Dr. Jeffrey Skoblow
Teaching and Research Interests
I teach writing and a wide range of literature courses, mostly modern (late 18th century to the present) British, Global English, and World literatures, with a particular emphasis on contemporary Latin American and Caribbean literature, as well as Drama (ancient Greek, modern European and contemporary American). My research is represented by three books to date: Paradise Dislocated: Morris, Politics, Art (1993) on the Victorian poet, artist / designer, and Socialist activist William Morris, Dooble Tongue: Scots, Burns, Contradiction (2001) on the great 18th-century Scottish poet Robert Burns and 20th-century efforts to revive the Scots language, and In a Trance: On Paleo Art (2014), a long essay on prehistoric cave art and its connection to contemporary life. For the past quarter century I’ve published additional essays and presented numerous conference papers on Morris’ literary, political and craft activities, and on Burns and related Scottish topics, as well as producing occasional work on other literary figures (James Joyce, Amiri Baraka, Bob Dylan), and on pedagogical theory and practice. I’ve also published poetry and short fiction, with fiction (in particular a collection of short stories about teaching) currently occupying the center of my writing attention.
Sample courses taught
English Composition (ENG 101), Introduction to Literary Studies (ENG 200), Studies in Drama (ENG 202), Studies in World Literature (ENG 215), Caribbean Literature (ENG 340), Contemporary Latin American Fiction (ENG 464, 479), Senior Seminar: James Joyce’s Ulysses (ENG 497a), Wordsworth, Byron, Morris: 19th century British Epic Verse (ENG 506).