Scene Spotlight
By Compiled by Patricia Ho
Simone Billings
? Professor in English Department
? Co-sponsor of Sigma Tau Delta
Simone J. Billings received a plaque for her 15 years of service as a chapter sponsor for the Santa Clara chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honors society. Billings accompanied four students to the Sigma Tau Delta convention that took place from March 19 to 23 in Cincinnati, where she was presented the award.
A native of San Francisco, Billings first joined the Santa Clara teaching staff in 1980. Billings received her bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature and San Francisco State University. She followed that up with a doctorate in Language, Literacy and Culture from Stanford University.
Billings' commitment to her students is obvious. With Theodore Rynes, S.J., she started Sigma Tau Delta in 1987. They had decided to sponsor a campus chapter "so that exemplary English majors and minors could add the distinction of membership in a discipline-specific honors society to their resumes just as students in some other majors could."
Today, she co-sponsors the chapter with Professor Susan Frisbie. Billings is also Far West Regent on the Sigma Tau Delta's Board of Directors.
"Besides truly liking to teach writing so as to help students better express themselves and their ideas, I like to showcase the fine English majors we have here at Santa Clara," Billings said. "I think that when our students go to conferences to present their work, they also see what a great education they're receiving here at Santa Clara; they find their work and themselves affirmed."
Her plans for the future? "To continue doing what I've been doing, what we've been doing. We'd love to have more support - financial - to continue going to conventions in larger numbers; we'd love to continue garnering awards, after all, as I'm convinced we can do. I'd like members of our chapter to apply for those scholarships and awards in larger numbers than they have been doing.
Katherine Quevedo
? Class of '04
? English/economics
It was in the idyllic English town of Durham that Katherine Quevedo first sat down to write what would become the paper she presented at Sigma Tau Delta's annual convention, held this year in Cincinnati.
Eventually titled "The Senses and Insensibility: An Analysis of Sensory Perceptions in A Midsummer Night's Dream," the paper won one of two honorable mentions in the critical essay category. While some are used to thinking of the light-hearted Shakespearean play as a well-crafted exercise in frivolity, Quevedo dug deeper.
"In the paper, I bring up specific parts of the play where the characters find their senses muddled, whether due to emotions or to supernatural forces," she explains. "Then I show how their plights seem to hint that our own senses may mislead us in the physical world, so we should rely not only on reason but also on imagination and faith as we go through life."
Writing the paper was not something Quevedo put off until the last minute and then wrote in one breath that morning. Rather, it was a long process in which the seeds for the essay were planted while studying abroad during the summer in Durham. Three paragraphs were taken from the original essay, written for a class on Shakespearean comedies, expanded on over Thanksgiving break and finally, after a process of revision that took place over a week, the paper was ready for submission.
In addition, Quevedo will join the Board of Directors of the English honors society next year, having been elected Far West Student Representative at this convention. "I'm really excited to be working with members of the society from all over the country," she enthuses. "I'll be representing eight states and one territory, so it will be nice to interact with the chapters in our region from such diverse places as Alaska, Hawaii, and my home state of Oregon."