English Faculty

Joanne Diaz

Isaac Funk Endowed Professor of English

When she’s not busy writing poems, Professor Diaz can be found chasing down the dropped “R” in the Boston accent.

Anastasia Klimchynskaya

Visiting Assistant Professor of English

James Plath

Professor of English, R. Forrest Colwell Endowed Chair of English

Professor Plath ran with the bulls in Pamplona and was the featured scholar on a Travel Channel show, “Hemingway in Key West.”

Brandi Reissenweber

Associate Professor of English

Living in Jack Kerouac’s former home, traveling across Sudan, or exploring local trails in search of a quiet spot, Professor Reissenweber always can be seen with a good book.

Juan Rodríguez Barrera

Assistant Professor of English

Few things inspire Professor Rodríguez Barrera more than when his students discover that literature can be both an instrument for poltical critique and a means to envision what proletarian author Tillie Olsen once called the "not yet in the now."

Michael Theune

Robert Harrington Endowed Professor of English, University Writing Program Director, and Department Chair

Professor Theune’s love of surprises—in jokes, mysteries, The Prestige has led him, often with student assistants, to explore the art of the twist in poetry.