Halloweekend!

Halloweekend in Laird’s Hallowed Halls | Senior Spotlight | Looking Forward: English Courses for Winter Term ’26

Halloweekend in Laird’s Hallowed Halls

It’s everyone’s favorite time of fall: Halloween! What are your peers and profs getting up to this Halloweekend as well as Halloweekend’s past?

It’s time, everyone. I know, don’t get too excited. It’s time for the bi-weekly edition of the Second Laird Miscellany. So in the English department this week… No, no. I’m kidding. I know what you are really here for—you want to know what I’m going to be for Halloween, it’s been the only thing on your mind for weeks. I am going as Blair from Gossip Girl, and I will also be briefly appearing as a bunny, so keep your eyes out. More than that, I’ll tell you what everyone is dressing up as. Well, not everyone, but a decent number of people for someone with my social skills. I ran around the halls of Laird to get this scoop, so you’d better appreciate it. I posed this question to everyone: What is your favorite Halloween memory (or part of Halloween), and what are you going as this year?

Kate Eng

My favorite parts of Halloween are the decorations and lights and pumpkins. This year, I am going as Serena from Gossip Girl because I needed a costume that would be a blonde-brunette duo so I could have a joint costume with Kaelyn.

Lizzie Coy-Bjork

My favorite Halloween memory is during the pandemic, my friends and I had an outdoor movie screening. We watched Corpse Bride and had little treats. I hadn’t seen my friends in real life for a bit so it was really nice and very very spooky. I am going to be Leafeon this year!

Ryan Bernstein

I really like the silliness of the holiday, seeing everyone’s costumes, eating candy, and getting to become a different entity on Halloween. I will (tentatively) be the green M&M for Halloween this year.

Professor Greg Hewett

It’s the worst holiday in the world. There’s so much violence involved with it. No costume this year, but the one time I was forced to put on one as an adult, I won the costume contest. Tony and I had this old couch that had this blue-green satin over it and we had a shell collection, so I fastened seashells and starfish all over that, wore it as a cape, and painted my face blue and green.

Clara McGee

I like the leaves that coincide with fall which just so happens to coincide with Halloween. This year, I am going as a gourd.

Cecilia Samadani

When I was five or six, I dressed up as the Sugar Plum Fairy from Barbie in the Nutcracker. I was obsessed with that movie and my mom helped make me a costume and it was really cool, except for the weird thing was that I thought I needed to be blonde so we bought this really bad blonde wig from Party City.

Jess Knachel

My favorite Halloween memory is the morning after trick-or-treating. I would lay out all my candy and trade with my sister. My Halloween costume this year is Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad. My friend will be Walter White if he can find a bald cap.

Megan Haak

My favorite part is other people’s costumes and decorations. I decorate, but some people get way more into it than I do, which I think is fun. Yard skeletons are a particular favorite; they always have such fun poses. I don’t really have an actual costume this year (tragic, I know). I do, however, have an orange shirt with a pumpkin on it that I plan to wear, which I’d like to think is still in the Halloween spirit.

Senior Spotlight: Ambar Galaviz and Winston Ingalls

Read on to find out all about senior English majors Ambar and Winston, including their favorite books, classes, and unexpected allegiance to the religion department.

What are your plans for comps? 

W: I’m doing colloquium. I think that the topic [of backtalk] will be interesting. There are some good texts on the list. I’m really excited to read Huck Finn and James together. I’m excited to go see Macbeth at the Guthrie. I’m excited about the Zadie Smith play. It’ll be a fun chance to work with other English majors and read some new works. 

A: I’m working on the Southern Gothic, specifically focusing on the voices of black women. So I am going to be examining two works… Beloved by Tony Morrison and When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen.
What is your favorite book? 

W: Recently, Midnight’s Children, by Salman Rushdie. I’m less sure there’s a clear all-time answer. 

A: I feel like it’s been so long since I actually read something because I wanted to, not for a class. I really enjoyed Wuthering Heights.

What is your most English major trait? 

A: For my essays I always do my outlines on post-its. Then when I finish a point I rip it up and go to the next one. It keeps it organized and I feel like I’m making progress.

W: I annotate excessively and always print out my readings. I’ve used up my print budget. 

What has been your favorite class?

W: I really enjoyed Connie’s Frankenstein’s Progeny, my senior seminar. I also really enjoyed Modernity and Tradition, taught by Lori Pearson in the religion department. 

A: Low key, to add to the religion department, I think my favorite class was Introduction to Japanese Religions. I loved that class… But in the English department, Kofi’s Contemporary World Literature. The readings were so good. It was banger after banger.

What advice would you give to future English majors?

A: Get the methods class done early and out of the way. Keep track of requirements, especially Medieval literature. That’s gonna sneak up on you.

W: I would disagree about methods… I wish I took it my junior year… but my real answer is to go on the London abroad trip. 

A: I would say go on the Mumbai and Seoul one.

W: And also, if there’s space, take religion classes, because they’re like more fun English classes. 

What are your post grad plans? 

W: I’m hoping to spend a year teaching English abroad. Maybe go back home and look for jobs there. 

A: I’m applying to grad school for an English PhD… I want to be a professor. 

Anything else?

A: You should enjoy your classes. If you’re not enjoying them, I don’t know what you’re doing.

W: I second that. 

Looking Forward: English Courses for Winter Term ’26

It’s that time of term again, and English students all over campus are considering what courses to take this winter. Here are some standouts!

Studies in African American Literature (ENGL 230):

The illustrious Professor Kofi Owusu will be exploring the literary impact of modern African American literature, starting from the 1950s. He will explore American classics such as Ralph Ellison’s masterpiece, Invisible Man, alongside such worthy peers as Alice Walker, Malcolm X, Charles Johnson, and many more!

Bollywood Nation (ENGL 245):

Maybe you want to explore more international literature. If that’s the case, then take a trip with Arnab Chakladar to explore the cultural impact that Indian films have had on not just their own culture, but global culture as well. You will watch Bollywood classics to see the unique ways in which the industry represents its nation’s heritage and history, with a film list especially focused on “urban thrillers” and “social dramas.”

The Rise of the Novel (ENGL 319):

This one is for our more avid readers out there! Journey through the surprisingly recent history of the novel and its origins in 18th-century England. Join Jessica Leiman as she explores the transformation of the novel through gender prejudice, industrialization, and modernization over the years. You will read classics such as Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and more to see how the literary genre has formed and grown over the centuries.