Neither the Edith Kinney Gaylord Expository Writing Program nor this thirteenth issue of our student literary publication would exist without the contributions of so many excellent undergraduate writers. The primary credit for Volume XIII of Brainstorm belongs to the students whose work we showcase this year: Dylan Becker, Maddisen Foster, Carly Kirkland, Kaly Pham, Jennevieve E. Scott, and Carolyne Tsuma. Each of the essays by these young writers reveals a distinctive voice, argument, and vision; we are proud to share them with the greater OU community.
As a magazine of student writing, Brainstorm is the culmination of a semester-long engagement with the writing process in courses characterized by the unique collaboration between students and lecturers that Expo thrives upon. A brief introductory note preceding each essay connects the author to the class in which they conceived, wrote, and revised their work.
In the spirit of celebrating first-year writing instruction, we would like to acknowledge the Expository Writing faculty who taught in Spring and Fall of 2020, when the essays in this volume were written: Eric Bosse, Timothy Bradford, Al Harahap, Nick LoLordo, Catherine Mintler and Robert Scafe. The Committee for this volume—Bradford, LoLordo, Mintler, and Scafe—deserve special commendation for the time they devoted to selecting student essays and the guidance they provided as student authors honed their work for publication. Tara Risenhoover and Missy Stewart provided invaluable administrative assistance. Our thanks, finally, to our Director, Talisha Haltiwanger-Morrison, for all her support of the program.
In conclusion, we would like to thank former President David Boren and the Inasmuch Foundation overseen by William J. Ross and Robert J. Ross, whose generous investment in first-year writing at OU has supported our program for nearly 15 years and has made it possible for our students to produce the excellent work represented in this volume. We look forward to publishing future issues of Brainstorm under the leadership and support of President Joseph Harroz Jr. by continuing to collaborate with first year writing students in ways that exemplify our shared vision of excellence at the University of Oklahoma.
Image credits:
“The Fault In Our On-Screen Presence”
“Twillow,” Tiffany Garcia, commissioned for essay.
“Supercorp,” Tiffany Garcia, commissioned for essay.
“A Recognition Proper to the Femininity of Sylvia Beach”
Sylvia Beach plaque: AndreasPraefcke, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paris_Rue_de_l_Odeon_12_plaque-2.jpg
“How Black and White Women Internalize Beauty Standards Centering Thinness and Whiteness”
“Gender Mannequins.” CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. https://flic.kr/p/3WXroP
“The Precarious Potentials of Human Genome Editing”
“Genetic Engineering Gene Editing Crispr Dna Editing.” CC0 Public Domain. https://www.maxpixel.net/photo-2375732
“Suburban Slaughter: Mimesis & Myth in Murder”
Crime scene, Duncan OK. Photographer: Carly Kirkland.
“An Entertainer Like No Other: Sammy Davis, Jr.”
“NIxon meeting with Sammy Davis Jr, 03/04/1973” Public domain. White/NARA via pingnews. Photographer: Robert L. Knudsen. https://flic.kr/p/KCwKh
“Sammy Davis, Jr., the star of Broadway hit musical “Golden Boy,” views Hub skyline from his suite at Hotel Somerset” (Boston Public Library, 1966) Public domain. https://picryl.com/media/sammy-davis-jr-the-star-of-broadway-hit-musical-golden-boy-views-hub-skyline-aeb7ff