Last Updated: January 2024
| EDUCATION | Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, August 1996. | |
| M.A., Vanderbilt University, May 1992. | ||
| B.A., Wellesley College, English and French Studies, magna cum laude, May 1991. |
Book:
Pat Barker's Regeneration: A Reader's Guide. NY: Continuum, 2001. 89pp.
Books in Progress:
J. K. Rowling's Library: Harry Potter in Context. (Under contract, University Press of Mississippi.)
The New Realism: British Women Novelists Since 1950. (In progress.)
Journal Editor:
The Lion and the Unicorn. Johns Hopkins UP, three issues per year. Co-editor with Naomi Wood and David Russell. 2008-present. (Journal information available through JHUP and Project Muse.)
Edited Journal Issues, with Introduction:
Children’s Literature and War. Special Issue. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 34.3 (2009). (Full text available through Project Muse.)
Children’s Literature and Modernism. Special Issue. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 32.4 (2007). (Full text available through Project Muse.)
Articles in Refereed Journals:
"Beyond Periodization: Children's Literature, Genre, and Remediating Literary History." ChLAQ Forum: Manifestos from the 2013 Children's Literature Association Conference. Children's Literature Association Quarterly 38.4 (2013): 464-469. (Full text available through Project Muse.)
"The Weapon We Have Is Love." ChLAQ Forum: Outing Dumbeldore. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 33.4 (2008): 193-199. (Full text available through Project Muse.)
"Perspective, Memory, and Moral Authority: The Legacy of Jane Austen in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter." Children's Literature 35 (2007): 145-165. (Full text available through Project Muse.)
"'For her generation the newspaper was a book': Media, Mediation, and Oscillation in Virginia Woolf's Between the Acts." The Journal of Modern Literature. 29.2 (2006): 1-18. (Full text available through Project Muse.)
"The First Orlando: The Laugh of the Comic Muse in Virginia Woolf's 'Friendships Gallery.'"Twentieth-Century Literature 47.1 (2001): 39-71. (Full text available through Literature Online.)
"The Character in the House: Virginia Woolf in Dialogue with History's Audience." Clio: A Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of History 28.1 (1998): 1-27. (Full text available through Literature Online.)
Articles in Refereed Volumes:
"Realism and Race: The Narrative Politics of Harry Potter." Harry Potter and the Other: Race, Diversity, and Difference in the Wizarding Worlds. Ed. Sarah Park Dahlen and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. UP of Mississippi, 2022. 51-70.
"Genre." Keywords for Children’s Literature. 2nd ed. Eds. Philip Nel, Lissa Paul, and Nina Christensen. New York: NYU Press, 2021. 84-88.
"Realism and Race: The Narrative Politics of Harry Potter." Harry Potter and the Other: Race, Diversity, and Difference in the Wizarding Worlds. Ed. Sarah Park Dahlen and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. (Collection under review.)
"Blending Genres and Crossing Audiences: Harry Potter and the Future of Literary Fiction." The Oxford Handbook of Children’s Literature. Ed. Julia Mickenberg and Lynne Vallone. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2011. 93-112.
"Beauty and the Geek: Changing Gender Stereotypes on Gilmore Girls." Geek Chic. Ed. Sherrie A. Inness. New York: Palgrave, 2007. 11-30.
"Regenerating the Collaborative Triangle: Point-of-Need Assistance for English Literature Students." Co-authored with Sara Kearns and Marcia Stockham. Information Literacy Collaborations That Work. Eds. Trudi E. Jacobson and Thomas P. Mackey. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2007. 61-71.
"Faculty/Librarian/Undergraduate Collaboration for Evaluating Children's Literature." Co-authored with Sara Kearns and Marcia Stockham. Teaching Information Literacy Skills to Education and Social Science Students and Practitioners: A Second Casebook of Applications. Eds Doug Cook and Tasha Cooper. Chicago: ACRL, 2006. 55-67.
"Generation, Not Regeneration: Screening Out Class, Gender, and Cultural Change in the Film of Regeneration." Critical Perspectives on Pat Barker. Eds. Margaretta Jolly, Sharon Monteith, Ronald Paul, and Nahem Yousaf. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2005. 162-174.
"'A Story of Her Weaving': The Self-Authoring Heroines of Georgette Heyer's Regency Romance." Doubled Plots: Romance and History. Eds. Susan Strehle and Mary Paniccia Carden. Jackson and London: University Press of Mississippi, 2003. 165-184.
"Spectres of Thatcherism: Contemporary British Culture in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series." The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomeon. Ed. Lana Whited. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, Fall 2002. 305-328.
"Preservice Teachers, Technology, and Information Literacy." Co-authored with Naomi Wood. Proceedings of SITE 2002, 13th International Conference. Eds. Dee Anna Willis, Jerry Price, and Niki Davis. Vol. 3. Norfolk, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, 2002. 1826-1830.
"A.S. Byatt and '(V.Woolf)': Mapping a Misreading of Modernism." Virginia Woolf Out of Bounds. Eds. Jessica Berman and Jane Goldman. New York: Pace University Press, 2001. 73-79.
"History As Drama: Towards a Feminist Materialist Historiography." Virginia Woolf and the Arts. Eds. Leslie Hankins and Diane Gillespie. New York: Pace University Press, 1997. 335-343.
Reference:
"J. K. Rowling." The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Vol. 4. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. 420-424. 2,853 words.
Edited Instructional Materials:
English 200: Expository Writing 2. 5th ed. Co-edited with Jennifer Henderson. Boston: Pearson, 2005. 171 pp.
Expository Writing 200. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2003. 140 pp.
Reviews:
"Woolf in the World." Rev. of Melba Cuddy-Keane, Virginia Woolf, the Intellectual, and the Public Sphere. Novel 38.1 (2004): 114-116.
Review of Kathy Peiss, Hope in a Jar. The Forum: Women's Studies at the College of Charleston. III.2 (2000).
Review of Michael Kimmel, Manhood in America: A Cultural History. The Forum: Women's Studies at the College of Charleston. III.1 (1999).
Review of Susan Brownmiller, Against Our Will (1993 edition). The Forum: Women's Studies at the College of Charleston. II.2 (1999).
Review of Rita Felski, The Gender of Modernity. Prose Studies. 20.2 (1997): 127-129.
Review of D.H. Lawrence, Twilight in Italy. Prose Studies. 18.2 (1995): 239-242.
"The State in and of State Universities: The View from WVU and Beyond" (organizer and moderator). Modern Language Association Conference. Philadelphia, PA. 4 Jan 2024.
“An Introduction to Children’s Literature and/in Modernism.” “Roundtable: Children’s Literature and/in Modernism” (organizer and moderator). Modernist Studies Association. Brooklyn, NY. 28 Oct. 2023.
"Wild Hearts: Landscapes of Affect and Imagination in Three Narratives about Mary Shelley and Her Art." Children’s Literature Association Conference. Bellevue, WA. 16 June 2023.
"Advocating for the Humanities on the Hill." ADE/ALD 2023 Summer Seminar: Centering the Humanities. Georgetown, Washington, DC. 3 June 2023.
"Children's Literature and/in Modernism: Remediating the Modern." Seminar: "Children's Literature and/in Modernism." Organizer and Chair. Modernist Studies Association Conference. Portland, OR. 30 Oct 2022.
"Being Human Again in the Humanities: Life after Zoom." ADE 2022 Summer Seminar Midwest: A Moment of Reinvention: Building Just Programs and Initiatives. 16 June 2022.
"'Walt Disney on Ecstasy': Affect, Agency, and the Natural World in Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now." Children’s Literature Association Conference. Atlanta, GA. 3 June 2022.
"Wild Hearts: Lita Judge's Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelly Created Frankenstein (2018)." International Research Society for Children's Literature, Santiago, Chile, 28 Oct. 2021. Online.
"Faculty Anxiety and Remote Leadership." ADE 2021 MAPS Leadership Institute: Why Humanities Now. 30 June 2021. Zoom.
"'It's Me!': #Hamilkids and the Politics of Play." Children's Literature Association Conference. 9 June 2021. Zoom.
"Departmental Storytelling: How to Make Your Department More Visible." Association of Departments of English 2020 MAPS Leadership Institute: The Public Humanities. Zoom. 30 June 2020.
"Walt Disney on Ecstasy: Affect, Agency, and the Natural World in Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now." Children's Literature Association Conference. Bellevue, WA. 18-20 June 2020. Postponed due to Covid-19.
"The Paratextual Condition of Modernist Children's Literature." Seminar: "Modernist Paratext." Modernist Studies Association Conference. Toronto, Canada. 18 Oct. 2019.
"'Rise Up': #Hamilkids, Children's Rights, and the Politics of Empathy." REIYL Conference: Transatlantic Conversations in Research on Inclusive Youth Literature. Glasgow, Scotland. 9 Aug 2019.
Also presented at Children's Literature Association Annual Conference. Indianapolis, IN. 14 June 2019."At the Margins of Gender and Genre: Children’s Literature and Remediating the Modern." Seminar: Marginal Modernisms: Feminist Forms & Questions of Belonging. 20th Annual Modernist Studies Association Conference. Columbus, OH. Nov. 2018.
"Realism and Race: The Fictional Histories of J. K. Rowling's Pottermore." Children's Literature Association Conference. San Antonio, TX. June, 2018.
"Campus Carry and Campus Budgets: The View from a Land Grant University in Kansas." Modern Language Association Conference. New York, NY. January, 2018.
"Consulting on the English Major in Its Department Context" (panel participant). Modern Language Association Conference. New York, NY. January, 2018.
"Left Out: Children's Literature and Remediating the Modern." Seminar: Modernism v. Modernity. 18th Annual Modernist Studies Association Conference. Pasadena, CA. November, 2016.
"Genres Behaving Badly: Harry Potter, Bunheads, and the Perils of Intergeneric Performance." 43rd Annual Children's Literature Association Conference. Columbus, OH. June, 2016.
"Ebb, Flow, and Absence: A Digital Mapping of Forster’s London in Howards End." Seminar: Modernist London and the Digital Map. 17th Annual Modernist Studies Association Conference. Boston, MA. November, 2015.
"Local Strategies for National Concerns: Challenging Our Culture's 'Casual Ridicule' of the English Major" (plenary talk). Association of Departments of English (ADE) Summer Seminar. Kansas City, MO. June, 2015
"Affective Agency through Embodied Emotion in Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now and Picture Me Gone." 42nd Annual Children’s Literature Association Conference. Richmond, VA. June, 2015.
"How to Live Now: Embodied Emotion and Affective Action in Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now and Picture Me Gone." 11th Biennial Conference of the Australasian Children's Literature Association for Research (ACLAR). Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. 30 June - 2 July 2014.
"Diversifying the Academy: The Plurality, Remediation, and Cultural Capital of Children's Literature." 41st Annual Children’s Literature Association Conference. University of South Carolina. Columbia, SC. 19-21 June 2014.
"Beyond Periodization: Children's Literature, Genre, and Remediating Literary History." 40th Annual Children's Literature Association Conference. University of Mississippi. Biloxi, MS. June, 2013.
"The Placement Director and the M.A. Program." With Gregory Eiselein. Modern Language Association Convention. Boston, MA. January, 2013.
"Performing History through Genre." Round-Table: "Beyond Modernist Periodization: Alternatives to the Canonical Half-Century." 14th Annual Modernist Studies Association. Las Vegas, NV. October, 2012.
"The Absent Presence?: Seeing Children's Literature and Modemism through Voyant." Seminar: "Using Digital Humanities: Tools to Consider Spectacles of Modemist Scholarship." 14th Annual Modernist Studies Association. Las Vegas, NV. October, 2012.
"Mind the Gap: Harry Potter and the Fantasy (of) Genre." 39th Annual Children’s Literature Association Conference. Simmons College. Boston, MA. June, 2012.
"Genre." Special Session: Keywords for Children’s Literature. Modern Language Association Conference. Seattle, WA. January, 2012.
"Still New: Children's Literature as Case Study for the New Modernisms at Work in the 21st Century MLA." Seminar: The Old New Modernisms. Thirteenth Annual Modernist Studies Association Conference. Buffalo, NY. October, 2011.
"New Plots for Old: Terry Pratchett, Metafiction, and the Sympathetic Imagination." 20th Biennial Conference of the International Research Society for Children's Literature. Queensland University of Technology. Brisbane, Australia. July, 2011.
"Lessons in Moral Complexity: The School Stories of J. K. Rowling and Antonia Forest." Thirty-Seventh Annual Conference of the Children's Literature Association. Roanoke, VA. June, 2011.
"Entering the Conversation: A Case Study in Research Methods for the 21st Century Graduate Student." Modern Language Association Conference. Los Angles, CA January, 2011.
"Art in Harry Potter / Harry Potter in Art." Infinitus 2010: A Harry Potter Conference. Orlando, FL. July, 2010.
"Story, Book, Imagination: The Mediating Metafictions of J.K. Rowling and Terry Pratchett." Thirty-Sixth Annual Conference of the Children's Literature Association. Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor, MI. June, 2010.
"The Next J. K. Rowling?: Stephenie Meyer and the Consequences of Genre, Revisited." Society for the Study of Narrative Literature. Cleaveland, OH. April, 2010.
"Voldemort vs. Mr. Bunnsy: Degrees of Metafictive Danger in J. K. Rowling and Terry Pratchett." Modern Language Association Conference. Philadelphia, PA. December, 2009.
"Children's Literature and Modernism: A Case Study." "Modernist Studies without Modernism" Seminar. Eleventh Annual Modernist Studies Association Conference. Montreal, Canada. November, 2009.
"Vocational Education: Re-Imagining the School Story in Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes and J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter.” Thirty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Children's Literature Association. Charlotte, NC. June, 2009.
"Career Advice: Re-Imagining the School Story." Leaky Con: A Harry Potter Conference. Boston, MA. May 2009.
"The Next J. K. Rowling?: Stephenie Meyer and the Consequences of Genre." Eighth Biennial Conference on Modern Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature. Nashville, TN. March, 2009.
''Forsaken Spots': At the Intersection of Children and War." "Children's Literature and War" Seminar. Organizer and Chair. Tenth Annual Modernist Studies Association Conference. Nashville, TN. November, 2008.
"Power Plays: The Ethics of Wizard Power in Rowling’s Harry Potter and Stroud’s Bartimaeus Trilogy.” Terminus 2008: A Harry Potter Conference. Chicago, IL. August 2008.
"Semi-Transparent Realism: In the Classroom with Pat Barker's Regeneration.” Society for the Study of Narrative Literature. Austin, Texas. May, 2008.
"Going to Extremes: The Boarding School Rebellions of Lindsay Anderson's If.... and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter." Extremism and the Excluded Middle. 17th Annual Cultural Studies Symposium. Kansas State University. Manhattan, KS. March, 2008.
"Children's Literature and Modernism: Past, Present, and Future." Thirty-Third Annual Conference of the Children's Literature Association. Newport News, VA. June, 2007.
"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes: The Cultural Politics of J.K. Rowling's Comic Relief." 16th Annual Cultural Studies Symposium. Kansas State University. Manhattan, KS. March, 2007.
"History, Realism, and Narrative Transparency: In the Classroom with Pat Barker's Regeneration." Inaugural Conference on Contemporary British and Irish Literary Landscapes: Re-Reading Pat Barker. University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, England. November, 2006.
"Children's Literature and Modernism: An Overview." Children's Literature and Modernism Seminar (seminar leader). Eighth Annual Modernist Studies Association Conference. Tulsa, Oklamhoma. October, 2006.
"Speak, Memory: Transforming the Past, Transforming the Self in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter." Thirty-Second Annual Conference of the Children's Literature Association. Manhattan Beach, CA. June, 2006.
"Seeing Bridget Jones, Seeing England." For Love or Money?: Contemporary Women's Fiction in the Marketplace. Inaugural Conference of the Contemporary Women's Writing Network. University of Wales. Bangor, Wales, United Kingdom. April, 2006.
"The Other Great War: World War II and English National Identity." Society for the Study of Narrative Literature. Ottawa, Canada. April, 2006.
"Inside Out: The Private Mind as Public Property in J. K Rowling's Harry Potter." Privacy (and Secrecy). 15th Annual Cultural Studies Symposium. Kansas State University. Manhattan, KS. March, 2006.
"'How Come England Did Not Know Me?': World War II and the Shaping of English Identity." South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference. Atlanta, GA. November, 2005.
"Lost in Translation: Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials on Stage." Thirty-First Annual Conference of the Children's Literature Association. Winnipeg, Canada. June, 2005.
"Barbarians at the Gate: Rejuveniles, Literary Cross-Readers, and the Invasion of Children's Literature." Sixth Biennial Conference on Modern Critical Approaches to Children's Literature. Nashville, TN. April, 2005.
"Seeing Bridget Jones." Visual Culture: Image, Icon, Ideology. 14th Annual Cultural Studies Symposium. Kansas State University. Manhattan, KS. March, 2005.
"The 'Sweet Knowledge' of Experience in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials." Modern Language Association Conference. Philadelphia, PA. December, 2004.
"Blinded by the Light: Curricular Answers to Information Illiteracy." Co-authored with Deborah Murray. South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference. Roanoke, VA. November, 2004.
"But Is It Literature?: J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, and A.S. Byatt's 'Goblet of Bile.'" South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference. Roanoke, VA. November, 2004.
"Apply Genre, and Interpret Liberally: Audience, Ideology, and Interpellating the Text." Generic Modernism Seminar. Sixth Annual Modernist Studies Association Conference. Vancouver, Canada. October, 2004.
"A Fortunate Fall: The 'Sweet Knowledge' of Sensual Experience and John Keats in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials." Thirtieth Annual Conference of the Children's Literature Association. Frenso, CA. June, 2004.
"Children's Literature Online: Teaching Literature and Information Literacy through Web Technologies." Thirtieth Annual Conference of the Children's Literature Association. Frenso, CA. June, 2004.
"Reviving Realism: Stitching and Patching the Solid in A.S. Byatt's Frederica Quartet." Society for the Study of Narrative Literature. Burlington, VT. April, 2004.
"Stitching the Self through Rebellious Acts: Sex, Work, and Political Agency in Monica Ali's Brick Lane." Sex and the Body Politic. 13th Annual Cultural Studies Symposium. Kansas State University. Manhattan, KS. March, 2004.
"London Calling: English Identity in the Novels of Zadie Smith." South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference. Atlanta, GA. November, 2003.
"When Harry Met Jane: The Legacy of Jane Austen in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter." Nimbus 2003: A Harry Potter Symposium. Orlando, FL. July, 2003.
"'Steadily more feminist, owing to the Times': Newspapers and New Realities in the Novels of Virginia Woolf." Thirteenth Annual Virginia Woolf Conference. Northampton, MA. June, 2003.
"A Sentimental Education?: Georgette Heyer's Regency Romance and the Young Adult Reader." Fifth Biennial Conference on Modern Critical Approaches to Children's Literature. Nashville, TN. April, 2003.
"Anatomy of a Dust-Jacket: Deracination and British Identity in Zadie Smith's White Teeth." The Society for Critical Exchange. Modern Language Association Conference. New York, NY. December, 2002.
"To Market, to Market: Transforming Helen Fielding, Zadie Smith, and J. K. Rowling for the American Reader." South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference. Baltimore, MD. November, 2002.
"Pippi Longstocking is Not Evil: Fostering Information Literacy in the Children's Literature Classroom." Twenty-eighth Conference of the Children's Literature Association. Wilkes-Barre, PA. June, 2002.
"Can Our Students Read a Web Page?: Information Literacy for the Digital Classroom." Co-authored with Naomi Wood. Convergence of Digital Learning. Manhattan, KS. April, 2002.
"Generation, Not Regeneration: Screening Out Class, Gender, and Cultural Change in the Film of Pat Barker's Regeneration." Society for the Study of Narrative Literature. East Lansing, MI. April, 2002.
"Preservice Teachers, Technology, and Information Literacy in the English Literature Classroom." Co-authored with Naomi Wood. Society for Information Literacy and Teacher Education (SITE). Nashville, TN. March, 2002.
"Keeping It Local, Keeping It Real: Global Capitalism, American Culture, and British Identity in Zadie Smith's White Teeth." Late Modern Planet: Globalization, Modernity, and Cultural Studies. 11th Annual Cultural Studies Symposium. Kansas State University. Manhattan, KS. March, 2002.
"Harry Potter and the Spectres of Thatcherism." Modern Language Association Conference. New Orleans, LA. December, 2001.
"The Body Behind the Voice: Newspapers and Narrative in Virginia Woolf's Between the Acts." Material Modernisms. Vancouver, British Columbia. July, 2001.
"'For her generation the newspaper was a book': Media, Mediation, and Transformation in Woolf's Between the Acts." Society for the Study of Narrative Literature. Houston, TX. March, 2001.
"'A Kind of Manual for the Times': Self-Help for the Culturally Schizophrenic in Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary." South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference. Birmingham, AL. November, 2000.
"Consuming Pleasures of the Body Politic: The Realism within the Fantasy of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter." Twenty-seventh Conference of the Children's Literature Association. Roanoke, VA. June, 2000.
"A.S. Byatt and '(V.Woolf)': Mapping a Misreading of Modernism." Tenth Annual Virginia Woolf Conference. Baltimore, MD. June, 2000.
"Harry Potter and the Spectres of Late Capitalism." Narrative Conference. Society for the Study of Narrative Literature. Atlanta, GA. April, 2000.
"'History in Live Performance': Revising History's Script in Roy's The God of Small Things." Twenty-eighth Annual Twentieth-Century Literature Conference. University of Louisville, Louisville, KY. February, 2000.
"'A Story of Her Own Weaving': The Self-Determining Heroines of Georgette Heyer's Regency Romance." South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference. Atlanta, GA. November, 1999.
"With 'money and a room of her own': The Legacy of Woolf's Advice for the Woman Artist at Century's End." Ninth Annual Virginia Woolf Conference. Newark, Delaware. June, 1999.
"Sex, Books, and Patriarchy: Modernism on Trial in A.S. Byatt's Babel Tower." Twenty-seventh Annual Twentieth-Century Literature Conference. University of Louisville, Louisville, KY. February, 1999.
"'Tale[s] for Children of Our Time': Romancing History in Jeanette Winterson's The Passion and A.S. Byatt's Babel Tower." South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference. Atlanta, GA. November, 1998.
"'I'm Telling You Stories': Jeanette Winterson's Romancing of History." Twenty-sixth Annual Twentieth-Century Literature Conference. University of Louisville, Louisville, KY. February, 1998.
"In Dialogue with History: Woolf's 'Additions and Deductions' in A Room of One's Own." Modern Language Association Conference. Toronto, Canada. December, 1997.
"Embodied Exchange: Woolf, LaCapra, and History's Audience." Seventh Annual Virginia Woolf Conference. Plymouth, NH. June, 1997.
"The First Orlando. Virginia Woolf's Romancing of History in 'Friendships Gallery'." Twenty-fifth Annual Twentieth-Century Literature Conference. University of Louisville, Louisville, KY. February, 1997.
"History As Drama: Towards a Feminist Materialist Historiography." Sixth Annual Virginia Woolf Conference. Clemson, SC. June, 1996.
"Reconfiguring the Past: The Post-Modern, Post-Southern Narratives of Josephine Humphreys." Department Colloquium, Vanderbilt University. Nashville, TN. April, 1993.
"Harry Potter in the 21st Century: Realism, Fantasy, and Fan Culture" (workshop leader). Children’s Literature Summer School. University of Antwerp. Antwerp, Belgium. 1 July 2019.
"J. K. Rowling's Library: Harry Potter in Context" (invited talk). University of Antwerp. Antwerp, Belgium. March, 2018.
"Mind the Gap: Harry Potter and the Fantasy (of) Genre" (invited talk). University of Antwerp. Antwerp, Belgium. March, 2018.
"Mind the Gap: Harry Potter and the Fantasy (of) Genre" (invited plenary talk). Fourth Annual Harry Potter Conference. Chestnut Hill College. Chestnut Hill, PA. 16 Oct. 2015.
"Mind the Gap: Harry Potter and the Fantasy (of) Genre." University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Knoxville, TN. October, 2013.
"Harry Potter and the Object of Art." University of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, PA. March, 2012.
"Accidental Experts: Strategy, Serendipity, and the Places You'll Go." With Philip Nel.Vanderbilt University. November, 2011.
"Art in Harry Potter / Harry Potter in Art." English Department Colloquia Series. Kansas State University. April, 2011.
"J. K. Rowling’s Library: Harry Potter in Context." Prophecy 2007: From Hero to Legend. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. August, 2007.
"Canon: Its Context and Completion." (Panelist.) Prophecy 2007: From Hero to Legend. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. August, 2007.
"Two Roles in One: Best Practices for Teaching GTAs How to Teach." Co-authored with Deborah Murray. Third Annual K-State Teaching Renewal Retreat. Kansas State University. Manhattan, KS. Jan 2006.
"When Harry Met Jane: The Legacy of Jane Austen in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter." English Department Colloquia Series. Kansas State University. April, 2005.
"Blinded by the Light: Teaching and Assessing Information Literacy." Co-authored with Deborah Murray. Teaching Renewal Retreat. Kansas State University. Rock Springs Center, Junction City, Kansas. Jan 2004.
"What Our Students Know -- and Don't Know -- About the Internet: Implications for Digital Learning." Co-authored with Naomi Wood. Distance Learning Lecture Series. Kansas State University. Manhattan, KS. April, 2002. [PowerPoint presentation.]
"Literary and Cultural Contexts for Zadie Smith's White Teeth." American Ethnic Studies 501, "Leadership in American Ethnic Studies." Kansas State University. February, 2001.
"A.S. Byatt and '(V.Woolf)': Mapping a Misreading of Modernism." English Department Colloquia Series. Kansas State University. October 2000.
"The Bloomsbury Group." English 660A, "Readings in Major Authors: Virginia Woolf." Kansas State University. October, 2000.
Sharma, Anita. "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: New Book has Fans Going Hog Wild
for Hogwarts." CTV News. 30 July 2016. Video. <https://www.facebook.com/CTVNewsChannel/videos/1146169942111002/>
Goodale, Gloria. "'Hunger Games' is an opportunity to bond for many families."
The Christian Science Monitor. 16 March 2012. <http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2012/0316/Hunger-Games-is-an-opportunity-to-bond-for-many-families>Puente, Maria. “How has Harry Potter cast such a wide spell?” USA Today 18 Jul. 2007: <http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2007-07-16-potter-phenom_N.htm>.
Song, Vivian. “Literary Magic. ” London Free Press 19 Jul. 2007: <http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/ThursdayTicket/2007/07/19/4351048-sun.html>. Repr. in various Sun Media papers.
Kraske, Steve. “Harry Potter.” Up to Date, KCUR 89.3 FM, Kansas City, MO. 13 July 2007, 11:25 a.m.-12:00 noon. <http://www.kcur.org/UTDarchive.html>. Direct link to audio: <http://134.193.176.202/UTD/UTD_7-13-2007.mp3>.
Adams, Kathy. “Order of the Phoenix.” News-Journal (Wilmington, DE) 11 Jul. 2007: <http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070710/ENTERTAINMENT/70710062>.
Fussell, James A. "Now Kansas Has a Harry: Sunflower State scholars get notice for views on Potter phenomenon." Kansas City Star 9 Aug 2003: F1-F2. <http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/living/6480116.htm>.
Cohen, Patricia. "The Phenomenology of Harry, or the Critique of Pure Potter." New York Times 19 July 2003. <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/19/arts/19POTT.html>
Hall, Edie. "Faculty use software to help detect Internet plagiarism in students' work" Kansas State Collegian 16 Apr 2002: 5. <http://kstatecollegian.com/stories/041602/new_nocheaty.shtml>
Donahue, Deirdre. "'Potter' inspires academic analysis." USA Today 16 Nov. 2001: E3 <http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/books/potter/2001-11-16-analysis.htm>.
| DISSERTATION | "Dramatic Interventions: The Gendering of History's Narrative in Virginia Woolf and Jeanette Winterson." Director: Mark Wollaeger. |
Virginia Woolf and Jeanette Winterson offer a feminist critique of the historiographic conventions of realist fiction. Woolf's interests in history and drama jointly shape the development of the narrative techniques that Winterson, as one of Woolf's literary heirs, self-consciously revises. In her early reviews and biographical writings, Woolf proposes a dialogic historiography which recovers what established histories elide and what drama tends to highlight: a woman's character, body, and voice. The critical perspective that Woolf seeks from the dramatic, Winterson locates in the romance. Their narratives draw upon the literary traditions of romance and of non-Aristotelian drama to advance feminist materialist goals which have been occluded by the established terms of the modernist/postmodernist debate.
Project Director, ACLS Public Engagement Project Grant for “Sustaining Public Humanities at Kansas State University,” 2022-2023. (Not funded.)
Project Director, NEH American Rescue Plan Humanities Organizations Level III Grant for “Sustaining Public Humanities at Kansas State University,” 2021-2022. (Not funded.)
Project Manager, NEH Public Humanities Planning Grant for “Making a Statement: Gordon Parks's Gift of Photographs,” 2020-2021. (Funded.)
Co-Project Director, NEH "Scholarly Editions" Grant for "The American First World War Poetry Digital Archive," 2016-2018, 2017-2019. (Not funded; reapplying.)
Co-Project Director, NEH "Digital Preservation and Access" Grant for "The Learning Tree: A Gordon Parks Digital Archive," 2017-2019, 2018-2020. (Not funded; reapplying.)
Co-Project Director, NEH "Digital Projects for the Public" Grant for "The American First World War Poetry Digital Project," 2015. (Not funded in 2014; re-applying in 2016 for 2017.)
Project Director, Global Campus Course Development Grant for “English 355 ‘Literature for Children,’” 2022.
Project Director, Distance Learning Grant for “English 417 ‘Written Communication for the Workplace,’” 2016-2017.
Project Director, Distance Learning Grant for "English 100 'Expository Writing 1,'" 2015-2016.
Project Director, Distance Learning Grant for "English 355 'Literature for Children,'" 2009-2010.
University Small Research Grant, Kansas State University, Spring 2007.
Faculty Development Award, Kansas State University, Spring 2006.
Faculty Development Award, Kansas State University, Spring 2005.
University Small Research Grant, Kansas State University, Spring 2004.
University Small Research Grant, Kansas State University, Spring 2003.
University Small Research Grant, Kansas State University, Spring 2002.
Faculty Development Award, Kansas State University, Summer 2001.
Assessment Mini-Grant, "Student Survey of Technology Experiences in the English Classroom," Office of Assessment and Program Review, Kansas State University. Co-authored with Naomi Wood. Spring, 2001.
Summer Research Grant, College of Charleston, Summer 2000.
Summer Research Grant, Department of English, College of Charleston, Summer 1999.
Dissertation Enhancement Grant, Vanderbilt University, Spring 1996, for original manuscript research at the Berg Collection, New York Public Library.
University Teaching Fellowship, Vanderbilt University, 1992-1996.
University Fellowship, Vanderbilt University, 1991-1992.
AWARDS, NOMINATIONS, and HONORS
Presidential Award for Outstanding Department Head, Kansas State University, 2017. (Nominated by the College of Arts and Sciences in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2017.)
Children's Literature Association 2014 Honor Award for "Beyond Periodization: Children's Literature, Genre, and Remediating Literary History," published in Children's Literature Association Quarterly 38.4 (2013): 464-469.
S.A.G.E. Graduate Faculty Distinguished Service Award, Kansas State University, Spring 2006, Spring 2016, Spring 2021.
S.A.G.E. Graduate Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award, Kansas State University, Spring 2003, Spring 2007, Spring 2011.
William L. Stamey Teaching Award for undergraduate teaching, Spring 2006.
Ph.D. Qualifying Exams, passed with Honors, October 1994.
Mary Lyons Prize for Writing, Wellesley College, for "The Decadence of Oscar Wilde and The Yellow Book: Criticized and Changed by the Public," 1991.
Twentieth-century British literature, contemporary British literature, British and American Modernism, women's studies, gender studies, children’s and young adult literatures, history of the novel, drama, poetry, composition, and digital humanities.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
- At Kansas State University:
- At the College of Charleston:
- At Vanderbilt University:
Master’s Project on Sarah J. Maas’s series A Court of Thorns and Roses with Sara Partin ‘23 (Fall 2021-Spring 2023)
Master’s Project on age in Avatar: The Last Airbender with Morgan Shiver ‘22 (Fall 2020-Spring 2022)
Master’s Project on wanderlust in The Wind in the Willows with Katherine Dubke ‘21 (Fall 2019-Spring 2021)
Master’s Project on hybridity in Rowling’s Harry Potter series with Molly Burt ‘20 (Fall 2018-Spring 2020)
Master’s Project on the imagination and trauma in children’s literature with Mikayla Sharpless ‘20 (Fall 2018-Spring 2020)
Master’s Project on the gothic in Rowling’s Harry Potter series with Gaby De Anda ‘19 (Fall 2017-Spring 2019)
Master’s Project on Kristin Cashore’s Graceling trilogy with Corinne Matthews '17 (Fall 2015-Spring 2017)
Master’s Project on children’s play in the novels of Woolf and Bowen with Christopher Comer '17 (Fall 2015-Spring 2017)
Master's Project on the poetry of Fleur Adcock with Megan Birdsey '15 (Fall 2014-Fall 2015)
Master's Project on the family story and Rowling's Harry Potter series with Ashley Christ '15 (Fall 2014-Summer 2015)
Master's Project on the domestic in Bronte's Villette with Rachel Ohmes '14 (Fall 2012-Spring 2014)
Master's Project on reader responses to Heathcliff in Bronte's Wuthering Heights with Kaylea Pallister ‘14 (Fall 2012-Spring 2014)
Master's Project on historiography in Rowling's Harry Potter series with Alex Stinson '14 (Fall 2012-Spring 2014)
Master's Project on Dahl’s Matilda as girls’ school story with Meredith Flory '13 (Fall 2011-Spring 2013)
Master's Project on death in Rowling’s Harry Potter series with Orlando Dos Reis '13 (Fall 2011-Spring 2013)
Master's Project on narrative point of view in Georgette Heyer’s Regency Romances with Hannah (Netta) Learned Baker '13 (Fall 2011-Spring 2013)
Master's Project on gender, sexuality, and race in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando with Christy Pottroff ‘11 (Fall 2010-Spring 2011)
Master's Project on feminism in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series with Laura Roderick '10 (Fall 2009-Spring 2010)
Master's Project on adaptations of Austen in popular vampire literature with Diedre Mapes '10 (Fall 2009-Spring 2010)
Master's Project on maternal ethics in A.S. Byatt's Babel Tower with Leah Wisroth '09 (Fall 2008-Spring 2009)
Master's Project on fan responses to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series with Rachel Parkin '09 (Fall 2008-Spring 2009)
Master's Project on masculinity in Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy with Heather Hernadez '09 (Fall 2008-Spring 2009)
Master's Project on the Brontes and Religion with Natalie Chandler Elder '08 (Fall 2007-Spring 2008)
Master's Project on Noel Coward and Harold Pinter with Jack Ayres '07 (Fall 2006-Spring 2007)
Master's Project on psychology and the self in Frankenstein with Emily Mattingly '07 (Fall 2006-Spring 2007)
Master's Project on the abject in Harry Potter with Brandy Isaacs '07 (Fall 2006-Spring 2007)
Master's Project on clothing and identity Monica Ali's Brick Lane with Sarah Townsend '06 (Fall 2005-Spring 2006)
Master's Project on education in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series with Jay Stringfield '06 (Fall 2005-Spring 2006)
Master's Project on time and the body in Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry with Sophia Muthraj '06 (Fall 2005-Spring 2006)
Master's Thesis on romance novels with Mindy Trenary '05 (Fall 2004-Spring 2005)
Master's Project on Salman Rushdie and Martin Amis with Hugh O'Connell '04 (Fall 2003-Spring 2004)
Master's Project on Iris Murdoch with Amy Hoskinson '04 (Fall 2003-Spring 2004)
Master's Project on teen fashion magazines with Erin Fritch '04 (Fall 2003-Spring 2004)
Master's Project on Jeanette Winterson with Cindy Debes '02 (Fall 2002-Spring 2003)
Honors Bachelor Essay on H.D. with Amanda Geoghan '99 (Spring 1998-Fall1999)
Honors Bachelor Essay on the poetry of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes with Lee Robinson '99 (Spring 1998- Fall 1999)
Honors Bachelor Essay on Samuel Beckett with Paul Calvert '00 (Spring 2000)
Independent Study on Contemporary British and American Fiction with Lee Norment '01 (Spring 2000)
Independent Study on Aldous Huxley with M. Isabel Gardett '00 (Spring 2000)
HERS Wellesley Institute for Women in Higher Education, 2014-2015.
Senior Faculty Fellow, Peer Review of Teaching, Kansas State University. 2004-2005.
Participant, Peer Review of Teaching, Kansas State University. Funded by the PEW Charitable Trust. 2002-2003.
Department Head, Department of English, Kansas State University, 2007-present.
- Oversee all academic and professional activities in the English Department and serve as the main liaison between the department and the Dean’s Office and between the department and other university units.
- Department includes 32 tenure lines, 25 additional full-time and part-time instructors, 150 undergraduate majors and minors, 45 graduate students (34 of whom are Graduate Teaching Assistants), two classified staff and a rotating group of student employees, and a budget of $4,800,000 to support instruction of approximately 500 class sections per year.
- Serve as the department's faculty developer
- Responsibilities include recruiting, hiring, mentoring, and evaluating a diverse faculty; fostering the intellectual pursuits of the department; and consulting with representatives of the department's tracks.
- Serve as the department's manager
- Responsibilities include preparing budgets, maintaining department records, assigning duties to faculty members, supervising classified and student personnel, responding to student- and faculty-initiated complaints and concerns, overseeing finances, facilities and equipment, and helping to procure resources, space, and technology.
- Serve as the department's leader
- Responsibilities include providing long-term direction and vision for the department, including its diversity efforts; overseeing curriculum development and the assessment of the department; planning or conducting faculty meetings; providing external leadership, and overseeing the department's diversity initiatives.
- Serve as the department's legal officer
- Responsibilities include keeping the department in compliance with university rules and federal and state law.
- Serve as the department's fundraiser
- Responsibilities include working with the College's Foundation Officers to obtain support for the department.
- Serve as a scholar
- Responsibilities include teaching and staying abreast of issues in the discipline of English.
For the Department:
Coordinator, Instructional Technology, Kansas State University, 2000-2007
- Coordinate and advise faculty on integrating technology into teaching.
- Oversee department's student technology support staff (two-three students) and department's technology inventory.
- Maintain schedule for the department's computer classrooms, in consultation with the Assistant Head of the department.
- Act as liaison between department and representatives from academic and administrative units at K-State.
- Research and secure sources of funding for technology initiatives, including dedicated technology classrooms and teaching resources.
Technology Committee, Kansas State University. 2000-present. Chair, 2003-2007.
- Organize, moderate, and present at technology workshops and lead tutorials for department faculty on a variety of topics.
- Oversee re-design of department website.
Secretary, English Department Relocation Committee, Kansas State University, 2001-2004; 2006-2008.
- Maintain all correspondence related to the renovation of the department's new location and renovation of current location.
- Oversee the relocation of the department to its new building and to temporary location during renovation.
Development Committee, Kansas State University, 2004-present.
Graduate Advisory Committee (G.A.C.), Kansas State University, 2002-2006.
English/Engineering Liaison Committee, Kansas State University, 2002-present.
Upper Division Writing Committee, Kansas State University, 2005-present.
Expository Writing Committee, Kansas State University, 2002-2004.
Hiring Committee, Kansas State University, 2002-present.
Literary Studies Committee, Kansas State University. 2000-present.
Children’s Literature Track Committee, Kansas State University, 2006-present. Founding
member of Track.Newsletter Committee, Kansas State University, 2006-present.
Chair, Technology Committee, College of Charleston, 1999-2000.
- Organized, moderated, and presented at technology workshops for department faculty and instructors on online discussions and web resources.
- Researched funding for and oversaw development of new dedicated computer lab classroom for department.
Faculty Work Load Reduction, College of Charleston, Spring 2000.
Library Committee, College of Charleston, 1999-2000.
Senior Symposium Committee, College of Charleston, 1998-99.
English Department Secretary, College of Charleston, 1998-99.
Teaching Colloquium for English 105W "Drama: Forms and Techniques," Vanderbilt University, Spring 1998.
Teaching Colloquium for English 104W "Prose Fiction: Forms and Techniques," Vanderbilt University, Spring 1996 and Spring 1997.
Graduate Student Representative to the Graduate Committee, Vanderbilt University, 1995-1996.
For the College and University:
K-State First Book (KSFB) / K-State Book Network (KSBN), Chair, PR/Events Committee. 2009-present.
K-State First Book (KSFB) / K-State Book Network (KSBN) Steering Committee, 2017-present.
K-State First Communications Committee, 2011-2016.
Advisory Board, Center for Entrepreneurship, 2010-present.
Search Committee, Chair, Director, School of Media and Communication, 2023-2024.
Search Committee, Chair, Interim Director, School of Media and Communication, 2023
Search Committee, Chair, Department Head of Art, 2022.
Search Committee, Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences, 2022.
Search Committee, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, 2022.
Search Committee, Dean of the Libraries, 2021.
Search Committee, Chair, Interim Director for Communication Studies, 2016-2017.
Search Committee, Chair, Director of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, 2015-2016.
Search Committee, Chair, Interim Director of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, 2014-2015.
Search Committee, Chair, Technical Writer, Office of Research, 2014-2015.
Search Committee, Chair, Director of American Ethnic Studies, 2012-2013.
Search Committee, Vice President for Research, 2015-2016.
Search Committee, Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences, 2011.
President’s Task Force on Research Infrastructure, Office of the President, 2010.
Search Committee, Dean of Arts and Sciences, 2010-2011.
Search Committee, CIO/VP for Information Technology Services, 2009-2010.
Search Committee, Chair, Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences, 2009.
Provost’s Task Force on Faculty Workload, Office of the Provost, 2009.
English Program Team, SHEP/World Bank Projects for Kabul University and Balkh University, Afghanistan, 2007-present.
Faculty Advisor, Children's and Adolescent Literature Community, 2007-present.
Faculty Advisor, K-State Harry Potter Alliance, 2010-present.
Search Committee, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, Kansas State University,
2008.Equity and Access Project Partnership Summer Institute. PDS Partnership, College of Education, Kansas State University, 2005-2009.
Information Technology Communications Committee, Office of the Vice-Provost for Information Technology, Kansas State University, 2004-2008.
Information Literacy Task Force, Hale Library, Kansas State University, 2004-2007.
University Library Committee, Kansas State University, 2006-2009, 2010-present.
Search Committee, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, Kansas State University, 2003-2004.
Secretary, Faculty Welfare Committee, College of Charleston, 1999-2000.
Steering Committee, Program of Women's Studies, College of Charleston, 1998-2000.
Curriculum Sub-Committee, Program of Women's Studies, College of Charleston, 1998-2000.
General Advising for Undergraduates, College of Charleston, 1998-1999.
For the Profession:
Board of Directors, Children’s Literature Association. Elected position; 3-year term (2021-2024).
MLA Forum on Children’s and Young Adult Literature Executive Committee. Elected position; 5-year term (2019-2024).
Seminar Leader, Graduate Curricula and Careers Pre-Seminar Workshop. MAPS Leadership Institute, in collaboration with MLA and ADE/ALD. Online. 21 June 2023.
Seminar Leader, New Chairs Pre-Seminar Workshop. Association of Departments of English (ADE) Summer Seminar. Scottsdale, AZ. June, 2016.
Seminar Leader, New Chairs Pre-Seminar Workshop. Association of Departments of English (ADE) Summer Seminar. Kansas City, MO. June, 2015.
Seminar Leader, New Chairs Pre-Seminar Workshop. Association of Departments of English (ADE) Summer Seminar. Galveston, TX. June, 2014.
Seminar Leader, New Chairs Pre-Seminar Workshop. Association of Departments of English (ADE) Summer Seminar. Charlotte, NC. June, 2013.
Seminar Leader, New Chairs Pre-Seminar Workshop. Association of Departments of English (ADE) Summer Seminar. Boulder, CO. June, 2012.
Member, Executive Committee, Associated Departments of English (ADE). Modern Language Association, 2011-2014.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCEComputer-Assisted Writing Instruction, 1996-present.
Research, University of Sussex, Monks House Papers, Spring 1996.
Research, Berg Collection, New York Public Library, Spring 1996.
Research Assistant, Professor Mark Wollaeger, Vanderbilt University, 1995-1996.
Research Assistant, Professor Mark Schoenfield, Vanderbilt University, Summer 1995.
Grader, SAT-II Essay Placement Exam for incoming students, trained by Educational Testing Services, Summer 1995-1997.
LANGUAGES Fluent in French; reading knowledge of German.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONSMember, International Virginia Woolf Society.
Member, Society for the Study of Narrative Literature.
Member, Children's Literature Association.
Member, International Research Society for Children’s Literature.
Member, Modernist Studies Association.
Member, Society for the Study of Critical Exchange.
Member, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.
Member, South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Program Secretary (1999-2000), Program Chair (2000-2001), "Literary Criticism Discussion Circle." Program Secretary (2002-2003), Program Chair (2003-2004), "English V (Modern British)."
Member, Modern Language Association.
Co-founder and member, Finnegans Wake Reading Group, Vanderbilt University.
Member, 18th Century Players, Vanderbilt University.
REFERENCESGregory Eiselein, Professor of English, Kansas State University
Naomi Wood, Associate Professor of English, Kansas State University.
Joe Kelly, Professor of English, College of Charleston.
Margaret A. Doody, Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Notre Dame.
Jay Clayton, Professor of English, Vanderbilt University.
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Department of English | Kansas State University
Email: westmank@ksu.edu
Last updated August 2023