USU Students Present at the Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society Convention
The Rho Tau and Alpha Chi Lambda chapters of Sigma Tau Delta represented Utah State University Logan and statewide campuses, respectively, at the annual English Honors Society international convention with seventeen undergraduate students. Students presented roundtables, research projects, critical essays, and creative works at the Pittsburgh convention themed “One of Ours.”
“My favorite part was going to all of my friend’s presentations,” Lizzie Leishman comments. “We spend so much time in class together, but we don’t really share our work that often. It was really cool—not even just my friends but the people that were on their panels, too.”
Ellie Fallows said she enjoyed learning from other students around the world who were interested in the same topics as her. “I really enjoyed my panel and being able to talk to the people after it,” she reflects. “There was a guy on my panel who talked about Titus Andronicus and the patriarchy, and just picking his brain after was super cool.”
Indigo Marids read original poetry at the event. They say, “I really appreciated getting to conquer my fears. I’ve read poetry and presented before, but it was different being put on the spot with a panel and having to come up with answers to what they were asking”
Kayleigh Kearsley presented in the special event, Research in the Round, where she discussed student autonomy in the classroom to groups of conference attendees. “It was so cool to lead that discussion and talk one-on-one or with a couple of people,” she says. “That’s something that I will do as a teacher every day, and I got some really good ideas.”
Many of the members participated in roundtables on the event’s common reader, When My Brother Was an Aztec, by Natalie Diaz, who was a keynote speaker at the conference. Other keynote speakers included Cynthia Kadohata, author of works such as Kira-Kira, and Benjamin Alire Sáenz, author of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe among other titles. The keynote speakers all held writing workshops, as did other keynote attendees.
“Getting writing advice from both Natalie Diaz and from Benjamin Sáenz—it was so interesting to see how different authors have different processes,” says Sadie Olsen. “It kind of boils down to the same idea of understanding who you are and where you came from, but the different approaches were so interesting.”
For Ariel Longoria, returning conference attendee, the most influential part of the convention was getting to meet Benjamin Sáenz. “He spent a lot of time talking to us, and we got to watch his movie with him and hear him talk about it and hear his insight into it,” she comments. “Then at his workshop, where he’s talking to us, he said, ‘Writing is possible. The only way you can be a writer is if you’re truthful, and you have to learn to learn yourself.’ That was so cool.”
Natalee Harrison discussed the feeling of community at the conference. “Being with English majors was really good for me, a person who is graduating in just one month,” she reflects. “It was really fulfilling to be there with people who understand how English majors work—what English majors do. For people to come from all over the country and share their talents and their motives for writing. I loved every part of it.”
The USU chapters of Sigma Tau Delta also had students and faculty on the convention leadership. Zach Brady and Kaylee Jo Stocks are the Far Western Student Representative and Assistant Representative, respectively, and Associate Professor Michaelann Nelson is currently the Far West Regent. Next year, Michaelann will be the 2026 Convention Chair, organizing the international convention in New Orleans.
Roundtables and individual presentations were as follows:
Roundtables:
- "’How do you love and unlove?’ in Natalie Diaz’s When My Brother Was an Aztec”: Natalee Harrison, Lizzie Leishman, Ella Stott, Indigo Mardis, Ellie Fallows
- “Myth and Identity in When My Brother Was an Aztec”: April Albee, Kayleigh Kearsley, Sadie Olsen, Ivy Morgan, Abby Ball
- “Audio Dramas—Storytelling through Sound”: Lizzie Hyte, Alexis Goodwin (Southern Arkansas University), William Ashcraft (Southern Arkansas University)
- “Taylor Swift's Literary References: Insights from the Tortured Poets Department”: Dakota Mecham, Greta Soos (The College of New Jersey), Addison Swasey (Franklin Pierce University), Savannah Mayfield (Oklahoma Baptist University), Rya'Lynn Simons (Oklahoma Baptist University)
Individual Presentations:
- “Akhiok Rose” (poetry), April Albee
- “Sea of Stone” (creative nonfiction), Zachary Brady
- “Motif on Grief” (original drama), Lizzie Hyte
- “Student Autonomy: Incorporating Student Voice and Choice in the Classroom” (Research in the Round presentation), Kayleigh Kearsley
- “Emily Dickinson: Transcendentalism as A Window to Queer Acceptance” (critical essay), Elizabeth Nielson
- “Environmental Oddity” (poetry), Indigo Marids
- “Am I still one of you?” (creative nonfiction), Ariel Longoria
- “From the Monstrous to the Mundane: Queer Interpretations of Dracula through Dracula Daily” (critical essay), Sadie Olsen
- “Belonging in Miranda’s Bad Indians and Soldier’s Whereas: Poems” (critical essay), Natalee Harrison
- “The Power of Choice in Julius Caesar” (critical essay), Ellie Fallows
- “Language and Identity in Translations” (critical essay), Kayleigh Kearsley
- “Flower Symbolism in The Bluest Eye” (critical essay), Lizzie Leishman
The Sigma Tau Delta students would like to thank Logan’s English Department, the Office of Undergraduate Research, the College of Humanities and Social Studies, the University Honors Program, and the Center for Intersectional Gender Studies and Research, as well as Statewide Offices, for making their attendance at this conference possible.