J. Gregory Brister
English Department
1445 Jayhawk Blvd., Rm. 3114 Wescoe
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045-7549
e-mail address
http://www.people.ku.edu~brister
Education
A.B.D. in English 2005, University of Kansas, comprehensive examination honors
M.A. in English 1997, Saint Cloud State University, summa cum laude
B.A. in English 1993, Hamline University, cum laude, with honors in English
Fields of Specialization
Modernism, rhetoric and composition, pedagogy, literary theory, popular fiction of the 1920s-30s
Teaching Interests
Twentieth -Century British, Irish, and American fiction, drama, and poetry; modernism; advanced and creative writing; African-American literature; critical theory; literature and film; experimental fiction; pedagogy; cultural studies; composition
Teaching
2005-present University of Kansas, Lecturer
American Literature II (300-level survey course)
Introduction to Drama
Critical Reading and Writing (KU Continuing Education)
2000-2005 University of Kansas Graduate Teaching Assistant (with full teaching responsibilities)
English 203 (Special Topics Course): Textual Studies
Introduction to Poetry
Introduction to Fiction
Composition Pilot Course: Reading/Writing Culture
Composition and Literature
Composition
1998-2000 Instructor of English, St. John’s University/College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota
Creative Writing
Writing Essays (Advanced Writing)
Reading Fiction (Introduction to Literature and Theory)
Symposium: Reading/Writing Popular Culture
1997-98 Adjunct Instructor of English, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota
Rhetorical and Analytical Writing
1993-95 Graduate Assistant (with full teaching responsibilities), St. Cloud State University
Written Composition II (Introduction to Research): American Popular Culture
Introduction to Literature: The Doppelgänger (assisted)
Written Composition
Publications
“Absalom, Absalom! and the Semiotic Other” (forthcoming) The Faulkner Journal.
"Three Views of the Imagist Movement" (story) (forthcoming) Natural Bridge.
"How James Joyce Wrote Ulysses" (poem/story) (forthcoming) Five Fingers Review.
"An Apology" (poem) Hiram Poetry Review (67).
"If You're Reading This, I'm Dead" (story) Backwards City Review (3).
“Madonna of the White Birds: 16 Psalms” (story) Nimrod (27).
“A Nun on Her Wedding Day,” “Ruth Among the Grain,” and “After Mass” (poems) Chelsea (59).
“Psychoanalysis” (poem) Mudfish (9).
“What I Was Taught About Modern Verse” (poem) The North Stone Review (12).
“Hemingway in Italy” (poem) The New York Quarterly (forthcoming).
“Dear John” (poem) The New York Quarterly (53).
“Faulkner In Hollywood” (poem) The New York Quarterly (52).
(Four Poems) The Minnesota Daily (95.16), Thursday, October 14, 1993.
“Asking Where Her” (poem) Ophelia’s Pale Lilies (4.1).
Conference Presentations
“’It didn’t make sense to me’: Robert Keable’s Simon Called Peter and Popular Modernism,” Modern Studies Association (MSA) Conference. Chicago, Illinois: November, 2005.
“Joyce’s Semiotic Aesthetic,” North American James Joyce Conference. Tulsa, Oklahoma: July 2003.
“Cultural to Literary Studies: Negotiating Departmental Objectives via the Common Syllabus,” Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCCs). Chicago, Illinois: March, 2002.
“Dead Poets Society and/as Cultural Studies,” Twentieth-Century Literature Conference. Louisville, Kentucky: February, 2002.
“‘Feminine’ Sentences: Virginia Woolf’s Transthetic Discourse,” Twentieth-Century Literature Conference. Louisville, Kentucky: February, 2000 .
“H.D.’s Semiotic Poetics: Towards a Language of Rain,” Midlands Conference on Language and Literature. Omaha, Nebraska: March/April, 1995.
“The Semiotics of Surrealism,” Theater History Symposium of the Mid-America Theatre Conference. Kansas City, Missouri: February, 1995.
“Jane Eyre and the Semiotic” and Creative Work, Text/Texture and Context. Columbia, Missouri: February, 1995.
Honors and Awards
Kenneth Rockwell Scholarship (for critical writing), University of Kansas, 2006.
Merrill Award for Excellence in Research
(grant for work on popular modernisms), University of Kansas, 2006.
Dr. Anne Marie Turner Award (for critical writing of publishable quality about American Literature), University of Kansas, 2006.
Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant, (University) University of Kansas, 2005.
Outstanding Instructor Award (English Department), University of Kansas, 2005.
Elsie I. Oravetz Scholarship (for excellence in the study of literature), University of Kansas, 2005.
Seldon Lincoln Whitcomb Fellowship (for scholarship and teaching), University of Kansas, 2003.
Angela Jones Rhetoric Scholarship, University of Kansas, 2003.
Carruth Memorial Poetry Award, University of Kansas, 2002.
Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers 2000.
Phi Kappa Phi (National Honors Society). Inducted April 7th, 1995.
Phi Theta Kappa (National Honors Society of Community Colleges). Inducted May 4, 1990.
Eliza A. Drew Prize for Poetry, Hamline University, 1993.
Effie Hamline Memorial Award for Short Fiction, Hamline University, 1992.
Evelyn Apitz Morris Prize for Best Playwright, Hamline University, 1992 and 1993.
George Henry Bridgeman Prize for Poetry, Hamline University, 1992.
Eliza A. Drew Prize for Fiction, Hamline University, 1992.
Patsy Lea Core Memorial Scholarship for Creative Writing, Normandale Community College, 1991.
Professional Memberships
Modern Studies Association (MSA)
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Modern Language Association (MLA)
International Virginia Woolf Society
International James Joyce Society
Twin Peaks Society
University Service
University of Kansas:
English Composition II Pilot Course 2005
Joyce’s Ireland Conference Organizing Committee
Departmental Grade Norming Session Leader 2004
Freshman-Sophomore English Committee 2002-2003
English Course Description Sub-committee 2003
MAT (English Department Manual for New Teachers) Revision
Committee and Contributor
FSE Handbook Selection Sub-committee 2002
Sage (English Graduate Student Organization) University
Representative 2001
St. John’s University/
College of St. Benedict:
First-Year Student Academic Adviser (32 Advisees per Semester).
Core Curriculum Assessment Contributor. 1998-2000
Interdisciplinary Critical Thinking Discussion Group Member (a funded, semester-long symposium). 1998
St. Cloud State University
Essaying (Campus Magazine of Essays Written in First Year Composition) Selection/Editorial Committee. 1995
Upper Mississippi Harvest (Campus Literary Magazine) Fiction and Poetry Editor.
Composition Test-Out Exam Proctor and Reader. 1994-1995
Upper Mississippi Harvest (Campus Literary Magazine) Poetry Judge. 1994
Patsy Lea Core Living Memorial Scholarship for Creative Writing Poetry Judge. 1992-1995
Graduate Coursework (Selected)
Criticism and the Teaching of Literature
Theories of Pedagogy
The Modern Novel
Semiotics
Seminar in Teaching Creative Writing
Fiction and Poetry Writing
Victorian Literature and Class
Computers in English
Reading Race in Modern Fiction
Languages
French (read)
Italian (read)
Academic Services and Professional Activities
2006 Designed "English 102: Critical Reading and Writing" for KU's Continuing Education/Distance Learning Program
2005 Designed home/courses webpage for the KU English Department Chair
Selected to teach on of three pilot Composition II courses (which led to the reassessment
and revision of English Composition II at the University of Kansas)
2004-2005 Assistant to the KU English Department Chair
2002-2003 Proposed and designed a course combining literary and cultural studies at KU.
Guest lecture to new graduate teaching assistants about incorporating popular culture and
cultural studies into their courses.
Course materials and assignment selected for inclusion in the KU English Department’s Manual
for Teachers (GTA reference book).
1998-99 Applied for and received special core curriculum flag designation for two writing courses at St.
John’s University/College of St. Benedict.
1996 Created a class listserv for three sections of Reading/Writing American Popular Culture.
1995 Developed instructions for on-line newsgroups and presented material on researching
via the Internet to the English Department at St. Cloud State University.
1994 Designed and developed a research writing course for Saint Cloud State University
that emphasized critical thinking and writing about the popular media.