My primary interest has always been  19th century British poetry and prose, with a special focus on historians and historical novelists. I recently edited a reference book on late Victorian and Edwardian short fiction.

My interests are Restoration and 18^th-Century British literature, specifically drama and the rise of the novel.  My current research examines the formative and performative influences of the novel on late eighteenth-century English drama.  I am also currently developing a collection of essays on the life and works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

Most of my research involves ways to understand the act of writing and how the context in which we write can affect our abilities to write well and confidently.  My scholarship tends to focus on ways to improve both the teaching and tutoring of writing.  These interests led to my co-editing a book with Kathleen B. Yancey entitled Student Self-Assessment and Development in Writing (2000).  My current project, another edited book entitled The Elephant in the Classroom:  Race and Writing, grew out of my work with Dr. Dorothy Perry Thompson, and is forthcoming from Hampton Press.  I also write poetry and have been working on a series of poems, tentatively entitled The Nantucket Wife, that are based on historical figures—the whaling captain Perry Winslow and his wife, Mary Ann.

My primary field of interest is twentieth century American literature with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender in the South.  I am also drawn to psychoanalytical theory and recently finished my dissertation, which is a Freudian/Lacanian reading of works by William Faulkner and Toni Morrison.

My research interests are broad and varied but primarily include Renaissance literature, drama of almost any historical period, and critical theory (literary and rhetorical).  I also teach a wide range of courses from Shakespeare and Elizabethan literature to the British novel, as well as freshman writing and technical writing. I am working on a book about Christopher Marlowe's play  Doctor Faustus and on an article about Ben Jonson.

My special interests are 19th and 20th century British literature, the short story, and literary theory, and I teach courses in all of these areas as well as in Southern literature, world literature, and advanced composition. I am currently working on an article about John Clare's poetry, Wordsworth's "Lucy" poems, and Mary Wollstonecraft's fiction.

My interests include British Literature, writing, and thinking critically. I am pursuing a PhD in Education with a focus on Training and Performance Improvement. My dissertation is on E-mentoring with a focus on trust, frequency, and Malcolm Knowles’ Adult Learning Theory. I believe everyone should embrace the art of delivery, for it makes all the difference.

My research interests include 17^th and 18^th century British literature, early modern women writers, early modern educational theorists, and the intersection of religious faith and literary expression.  During my academic career, I have enjoyed teaching a wide range of subjects, including British literature; children’s literature; genre courses such as the novel and short story; Christianity and literature; and writing, research,  and critical thinking courses.  I have presented papers and published on varied topics such as seventeenth-century female educational theorists, literary naturalism, Eliza Haywood’s The Female Spectator, Delariviere Manley, and the defense of women’s education in early modern England. 

I have always focused on 20th century American and British literature, even though my teaching interests include literary theory and grammar. In very recent years, my scholarly work has grown from my teaching and interest in neo-Victorian fiction, although my work on Southern writers continues. I have also published on Reynolds Price, John Crowe Ransome, Virginia Woolf, and other 20th century literary figures.

EMERITUS FACULTY

I continue to study connections between the structure of language and culture (including, art, music, literature, sports, and games).  Most recently I have been comparing writing systems to determine the extent to which they reflect the structure of spoken language. Beginning in  2001-2002 I will be the Director of the Master of Liberal Arts Program.

My number one intellectual passion, grappling with the ideas, and social and political ramifications of language and literacy, influences the advanced courses I teach in Composition Theory and Rhetoric as well as my writing courses.  It also colors my work as the Director of the Teaching and Learning Center, which is responsible for the professional and personal development of all Winthrop employees.  Because Winthrop is a community of learners, each student, faculty member, and staff person has the opportunity to learn and to teach others.   Learning is what we’re all about at Winthrop!

I am interested in most things but specialize in 20th century British, including Irish, literature. My current research and writing includes Scotch-Irish genealogy; Celtic culture of Appalachia; a Blue Ridge Moutain glossary or dictionary; and James Joyce, Gustav Mahler, and Charles Ives as modernists.

With Elizabeth H. Wilcox, I edited the Centennial Edition of Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, for Houghton Mifflin Co, 2003. I continue to write fiction and poetry, having completed some two dozen short stories, one novel, and several dozen poems in the past three years.

STAFF

In Memoriam