Brenta Blevins, Associate Professor of Writing Studies and Digital Studies, recently presented Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research on “low stakes” reflective journal assignments at the Corridors, the Blue Ridge Writing and Rhetoric Conference, in Blacksburg, VA. She also delivered a workshop on journal writing and conducting writing studies related SoTL research. … [Read more...]
Barrenechea Presents at Literature/Film Association Conference
September 26, 2023 by
Antonio Barrenechea, Professor of English, recently presented "Hot/Cold Ecosystems in the Americas: Recycling Trash Cinema from Santo to Dr. Humpp" at the annual conference of the Literature/Film Association in Missoula, Montana, Sept. 21-23, 2023. … [Read more...]
Richards Delivers on Eudora Welty at the American Literature Association
September 19, 2023 by
Professor of English Gary Richards delivered a paper titled “Lily Daw and the Erotic Spaces of Disability” on the panel "The Sensual, Sexual, and Erotic Welty," sponsored by the Eudora Welty Society at the American Literature Association Annual Meeting in Boston this past May. … [Read more...]
Barrenechea Publishes Review
September 18, 2023 by
Professor of English Antonio Barrenechea recently published a review of Fellow Travelers: How Road Stories Shaped the Idea of the Americas, by John Ochoa (University of Virginia Press, 2021), Comparative Literature Studies 60.2 (2023): 418-21. … [Read more...]
Levin Delivers Paper
August 28, 2023 by
Professor and Department Chair Jonathan Levin delivered a paper titled “'A tree is a passage between earth and sky’': Navigating Scientific and Animistic Frameworks in Richard Powers’s The Overstory” at the American Literature Association Annual Meeting in Boston this past May. … [Read more...]
Lorentzen Presents Paper on Dickens and Talk on “Dickens, Disney, and Popular Culture” Course
August 18, 2023 by
Professor of English Eric G. Lorentzen presented a paper entitled "The Sights/Sites of Dickens in 2023: Literary Tourism, Cultural Studies, and the University Literature Classroom" at the recent Dickens Society Symposium in Rochester (RIT). The talk included research he conducted in museums and other literary sites across England, as well as the pedagogical methodologies involved with his recent new course on Dickens at UMW, "Dickens, Disney, and Popular Culture," two sections of which ran for the first time during the fall 2022 semester. He was also one of six scholars to be invited to join the roundtable "Teaching Dickens," at which he presented the talk "Wisdom of the Heart: Dickens and Cultural Studies." Professor Lorentzen hopes to offer the course again during the fall 2024 semester. … [Read more...]
Mathur Publishes Book Chapter and Presents Paper
April 20, 2023 by
Professor of English Maya Mathur's essay, "When Students Recognize Gender but not Race: Addressing the Othello-Caliban Conundrum," was recently published in the collection, Teaching Race in the European Renaissance: A Classroom Guide, edited by Matthieu Chapman and Anna Wainwright, ACMRS Press, 2023, pp.15-33. Professor Mathur also presented the paper, "The Ballad of Tom and Greg: Comic Masculinity, Aspirational Whiteness, and Succession," in the seminar, "Shakespeare and Race in Popular Culture," at the Shakespeare Association of America's annual conference, which was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota from March 30 to April 1, 2023. … [Read more...]
Barrenechea Authors Simpson Library Page on Rare Books
April 19, 2023 by
Antonio Barrenechea, Professor of English, recently authored “The Story of Rare Books at Mary Washington, 1963-Present" for the UMW Simpson Library. Professor Barrenechea currently serves as faculty liaison to the UMW Simpson Library Special Collections. … [Read more...]
Richards Leads Fifteenth Discussion at the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival
April 3, 2023 by
Gary Richards, Professor of English, led a discussion of six of Kate Chopin's representative short stories at the sold-out special event "Books and Beignets with Gary Richards" at the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival on Saturday, March 25. Richards has presented in this series fifteen times since 2007, lecturing on authors that include Ellen Gilchrist, John Kennedy Toole, Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, Harper Lee, James Baldwin, and, in multiple sessions, Tennessee Williams. Richards teaches such English courses as Southern Short Stories (Summer 2023), Writing About the South (Fall 2023), and Global Issues in Literature (Fall 2023) and also offers WGST courses as Perspectives in Sexuality (Summer 2023). … [Read more...]
Levin Writes Letter to Editor about Value of General Education Courses
March 31, 2023 by
Professor of English and Department of English and Linguistics Chair Jonathan Levin’s “Letter to the Editor” on the value of taking courses outside the major appeared in the campus newspaper The Weekly Ringer. Professor Levin teaches such course as Contemporary American Fiction, a Freshman Seminar on The Craft of Storytelling, and Writing about Sports, among other offerings. … [Read more...]