Albion Pleiad

Some students may read graphic novels in their free time, but Audrey Huggett, Traverse City junior, made them her research topic for her summer FURSCA project. Huggett examined nature as a theme in graphic novels, eventually writing a comparative analysis between two – “Pride of Baghdad” by Brian Vaughn, and “We Three” by Grant Morrison [...]

On Nov. 11, novelist Josh Weil, winner of the New Writer’s Award from the GLCA, visited Albion as part of the English Department’s fall reading series. Weil’s work has appeared in numerous literary journals as well as The New York Times. Before he gave a reading from his debut work, The New Valley, a collection [...]

Some students and faculty may enjoy a glass of wine after a long day, but Nick Lessnau, Clinton junior, spent the working hours with a bottle of the good stuff. Lessnau assisted Dr. Vanessa McCaffrey, assistant professor of chemistry, on her research tracking the antioxidant activities of wine. Here, he talks with the Pleiad about [...]

Last year, two students at Northwestern University ran into some trouble after dressing up in blackface for a Halloween party. This year, college dean Burgwell Howard isn’t taking chances and recently sent an email out to the entire student body (see the letter here). There’s a lot in this email worth discussing. However, I’m not [...]

The English Department continued their fall reading series on Oct. 21 with GLCA award winner Kevin McFadden. McFadden released his first book of poems, Hardscrabble, in 2008, and is the winner of the Erskine J. Poetry Prize and the Fellowship of Southern Writers George Garrett Award. Prior to his reading, he sat down with The Pleiad to [...]

Not every student working on a FURSCA project is researching an original topic. Some, like Erica Bennett, Rockford sophomore, are assisting professors on their research. Bennett spent the summer working with Dr. Zellner and Dr. McCaffrey’s research to show that two molecules could be part the origin of life. Here she talks with The Pleiad [...]

Most students ran as far away from schools as possible at the start of summer break, but Abby Schonfeld, Brooklyn senior, stayed put. She spent the summer working with students at Harrington Elementary and doing additional research in preparation for her senior thesis, which studies trends in international service and development, the history of the [...]

I can’t believe this has happened. I’ve been put into a position to defend the Twilight series. I don’t know what’s real anymore. Someone could tell me that Michael Jackson is still alive and I would believe it. This is too surreal. I hate everything right now. Whatever. I’ll be the mature adult that I [...]

Huckleberry Finn is one of those books that floats in and out of the public eye. Though it was last on the ALA list in 2007, it’s likely to come under criticism again with the publication of Mark Twain’s autobiography in November (is anyone else super excited for that? Just me? Okay). So what can [...]

I actually have a bit of a history with 2005 ALA-challenged book Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher. My high school used to assign a required reading book to the tenth grade. When I was a freshman, the sophomores had to read Whale Talk (I read it as well because I’m a rebel). There was eventually [...]