HANDBOOK

for

English Majors
at

CLARK UNIVERSITY
2018–2019
English Department

950 Main Street

Worcester, MA 01610 USA

PHONE 508.793.7142
FAX 508.793.8892
WEBSITE www.clarku.edu/english

Anderson House

12 Hawthorne St., corner

of Woodland St.

(home of the English Department

where faculty and students meet)

When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving

power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a
sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just
as I did when I was young.
maya angelou
THE ENGLISH MAJOR

CONTENTS

Why Study English? 6

The Department’s Goals for English Majors 8

Core Requirements for English Majors 10

Areas of Specialization 14

Special Opportunities 20

English Minor Requirements 24

Creative Writing Minor Requirements 25

English Department Faculty 27

name:
class:

advisor:
area of specialization:
3
 2018

Dear Student,

Welcome to the English Department!

Our English majors not only possess a love of language and literature,
they also have an abiding sense of the power of the word that compels
meaningful contributions to the larger world. The program encourages
the development of a sense of literary history, sensitivity to cultural val-
ues, and expansive knowledge of important authors, works and periods
of literature in English, as well as the tools to live a life of consequence.
Seasoned faculty will guide you as you engage in close reading, ana-
lytical reasoning, critical thinking, and cogent writing. In this way, the
English major will prepare you for a wide variety of career paths.

Our program offers a range of courses, from traditional areas, such as

Shakespeare, Romanticism, and global literature, to cutting-edge fields,
such as medical humanities and science fiction. In addition, we have
a Creative Writing minor with courses in poetry, fiction and creative
nonfiction taught by professional writers. These courses guide students
to examine literary works as a writer to apply what they learn to their
own writing. Interactive workshops, moreover, provide the feedback
that helps students to develop and refine their work.

We also provide a number of scholarly opportunities, such as partici-

pation in our national Honors Society, Sigma Tau Delta, our Capstone
in English, and our Honors program. Our connections to a number of
internships, such as the London Internship Program, offers positions
in the fields of theater and journalism, in addition to internships with
local newspapers and journals, as well as national organizations. Our
program, moreover, has strong ties with the American Antiquarian
Society, which offers seminars and the opportunity to participate in
archival research. For those interested in studying abroad, the English
Department has a partner program at the University of East Anglia and
Advanced Studies in English in Bath, England.
4
The inviting home of the English Department, Anderson House,
encourages students to gather in informal and formal communities of
learning. We host social events that highlight student achievement as
well as provide information concerning the field, such as our Chowder
Fest, in which English Department alumni speak on their employment
experiences.

Again, welcome! Please feel free to stop by and speak to any of us in the
department about questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Lisa Kasmer

Associate Professor and Chair

department of english

5
 Why Study English?

When hiring recent graduates, employers place the greatest priority on

written and oral communication, teamwork skills, ethical decision mak-
ing, critical thinking, and the ability to apply knowledge in real-world
settings (AAC&U’s National Surveys of Business and Nonprofit Leaders
and Current College Students). Majoring in English is one of the best
ways to enhance your communication and critical thinking skills as
well as empathy through learning how to critically read and write about
literature that brings you into another’s world.

Studying English at Clark has many benefits:

–– Learn universal skills that are transportable to almost any profession.


–– Work with highly respected scholars to develop a sense of literary

history and literature, sensitivity to cultural values and the ability to
analyze effectively and persuasively.

–– Engage in exciting interdisciplinary courses that deepen and broaden

your understanding of the world.

–– Deepen your studies by writing an honors thesis.

–– Apply your critical knowledge of literature, theory and culture to

student leadership opportunities like student-led organizations Clark
Writes, SPOC (Science Fiction People of Clark), Caesura literary
magazine, and SURJ (Student Undergraduate Research Journal).


–– Participate in community service and academic culture through

membership in our national English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta.
Join ClarkWrites to help produce their writing blog.

–– Gain work experience through internships with local, national and

international organizations such as Worcester Magazine and Luxem-
bourg’s National Museum of History and Art, among others.

6
Careers of Recent Alumni:

Communication and Editing

–– Anchor at WION (World in One News)

Fundraising and Development

–– Manger of Financial Capability, Center for Changing Lives

Teaching and Coaching

–– Assistant Director of Study Abroad, College of the Holy Cross

Law and Policy

–– Counsel, DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice

Sales and Marketing

–– Product Marketing Communications Manager, Facebook

Non-Profit Administration
–– Project Manager, Jewish Historical Society

Health and Sciences

–– Practice Assistant, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

7
 The Department’s Goals
for English Majors

Students who navigate through the English major experience the

following learning outcomes, progressing in command of critical
analytical skills at each level of the program.

Outcomes for English Courses

I 100-level historical sequence courses

–– The ability to analyze a variety of texts and situate them within

their historical contexts
–– Familiarity with literary terminology
–– Beginning knowledge of research skills
–– The ability to write a coherent 5 to 7 page essay

II 100-level genre courses

–– The ability to identify common structural features

–– Close reading skills and using literary terminology
–– The ability to write a well-organized, 6 to 10 page essay or
creative project that demonstrates an understanding of the
genre in question

III 200-level seminars

–– The ability to apply a range of critical, theoretical, and

interdisciplinary approaches (such as philological, historical,
feminist, deconstructionist, psychoanalytic, or postcolonial)
to a variety of texts
–– The ability to understand a complex text in great depth
–– The ability to develop cogently argued and carefully supported
8 original ideas about a variety of texts
 –– The ability to write an effectively-documented and extended
(10 to 15 pages) research paper
–– The ability to deliver an effective oral presentation

IV Capstone Seminar

–– The ability to apply a broad range of critical and theoretical

approaches to a variety of texts
–– The ability to design and complete an independent research or
creative writing project of 20 pages or more
–– The ability to deliver an effective oral presentation
–– The ability to work effectively on a team project

9
 Core Requirements
for English Majors

SEMESTER
a gateway course (1 course)  GRADE

Each major must take the gateway course to prepare

for English courses.

eng 199 Text, the World and the Critic

b historical sequences (2 courses)

The two courses used to satisfy this requirement
must include one course from 1) and one course
from 2).

1) Pre-1850 Course (1 course)

eng 140 Major British Writers I

eng 180 Major American Writers I
eng 133 Survey of Women Writers I
eng 182 African American Literature I

2) Post-1850 Course (1 course)

eng 141 Major British Writers II

eng 181 Major American Writers II
eng 134 Survey of Women Writers II
eng 165 American Ethnic Writers
eng 183 African American Literature II
eng 222 Black Political Literary Movements
of the 20th Century (can satisfy B-2

or D-3 but does not double count)

10
 SEMESTER
GRADE

c genre courses (2 courses)

1 (c-1) each major must take at least one
poetry course, such as:

eng 107 Creative Writing: Poetry

eng 110 Lyric Architectures: Reading Poetry
eng 123 Voicing the Verse: Poetry in
Performance

1 (c-2) Each major must also take at least one

other genre course, such as:

eng 135 The Short Story

eng 143 Terrible Beauty: The Art of Tragedy
eng 146 The Epic
eng 145 Fabulae: The Genre of Romance
eng 164 The Gothic
eng 239 Science Fiction: Literature, Theory,
Politics (Formerly Aliens and Others
in Sci Fiction)

d period requirements (4 courses)

1 (d-1) Each major must take at least two
courses of literature before 1700, one of
which must be at the 200-level, such as:

eng 120 Introduction to Shakespeare

eng 140 Major British Writers I (may not
double count for B as a pre-1850
Historical Sequence if used for the D-1
requirement)
eng 150 Introduction to Medieval Literature
eng 227 The Book in the Early Modern
World (Formerly “Introduction to
Archival Research.” Can satisfy D-1 or
11
 SEMESTER
GRADE

E, but does not double count.)

eng 250 Medieval Literature Seminar
eng 253 Advanced Shakespeare
eng 255 Studies in the Renaissance
eng 284 Topics in 17th-C and 18th-C
American Literature (can satisfy D-1
or D-2, but does not double count)
eng 285 Topics in Seventeenth-Century
Literature

2 (d-2) Each major must take at least one

200-level course of literature between 1700
and 1900, such as:

eng 225 American Print Culture 1700-1900

eng 260 Making Gender through the
18th-Century Novel
eng 261 Gender and Genre in the
19th-Century British Novel
eng 262 Jane Austen in Contemporary
Culture
eng 263 National Trauma: Studies in British
Romanticism
eng 281 American Literary Renaissance
eng 284 Topics in 17th-C and 18th-Century
American Literature (can satisfy D-1
or D-2, but does not double count)

3 (d-3) Each major must take at least one

200-level course of literature after 1900,
such as:

eng 232 Modernist Literature

eng 238 Contemporary Latino/a Literature
eng 275 Fictions of Empire: Studies in
12
 SEMESTER
GRADE

Global English Literature

eng 276 Ethnic America: Literature,
Theory, Politics
eng 278 Contemporary British Literature
eng 279 Fictions of Asian America
eng 280 Studies in Contemporary Fiction:
Literary Speculations
eng 293 Special Topics in African American
Literature
eng 222 Black Political Literary Movements
of the 20th C. (Can satisfy B-2 or
D-3, but does not double count.)

e. theory (1 course)
Each major must take at least one 200-level course in
theory and language such as:

eng 227 The Book in the Early Modern

World (Formerly “Introduction to
Archival Research.” Can satisfy D-1 or
E, but does not double count.)
eng 243 Literary Theory and Global Culture
eng 245 Mythopoetics
eng 248 Contemporary Literary Theory

f. capstone requirement (1 course)

Each major must take the Capstone course:

eng 290 Capstone

13
 Areas of Specialization

An Area of Specialization assists you in focusing your study of literature

and in becoming familiar with specific bodies of literature. In planning
your Area of Specialization, please consider the following:

–– Many courses included in the various Areas of Specialization

also satisfy certain English Major Core Requirements, so dou-
ble-counting of a course is allowed for the Area of Specialization.
–– With the consent of your adviser, courses not listed in an Area of
Specialization may be accepted.
–– An equivalent course from another accredited college or Univer-
sity may be substituted with your adviser’s permission.
–– With the consent of your adviser, you may propose an individu-
ally designed Area of Specialization, which must be submitted to
the Department Chair for final approval.
–– It is possible to use a second major, a minor in another field or a
concentration as an Area of Specialization if links to the English
major are established.

The Areas of Specialization are:

–– American Literature
–– Ethnic Literatures
–– British Literature
–– Global Literature and Culture
–– Early Literature
–– Gender and Sexuality Studies

In addition, other possibilities for Specialization are:

–– Individually Designed Area of Specialization

–– Specialization in Secondary Education
14 –– Specialization in Interdisciplinary Studies
Specialization in American Literature

This specialization allows students to explore many different formu-

lations of American experience through old, new, and non- canonical
writers in a range of genres and periods.

Possible courses that fulfill this requirement include:

core courses Any two 100-level survey courses in American literature

–– eng 165 American Ethnic Writers

–– eng 180 Major American Writers I
–– eng 181 Major American Writers II
–– eng 182 African American Literature I
–– eng 183 African American Literature II

additional courses Any two at the 200 level

–– eng 222 Black Political Movements of the 20th Century

–– eng 225 American Print Culture 1700-1900
–– eng 238 Contemporary Latino/a Literature
–– eng 276 Ethnic America Literature, Theory, Politics
–– eng 279 Fictions of Asian America
–– eng 281 Scribblers and Other Novelists
–– eng 284 Special Topics in 17th- and 18th-Century
American Literature

One course outside the English Department

Specialization in Ethnic Literatures

This focus area will be of interest for students interested in compara-

tively exploring literatures in English by people of ethnic origins in the
Americas. It will complement students pursuing programs of study in
Africana Studies, Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies, and Compara-
tive Literature.

Possible courses that fulfill this requirement:

15
 core courses Any two at the 100 level

–– eng 165 American Ethnic Writers

–– eng 182 African American Literature I
–– eng 183 African American Literature II

additional courses Any two at the 200 level

–– eng 238 Contemporary Latino/a Writers

–– eng 276 Ethnic America
–– eng 279 Fictions of Asian America
–– eng 275 Fictions of Empire

One course outside the English Department

Specialization in British Literature

This area of study will focus on the origins of English-language litera-

ture from the medieval period to the dissemination of English forms
and genres across national borders. Students will consider the literary
production of the specific national and regional traditions of Britain,
but will also explore the idea of Britain as a contingent formation that
becomes salient within particular historical and cultural contexts.

Possible courses that fulfill this requirement:

core courses Any two at the 100 level

–– eng 140 Major British Writers I

–– eng 141 Major British Writers II
–– eng 110 Lyric Architectures

additional courses Any two at the 200 level

–– eng 250 Medieval Literature

–– eng 253 Advanced Studies in Shakespeare
–– eng 255 Studies in the Renaissance
–– eng 262 Special Topics in 19th-Century British Literature
–– eng 275 Fictions of Empire
16 One course outside the English Department
Specialization in Global Literature and Culture

This concentration will focus on the study of literature and cultural

production within a global context, and within specific local histories
and economies that emerge in the modern world. Courses in this area
will consider literary texts as well as extra-literary forms such as social
movements and everyday life practices. Students may find it useful to
combine this concentration with a focus on a particular regional or
language tradition, drawing, for example, on offerings in Asian Studies,
Africana Studies, or Comparative Literature.

Possible courses that fulfill this requirement:

core courses These courses will provide a foundation for the study of
the Anglophone world. Any two at the 100 level

–– eng 140 Major British Writers I

–– eng 141 Major British Writers II
–– eng 110 Lyric Architectures

additional courses Any two at the 200 level

–– eng 275 Fictions of Empire

–– eng 243 Literary Theory and Global Culture
–– eng 248 Contemporary Literary Theory
–– eng 261 Gender and Genre in the Nineteenth-Century
British Novel

One course outside the English Department

Specialization in Early Literature

A specialization in Early Literature not only fosters a nuanced

understanding of the past times and places but also deepens your sense
of how the present is rooted in long histories, from literary conventions
to pressing social and political issues of today.

Possible courses that fulfill this requirement include:

17
 core courses Any two at the 100 level

–– eng 120 Introduction to Shakespeare

–– eng 140 Major British Writers I
–– eng 150 Introduction to Medieval Literature

additional courses Any two at the 200 level

–– eng 227 The Book in the Early Modern World

–– eng 253 Advanced Studies in Shakespeare
–– eng 285 Special Topics in Seventeenth-Century Literature

One course outside the English Department

Specialization in Gender and Sexuality Studies

This specialization will deepen your understanding of women’s writing,

as well as your understanding of gender and sexuality as theoretical
concepts that have evolved and continue to evolve through time. These
courses examine the ways in which differences are produced culturally
and emphasize the interrelationships among gender and sexuality, race,
class, and nation. This specialization will complement the pursuit of
study in Women’s and Gender Studies.

Possible courses that fulfill this requirement:

core courses Any two at the 100 level

–– eng 133 Women Writers I

–– eng 134 Women Writers II
–– eng 164 The Gothic

additional courses Any two at the 200 level

–– eng 260 Making Gender through the Eighteenth-

Century Novel
–– eng 261 Gender and Genre in the Nineteenth-Century
British Novel
18
 –– eng 293 “Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired” Narrative,
Medicine, and Ethics in Black Women’s Literature

One course outside the English Department

Individually Designed Area of Specialization

In consultation with your adviser, you may design your own Area of
specialization. It should include at least five coherently related cours-
es, one of which can be offered by other departments. After you and
your adviser agree on the nature and requirements of the individually
designed area, an outline of it should be forwarded to the Department
Chair, Professor Lisa Kasmer, for approval.

Specialization in Secondary Education

Courses in the Education Department that are required for Secondary

Certification fulfill this Area of Specialization. Students should consult
with their adviser in the English Department and an adviser in the
Education Department to determine these courses.

Specialization in Interdisciplinary Studies

You may use a second major, a minor in another field, or a Univer-

sity-wide concentration as your area of specialization as long as you
demonstrate links between the English major and the other field of
study in your Capstone project or in another appropriate course.

19
 Special Opportunities

Special Seminars

Students are encouraged to take advantage of special seminar oppor-

tunities offered in conjunction with other departments, as well as the
American Antiquarian Society, to fulfill certain D offerings. Recent
Higgins Seminars have fulfilled D3, including “ In Sickness and In
Health—Narrative and the Art of Healing” (English and Psychology),
“Race, Genre, and Autobiography” (English and Sociology), “Freedom
Dreams: Global Freedom Struggles from Decolonization to the Present”
(English and History), and “Science Fiction and the Mind of the Other”
(English and Philosophy). Recent offerings for the fall American Stud-
ies Seminar at the American Antiquarian Society have included “Ameri-
ca’s Environmental Histories,” “History of Sexuality in Early America,”
“Dressing Democracy: Clothing and Culture in America,” and “The
Nineteenth-Century Networked Nation: The Politics of American
Technology, 1776-1876,” all of which fulfilled the D2 requirement. Note:
Applications for the AAS program are due in spring. Contact Professor
Neuman for more information. Special interdisciplinary seminar topics
change every year, so consult your faculty advisor to find out about
upcoming offerings.

Medical Humanities/Health Humanities

Students interested in learning about graduate school and career

possibilities that bring together humanities studies (English, Histo-
ry, Philosophy, Art and Music) and science studies are encouraged to
connect with Professor Jones for conversation and advising. These
conversations may be particularly useful for students double-majoring
or major/minoring in Psychology and English, Biology and English, and
the PreHealth program.

20
Book History

Majors and non-majors interested in pursuing Library and Information

Sciences and other book related professions after graduation will find
useful academic background in coursework related to Book History.
Seminars on “The Book in the Early Modern World” and “American
Print Culture: 1700-1900” fulfill core English requirements while
allowing students to explore the impact that various technologies have
on science, art, and literature; culture and society; and law, history and
politics. Through an examination of past technologies and systems of
knowledge, students gain a better understanding of current ways that
information is created, organized and disseminated today. Throughout,
there is as much emphasis on historical continuance as on obvious
technological change. Courses as varied as “Printmaking” (Studio Art)
and the “American Studies Seminar” (offered through History and held
at the American Antiquarian Society) complement English offerings,
while directed readings, honors thesis, internships, and summer LEEP
projects can allow students to pursue specialization within the larger
field and enrich their knowledge base and practical experience. The
study of book history at Clark is not vocational training, but those who
go on to work and study in the field bring with them confidence with
hands-on skills, fluency with theoretical concepts, and understanding
of historical contexts from the rise of the printing press to the digital
revolution.

Internship Opportunities

In cooperation with the University’s internship office, the English

Department supports internships for all majors. Internships are
available both in university offices and in venues beyond the campus—
for example, newspapers, news departments of radio and television
stations, periodical and book publishers, and communication depart-
ments. Our Department has connections with local presses, such as
Worcester Magazine and national organizations, such as Phi Beta Kappa,
for internship opportunities. Please consult with Professor Kasmer,
Chair, for further information.
21
 Study Abroad

The English Department has a special arrangement with the

University of East Anglia in England, the Advanced Studies in
English in Bath, England and the London Internship Program.
For information, please consult with Professor Kasmer, Chair, or
Clark’s Study Abroad Programs.

Honors Program

At the end of their junior year, students in whom faculty have expressed
confidence will be invited by the Chair to work on a year-long Honors
thesis during their senior year.

–– The Honors project must be analytical rather than creative; creative

projects are to be completed within the Creative Writing minor and
Capstone.

–– Students who are not invited but would like to write an Honors the-
sis may apply to the Chair to write an Honors thesis in English.

DESCRIPTION OF PROCESS PROPOSED DEADLINE

Invitation issued to students. January, Junior Year

Consult with faculty member

who has agreed to be the Honors February, Junior Year
Adviser.

Provide Chair with brief descrip- DEADLINE #1:

tion of project. March, Junior Year

After receiving project approval

from Chair, discuss with Honors March, Junior Year
22 Adviser how thesis is to progress.
DESCRIPTION OF PROCESS PROPOSED DEADLINE

With Honors Adviser’s approval,

register for ENG 297 Honors in
English for both Fall and Spring
semesters of Senior Year (Double
majors using the thesis as Registration period.
Capstone for both majors register
for ENG 297 in one semester and
for honors in the other major in
the other semester.)

Complete several sections of

Dec. 15, Senior Year
thesis draft and find 2nd Reader.

Over winter break and start of

Continue to write thesis.
Spring semester, Senior Year

Revise, refine, and polish final

Spring semester, Senior Year
thesis.

DEADLINE #2: After Spring break,

Submit draft of thesis.
Senior Year

Give 2nd reader draft. DEADLINE #3: April 1

Honors Adviser and 2nd Reader DEADLINE #4: Defense date to be

meet with student to discuss Academic Spree Day; estimated
thesis. @ 4/25/18

Thesis read by the Honors

DEADLINE #5: Approximately
Adviser and 2nd Reader and
May 1
Level of Honors determined.

Unbound copy of completed

and defended thesis due to the DEADLINE #6: May 7 23
English Department Office.
 English Minor Requirements

A minor provides a student majoring in another department with a

general background in literature, as well as with skills in critical reading
and writing. Ordinarily, the Chair acts as adviser to minors. The minor
in English requires at least six English courses, at the 100 to 200-level.

1. one course in poetry (c-1)

2. one historical sequence (two courses) from the
following (b)
–– eng 133 Survey of Women Writers I
–– eng 134 Survey of Women Writers II
–– eng 140 Major British Writers I
–– eng 141 Major British Writers II
–– eng 180 Major American Writers I
–– eng 181 Major American Writers II
–– eng 182 African American Literature I
–– eng 183 African American Literature II

3. one seminar in theory, such as (e)

–– eng 227 The Book in the Early Modern Word (Formerly
“Introduction to Archival Research.” Can satisfy D-1
or E, but does not double count.)
–– eng 243 Literary Theory and Global Culture
–– eng 245 Mythopoetics
–– eng 248 Contemporary Literary Theory

4. at least two other english courses, one of

which must be a 200-level seminar

24
Creative Writing Minor
Requirements

The Creative Writing minor offers courses in poetry, fiction and cre-
ative nonfiction taught by professional writers. These courses guide
students to examine literary works as a writer to apply what they learn
to their own writing. Interactive workshops, moreover, provide the
feedback that helps students to develop and refine their work.

The required curriculum for creative writing minors consists of six

English courses.

1. any two introductory creative writing courses

–– eng 101 Introduction to Creative Writing
–– eng 106 Creative Writing: Fiction
–– eng 107 Creative Writing: Poetry
–– eng 111 Creative Writing: Nonfiction

2. one advanced creative writing course

–– eng 206 Writing the Novel I
–– eng 207 Creative Writing: Advanced Fiction
–– eng 209 Writing the Novel II
–– eng 211 Creative Writing: Advanced Poetry

3. the creative writing capstone

–– eng 214 Creative Writing Capstone: Multi-genre Advanced
Workshop

4. one 100-level english literature course, except

fyi courses, such as:

25
 –– eng 120 Introduction to Shakespeare
–– eng 123 Voicing the Verse: Poetry in Performance
–– eng 133 Women Writers I
–– eng 135 The Short Story
–– eng 141 Major British Writers II
–– eng 145 Fabulae: The Genre of Romance
–– eng 164 The Gothic
–– eng 165 American Ethnic Writers
–– eng 180 Major American Writers I
–– eng 183 African American Literature II
–– eng 199 The Text, the World, and the Critic: Narrative
and Form

5. one 200-level english literature course,

such as:
–– eng 205 Culture and the News
–– eng 222 Black Political Literary Movements of the 20th
Century
–– eng 225 American Print Culture 1700-1900
–– eng 232 Modernist Literature
–– eng 238 Contemporary Latino/a Literature
–– eng 243 Literary Theory & Global Culture
–– eng 245 Mythopoetics
–– eng 248 Contemporary Literary Theory
–– eng 252 Cultural Discourses of Advertising
–– eng 253 Advanced Studies in Shakespeare
–– eng 260 Making Gender through the Eighteenth-Century
Novel
–– eng 263 Traumatic Tales: British Romantic Literature and
Nationhood
–– eng 275 Fictions of Empire: Studies in Global English
Literature
–– eng 276 Ethnic America: Literature, Theory, Politics
–– eng 281 Special Topics in 19th-C American Literature
–– eng 284 Special Topics in 17th and 18th-Century American
26 Literature
–– eng 293 Special Topics in African American Literature
English Department Faculty

LOUIS BASTIEN, Lecturer, B.A., Clark University,

1977; M.A. Clark University, 1980; Ph.D., University
of Connecticut, 1992. Dr. Bastien is a Generalist who
teaches a wide variety of courses, from genre courses
to seminars in Mythopoetics and Romantic Lyric. His
research centers of the concept of myth as it pertains
to cultural development. LBastien@clarku.edu

JAMES P. ELLIOTT, Currently serving as Head of the

Creative Writing Program, Associate Professor of English,
B.A., Stanford University, 1966; Ph.D., Indiana Univer-
sity, 1971. Trained as a Textual Editor in the field of
American Literature, Professor Elliott has been the
Chief Textual Editor of the Edition of the Writings of
James Fenimore Cooper since its inception in 1971.
Besides editing The Prairie and co-editing The Spy and
several other later Cooper works, he has contributed
much collaborative writing and editing to the project.
This scholarship has led to the development of reliable
texts of more than thirty of Cooper’s works. He has
also developed an interest the short story as a literary form, and in
contemporary theoretical concerns as they interact with issues of race,
class, gender and historicism in both 19th- and 20th-century American
writing and culture. And, his experience as a certified baseball umpire
has sparked an interest in baseball writing as it reflects American histo-
ry and culture. JElliott@clarku.edu

james p. elliott: As I continue to teach in my fifth decade here at Clark, I am

constantly aware of the myriad ways that American writing—poetry, fiction, essays
of all kinds—reflects and shapes American culture. Reading our literature is a crash
course in understanding the American experience of race, class, gender, sports,
politics—indeed, the American Dream itself. 27
 BETSY HUANG, Currently serving as Director of Center
for Gender, Race, and Area Studies (CGRAS), Associate
Professor of English, B.A., State University of New York at
Buffalo, 1989; Ph.D., University of Rochester, 2004.
Professor Huang is an Americanist who studies the
intersections of Asian American Literature, American
Multi-Ethnic Literatures, Science Fiction, Genre The-
ory, and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. Her work
focuses on the critical roles different literary and me-
dia genres play in the constitution of the “minority,”
the citizen, and the human. She teaches literatures on
the margins—narratives by and about people living in
spaces of social and historical invisibility. Her aim is to inspire readers
to read texts written by those to whom they often profess they cannot
relate, and to teach the critical instruments for understanding and the-
orizing the experiences captured in the texts. . BHuang@clarku.edu

betsy huang: Reading and studying literature are acts of generosity, because when
we read, we devote precious time in our lives to inhabiting the lives of others—those
with whom we identify and those with whom we do not. Literary study is foundational
to moral decency, social justice, and appreciation of beauty.

ESTHER JONES, Currently serving as Associate Provost

and Dean of the Faculty. Associate Professor of English, E.
Franklin Frazier Chair. B.A., Fisk University, 1998; M.A.
The Ohio State University, 2001; Ph.D., The Ohio State
University 2006. Professor Jones’s research specializa-
tions include race and gender in medical humanities,
speculative fiction, and black diasporic women’s liter-
ature. Her book, Medicine and Ethics in Black Women’s
Speculative Fiction (2015 Palgrave MacMillan series
in Literature, Science, and Medicine), explores these
concerns by examining the historical constructions of
black female pathology in medicine. She is currently
working on a major reference work tentatively titled “Health Human-
28 ities in Global Context: Race and Ethnicity Across the World. Visit her
website at wordpress.clarku.edu/esjones for the most current informa-
tion on research projects and speaking engagements.
EsJones@clarku.edu

esther jones: If the test of a writer’s power is their “ability… to imagine what is not
the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar,” then the test of the critical
reader is to open oneself to the possibilities that reside in the uncertainty and ambi-
guity of these processes, and to ask over and again “what is it that I don’t know that I
think I already know and how does this text help me know it differently?”

LISA KASMER, Currently serving as English Department

Chair, Associate Professor of English, B.A., University of
Connecticut, 1983; M.A., University of Chicago, 1985; Ph.D.
University of California, Los Angeles, 2002. Professor
Kasmer specializes in gender and sexuality studies,
women’s writing and British nationalism in eigh-
teenth-century literature, Romanticism and Victorian
literature. Her work focuses on the constructions of
identity through the intersections of gender, national
identity and genre. She has published two books in
her fields of gender studies and nationalism: Novel
Histories: British Women Writing History, 1760-1830
(Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2012) and Traumatic Tales: British
Nationhood and National Trauma in 19thC Literature (Routledge, 2018).
Her current book project on national trauma in early nineteenth-century
literature examines the dangerous intersections of Romantic ideology
and national policies, such as the exploitive colonial trade of opium. She
teaches to make clear the relevance of eighteenth- and nineteenth-cen-
tury texts to our current experience, so that we see both how we do and
do not inhabit these earlier worlds. LKasmer@clarku.edu

lisa kasmer: “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” —T. S. Eliot
To me, this is the purpose of literature—allowing us to re-envision and truly compre-
hend both quotidian and crucial philosophical and socio-political events.
29
 STEPHEN M. LEVIN, Currently serving as Director of
Graduate Studies in English, Associate Professor of En-
glish, B.A., Wesleyan University, 1993; Ph.D., Emory Uni-
versity, 2005. Professor Levin specializes in contempo-
rary British and postcolonial literature, transnational
cultural studies, and critical and literary theory. His
research focuses on the ways in which twentieth-cen-
tury global conditions have shaped contemporary cul-
ture and produced new discourses of self and identity.
His publications include a book, The Contemporary
Anglophone Travel Novel: The Aesthetics of Self-Fash-
ioning in the Era of Globalization (Routledge, 2008),
and journal articles on the Scottish writer Ali Smith, the Indian writer
Amit Chaudhuri, the aesthetics of contemporary literary prizes, and the
status of realism in recent postcolonial fiction. He is currently working
on an edited volume that explores humanities approaches to austerity,
and a book project that examines plot and narrative structures in the
context of global neoliberal culture. His recent courses have included
“The World, the Text, and the Critic,” “Fictions of Empire,” “Literary
Theory and Global Culture,” and “Webs and Labyrinths: An Introduc-
tion to Narrative.” SLevin@clarku.edu

stephen levin: Recent research in neuroscience has shown that reading literature
leads to the production of new pathways and connections in our brains. Our constant
exposure to screens and digital media not only fails to cultivate this electrical dyna-
mism, but in fact reduces the neuronic channels in our brains and hence our cognitive
capacities. The moral implications are profound. The means to imagine worlds be-
yond our own, to wield the prophetic wisdom that is necessary to create a better future,
to regard the other with empathy and concern: these capacities are what is at stake
when we read a novel, a play, or a poem.

MEREDITH NEUMAN, Currently serving as Director

of Higgins School of Humanities, Associate Professor of
English, B.A., University of Chicago, 1989; Ph.D., Univer-
sity of California, Los Angeles, 2004. Professor Neuman
30 teaches and researches in the fields of early American
 literature, early modern literature, poetry, and book
history. Professor Neuman’s research often focuses on
print and manuscript archival sources -- ranging from
notebooks kept by Puritans when they were listening
to sermons, to amateur manuscript poetry, to readers’
marks in print books, to the history and context of the
Mather family’s vast personal library. Hands-on work-
shops with materials at the American Antiquarian Society and Clark
University’s Special Collections are a common feature of her seminars,
and she encourages her students to explore opportunities for origi-
nal research in the archives at the AAS. Professor Neuman’s teaching
interests include American literature through the Civil War, 17th-cen-
tury transatlantic literature, early American print culture, and poetry.
MeNeuman@clarku.edu

meredith neuman: Research for my first book had me snooping in Puritan

sermon notebooks, and my second book project has me hunting down mediocre
poems and craps of clumsy verse in obscure 17th- and 18th-century manuscripts.
A strange joy comes in discovering in the wonder, personality, and humor in weird,
unwieldy old texts.

LUCILIA VALERIO, Lecturer, B.A., University of Massa-

chusetts, Boston, 1981; M.A. Tufts University, 1983; Ph.D.,
Tufts University, 1996. Professor Valerio’s teaching in-
terests center on contemporary world literature, with
a particular focus on Latin@ literatures and cultures
and fiction by women writers. Her course sequence
Women Writers I and II explores the construction of gender, class, and
race in texts by women from 1688 to the present. The themes of her
Introduction to Literature and First Year Seminars change each year to
reflect research interests: travel literature, border crossings, memoir,
and Latin@ literature. LValerio@clarku.edu

31
 Visiting Faculty

DIANNE E. BERG, Visiting Assistant Professor, B.A.

Harvard University, 2008, M.A. Clark University, 2010,
Ph.D. Tufts University 2017. Dianne Berg’s dissertation
and ongoing research examine literary representa-
tions of domestic violence in early modern England,
and how contemporary scandals were appropriated in
plays, prose pamphlets, and ballads to address anxieties about trea-
son, obedience, gender, and the state. Dianne’s work has appeared in
Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation,
Out of Sequence: The Sonnets Remixed, and three edited essay collections:
Murder Most Foul: Homicide in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era,
(Boydell); Treason: Medieval and Early Modern Treachery, Betrayal, and
Shame (forthcoming, Brill), and Shakespeares from Adaptation to Trans-
formation (forthcoming, Punctum). Before pursuing an academic career,
she served as education program manager at a museum of medieval and
Renaissance arms and armor, where she learned more about weapons
than she ever wanted to know, including the fact that Romeo and Juliet is
actually a play about swordplay and xenophobia.

Creative Writing Faculty

MICHAEL CAROLAN, Professor of Practice, M.F.A.

Michael Carolan was born in Kansas City, Missouri.
His writing has been named notable in the Best Amer-
ican Essays series and has received prizes, including
from the Atlantic Monthly. Among his publishing
credits for fiction, journalism, essay, photography and
interview are the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, National Public
Radio, Kansas City Star, Nashville Review, Springfield Republican and
the Massachusetts Review. He graduated from the William Allen White
32 School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of
Kansas-Lawrence, where he obtained his English degree as well. He
moved to Washington, D.C., where he covered the environment on
Capitol Hill and wrote on science and health for the National Institutes
of Health. He was a Heritage Writers Workshop Fellow in Fiction at
George Mason University. He received his graduate degree from the
MFA Program for Poets and Writers at the University of Massachu-
setts-Amherst, where he was nominated for the Distinguished Teacher
Award and wrote a novel. He edited a collection of wartime memoirs
translated from the Polish that was published in 2009. He contributes
audio essays to NPR’s New England Public Radio. He has taught writing
at Smith College, the University of Hartford and Marlboro College.
At Clark University since 2010, he teaches Introduction to Literary
Analysis, Creative Writing: Nonfiction, Creative Writing: Fiction and In-
troduction to Creative Writing. He lives in western Massachusetts with
his wife and children.

JOAN HOULIHAN, Professor of Practice, M.A. Joan

Houlihan is Professor of Practice at Clark University
where she teaches intermediate and advanced Creative
Writing (Poetry). She is the author of five books of po-
etry including Shadow-feast, (2018), Ay (2014), The Us
(2009), The Mending Worm, winner of the 2005 Green
Rose Award from New Issues Press and Hand-Held Executions: Poems
& Essays (Del Sol Press, 2003). Her poetry has been anthologized in
The Iowa Anthology of New American Poetries (University of Iowa Press)
and The Book of Irish-American Poetry—Eighteenth Century to Present
(University of Notre Dame Press). She has taught at Columbia Univer-
sity, Emerson College and Smith College and serves on the faculty of
Lesley University’s Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Houlihan founded and directs the Colrain
Poetry Manuscript Conference.

KAREN OSBORN, Professor of Practice, M.F.A. Karen

Osborn is the author of four novels: Patchwork, a New
York Times Notable Book of the Year, Between Earth
and Sky, The River Road, and Centerville, which won the
Independent Publishers Award in 2013. Her poetry and
33
 short fiction has been published in literary journals, anthologies, and
magazines, including The Southern Review, Poet Lore, The Seattle Review,
The Wisconsin Review, The Montana Review, Clapboard House, The Hollins
Critic, and Kansas Quarterly. Recently, she was the Distinguished Visit-
ing Fiction Writer for Bowling Green University’s M.F.A. program and
the Louis D. Rubin, Jr. Writer-in-Residence for the M.F.A. program at
Hollins University. She currently teaches in Fairfield University’s M.F.A.
program, as well as at Clark University.

JESSICA BANE ROBERT, Currently serving as Director

of Prestigious Fellowships and Scholarships, LEEP Center
Advisor, M.F.A. Jessica Bane Robert earned her M.F.A.
in Creative Writing from the Stonecoast Program,
University of Southern Maine (2007) with a specializa-
tion in Creative Nonfiction and Poetry. Her scholarly
thesis and research focused on cross genre works and
her creative thesis, a full-length memoir, was crafted
with both poetry and prose. She earned her B.A. in
English with concentrations in Creative Writing and
Education and licensure in teaching English grades
5-12 from Worcester State University (1993). Bane
Robert, a published poet and essayist, has taught En-
glish and Creative Writing at the middle, high school, and college levels
for over 20 years. She has taught at Clark since 2007 for the English
and Interdisciplinary Departments, as well as for the Higgins School
of Humanities. In her new position, she specializes in helping students
write proposals and personal statements. Some of Professor Bane Rob-
ert’s current course offerings include: Introduction to Creative Writing,
Sense of Place, Expository Writing, and Mindful Choices. Recent years
in administration and owning her own business, the Bared Owl Retreat
in Leicester, MA, have shifted her focus to mindful reflection and its
connection to teaching, writing, and advising.

34
Emeriti Faculty

JOHN CONRON, Ph.D., Professor Emeriti of English. Professor Conron

is retired from teaching course but not from writing prose designed to
educate. He is now writing the final draft of a book called Earth Music,
which concentrates on the naturalist landscapes of a painter named
Charles Burchfield between 1942 and 1967, the year that death inter-
rupted him. The first change involved his gravitation towards the new
picture of the universe offered by energy physics and the earth sciences
influenced by it. For Burchfield, that involved the study of meteorology,
plant biology, and ecology. His interest here was the narratives of ener-
gy-events, especially the atmospheric changes of weather and seasons
and their effects on green plants and the animals that adapt to them.
Like other second-generation naturalist artists after 1920 (including
John Marin, Georgia O’Keeffe, William Faulkner, and Robinson Jeffers),
Burchfield began to concentrate his attention on the energies traveling
through the atmosphere and colliding with, enveloping, or infusing
the material forms when they reach the earth. To adapt his art to the
subject of energy-events, Burchfield sought or invented a number of
approaches to the art of pictorial narration. Many of these forces were
inherently invisible or hidden in the interiors of trees and other opaque
life forms. Their invisibility also required and art of abstraction. How,
otherwise, could an artist visualize, say, wind or gravity than figura-
tively, conceptually? Between 1942 and his death in 1967, Burchfield
set about painting the landscapes produced by the phenomena. Earth
Music offers close readings of a number of them.

SUNHEE KIM GERTZ, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of En-

glish and Senior Research Scholar, B.A. Carnegie Mellon
University, 1973, M.A. State University of New York-Bing-
hamton, 1977, Ph.D. University of Chicago, 1983. Pro-
fessor SunHee Kim Gertz’s research and publications
treat western European literature of the late middle
ages (12th to 14th centuries). In particular, she works with Old French,
Middle High German, Latin, Middle English, and Italian literature, us-
35
 ing literary, semiotic, and rhetorical theory (classical,
medieval, and modern). Having worked on the struc-
tures of history, memory, semiotic theory, and con-
templative practice, she has more recently added the
narrative structures of power, both medieval and con-
temporary, to her research interests. Although retired
since June 2017, Professor Gertz continues to mentor
students informally, from undergraduates to alums, and also serves for-
mally, as reader for one M.A. thesis and for two Ph.D. dissertations. Her
mentoring activities are still guided by two inter-related concepts, the
need for real conversations and the importance of citizenship. For ex-
ample, recent political misuses of power, having propelled her current
areas of research and action, have engendered conversations and proj-
ects that include students. Beyond four books, twenty articles, and ten
shorter pieces, Professor Gertz’s recent publications on power include:
a chapter on the Black Prince’s staging of himself as King Arthur for
Speaking Pictures: The Visual, Verbal Nexus of Dramatic Performance; an
article entitled, “Fame and Politics: The Persuasive Poetics of Leader-
ship,” published in the scholarly journal, Semiotica; a book, Visual Power
and Fame in René d’ Anjou, Geoffrey Chaucer, and the Black Prince; a chap-
ter on the visualizing of nationhood as captured in Obama’s race speech
and a film on the German soccer win of 1954, for Obama and Transna-
tional American Studies; and an article published in the Journal of Further
and Higher Education, entitled, “Universities and the Humanities, Then
and Now.” Most recently, she co-edited a collection of essays, Diversity
and Inclusion in Higher Education and Societal Contexts: International and
Interdisciplinary Approaches, for which she recruited scholars interna-
tionally from universities, the art world, the government, professional
organizations, and, of particular importance to her, three women Ph.D.
students, citizens of the U.S., Turkey, and Germany.

FERN L. JOHNSON, Ph. D., Professor Emerita of English and Senior

Research Scholar, B.A., University of Minnesota, M.A., Northwestern
University, Ph.D. University of Minnesota. Dr. Johnson’s expertise is in
the study of language and culture in the U.S. Her work over the years
examines gender, race, and ethnicity as manifested in language practic-
36 es and discourse. Recent work focuses on bilingual education policy in
the United States and the European Union, as well as on the language
of advertising and its role in circulating norms and values. In addition
to numerous articles, she is the author of Speaking Culturally: Language
Diversity in the United States (Sage) and Imaging in Advertising—Verbal
and Visual Codes of Commerce (Routledge), and co-author with Marlene
Fine of The Interracial Adoption Option: Creating a Family Across Race
(Jessica Kingsley). She is currently writing about the difficulties that
white people have in talking about race.

SERENA HILSINGER, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of English, B.A., Douglass

College, 1959, Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 1964. During her decades
of teaching at Clark, Professor Hilsinger’s primary areas of interest
were modernist fiction and fiction by women writers. During those
years she published three novels. Retirement to her home on the coast
of Massachusetts has given her the freedom to read and write whatever
she wishes, without regard to trends or expectations. She is current-
ly writing a series of interrelated poems with the working title ‘Civil
Twilight.’ She finds retirement and coastal living inspiriting, and highly
recommends both.

VIRGINIA MASON VAUGHAN, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of English and

Senior Research Scholar. Virginia Mason Vaughan has taught at Clark
for thirty-eight years. She is the author of Othello: A Contextual History
(1994) and Performing Blackness on English Stages, 1500-1800 (2005),
both published by Cambridge University Press. Professor Vaughan also
authored The Tempest for the University of Manchester Press’s Shake-
speare in Performance series (2011). She edited Antony and Cleopatra
for the Third Norton Shakespeare (2015) and wrote Antony and Cleopa-
tra: Language and Writing for Arden Shakespeare (2016). With Alden T.
Vaughan, she co-edited The Tempest for the Third Arden Series (1999; rev.
ed. 2011) and co-authored Shakespeare in America for Oxford Shake-
speare Topics (2012). Her latest book project, Shakespeare and the Gods,
is being published by Bloomsbury’s Arden Shakespeare and will be out
in January 2019.

37
 Adjunct Faculty

MICHAEL BAMBURG, Professor, Psychology

GINO DIIORIO, Professor, Theater Arts
ROBERT TOBIN, Professor, Language, Literature and Culture

38