English department faculty garner awards and recognition

These members of the English department were recognized for their outstanding contributions at SUNY Geneseo’s 2014-15 opening convocation.

Maria Lima

Prof. Lima was appointed James and Julia Lockhart Supported Professor for Research and Creative Activity, 2014-2017. Prof. Lima’s scholarship has been fundamental in establishing Black British Literature as an internationally recognized academic field, and she is well-respected nationally and internationally for her work. Her essay “The Choice of Opera for a Revisionist History: Joan Anim-Addo’s Imoinda as a Neo-Slave Narrative” appeared in the 2013 volume of Caribbean Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (selected Proceedings of the “Islands-in-between Conference,” Grenada 2011). She was recently asked to join the British Arts and Humanities Research Council project on Translating Cultures – a three-year endeavor at the Goldsmiths, University of London. The Lockhart professorship carries a grant from the Geneseo Foundation for each of the three years it is held. Supported professors have the privilege of designing and teaching a course of their choosing and the responsibility of delivering a campus-wide lecture on a topic of their choice.

Gillian Paku

Prof. Gillian Paku has been granted continuing appointment (tenure) in the English department and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. Paku’s research and teaching are in British literature of the eighteenth century, disability studies, writing, and writing pedagogy. In spring 2014 she taught an innovative course in which English majors preparing for careers as 7-12 English teachers collaborated with English teachers in the York school district and blogged about their experience.In fall 2014, Paku was the recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2012, she was named a winner of the Innovative Course Design Competition organized by the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies for her course “What’s In a Name?” Among her recent publications are two forthcoming essays: a comprehensive article on “anonymity” commissioned by Oxford University Press for their online handbook series and an entry on “Pseudonymous and Anonymous Publishing” for Blackwell’s Encyclopedia of British Literature, 1660-1789.

Wes Kennison

Prof. Kennison, Lecturer and Fellow in the Office of International Programs, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching. Prof. Kennison, Geneseo class of ’79, has taught courses at his alma mater since 1986. His recent courses have included Humanities I and II (both here and in El Sauce, Nicaragua) and Latin. He also co-teaches seminars for the Edgar Fellows program and is extensively involved as a workshop leader for the GOLD program.

Glenn McClure

Prof. McClure, Lecturer in English and Humanities, received the Joseph O’Brien Award for Excellence in Part-Time Teaching. Prof. McClure, a Geneseo alumnus with both a BA in Music History and an MA in Multicultural Education, teaches Humanities and INTD 105, and has been a study abroad coordinator and instructor in Italy, Ghana, Haiti, Greece, and Nicaragua. McClure is also an independent composer and arts integration consultant whose oratorio “The Starry Messenger” was featured on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.”

Irene Belyakov

Prof. Belyakov, Coordinator of English for Speakers of Other Languages, received the Harter Endowment for Faculty Mentoring Award. Since arriving at SUNY Geneseo nearly 15 years ago, Belyakov has made the campus a more welcoming place for students with diverse backgrounds and especially those for whom English is a second language. She has served as a mentor, supporter, advocate, and sometimes therapist for dozens of international students. She also mentors School of Education majors and other students whose future careers may involve working with individuals from different cultural backgrounds. In addition, Belyakov has offered workshops through the Geneseo’s Teaching and Learning Center to educate her colleagues about second language development and the kind of oral and written product one might expect from an ESOL student. Belyakov has dedicated herself to supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered students. She has been the faculty advisor for Pride Alliance and Hillel, and she has co-chaired the SUNY Geneseo Presidents Commission on Diversity and Community.