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Faculty Members' Specialties
1. English Department Faculty
list
2. Some teachers' descriptions of their interest:
Father Daniel Bauer
comparative literature (18th century Chinese-Western satire in terms
of Wu Ching-tze's Ju-lin Wai-shih and Fielding's Tom Jones); Chinese-English
literary translation; satire as a literary genre, specifically late 19th
century-20th century English and American writers;
18th century English narrative (Swift [somewhat]; DeFoe, Fielding more
confidently); and 20th century American fiction, more or less across the
board.
Somewhere in this buffet of interests for me I really do have a particular
fondness for several writers who do not fit completly conveniently into
my courses, or who I feel a need to do more reading of to be a better teacher.
They include Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Theodore Dreiser,
Katherine Anne Porter, John Updike, Bernard Malamud, Kurt Vonnegut, John
Irving, and the ever present F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.
1/9/2000
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Dr. Joseph Murphy
| "Early American Literature," my current label, is certainly one
area of focus. This area usually refers to literature of North America
before 1830. The writers that most concern me here are the early
literatures of exploration and colonization, beginning with Columbus; the
Puritans, especially Bradstreet, Taylor, and Edwards; Franklin and Jefferson;
and the novelists Brockden Brown and Cooper.
If by Early American we mean literature before 1865, then the title
suits me even better: other writers I study include Emerson and Thoreau,
Hawthorne, Whitman and Dickinson. However, my dissertation and current
book project is mostly concerned
with American literature and culture between the Civil War and World
War I, especially the later Whitman, Howells, and Henry Adams. Some
other American writers that occupy my time are Cather, Faulkner, Flannery
O'Connor, and Don DeLillo.
A more general concern developing out of my dissertation is the development
of American Modernism, which has also involved me in the study of postmodernism.
An approach that has occupied much of my research is the representation
of space, particularly architecture, landscape, and cities, in texts.
Two interdisciplinary concerns are the relationships of literature to visual
art and to theology.
1/18/2000
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Dr. David Yu
My areas of interest include colonial and postcolonial
literatures, colonial and postcolonial theory and criticism, Indian literature
in English, Indian history and culture, 19th- and early
20th-century English and American literature. I may include
Renaissance
Drama, and I will probably teach a course in that area at Fu Jen in
fall 2000.
1/25/2000
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General Advice
Choosing a topic:
Fr. Bauer:
Choose a topic you
honestly like and feel a deep curiosity about. Don't choose it only because
you like a certain professor. It's your thesis, you've got to live with
it.
Dr. Schulte:
I would also suggest that they determine their direction as
soon as possible, so they can make choices for their courses and minor
exam that will support their thesis area and longterm career or study goals.
I also tell students that I talk with to follow their own interests and
strengths, not simply what they think is academically fashionable.
Communicating with the advisor:
Fr. Bauer:
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Check very specifically with the professor you 'think' you may want to
write under BEFORE you start telling everyone who the person is and what
your topic is.
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Ask the professor
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how much care they'll give your writing as far as composition problems
are concerned - are they willing and able with time to guide grammar revisions,
or will they expect you to handle this on your own?
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how often you can consult - every 2 weeks for 40 minutes or so, once a
month? Only when you've got a chapter done?
Self-Preparation:
Kate:
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Work on basic language problems as soon as possible.
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start to practice logical thinking and formulating a thesis statement now
and in every of their papers.
Fr. Bauer:
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Realize that in the end the writing, the ideas, the organization of t.
thesis are all the student's responsibility, and the advisor is an 'advisor',
an active intellectual companion. You cannot expect an advisor to
pick up the telephone and chase after you to write or check in - that's
your job.
Writing:
Dr. Murphy:
Once you are ready to write, have a set time every day, at least five days
a week, when you write. For me, the mornings worked best, and four
or five hours of solid writing would be enough for a day. That schedule
of daily accomplishment are what got me through my dissertation; the other
thing was exercise. Looking back, this seems like mundane but really
important advice
Fr. Bauer:
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Finally, good writing happens when writers revise, revise, revise. Students
who work with me probably write every paragraph in their thesis at least
three times before it's okay.
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