Dr. Sylvia
Bailey Shurbutt
Vitae
Department of English,
Webpage: http://www.shepherd.edu/englweb/shurbutt.htm
Email: Sshurbut@shepherd.edu
WV Address:
GA Address: 705 Brigantine
Education:
Ph.D. University of Georgia, 1978-1982, Nineteenth-Century
British Literature and Linguistics.
Dissertation--"Matthew Arnold's Concept of Nature"--deals with
the nineteenth-century concept of nature as it evolved from the Romantic
(Wordsworthian) to the Victorian (Arnoldian) visions.
M.A. Georgia Southern University, 1972-1974, American
Literature. Thesis--"A Developing
Self As Revealed through the Royalty Imagery in the Poems and Letters of Emily
Dickinson"-- explores Emily Dickinson's use of imagery as it parallels an
evolving self.
Employment:
SE Bullock High School, English Dept. Chair
(1975-78)
Teaching/Research Interests:
Appalachian Studies
19th-Century British Literature
Women's Studies
English Pedagogy and Linguistics
Professional Organizations:
Appalachian Studies Association
National Council of Teachers of English
Organization for the Study of Communication, Language and
Gender
Virginia Woolf Society
American Culture of America
Publications:
"The Short Fiction of
Katherine Anne Porter: Momentos de
Verdades." Southwestern American Literature 5 (1975):
40-46. (Research clarified
Porter’s fictional “grace
moments.”)
"E. L. Masters'
'Spooniad' as Homeric Burlesque." Illinois Quarterly, 39 (Winter
1976): 39-46. (Research
explored Classical influence on Masters’ poetry.)
"Emily Dickinson: A
Poet the Product of Her Age." Emily Dickinson Bulletin, 33 (1978): 26-34. (Research established
"A Developing Self as Revealed in the Royalty Imagery in the
Poems and Letters of Emily Dickinson." American Transcendental
Quarterly, 42 (Spring 1979): 167-176.
(Research explored “royalty” image in
"Mary Wollstonecraft:
An Eighteenth-Century Romantic." The
Kentucky Review, 3 (1982): 47-53. (Research
established Romantic influence of Wollstonecraft.)
“Matthew Arnold's Concept
of Nature: A Synthesist's View." Victorian Poetry, 23 (Spring 1985):
97-104. (Research explored the
Romantic and Modernist tendencies in Arnold’s
poetry.)
"The Poetry of Matthew Arnold: Nature and the Oriental
Wisdom.”
"The Popular Fiction of Caroline Sheridan Norton: A Vehicle
for Change in Woman's Legal Status.” The Journal of Popular Literature,
2 (Winter 1986): 45-56. (Research
explored Norton’s novels as vehicle for social change in Victorian England.)
"The Popular Fiction of Caroline Sheridan Norton: The Woman
Question and the Theme of Manipulation," Studies in Popular Culture,
9 (1986): 24-40. (Research
explored the theme of patriarchal manipulation in Norton’s novels.)
Reading/Writing
Relationships, co-author.
"Student Peer
Evaluation: A Practical Approach." Arizona English Bulletin, 29
(Spring 1987): 22-25. (Research
explored ways to implement peer evaluation in writing classes.)
"Integration of Classroom Computer Use and the Peer Evaluation
Process: Increasing the Level of Composition Proficiency through Student
Revision." The
"Matthew Arnold and John Stuart Mill: In Harmony with
Nature." Essays in Literature, 15 (Spring 1988): 35-43. (Research explored relationship
between Mill and Arnold’s ideas about nature, implying the Modernist tendencies
of the Victorians.)
"Computer Writing and Collaborative Learning: Making the Machine Less Formidable." Notes
on Teaching English, 15 (May 1988):12-13.
(Research explored successful use of collaborative learning in the
computer writing workshop.)
"Margaret Drabble's The
Waterfall: The Writer as Fiction, or Overcoming the Dilemma of Female
Authorship." Women's Studies, 16 (Fall 1988): 30-38. (Research explored Drabble’s vision of the female artist and obstacles she must overcome to create.)
Introduction to Lost
and Saved by Caroline Norton.
1864. Delmar, NY: Scholars' Facsimiles
and Reprints, 1989. (This
volume allowed me to get 19th-century novelist Caroline Sheridan Norton’s work back
into print. My introduction explains the
work and Norton’s significance in the immensely important Women Question of the
19th Century.)
"Revisionist Mythmaking in Christina Rossetti's 'Goblin
"Zelda Fitzgerald: The Collected Writings." Review for Southern
Humanities Review 27 (3 Summer 1993): 288-290. (This review essay was
commissioned by Southern Humanities
Review, the research and preparation introducing me to the importance and
significance of Zelda Fitzgerald as an early 20th-century artist.)
"The
"Creating a Woman's
Life Through Words: A Language of Their Own." Women and Language 17
(Spring 1994): 38-42. (Research
on Zelda Fitzgerald explored her attempt
to “write” her own version of her life as a response
to husband Scott’s appropriating of her life for his fiction.)
"Writing Lives and
Telling Tales: Visions and Revisions."
Untying the Tongue: Gender, Power, and the Word, Eds. Linda
Longmire and Lisa Merrill, Greenwood Press,
1998. (Chapter
in this volume explored the work of Zelda Fitzgerald and her significance to
Jazz Age literature and early 20th-century feminism.)
"Agony, Ecstasy, and
Art: Four Plays." Contemporary
American Theater Festival, Program Notes. (July 2001): 11, 16. (Research involved reading and
researching four
plays for The Contemporary
American Theater Festival, a national theater festival for presenting new
playwrights.)
"Zelda
Fitzgerald." American Writers, Supplement IX.
critical and biographical
overview of Zelda Fitzgerald.)
"The Art of
Illusion." Contemporary American
Theater Festival, Program Notes. (July 2002): 22-23. (Research involved reading and
researching four plays for The
Contemporary American Theater
Festival, a national theater festival for presenting new playwrights.)
"Charlotte Perkins
Gillman." American Writers. Ed.
commissioned by Scribner’s for
critical and biographical overview of feminist activist Charlotte Perkins
Gilman.)
“Flannery O’Connor.”
American Writers. Ed.
commissioned by Scribner’s for
critical and biographical overview of
Georgia writer Flannery O’Connor.)
“Margaret Atwood.” World
Writers in English. Ed.
Scribner’s for critical and
biographical overview of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood.)
“The Yellow Wallpaper by
Charlotte Perkins Gillman.” Encyclopedia
of American Literature. NY:
by Oxford UP.)
“Revisionist Mythmaking in
Christina Rossetti’s Goblin
“Margaret Drabble.” The
Literary Encyclopedia. On-line
Research & EbscoHost Publication @ www.LitEncyc.com, 2005. (Overview of English author’s
work
commissioned by The Literary Encyclopedia.)
”Zelda Fitzgerald.” The
Literary Encyclopedia. On-line
Research & EbscoHost Publication @ www.LitEncyc.com, 2005. (Overview of Zelda Fitzgerald’s
work
commissioned by The Literary Encyclopedia.)
“Fred Chappell.” The Literary Encyclopedia. On-line Research & EbscoHost Publication
@ www.LitEncyc.com, 2005. (Overview
of Appalachian writer’s work
commissioned by The Literary Encyclopedia.)
“Lies, Truth, and Art:
Vanquishing the Enemy Within.” The
Contemporary AmericanTheatre Festival, Program Notes (July 2005): 28-31. (Research involved reading and
researching four plays for The
Contemporary American Theater Festival, a national theater festival for presenting
new playwrights.)
“Words, Actions, and
‘Resurrecting Home’: the Fiction of Denise Giardina and the Ethical
Imperative.” The Journal of Kentucky Studies 22 (September 2005): 110-115.
(Research
explores the work of West Virginia novelist Denise Giardina.)
“Where Mountain Meets
Atom, Within the Healing Circle: The Writing of Marilou Awiakta.” The Journal of Appalachian Studies 11
(Spring/Fall 2005): 195-
explores the work of Appalachian
poet Marilou Awiakta and environmental themes in her poetry.)
“A Roadmap for Becoming an
Artist: ‘Unstoppering the Story Jug’ in the Poetry and Prose of Fred Chappell
and Listening to the Female Voice.” The Journal of
Kentucky Studies 23 (September 2006):
137-146. (Research explores the poetry and prose of Appalachian storyteller
Fred Chappell and his use of the female voice in
his work.)
“Robert Morgan’s
Peripheral Vision: The Point Beside the Point in The Hinterlands. North Carolina Literary Review 19 (2010); 31-43.
“Henry Louis Gates, Jr.” American Writers. Ed.
by Scribner’s for critical and
biographical overview of literary and social critic Henry Louis Gates, Jr.)
“Power in the Blood: A Family Narrative by Linda Tate.” Book Review.
Now and Then: The Appalachian
Magazine 26 (Summer 2010): 67.
Conference and Professional Presentations:
"Mary Wollstonecraft:
An Eighteenth-Century Romantic," Women's Studies Session, South Atlantic
Modern Language Association,
“Emily Dickinson: Erratic
Emily or a
"The Influence of
Hispanic Culture and Character upon the Short Fiction of Katherine Anne
Porter," Fifth Winthrop Symposium on Major Modern Writers, Winthrop
College, Rock Hill, SC, April 23, 1982.
"Writers of the
Coastal Plain: Caroline Miller and Brainard Cheney," Catface Country, The
World of the Turpentiner: Conference Sponsored by the
"Matthew Arnold's
Concept of Nature and the Bhagavad Gita: A Source of Consistency in a
Synthesist's Approach to Nature," Nineteenth-Century British Literature
Session, Philological Association of the Carolinas,
"The Novels of
Caroline Norton: The 'Woman Question' and the Theme of Manipulation,"
Women's Studies Session, Philological Association of the Carolinas,
"The Popular Fiction
of Caroline Sheridan Norton: A Vehicle for Change in Woman's Legal
Status," Women's Studies Session, Popular Culture Association of the
South,
"Caroline Sheridan
Norton: 'Angel' with a Cause," Carolinas Symposium on British Studies,
“Student Peer Evaluation:
Questions and Answers--Pitfalls and Poppycock!" Conference for Improving
the Teaching of Writing in Freshman English,
"Integration of
Classroom Computer Use and the Peer Evaluation Process: Increasing the Level of
Composition Proficiency through Student Revision," University System
Computer Network Conference, Rock Eagle, GA,
"Margaret Drabble's The
Waterfall: The Writer as Fiction, or Overcoming the Dilemma of Female
Authorship," Women's Studies Session, Popular Culture Association of
"The Composition
Computer Lab: From Conception to Implementation," University System
Developmental Studies Workshop,
"The Evaluation
Process in Freshman Writing: A Tool for Improving Composition Skills,"
Freshman English Session, South Atlantic Modern Language Association,
"Matthew Arnold and
John Stuart Mill: In Harmony with Nature," British Literature Session,
Philological Association of the Carolinas, Winthrop College, Rock Hill, SC,
March 6, 1988.
"The Demonic Masked,
Or the Necessity of Indirection: the Popular and Polemical Prose of Caroline
Sheridan Norton," Women's Lives and Letters Session, Popular Culture
Association of
"Christina Rossetti's
'Goblin Market' As Revisionist Mythmaking, Or
"The Politics of
Language: Empowering the Female Writer," Understanding Women's Writing
Session, NCTE Conference on College Composition and Communication, Seattle, WA,
March 17, 1989.
"The 'Proper Lady'
and Political Subversion," Nineteenth-Century Women Writers Session,
Women's Studies Conference, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green,
Kentucky, September 28, 1989.
"Revisionist
Mythmaking in Nineteenth-Century Women's Writing: Eve's Apple and Other
Teleological Questions Revised and Reconsidered," Southeastern Nineteenth
Century Studies Association, The Citadel,
"The College Computer
Lab: Initiating and Integrating Computer Writing into the Freshman
Program," National Projects on Computers and College Writing Conference,
The City University of New York, June 1, 1990.
"The
"Creating a Woman's
Life through Words: A Language of Their Own," Organization for the Study
of
Communication, Language,
and Gender,
"Political Persuasion
and the Lady Novelist: Myths, Masks, and Feminism in the Life and Work of
Caroline Sheridan Norton," Southern Conference on British Studies,
"Jane Austen and the
Gothic Romance: Terror, Satire and Subversion in the Life and Work of a Femininely
Augustan Mind," 1993 Carolinas Symposium on British Studies,
"Zelda Writing Zelda:
Reading a Woman's Life in Fitzgerald's Save Me the Waltz," South
Atlantic Modern Language Association,
"Writing a Woman's
Life: Visions and Revisions," American Culture Association of the South,
"Re-figuring
Narration: the Prose and Visual Art of Zelda Fitzgerald," American Culture
Association in the South,
“Equality and Art,”
Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender,
“Telling Stories, Writing
Tales—New Voices at the Century’s End: the Novels of Sharyn McCrumb,” OSCLG,
“Re-imaging the Literature
Classroom: Enhancing Student Participation and Performance through the
Classroom WebPage,” National Council of Teachers of English Global
Conversations on Language and Literacy Conference,
"Weaving the Sacred
Circle: The Prose and Poetry of Marilou Awiakta," Organization for the
Study of Communication, Language, and Gender,
"Art and Life in the
Prose of Zelda Fitzgerald: An Original Aesthetic," Twentieth-Century
Literature Conference,
"Explorations with
Technology: the English Webpage," National Council of Teachers of English
Conference,
"Sharyn McCrumb's
Ballad Novels and Talking from the Fringe,' Twenty-fifth Annual Appalachian
Studies Conference,
“The Prose and Poetry of
George Ella Lyon: ‘The Mystery of the
“The
Literary Achievement of Marilou Awiakta,” Women of Appalachia, Fifth Annual
National Conference,
“Where Mountain Meets Atom
Within the Healing Circle: The Writing of Awiakta,” Twenty-Seventh Annual
Appalachian Studies Conference, Cherokee, NC,
“Zelda Fitzgerald and the
Age of Jazz,” Faculty Forum,
“Words, Actions and
‘Resurrecting Home’: The Fiction of Denise Giardina and the Ethical
Imperative.” Twenty-Eighth Annual Appalachian Studies Conference,
“Denise Giardina and
Southern Appalachian Writing.” Southern Women Writer’s Conference,
“Fred Chappell: The Art of
Story Telling.” The American Culture Association in the South Conference,
“A
Roadmap for Becoming an Artist: Unstoppering the Story Jug in the Work of Fred
Chappell.” Appalachian Studies
Association Conference,
“’Home
Is Where You Come From’: The Fiction of Jayne Anne Phillips and the Journey
Within.” Seventh Biennial Southern Women Writers Conference,
“Peripheral
Vision in the Fiction of Robert Morgan.”
Appalachian Studies Association Conference,
“Southern
Literature Is Alive and Well and Living in
“Living
Voices and Roads that Take Us Home: The Fiction and Poetry of Robert Morgan.” Southern Writers Symposium, February 26,
2009.
“Bridging
the Racial Divide: Writing ‘Inside the Outside’ with Henry Louis Gates’ Colored People.” NCTE Conference on College Composition and
Communication,
“The
Fiction and Storytelling of Terry Kay and the Theme of ‘Giving Way.’” Appalachian Studies Association Conference,
“Silas House: Place and
the Transforming Scent of Words.”
Appalachian Studies Conference, North Georgia University, March 19, 2010.
“The Female Voice in the
Poetry of Fred Chappell.” College
English Association Conference, San Antonio, March 26, 2010.
Editing/Review Work:
Grammar for English
Teachers
by Mark Lester, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1988.
Reviewer for Proteus,
1989.
Advisory Committee for Reevaluation of State of
Reviewer for PMLA, 1996-97, assessment and recommendation of
articles for possible publication.
Anthology of Appalachian Writers,
Adriana Trigiani Volume. Senior Managing Editor, Shepherd University and Edwards Brothers
Press, 2009.
Anthology of Appalachian Writers,
Silas House Volume. Senior Managing Editor,
Shepherd University and Edwards Brothers Press, 2010.
Grants Received:
Co-author, NEH Challenge Grant, Georgia Southern U., November
1983, $400,000.00 (for faculty professional development and library
acquisition).
Author, Georgia Regents Quality Improvement Funds, 1986,
Composition Computer Lab, $41,541.90.
Author,
Co-author, WV Humanities Grants, Appalachian Writer in Residence,
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005. 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 (all grants range
between $2000.00 and $6,000.00).
Author, WV Humanities Planning Grant, Teacher Institute, 1999,
$1,500.
Co-author, WV Humanities Grant: WV Teacher Institute, 2001,
$16,000.
Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grant, Appalachian Heritage Young Writers
Fiction Competition, 2003, $1000.
WV Center for the Book Grant, Anthology
of Appalachian Writers and WV Fiction Competition, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
($2000 each year).
Courses Taught at Shepherd:
General Studies English: ENGL 101, 102,
ENGL 270, Traditional Grammar and Modern English Usage (http://webpages.shepherd.edu/sshurbut/engl370/index.html)
ENGL 340, British Romantic Literature (http://www.shepherd.edu/englweb/romantics/romantics.htm
)
ENGL
ENGL 358, Appalachian Literature (http://webpages.shepherd.edu/sshurbut/indexstudents3.html)
ENGL 360, Literature and the Sexes
(Gateway, http://www.shepherd.edu/artweb/programs/gateway.php )
ENGL 366, Women in Arts & Literature
(Gateway, http://webpages.shepherd.edu/sshurbut/ENGL366/366index.HTML)
ENGL
ENGL 375, History of English (http://webpages.shepherd.edu/sshurbut/eng375/index.htm
)
ENGL 430, British Literature and the
Prominence of Place (http://webpages.shepherd.edu/sshurbut/travelcourse1.htm)
ENGL 431,
(Travel courses include “English Heartland,”
1999; “Gaelic Adventure,” 2001; “Literary Expatriates,” 2007; “Literary
Footprints,” 2009; “Literary Expatriates in Love and War,” 2011)
EDUC
ENGL 485, English Capstone
ENGL 486, English LA Capstone Presentation
Graduate Courses
Taught:
CIS 930, Women & Writing: A Different Voice, WVU, July 2001 (http://www.shepherd.edu/englweb/institute/)
ENGL 599, Methods of Teaching English, Fall 2006
ENGL 599, Literary Footprints, Summer 2009
Institution & Community Activities:
Name of Committee, Years
of Active Specific
Task Force, etc. Involvement Responsibilities
WV Advisory Council of
(Duties
included organizing state meetings and setting ACF agendas, making
presentations to Higher Education Policy Commission, the CTC Council, and the
West Virginia Legislature, organizing faculty summer ACF retreats, gathering
information and preparing Higher
Education Faculty Resource Directory, Representing WV Higher Education
Faculty and their issues before a variety of groups, including the Governor.) See ACF website at http://www.wvacf.org/wvacf/home.aspx.
WV Advisory Council of Faculty Legislative Subcommittee Coordinator
2006-
(Duties
include coordinating advice to the Legislature on Higher Education issues.)
WV Advisory Council of Faculty Shepherd U. Representative 2000- (Duties include
soliciting input from Shepherd Faculty and University
Appalachian Heritage
Writer-in-Residence
Project 1999- Project Director & Grant Writer (See
website at http://www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/)
WV New Writers Fiction Competition
2003- Originator of
competition and contest facilitator (See website at http://www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/new_writers.html)
Scarborough Society 2004- Library Support
Shepherd Friends of Music 2001- Support
Music Events
Tour Director for British Literature Prominence of Place Travel 1999, 2001, 2007, 2009 Originator of English travel study idea (See http://webpages.shepherd.edu/sshurbut/travelcourse1.htm)
Masterworks Chorus 1987- Soprano chorus member
National Organization of Women 1990- Eastern Panhandle President, 3 yrs.
Reader’s Digest Grant Committee 1992-94 Acad.
Coord. for Judith Shatin Music Residency
Shepherd Senate 1995-99, 2003-
Shepherd Faculty Council 1988-90 English
Department Representative
Shepherd Curriculum and Inst. Com. 1992-2005 C&I Member & Chair (2003-05, 2008-)
Shepherd Scholarship and Awards Com. 2008- S&A
Member & Chair (2008-)
Shepherd Strategic Planning Com. 2000- Faculty Representative
Graduate Committee 2001-02 English Education Representative
NCA Task Force Committee 1999-2001 Preparation for Univ.
accreditation
General Studies Subcommittee 1999-2003 Chair and cord. of campus discussion of GS
curriculum & ISOs in preparation for NCA Accreditation (see GS brochure)
General Studies Committee
2009- Non-voting member of
GSC charged with revising the GS curriculum and overseeing the GS curriculum
GS Curriculum Coordinating Committee 2009- Member
of GSCC charged with coordinating curricular issues among University governing
and coordinating bodies
Assessment Task Force 1999-2003 Committee members reviewed assessment reports and made recommendations
Professional Education Unit Council 1987- Committee oversees TE Program
PEU Council NCATE
Subcommittee 1995-97 Subcommittee oversaw curriculum Issues
Shepherd Women’s Caucus 1990-92 Caucus addressed women’s issues and
discrimination on campus, Secretary
Women’s Studies Committee 1993 Coordinator
of committee that developed Women’s Studies Minor
Performing Arts Committee 1991-93 Committee approved arts performances
Awards and Recognitions:
Name & Nature of Year Organization
Making
Award or Recognition Received the Award
STAR Teacher Award 1978 Georgia
Chamber of Commerce
NEH Challenge Grant Co-Author (GSU) 1983 National
Endowment for Humanities ($400,000
for Faculty Professional Development)
Phi Kappa Phi 1984 Georgia
Southern U. Chapter
Georgia Regents Quality 1985 GA Board of Regents
Improvement Grant
for Computer Lab
NEH Yale Univ. Summer Sem. 1987 National Endowment
for Humanities
Faculty Research Grant for Girton 1987 Georgia Southern
University
College Archives,
Faculty Research Grant for 1990 Shepherd University
Strathclyde Archives,
Shepherd Computer Tech Grant 1992 Shepherd University
for English Department Knutti Computer Lab
WV Humanities Council Grant for
Appalachian Heritage WIR
Project 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002,
2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
Faculty Mini Grant for NCTE Global 2000 Shepherd University
Conference Presentation,
WV Humanities Planning Grant 2001 WV Humanities
Council
for WV Teacher Institute
Faculty Mini Grant for NCTE 2002 Shepherd University
Conference Presentation,
Faculty Mini Grant for Virginia Woolf 2004 Shepherd
University
Conference,
Faculty Mini Grant for Appalachian St. Conf. 2008 Shepherd University
2004 Summer Fellowship for 2004 WV
Humanities Council
Appalachian Writers Research Project (Voices from the Misty Mountains)
2004
for WV New Writers Fiction Competition
2006 West Virginia Professor of the Years 2007 West Virginia Merit Foundation