Celebrating Community at “Love, English”
~Allison Schneider
The Fordham English Department celebrated literature, writing and community with students and faculty at an event called Love, English.
As students arrived at the Lowenstein 12th Floor Lounge, they were greeted by English Department faculty who passed out complimentary notebooks and programs for the event. Inside, attendees flocked to the build-your-own hot chocolate bar complete with marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate chips, and peppermints. The spread also included love-themed cookies, cupcakes, chocolate-covered pretzels, and other sweet treats.
To kick off the event’s programming, English Department Chair Shonni Enelow thanked everyone for attending and invited people to think about what English means to them and how studying English has impacted their lives. She then introduced a handful of her colleagues to say a few words to the audience about their own love for literature and writing. First was Professor Stephen Sohn, who spoke about the ways he incorporates the discipline of English in his research and teaching in the Asian American Studies program. After Sohn, Professors Anne Fernald and Meghan Dahn shared what they love most about literature, writing, and the power of the written word.
Following their testimonials, Professor Sarah Gambito, co-director of creative writing, offered up a toast to all things English. She encouraged students to reflect on everything the study of English means to them and to celebrate the discipline in community with the other attendees.
For the remainder of the event, students did just that. On the backside of the event programs attendees found an interactive “dance card” with icebreaker questions to spark conversation with their fellow English students. The prompts asked people to exchange their favorite place in the city to write, their favorite bookstore, and their favorite comfort book, among other things. The dance cards promised extra credit points to students who exchanged contact information and made plans to explore their favorite literary places together.
Around the outskirts of the room, four literary “confessionals” were set up, prompting students to confess their greatest reading secrets. The booths asked students to name their guilty reading pleasure, a literary death that destroyed them, their favorite literary love interest, and how to spot a fellow English major in the wild.
The room swarmed with activity as students exchanged dance card recommendations and wandered from confessional to confessional. The most inventive confessions were read aloud at the end of the event. By far the most popular love interest was Pride and Prejudice’s Mr. Darcy. Students said some of their most heart-breaking literary deaths were Primrose Everdeen from The Hunger Games, Patroclus from The Song of Achilles, and a wide variety of characters from the Harry Potter series.
The event was filled with laughter, new friendships, and a palpable appreciation for everything English literature, writing, and study have to offer us. Between faculty testimonials, dance card connections, and literary confessions, “Love, English” gave the Fordham English community the opportunity to really celebrate the things that bring us together.