Summer Camp: Info for Accepted Campers

Welcome, English summer campers! We look forward to meeting you (and welcoming back those who are joining us for the second time). An acceptance letter from camp director Dr. Melissa Ames will be sent to all accepted campers by May 20th, referencing important paperwork that must be completed by June 1 and uploaded online. (These forms are located below.) On this page, you can also complete the RSVP forms for the showcase brunch and campus tour/appointments. In addition, you can learn more about the camp faculty and counselors from their biographies featured on this page.

Paperwork (due June 1)

RSVP Forms (due June 1)

English Summer Camp Faculty and Counselors

	Camp Director
Dr. Melissa Ames is a Professor of English and the Director of English Education at Eastern Illinois University specializing in media studies, television scholarship, Internet studies, popular culture, feminist theory, and pedagogy. Her work has been published in a variety of anthologies and journals, ranging in topic from Television Study, New Media, and Fandom to American Literature and Feminist Art. Her most recent and forthcoming publications include her books,Women and Language: Gendered Communication Across Media (McFarland, 2011),Time in Television Narrative: Exploring Temporality in 21^stCentury Programming (University of Mississippi Press, 2012), How Pop Culture Shapes the Stages of a Woman’s Life: From Toddlers-in-Tiaras to Cougars-on-the-Prowl (Palgrave, 2016), Small Screen, Big Feels: Television & Cultural Anxiety in the 21st Century (University of Kentucky Press, 2020), and Hashtag Activism: Case Studies on Social Justice Movements (U Colorado/Utah State Press, 2022); chapters in Grace Under Pressure: Grey’s Anatomy Uncovered (2008),Writing the Digital Generation (2010), Bitten by Twilight: Youth Culture, Media, and the Twilight Saga (2010), Manufacturing Phobias (2016), Adventures in Shondaland (2018), Young Adult Literature in the Composition Classroom (2018), The Vampire Diaries Collection (2024) and Writing & Wellbeing (2026); and articles inThe Journal of Dracula Studies (2011),The Women and Popular Culture Encyclopedia (2012), The High School Journal (2013), The Journal of Popular Culture (2014), Pedagogy (2017), First Monday (2021), and Peitho (2023).
	Camp Faculty
Kristen Patterson is currently a graduate student here at EIU; she also completed her bachelor's degree here. Some fun facts about her: she likes walking the trails at lake Charleston, she frequently walks her dog on the trails, she love ice cream and coffee, and will be looking for a high school English Job after graduation!	Jenna Tobias is a multi-genre writer from Chicago who loves exploring the weird and wacky in her work through a variety of mediums, most notably fiction, poetry, and at times creative nonfiction. She got her BA in Professional and Creative Writing and her MA in Creative Writing at Eastern Illinois University.	Dr. Daiva Markelis wrote a memoir about growing up in Cicero, Illinois as the daughter of immigrants. It’s called White Field, Black Sheep: A Lithuanian-American Life and was published by the University of Chicago Press. Her short stories and essays have appeared in New Ohio Review, Pank, Crab Orchard Review, Oyez, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Reader, The Cream City Review and many others. She loves The Simpsons, The Office, Master of None, and (sometimes) Saturday Night Live.
Dr. Melissa Caldwell has taught in the English Department at EIU for over 15 years. She loves meeting new students and sharing her passion for literature and linguistics. Her interests range from the very old to the contemporary--or, from Hamlet to Hamnet. Aside from reading and writing, she enjoys hiking, ice cream, spending time with her daughter, and trips to the beach. She dreams of having a farm, but for now she just spends time with her rescue dog, cats, rabbits, and gerbils.	Kierstyn Budz is an EIU alum with her B.A and M.A in English and Creative Writing! Currently, she is working on her MFA in Creative Writing specializing in fiction at Southern New Hampshire University. A lover of all things fiction, she also dabbles in dramatic and creative nonfiction. You can catch some of her work in EIU’s The Vehicle, BlueRoom, and The Evening Universe. When she's not writing, she loves to start crochet projects, DM D&D, and play video games. She is absolutely thrilled to be joining the English Studies Camp for the very first time and can’t wait to share stories, swap ideas, and have some fun!	Dr. Robin Murray had a rather transient childhood, in a journey that began in a couple of West Virginia towns and touched on Galesburg in Illinois, Pittsburgh, PA, and a few Michigan communities, including Bay City, where she graduated high school. No matter where she lived, though, she loved nature and transformed hiking, biking, and winter sports to her scholarly focus on American regional women writers and environmental film criticism (ecocinema). She and her co-writer Joe Heumann have published seven books exploring this film criticism, looking at popular cinema, Westerns, animated films, horror, documentaries, city cinema, and comedies through various lenses of ecocinema studies. She also applies her environmentalism in her daily life, leading a Green Team and implementing sustainable food systems in her community.
Makenna Boyd graduated from EIU in Fall of 2022 with her BA in English Language Arts and a minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. While at EIU she completed an honors thesis about diversity in Marvel fanfiction (ask her about it!). Favorite books change all the time but a current favorite is The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. She has been a camp counselor the previous two years and is excited to return as a teacher. Her hobbies include reading, swimming, snowmobiling, and keeping up with everything Marvel! She is currently teaching at Unity High School in Tolono. She can't wait to see you all and have a great camp! :)	Chevvy Sebastian is an amalgam of things: crafter, musician, card collector, lover of animals and the metaphysical alike—but most notably, she's a writer. Rarely seen without a necklace and a rebellious streak, he's always dreaming up new ways to bring hope to the world through stories. And that's just one of the reasons they got a BA in Creative Writings
	Camp Counselors
Sam Erwin (he/him) is a senior at EIU majoring in English Education with minors in creative writing, professional writing, and TESOL. He spends most of his time writing lesson plans or involved in the many different parts of campus he's a part of, from leading organizations like Sigma Tau Delta and Student Government to working as a Resident Assistant in Stevenson Hall. As a Golden Apple Scholar, he's passionate about teaching in under-resourced schools and working with English Language Learners. This is his first year participating in the English Studies Camp and he's looking forward to meeting you all!	Faith Gallagher (she/her) is currently a junior at EIU majoring in English with a concentration in education. She often spends her time crafting in her new apartment (crocheting, painting, sewing... you name it, she's making it) or reading! She currently does not have a favorite book as whatever she's in the middle of reading is her favorite. Right now, she's enjoying No Exit by Taylor Adams. This is her first year participating in the English Studies Camp and is incredibly excited meet you all!	Halie Selsor is a senior at EIU, majoring in Secondary English Education. Her hobbies include coloring, travel, watching movies, and (of course) reading! Her favorite book series of all time is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, although she's been interested in fantasy, romance, and mystery as of recently; her favorite movie is ever changing but is currently Alien Romulus. She currently resides in Charleston with her fiancée and their two cats, Tigress and Skippy. She has never participated in the English Studies Camp at EIU but is looking forward to experiencing it for the first time with you all!