Dr. Lorraine Wilson Snaith

lsnaith@westga.edu

 

EDUCATION

Ph. D., Interdisciplinary Studies with Specializations in English and Cultural Studies  
            Areas of Concentration:  Literature, Film, American Religious Studies
            Union Institute and University, Cincinnati; August 2008   

            Dissertation:  
Laughing with Lucifer:  Satan Comedy in American Literature and Popular Culture.  

M.A. English, University of West Georgia ; December 2001; Graduate School valedictorian, nominated by English Department.

B.A. English and History, West Georgia College; graduated 1995 cum laude.

 
TEACHING AND UNIVERSITY SERVICE

July 2009-Present:          Senior Lecturer in English, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA.
August 2004-June 2009: Lecturer in English, University of West Georgia 

                                         Director, College of Arts and Sciences "Writing Across the Curriculum" Program
                                         College of Arts and Sciences Secretary                                               


Teach Freshman Composition, Oral Communication, Interdisciplinary Studies (Mythology and Religion, and The Graphic Novel), Film History and Theory, and World Literature.  

Prepare and facilitate WAC workshops for Arts and Sciences faculty preparing to teach upper-division writing-intensive courses in their disciplines; liaison between WAC Committee, A&S faculty, and Writing Center.  

Attend and prepare minutes of meetings of the College of Arts and Sciences Executive Committee, and the A&S Faculty.


August 2004-May 2006:  Department of English Chair's Advisory Committee

Peer-appointed Lecturer representative.  The Advisory Committee's primary function is to facilitate communication between the English and Philosophy Department and the Chair.  Its broad function is to advise the chair on matters raised by the department or the Chair and to communicate the essence of that advice to the Department.  


January-May 2005:  College of Arts and Sciences Interdisciplinary Program Committee

Appointed by the Dean, this cross-disciplinary committee was charged with defining the duties and requisite experience/skills of Interdisciplinary Program Director.

 
August 2003-2004:  Lecturer, Dept. of English, University of West Georgia

In addition to teaching second-semester Freshman Composition, Oral Communication, and XIDS courses, duties included planning, teaching, and refining experimental multi-section classes of English 1101, as well as training graduate teaching assistants, conducting Instructor teaching observations and evaluations, and mentoring new First Year faculty members. 

January 2002-August 2003:  Instructor, Dept. of English, University of West Georgia

First- and second-semester Freshman Composition, and Oral Communication/Self Staging.   Peer-elected representative to English Department Writing Committee.

 
August 2002-May 2003:  English Department Writing Committee
Peer-appointed Instructor representative.  Participated in developing and instituting new administrative structure for First Year Writing (FYW) program, as well as selecting and implementing the use of a standard style manual for all FYW courses.  


PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 

"Kierkegaard, Contradiction, and South Park:  The Jester's View of Religion."  The Deep End of South Park: Critical Essays on TV's Shocking Cartoon Series.  Leslie Stratyner and James R. Keller, eds.  Jefferson, NC:  McFarland, 2009.

March, 2008:  "I'm OK; You're Going to Hell:  The Satirical Symbiosis between Fundamentalist Christians and the People Who Mock Them."  Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference, San Francisco.

Pending:  "The Devil Went Up to South Park:  Representations of Satan in South Park."  

Oh My God, They Deconstructed South Park ! Those Bastards!
Oh My God, They Deconstructed South Park ! Those Bastards!
Contributing essayist in Colorado State University-commissioned anthology of critical essays:  Oh My God!  They Deconstructed South Park!  Those Bastards!

March, 2007.  "Nietzsche, MTV, and Satan's Super Sweet Sixteen Party:  How to Prevent Hell on Earth."  Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference, Boston.

Spring 2007.  Studies in American Humor. "Deconstructing the Devil:  American Satan-Comedy from Twain to South Park."

April, 2006:  "Deconstructing the Devil:  American Satan-Comedy from Twain to South Park."  Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference, Atlanta, GA.

June, 2006:  "Reading the Dark Side:  Contemporary Perceptions of Evil."  Union Institute and University, Doctoral Program/Peer Day Conference, Montpelier, VT.

May, 2004: " 'And in Their Absurdity Discover Joy':  Images of Women as the Threshold to the Divine in the Poetry of Mevlana Jalalludin Rumi."  International Medieval Congress, "Women in Islam" Panel, Kalamazoo, MI.

March 2004:    "Songs of the Secret Fire:  The Music of Creation and the Mythology of J. R. R. Tolkien."  International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts Conference, Ft. Lauderdale , FL.

November 2002:  " ‘The Rest is Not Our Business’:   Navigating Chaos with the Divine Questioner.”    17th Annual International Conference in Literature, Visual Arts, and/or Cinema, Atlanta , GA

October, 2002 “ ‘Do Your Duty Toward Me; Make Me Happy’:   Viewing Victor Frankenstein by the Light of Prometheus’s Fire.”    International Conference on Romanticism, Tallahassee , FL.

January, 1999:   “Blood Sacrifices, Democracy and Primary Colors:   The Election of the Ultimate Alpha Male.”    24th Annual Conference on Film and Literature, Tallahassee , FL.

Book reviews, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, Vol. 14, Number 4:  Ann Petty,  One Ring to Bind Them:  Tolkien's Mythology; Mark Eddy Smith, Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues; Robert Ellwood, Frodo's Quest:  Living the Myth of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.  



PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1991- 2002:   Business Communication Consultant.  

Wrote and presented business communication workshops and manuals on topics including:  Public Presentation, Customer Service, Sales, Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, Stress Management, Team Functioning, Goal-Setting and Personal Development, Unlimited Thinking and Creativity, and Humor in the Workplace.

Wrote and produced sales training programs and manuals designed to keep sales reps awake.                                  

Clients included:  

                        Met Life: Westport, CT        

                        Zoo Atlanta

                        Fernbank Museum

                        Current Assets:  Atlanta, Chicago , Milwaukee

                        Met DisAbility:  Atlanta, Hartford , Syracuse and Chicago

                        John Hancock Insurance, Atlanta

                        United Health Care:  Minneapolis

                        State University of West Georgia Continuing Education

 
Creative Director of OxyMoron, a comedy/improv troupe which performed in Southern California , Missouri , and Atlanta .

 
1992-1998:    The Georgian School , Carrollton, GA

Taught High School Grammar, Composition, American and English Literature, Geography, American Government, World History and Drama, as well as 4th and 5th Grade Creative Writing, Middle School Math and English.

1986-1991:   SaddlebackValley Unified School District , Mission Viejo , California          

Drama and improvisation teacher for grades 4-12, as well as Adult Education evening classes in Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, and Huntington Beach.

Co-founder (with SVUSD Recreation Department) and Creative Director for Saddleback Valley Community Theater, Mission Viejo, California .