Department of English
News
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New Book of Poetry
Congratulations to Dr. Gaylord Brewer, who has just released his newest book of poetry, Goodbye, Baby, with Accents Publishing.
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Creative Pedagogy and MTSU Students
We proudly share Dr. Chandler Mordechai’s most recent refereed publication in the February 2026 issue of the journal ImageText. The article explores a creative pedagogical activity featuring the works of five MTSU students. You can read “Developing Reflexive Research Approaches through Multimodal Positionality Poems” at the attached link.
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Feminist Rhetorical Practices of Healing
Congratulations to Dr. Chandler Mordechai, who has published “Storiographies of #HealingJourney: Online Feminist Rhetorical Practices of Healing through Content Creation and Care” in the Winter 2026 issue of Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric.
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Digital Archive Research in Teaching
Congratulations to Dr. Bridget Donnelly, who published the article “‘We Have to Be Detectives’: Digital Archival Research in the Undergraduate British Literature Survey Course” in the January 2026 issue of the journal Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture.
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Invited Talks
Professor Rima Abdallah shared her research on effective strategies for teaching virtual students in two talks at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi at the invitation of Dr Karine Germoni. Her presentations were “Teaching Writing Across the Disciplines” and “Teaching Texts Remotely: Challenges and Strategies for Teaching Asynchronously.”
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The Bluest Eye and Civil Disorder in the 1960s
Dr. Laura Dubek has just published her chapter “Rewriting ‘The Ugly Duckling’: The Bluest Eye and Civil Disorder(s) in the 1960s” in Critical Insights: Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, edited by Jericho Williams (Salem Press, 2025).
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New Collection of Short Stories
English Lecturer Mary Carroll Leoson’s new book of short stories, Devil’s Oak: Waking the Female Wound has just been published by MTSU Open Press. The collection features strong female characters against a backdrop of ghosts, fairy tales, and urban legends.
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New Book on Academic Self-Presentation
Mohammed Albakry’s new book, Presentation of Self in Academic Support Genres, with Clint Bryan, is now out from Michigan University Press. Unlike their previous co-authored book, Writing Recommendation Letters, which tackled the evaluative discourse we ask others to do on our behalf, this volume takes up the evaluative and promotional labor that academic job seekers
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Distinguished Senior Career Creative Activity Award
Associate Professor and prolific author Dr Fred Arroyo received MTSU’s 2025 Distinguished Senior Career Activity Award. His award-winning books include Sown in Earth: Essays of Memory and Belonging (2020), Western Avenue and Other Fictions (2012), and The Region of Lost Names (2008). For more, see this recent interview with Dr. Arroyo, “On Writing Your Obsessions.”
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Career Achievement Award
Professor of English and Honors Associate Dean received the 2025 Career Achievement Award. “Except for being recognized by students, there’s no greater honor for a professor than to be recognized in this way by his peers,” said Phillips. For more information, visit the full announcement via MTSU News.
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Department of English
Mailing Address:
Department of English
Middle Tennessee State University
Box 70
1301 East Main Street
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Main Office: Peck Hall 302
Chair: Dr. Stephen Severn
Email: stephen.severn@mtsu.edu
Telephone: (615) 898-2648