Part of Series
Arcadia's University of Central Florida illuminates the history of a major institution of research, culture, education, and professional development that is stitched into the fabric of one of the nation's most dynamic and influential metropolitan areas. Conceived in 1963, at the height of America's fascination with the space program and less than an hour from Florida's Space Coast, the school began as Florida Technological University, a vast and remote tract of wild palmettos and swampland that held the promise of a cutting-edge "Space University." But 1963 was the same year that Walt Disney made his fateful fly over Central Florida and chose the location for Walt Disney World, a decision that would ultimately transform the entire region. Florida Tech found itself growing along with the surrounding community in size, prominence, and power into a diverse institution that no one in those early years could have envisioned. Renamed the University of Central Florida in 1979 to better reflect its broad curriculum and its strong marriage with the region, the school has blossomed into the prototype for the modern metropolitan university.
Authors
Nathan Holic lives and writes in Orlando, Florida, where he teaches writing courses at the University of Central Florida, and drives from 7-Eleven to 7-Eleven in search of the perfect fountain-poured Diet Coke. He is the author of the novel American Fraternity Man (Beating Windward Press) and the novella The Things I Don't See (Main Street Rag), and he is the editor of the annual anthology 15 Views of Orlando (Burrow Press), a literary portrait of the city featuring short fiction from fifteen Orlando authors. He also serves as the Graphic Narrative Editor at The Florida Review. Holic's short fiction has appeared in a number of print journals, magazines, and anthologies, including Iron Horse, The Portland Review, The Apalachee Review,and the young adult collection Daddy Cool (Artistically Declined Press); his work also appears online at Hobart, Necessary Fiction, Barrelhouse, and a number of other web sites. His comics and graphic narratives include the serialized adaptation of Alex Kudera's novel "Fight For Your Long Day (available monthly at Atticus Review), and "Clutter," a story structured as a home décor catalogue (available at Nailed Magazine). Other comics, which have appeared in Welter, Sweet: A Literary Confection, Palooka, and the anthology The Way We Sleep (Curbside Splendor Press), have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
