DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

  • Kathryn Moncrief – Professor of English, Department Chair

    B.A. Doane College, 1989

    M.A. University of Nebraska, 1991

    Ph.D. University of Iowa, 2000

    Washington College Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching

    Research and Teaching Areas:

    Early Modern English Drama (Shakespeare and his Contemporaries)

    16th and 17th Century English Literature and Culture

    Women in Early Modern England

    Milton

    Current research and teaching interests include gender, performance and early modern material culture as represented on stage and in the popular press

    Held a Fling Fellowship at University of Nebraska

    Held a Seashore Dissertation Fellowship at University of Iowa

    Kmoncrief2@washcoll.edu

  • Liam Daley – Lecturer in English

    B.A. Washington College, 2007

    Master of Letters, University of St. Andrews, 2008

    Sophie Kerr prize winner

    Instructor in English at the Art Institute of Philadelphia

    Ldaley2@washcoll.edu

  • Sherri Foster – Lecturer in English

    B.A. Washington College, 1997

    Mst University of Oxford, 206

    Teaching at WAC since 2009

    Taught high school in Anne Arundel County for 7 years

    Research:

    British Modernism

    Disability Studies

    Cultural constructions and representations of “othered” bodies

    Queer Theory

    Life writing

    Medical humanities

    Contemporary fiction

    Sfoster2@washcoll.edu

  • Alisha Knight – Associate Professor of English and American Studies, Director of Black Studies Program

    B.A. Spelman College, 1993

    M.A. Rutgers University, 1995

    M.Phil. Drew University, 2001

    Ph.D. Drew University, 2004

    Teaching Areas:

    African American Literature

    African American Novel

    The Harlem Renaissance

    THe Gilded Age and American Literary Realism

    The History of the Book in America (Print Culture)

    Literature and Composition

    Woodrow Wilson Fellowship

    Aknight2@washcoll.edu

  • Melissa McIntire – Lecturer in English

    B.S. University of Tennessee, 2004

  • Corey Olsen – Assistant Professor of English

    B.A. Williams College, 1996

    M.A. Columbia University, 1997

    M.Phil. Columbia University, 2000

    Ph.D. Columbia University, 2003

    Teaching Areas

    J.R.R. Tolkien

    Arthurian Literature

    Chaucer

    Sir Thomas Malory

    Affiliations

    Harvey Fellows Program, Mustard Seed Foundation

    Modern Language Association

    Medieval Academy of America

    New Chaucer Society

    International Arthurian Society (North American Branch)

    Tolkien Society

    Honors:

    Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching, 2007

    Phi Beta Kappa

    Teaching at WAC since Fall 2004

    Taught previously at Temple University, Columbia University, Nyack College

    Faculty Coordinator of Academic Integrity

    Faculty Advisor for Sigma Tau Delta, English honor society

    Colsesn2@washcoll.edu

  • Philip Walsh – Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Member of the Graduate Faculty, Department of History

    B.A. College of William and Mary, 1999

    A.M. Brown University, 2005

    Ph.D. Brown University, 2008

    Teaching at WAC since 2008

    Previously taught at Brown

    Affiliations:

    American Comparative Literature Association

    American Philological Association

    Modern Language Association

    Honors:

    The Marie J. Langlois Dissertation Prize, Brown University, 2008

    Albert Spaulding Cook Prize in Comparative Literature, Brown University, 2007

    The William Johnson Hogan Prize for Excellence in Classical Studies, 1999

    Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Virginia, 1999

  • Christopher Ames – Professor of English Special Assistant to the President

    Cames2@washcoll.edu

  • Richard De Prospo – Professor of English and American Studies

    B.A. Yale University, 1971

    M.A. University of Virginia, 1972

    Ph.D. University of Virginia, 1977

    Teaching Areas:

    American Literature

    American Studies

    Popular Culture

    Literary Theory

    Fellowship, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh, 1993

    Dupont Fellowship, University of Virginia, 1972

    College/university teacher for over 30 years

    Rdeprospo2@washcoll.edu

  • Barbara Gillin – Lecturer in English

    B.A. William Paterson University of New Jersey, 1966

    M.Ed. Bowling Green State University, 1971

    Bgillin2@washcoll.edu

  • Crystal Kurzen – Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in English

    B.A. Anderson University, 1999

    M.A. The Ohio State University, 2004

    Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, 2011

    Research and Teaching Areas:

    Chicana/o Literature & Latina/o Literature

    20th & 21st Century Ethnic American Literatures

    Life Narrative & Autobiography Studies

    Literature & Composition Cultural Studies

    Women’s Studies

    Ckurzen2@washcoll.edu

  • Sean Meehan – Associate Professor of English, Director of Writing

    A.B. Princeton University, 1991

    M.A. SUNY Buffalo, 1996

    Ph.D. University of Iowa, 2002

    Taught at WAC since 2008

    Taught at Morningside College and University of Iowa

    Taught at Mercersburg Academy and Newark Academy

    Scholarly and Teaching Interests

    Autobiography and Creative Nonfiction

    Digital Humanities

    Environmental Writing

    Literature and other Arts/Media

    Nineteenth-century American Literature and Culture

    Writing Pedagogy

    Affiliated with

    American Literature Association

    Emerson Society

    Thoreau Society

    Honors:

    Phi Beta Kappa (Member and President 2011-2012 at Washington College’s Theta chapter)

    Presidential Fellow, University of Iowa 1996-2001

    Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association Fellow, Houghton Library, Harvard University 2005-2006

    Smeehan2@washcoll.edu

  • Moriah Purdy – Lecturer in English, Assistant Director of Writing Center

    B.A. Muhlenberg College, 2004

    M.F.A George Mason University, 2010

    Development editor for medical publishing company

    Assistant Director of graduate and undergraduate University Writing Center at George Mason

    Scholarly and Teaching Interests

    Writing Center theory and practice

    Writing pedagogy and composition theory

    Literary non-fiction and hybrid genes

    Poetry and poetics, especially eco-poetics, collage, visual poetry, and constraint

    Digital composition and collaboration

    Mpurdy2@washcoll.edu

  • Thomas Cousineau – Professor of English

    B.A. Boston College, 1966

    M.A. University of California, Davis, 1968

    Ph.D. University of California, Davis, 1971

    Teaching Areas

    Dante and Modernism

    Joyce and Beckett

    Modernist Literature

    Literary Theory

    Taught at WAC since 1978

    Began teaching career at University of Paris and other French universities

    Editor of the newsletter of the Samuel Beckett Society

    Recent teaching and research has been influenced by Rene Girard’s theories of mimetic desire and sacred violence

    Tcousineau2@washcoll.edu

  • Jehanne Dubrow – Assistant Professor of English, Director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House

    B.A. St. John’s College, Annapolis, 1997

    M.F. A. University of Maryland, 2003

    Ph.D. University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 208

    Jdubrow2@washcoll.edu

  • Richard Gillin – Professor of English, Director of Humanities Department

    B.A. William Paterson University, 1966

    M.A. St. John’s University, 1968

    Ph.D. Bowling Green University, 1971

    Teaching Areas:

    English Romanticism

    19th Century English Novel

    Victorian Literature

    18th Century English Literature

    Post-Colonial English Literature

    Associated with the Aspen Institute for 10 years

    Gold Pentagon Award

    Omicron Delta Kappa honorary inductee

    Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching

    Taught at WAC for over 30 years

    Director of Kiplin Hall Summer Program

    Dancing with The Stars:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3YKT3a68Uhw

    Rigillin2@washcoll.edu

  • Peter Manseau – Lecturer in English

    B.A. University of Massachusetts – Amherst, 1996

    M.A. Georgetown University, 2011

    National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, 2012

    Finalist for Prix Medicis Etranger, 2011

    Sophie Brody Award for Outstanding Achievement in Jewish Literature, 2009

    Hadassah/Ribalow Prize for Fiction, 2009

    National Jewish Book Award for Fiction, 2008

    Finalist for Mercantile Library First Novel of the Year, 2008

    Pmanseau2@washcoll.edu

  • Robert Mooney – Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing

    B.A. Boston College, 1977

    M.A. Binghamton University, 1983

    Ph.D. Binghamton University, 1996

    Teaching Areas

    Creative writing workshops (fiction)

    Irish literature

    20th century American fiction

    Postmodern Novel

    The novel as form, and forms of the novel

    B.A. Boston College, 1977

    M.A. Binghamton University, 1983

    Ph.D. Binghamton University, 1996

    Teaching Areas

    Creative writing workshops (fiction)

    Irish literature

    20th century American fiction

    Postmodern Novel

    The novel as form, and forms of the novel

    Rmooney2@washcoll.edu

  • Katherine Wagner – Assistant Professor of English (part-time)

    B.A. Washington College, 1979

    M.F.A. University of Massachusetts, 1984

    Teaching Areas:

    Creative writing (poetry and fiction)

    Native American Literature

    Women’s Literature

    Environmental Literature

    Gender Studies

    Writing and Research Interests

    Contemporary Women’s Poetry

    Contemporary Art Reviewing

    Creative Writing (poetry)

    Prose Poetry

    Contemporary African Literature

    Kwagner2@washcoll.edu