English Faculty
Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt - Associate Professor
TJ Day 313503-883-2485
rdutt-b@linfield.edu
Education: Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN B.A., College of St. Catherine, St.Paul, MN
Academic Interests: Postcolonial Literarure and Theory, Feminist Studies, Creative Writing
Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt received her Ph.D. from University of Minnesota in English. She also holds a M.A. degree is Creative Writing. Her scholarly and creative works have been published in the Journal of Asian American Renaissance, Jouvert: Journal of Postcolonial Studies, Saranac Review and others. She is the author of the book, The Postcolonial Citizen: The Intellectual Migrant published in 2010. Dutt-Ballerstadt's teaching and scholarly interests are in the areas of postcolonial literature and theory, Third World feminism, the minority discourse, Black British literature and creative writing.
Publications:
The Postcolonial Citizen: The Intellectual Migrant. Peter Lang: New York, 2010.
Anna Keesey - Assistant Professor
TJ Day 319503-883-2288
akeesey@linfield.edu
Education: B.A. Stanford University 1984 K-12 Teaching Credential, UC Berkeley, 1986 M.F.A. in Writing, University of Iowa, 1994
Academic Interests: American literature, short fiction, historical fiction, pedagogy of creative writing
Katherine Kernberger - Professor
TJ Day 315503-883-2289
kkernber@linfield.edu
Education: Ph.D., English, UCLA M.A., English, UCLA B.A., Scripps College
Academic Interests: Literature and its connections with history, archaeology, and various legends.
Katherine Kernberger has special interests in poetry of the Romantic period, particularly that of Byron. She regularly gives papers at international meetings of the Byron Society and serves on the board of the American Byron Society. She has completed a two-volume edition (available as an e-book) of the Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff. Her teaching interests include the study of autobiography, British literature from Beowulf to Byron, as well as linguistics and the history of the English language.
Publications:
Translation from the French, The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff: I Am the Most Interesting Book of All (Volume I) and Lust for Glory: Gloriae Cupiditate (Volume II). Fonthill Press, 2013. Various articles on poetry of Lord Byron
Daniel Pollack-Pelzner - Assistant Professor
Day Hall 318503-883-2484
dpollac@linfield.edu
Education: B.A., Yale University, 2001; M.A., Harvard University, 2006; Ph.D., Harvard University, 2010
Academic Interests:
Daniel Pollack-Pelzner joined the Linfield faculty in 2010. He offers courses on Shakespeare and early modern literature through the primary lenses of genre, gender, and performance. He also teaches a range of topics in British literary history, with emphasis on the novel, and offers a January-term course on contemporary drama through the Portland campus. An Oregon native, he lectures frequently at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and is the scholar-in-residence at the Portland Shakespeare Project.
Dr. Pollack-Pelzner’s research explores the ways that Shakespeare has been adapted and appropriated, particularly in the nineteenth century. He is completing a book project on Shakespeare and the Victorian novel, portions of which have appeared in the scholarly journals ELH: English Literary History, SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, and Victorian Studies. He regularly presents work at the Shakespeare Association of America and the North American Victorian Studies Association and is a member of the faculty at the University of California Dickens Project.
Publications:
"Jane Austen, the Prose Shakespeare," forthcoming in SEL: Studies in English Literature (Autumn 2013).
"Shakespeare Burlesque and the Performing Self," Victorian Studies 54.3 (Spring 2012): 401-9.
"Dickens and Shakespeare's Household Words," ELH: English Literary History 78.3 (Fall 2011): 533-56.
"Swiping Stein: The Ambivalence of Hemingway Parodies," The Hemingway Review 30.1 (Fall 2010): 69-82.
"'Another Key' to Act Five of A Midsummer Night's Dream," Notes and Queries 56.4 (December 2009): 579-83.
"Reading and Repeating Our Mutual Friend," Dickens Studies Annual 39 (2008): 261-79.
"Revisionary Company: Keats, Homer, and Dante in the Chapman Sonnet," Keats-Shelley Journal 56 (2007): 39-49.
"Dickens's Hamlet Burlesque," Dickens Quarterly 24.2 (June 2007): 103-10.
"On Not Teaching Wodehouse," The Quarterly Journal of the P. G. Wodehouse Society 39 (September 2006): 10-11.
Media Links
Linfield Magazine article about January-term contemporary drama course on the Portland campus:
http://www.linfield.edu/magazine/summer2013/#/20/
Video discussion of teaching at Linfield:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t333-sWv8A
Work with the Portland Shakespeare Project:
http://portlandshakes.org/education/audience-enrichment-programs/
Four-part essay series for Oregon Arts Watch about The Taming of the Shrew:
http://www.orartswatch.org/summer-of-shrew-part-1-a-tale-of-two-cities/
KBOO radio interview about summer Shakespeare:
http://kboo.com/content/stageandstudioon070913
OPB radio interview about the Shakespeare authorship controversy:
http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/class-shakespeare/
Expert forum for The Millions about Dickens’s best novel:
http://www.themillions.com/2012/08/dickens-best-novel-6-experts-share-their-opinions.html
Courses Taught at Linfield
Shakespeare: Comedies and Histories, Shakespeare: Tragedies and Tragicomedies, Shakespeare: Performing Gender and Sexuality (Gender Studies Elective), Shakespeare and his Rivals, Sex and Power in Renaissance Literature, Eighteenth-Century Satire, The Victorian Novel, 20th-Century British Literature, Art and Politics in the British Novel, Contemporary Drama (Portland Campus), Coming of Age in Literature, Inquiry Seminar: A Sense of Humor, Inquiry Seminar: Literary Adaptation from Austen to Zombies
Alexander Runciman - Professor
TJ Day 320503-883-2583
lruncim@linfield.edu
Education: Ph.D., English and Creative Writing, Univ. of Utah; M.F.A., Creative Writing (Poetry), Univ. of Montana; B.A., English, Santa Clara Univ.
Academic Interests:
Lex Runciman teaches in both the creative writing and literature degree programs. A poet as well as a scholar, his interests include environmental concerns, literature of the West, creative writing, contemporary literature in the UK, and American literature in general.
Publications:
Three books of poems, including Out of Town (Cloudbank Books, 2004); four textbooks, including Open Questions (Bedford/St. Martins, 2005); two anthologies. His reviews and comments on books appear irregularly in his blog, The Far Corner Reader.
Personal Blog
Barbara Seidman - Professor Chair
T.J. Day 302503-883-2210
bseidman@linfield.edu
Education: Ph.D. Literature, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (concentrating in American literature/film studies) M. A. Literature, University of Illinois B. A. State University of New York at Albany (English) Graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa
Academic Interests:
Barbara Seidman joined the Linfield English Department in 1983 and now holds the rank of Professor. Her academic training in American Literature includes special emphases in African American literary studies and the work of women writers. She has also co-taught film and gender studies classes with colleagues from other departments. Barbara has twice been the recipient of the Edith Green Distinguished Professorship for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, once in 1988-89 and again in 2000-2001. She served as interim dean of faculty from 2005-2008.
Born in Niagara Falls, New York, Barbara received her B.A., graduating Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the State University of New York at Albany. Her M.A. and Ph.D. in Literature were awarded by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Publications:
PUBLICATIONS "Borderlands", review of the novel by Jim Lynch, commissioned by/completed for Magill's Literary Annual 2009. "A Short History of Women", review of the novel by Kate Walbert, commissioned by/completed for Magill's Literary Annual 2009. "Strength in What Remains", review of Tracy Kidder's literary non-fiction about genocide in Rwanda and Burundi, commissioned by/completed for Magill's Literary Annual 2009. "John Edgar Wideman", updated and expanded overview essay commissioned by/completed for Magill's Survey of American Literature (rev. ed.), publication date 2006. "Jane Smiley", updated and expanded overview essay commissioned by/completed for Magill's Survey of American Literature (rev. ed.), publication date 2006. "Revenge: A Story of Hope", review essay of memoir by Laura Blumenfeld, for Magill's Literary Annual 2003. "Body Toxic: An Environmental Memoir", review essay of autobiography by Suzanne Antonetta, for Magill's Literary Annual 2002. "Inventing Herself: Claiming a Feminist Intellectual Heritage", review essay of Elaine Showalter's feminist intellectual history, for Magill's Literary Annual 2002. "American Moderns: Bohemian New York and the Creation of the New Century", review essay of Christine Stansell's literary/cultural history of early 20th century New York City, for Magill's Literary Annual 2000. "The Vision of Emma Blau", review essay of the novel by Ursula Hegi, for Magill's Literary Annual 2000. "Bharati Mukherjee", updated article for Critical Survey of Short Fiction, rev. ed. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1999. "Ann Petry", new article for Critical Survey of Short Fiction, rev. ed. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1999. "Off the Reservation: Boundary Busting, Border-Crossing and Loose Canons", a review essay of a collection of non-fiction by Paula Gunn Allen, for Magill's Literary Annual 1999. "Jane Smiley", update of my article for Critical Survey of Short Fiction, rev. ed. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1999. "Alias Grace", analysis of the novel by Margaret Atwood, in Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction, rev. ed. 1998. "Purple America", review essay of the novel by Rick Moody, Magill's Literary Annual l997. "The Cattle Killing", review essay of the novel by John Edgar Wideman in Magill's Literary Annual l996. "Jane Smiley", update of my earlier article in Magill's Cyclopedia of World Authors, rev. ed., l996. "John Edgar Wideman", update of my earlier article in Magill's Cyclopedia of World Authors, rev. ed., l996. "Margaret Atwood", revised and expanded article (l20 pp.) updating Atwood's career through The Robber Bride and Good Bones and Simple Murders in Beacham's Popular Fiction in America, rev. ed., l996. "Colored People", review essay of a memoir by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., in The African American Encyclopedia, Supplement, l996. "On Gold Mountain", review essay of a family history by Lisa See in Magill's Literary Annual l995. "Company Man", review essay of a novel by Brent Wade in The African American Encyclopedia, Supplement, 1996. "Fatheralong", review essay of a memoir by John Edgar Wideman in The African American Encyclopedia, Supplement, l996. "Hula", review essay of a novel by Lisa Shea in Magill's Literary Annual, l995. "Parallel Time: Growing Up Black and White", review essay of a memoir by Brent Staples in Magill's Literary Annual l995. "Ann Petry," biographical and critical survey published in Magill's Survey of American Literature, Supplement. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1994. "Jane Smiley," biographical and critical survey published in Magill's Survey of American Literature, Supplement. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1994. "Jane Smiley," biographical/bibliographical essay published in Critical Survey of Short Fiction, rev. ed. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1993. "John Edgar Wideman," biographical/bibliographical essay published in Critical Survey of Short Fiction, rev. ed. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1993. "John Edgar Wideman," a biographical and critical survey published in Magill's Survey of American Literature, ed. Frank N. Magill. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1991. "Richard Wright," a biographical and critical survey published in Magill's Survey of American Literature, ed. Frank N. Magill. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1991. "Margaret Walker," a bibliographic essay published in Research Guide to Biography and Criticism, ed. Walton Beacham. Washington, D.C.: Beacham Publishing, 1991. "Margaret Atwood," a summary essay on Atwood's career since 1986, published in Popular Fiction in America Update, ed. Walton Beacham. Washington, D.C.: Beacham Publishing, 1991. "Jesse Redmon Fauset," an introductory essay published in Cyclopedia of World Authors. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1989. "Bharati Mukherjee," an introductory essay published in Cyclopedia of World Authors. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1989. "John Edgar Wideman," an introductory essay published in Cyclopedia of World Authors. Pasadena: Salem Press, l989. “`The Lady both Protest Too Much, Methinks': Jane Fonda, Feminism and Hollywood," in Women & Film, ed. Janet Todd. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1988. "Margaret Atwood," bibliographic/biographical essay in Popular Fiction in America, eds. Walton Beacham and Suzanne Niemeyer. Washington, D.C.: Beacham Publishing, 1987. "Barbara Drake's What We Say to Strangers," review essay in Calyx: A Journal of Art and Literature By Women, Summer 1987. "`Patronize Your Local Wake Up And Dreamery': E.E. Cummings and the Filmgoing Imagination," Literature/Film Quarterly, July 1985. "Robert Frost," biographical/bibliographic essay in Research Guide to Biography and Criticism, ed. Walton Beacham. Washington, D.C.: Research Publishing, 1985. Careers in Transition: The Special Challenge Facing the Liberal Arts Graduate in the `80's. Handbook published by the University of Illinois Career Development Center, Urbana Champaign, 1981. "An Unholy Alliance: Humanities and Career Development," The Journal of College Placement, Winter 1981.
David Thomas Sumner - Associate Professor English/Environmental Studies Director of Writing
TJ Day 316503-883-2389
dsumner@linfield.edu
Education: B.A University of Utah M.A Brigham Young University Ph.D University of Oregon
Academic Interests:
Environmental Rhetoric,
The Nature Tradition in American Literature,
Ecocriticism,
Publications:
Recent Publications: "Testimony, Refuge, and the Sense of Place - A Conversation with Terry Tempest Williams." Reprinted in A Voice in the Wilderness: Dialogues with Terry Tempest Williams. Ed. Michael Austin. Utah State U P 2006. "'That Could Happen': Nature Writing, The Nature Fakers, and a Rhetoric of Assent." ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment. Vol. 12.2, Summer 2005. Recent Presentations: "Location and Landscape in Literary Americanisms: A Brief Look at H. L. Davis and F. Scott Fitzgerald." International Conference at the Bayreuth Institute of American Studies, Bayreuth Universitãt, Bayreuth Germany. January, 2008. "'That Could Happen': Nature Writing, The Nature Fakers, and a Rhetoric of Assent.” University of Helsinki, January 2008. "Wilderness, the Garden, and God: The Shifting Frames for American Nature." The German-American Center, Stuttgart Germany. July 2007.
Recent Awards:
Fulbright. University of Bayreuth, Germany: 3/07-8/07