. Kara gave a very informative presentation on the grant writing process, highlighting useful methods for locating grants and other funding. She also provided a brief background of how she began writing grants. It was a great pleasure to have her talk with our class and share her vast knowledge on grant writing to enrich our learning experience. Pictured here (from left to right) are Keri Barnes, Kara Justi, Brandi Marksbury and Chelsea Williams. Keri, Brandi and Chelsea are Dr. Hinshaw’s service-learning students who volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Chelsea, Keri and Brandi are currently working on a series of grant proposals, research, and blog entries for the organization.
On Wednesday, October 19th, Cora Bresciano and Susan Gay Hyatt, the co-founders of Blue Planet Writers’ Room, paid a visit to Dr. Hinshaw’s Writing for Nonprofits (ENC 4930) class. Blue Planet is a nonprofit organization located in West Palm Beach, FL with the mission to inspire students to write, teach them the skills they need to write well, and offer them fun and effective ways to see their writing come to life. Cora and Susan gave a very informative presentation on the grant writing process, highlighting useful methods for locating grants and other funding. It was a great pleasure to have them talk with our class and share their vast knowledge on grant writing to enrich our learning experience. Pictured here are Jason Doughlin and Eric Caldwell, Dr. Hinshaw’s service-learning students with Blue Planet, along with Cora and Susan. Jason and Eric are currently working on a series of grant proposals, press releases, and blog entries for the organization.
10/12/11
On Wednesday October 12th, 2011, Vickie Walters, the Director of Community Relations and Communications of SOS Children's Villages Florida, visited Dr. Wendy Hinshaw’s ENC 4930 “Writing for Nonprofits” class. The SOS Children's Villages Florida focuses on bringing together brothers and sisters in the foster care system and gives them a place for home, hope, and healing. Vickie informed the class of the different volunteer opportunities to get involved in with the children such as mentoring. She also informed the class of the successes of children who have benefited from the services SOS provides. Erica Sanford, Sandra Deason , Adam Vanderwarf, and Amanda Coyne from the ENC 4930 Service Learning class work as writing volunteers helping with newsletters and donation letters for the organization.
10/5/11
On Wednesday, October 5th Kelly Rowland, Co-founder & Executive Director of S.B. Idea, and Adriana Alvarez, AmeriCorp/Vista Volunteer for S.B. Idea, visited Dr. Wendy Hinshaw’s ENC: 4930 Writing for Non-Profits class as part of an ongoing series of lectures from local non-profits. S.B. Idea is a local organization whose goal is to empower families academically and economically through education. S.B. Idea establishes the home as a learning place with their Family Literacy program by educating parents first, so that they in turn can prepare and instill the value of school and education to their children. Students Chelsea Perales and Charise Muller are working with the organization on multiple projects including writing grants, fundraising letters, and organizational documents.
9/28/11
On Wednesday, September 28, Director Wendy Friswell of Twin Palms Center for the Disabled visited ENC 4930: Writing for Nonprofits to discuss her Academic Service-Learning partnership with FAU English students Kaitlyn Laichak and Jesse Weiss. The Twin Palms Center in Boca Raton serves disabled adults with developmental challenges ranging from Down Syndrome to Aspergers. The facility provides their students with a place to develop skills they have, which are often overlooked. Jesse and Kaitlyn are currently participating in key writing projects that help Twin Palms accomplish their mission "to improve the quality of life for individuals diagnosed with developmental challenges," including contributing to their monthly and quarterly newsletters and collaborating on grant proposals. In her presentation Wendy Friswell discussed her accomplishments as director of Twin Palms over the past two years and shared her future goal of expanding the facility. She encourages the community to be a part of a wonderful organization dedicated to showcasing clients' unique abilities.
9/23/11
Fall 2011: Eric Gehring, Education Director at the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation, gave a presentation to Dr. Wendy Hinshaw's ENC 4930 "Writing for Nonprofits" class on Friday, September 23, as part of the FAU English Department's exciting academic-service learning project. Dr. Hinshaw's students are volunteering with nonprofits in the South Florida area, including the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation, based in Lake Worth, and are participating in research, writing, and communication activities that help support these organizations. Eric talked about the Foundation's work, the many ecological benefits of the wetlands, and ways to get involved in restoration (phrases in italics can be hyperlinked: see list below). Thanks to Eric and the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for being our academic-service learning partners!
Here are the links:
For the Foundation :http://www.artmarshall.org/who-we-are
For the benefits of the Everglades: http://www.artmarshall.org/the-everglades
and For the ways to get involved in restoration: http://www.artmarshall.org/volunteer
