Joshua J. Masters
Assistant Professor of English
and Director of Graduate Studies in English
University of West Georgia
jmasters@westga.edu
Education
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Ph.D. in English, University of Connecticut 2004
M.A. in English, University of Connecticut 1995
B.A. in English, cum laude, Pomona College 1991
Dissertation
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The Symbol of the Book and the Adventure of Representation in the American West, 1803-1893
Professional History
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Director of Graduate Studies in English, University of West Georgia, beginning summer, 2007
Assistant Professor of English, University of West Georgia, 2005-present
Visiting Assistant Professor of English, University of West Georgia, 2004-05
Instructor of English, University of Connecticut, 1993-2004
Publications
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“Preface: ‘The Production and Consumption of Racial Perfomance.’” Special Issue: Minstrelsy, Passing, and the Location of American Racial Identity. Lit: Literature Interpretation Theory. Guest Editor. 18.2 (2007): 89-93.
“Reading the Book of Nature, Inscribing the Savage Mind: George Catlin and the Textualization of the American West.” American Studies. 46.2 (Summer 2005): 63-89.
“‘Smothered in Bookish Knowledge’: Literacy and Epistemology in James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Novels.” Arizona Quarterly. 61.4 (Winter 2005): 1-30.
“Race and the Infernal City in Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities.” Journal of Narrative Theory. 29.2 (Spring 1999): 208-227. Reprinted in Tom Wolfe: Modern Critical Views. Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2001. 179-92.
“‘Witness to the Uttermost Edge of the World’: Judge Holden’s Textual Enterprise in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 40.1 (Fall 1998): 25-37.
“Milkman’s Quest for Authenticity: Transgression and Transcendence in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon.” MAWA Review. 10.1 (June 1995): 13-18.
Conferences
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Presentations
“The Iowa Indians Meet Tom Thumb in London: George Catlin’s European Exhibitions.” American Studies Association. October, 2007.
“The Symbol of the Book in the Narration of Exploration.” Narrative Conference (sponsored by the Society for the Study of Narrative Literature). April, 2006.
"Towards a Theory of Typographic Consciousness in Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian." Northeast Modern Language Association Convention. March, 2005.
“‘I Never Read a Book in My Life!’: Illiteracy as Epistemology in Cooper’s Leatherstocking Novels.” NEMLA Convention. March, 2003.
“Gendering the Nineteenth-Century American West: Feminized Landscapes and Phallic Intrusions.” Third Annual Travel Writing Conference, U of Pennsylvania. June, 1999.
“The Wilderness as Indian Theme Park: George Catlin and the Politics of Collection.” Origins, Ethnicity, Identity, SUNY Binghamton. December, 1998.
“New Visions of ‘White’ Identity in Contemporary American Fiction and Film.” Central New York Conference on Language and Literature, Cortland, NY. October, 1997.
“Race and the Infernal City in Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities.” Interdisciplinary Studies Conference, University of Connecticut. May, 1997.
Panels Chaired
“Representations of Indian Identity, 1850-1900.” Northeast Modern Language Association Convention. March, 2003.
Public Lectures
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"Pushing Sisyphus's Boulder: Experiences of a First Year Assistant Professor." With Margaret Mitchell at The University of Connecticut. English Graduate Student Alliance's Professional Development Lecture Series. March, 2005.
Awards and Honors
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Research Foundation Grant, University of West Georgia, 2006.
First Place, Aetna Graduate Writing Prize, University of Connecticut, 2002.
First Place, Aetna Teaching Award, University of Connecticut, 2000.
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Connecticut, 1998.
First Place, McPeek Graduate Essay Contest, 1996.
Teaching Experience
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University of West Georgia
English 6120: Representations of Race in the Post-bellum American Novel (Grad)
English 4384: Senior Seminar, Representations of the Apocalypse
English 4165/5165: Contemporary American and British Literature
English 4160/5160: Twentieth-Century American Literature
English 4140/5140: Seminar in American Romanticism
English 4109: African American Cinema
English 3300: Studies in American Culture
English 2300: Practical Criticism
English 2180: Survey of African American Literature
English 2130: Survey of American Literature
English 2130H: Survey of American Literature, Honors
English 2110: World Literature
English 1102: Composition II
English 1102: Composition II, Super-section
English 1101: Composition I
University of Connecticut
English 277W: African American Writers II
English 271W: American Fiction Since 1880
English 127: Masterworks of British and American Literature
English 109: Literature and Composition
English 105: College Composition
English 104: Basic Writing
Service
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University of West Georgia
Faculty Advisory Committee to the Dean, 2007-08
Committee on Graduate Studies (English Representative), 2007-08
Graduate Program Committee (Facilitator), 2007-08
Co-Sponsor of Sigma Tau Delta (The International English Honor Society), 2005-present
Co-Sponsor of the Faculty Works in Progress Series, 2006-present
Advisory Committee (Chair), 2005-06, 2007-08
First Year Writing Committee, 2004-05
University of Connecticut
Aetna Awards Committee, Graduate Student Representative, 1997.
PhD Exam Committee, Graduate Student Representative, 1999.
Teaching and Research Interests
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American Cultural Studies; Colonial and Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture; Twentieth-Century American Literature; African American Literature; Travel Literature; Post-Colonial and World Literature; Native American Literature.
References
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Jane Hill
Work: 770-839-4870
email: jhill@westga.edu
Jerry Phillips
Home: 860-423-3670
email: jerryrp@cs.com
Robert Tilton
Work: 860-486-2141
email: robert.tilton@uconn.edu
Eleni Coundouriotis
Work: 860-486-2141
email: eleni.coundouriotis@uconn.edu
Gina Barreca
Home: 860-423-5047
email: gb@ginabarreca.com