Yale University, Ph.D. Dec. 1982; M.Phil. 1979. Comparative Literature 1976-1982
Goethe Institute, Staufen, Federal Republic of Germany 6/79-8/79
Harvard University, Special Student. Comparative Literature 1975-1976
Radcliffe Publishing Procedures Course 7/73-8/73
Radcliffe College, Harvard University, A.B. 1973 magna cum laude. English (Comp. Lit. option) 1969-1973

ACADEMIC HONORS

	Stanford University: Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research on Women and Gender 1995, 2001-2002 University of California-Berkeley: Affiliated Scholar, Bain Research Group (for research on women and gender) Spring 1995 San Francisco State University: Sabbatical (competitively awarded, paid professional leave) 1995, 2001-2002 Affirmative Action Faculty Development Award. 1 course release 1992 Research & Professional Development Award. Mini-Grant & 1 course release 1991 Travel Funds 1990, 1992, 1996-1999, 2003 University of Cincinnati: Nominated for Boyce Teaching Award 1984, '85, '89 Special Duty Assignment (paid leave) Fall 1987 University Research Council Travel Grants 1984, '86, '88 Taft Grants 1984, 1985 Yale University: Marshal of doctoral students at graduation 1983 Distinction on the oral examination 1979 Radcliffe College, Harvard University: Phi Beta Kappa 1973

BOOK
Politics, Persuasion, and Pragmatism: A Rhetoric of Feminist Utopian Fiction. The Theory and Interpretation of Narrative Series. Columbus: OH State UP, 2002. The book examines how people come to believe what they do—in particular how they are influenced by reading feminist novels, especially those that represent pragmatic feminism. The book develops original theories of feminism and narrative persuasion.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS
"The Roland: Structuralism and Beyond." Approaches to Teaching the Song of Roland. Ed. Leslie Zarker Morgan and William W. Kibler. New York: Modern Language Association. Accepted by eds.

"'God Is Change': Persuasion and Pragmatic Utopianism in Octavia Butler's Earthseed Novels." Future Females of Color: The Blackness of Outer Space Fiction. Ed. Marleen Barr. Columbus: OH State UP. Accepted by ed. (Invited.)

"Germaine de Staël: Excerpt from On Literature." Introduction and excerpt for an anthology of work by important 19th- and 20th-century comparatists. Sponsored by the American Comparative Literature Association. Ed. David Damrosch and Natalie Melas. Accepted by eds. (Invited.)

Review of Learning from Other Worlds: Estrangement, Cognition, and the Politics of Science Fiction and Utopia, ed. by Patrick Parrinder. Modern Philology, forthcoming. (Invited.)

“Galatea: Rewritten and Rewriting.” He Said, She Says: An RSVP to the Male Text. Ed. Mica Howe and Sarah Aguiar. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2001. 178-203.

Abridged version. “The Emergence of Galatea: Rewritings of a Myth.” Proceedings of the 1999 International Conference--Feminist Literature: Global Outlook on Gender Issues. Ed. Amporn Srisermbhok. Bangkok: Srinakharinwirot U, 2000. 267-83.

With Nanora Sweet. “Corinne and the Woman as Poet in England: Hemans, Jewsbury, and Barrett Browning.” The Novel’s Seductions: Staël’s Corinne in Critical Inquiry. Ed. Karyna Szmurlo. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell UP; London: Associated University Presses, 1999. 204-20, 281-84.

“Reading Piebald Patterns in Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness.” Women of Other Worlds: Excursions through Science Fiction and Feminism. Ed. Helen Merrick and Tess Williams. Nedlands: U of Western Australia P, 1999. 29-40.

Abridged version. “Black and White and Read All Over: The Semiotics of Difference and Chiaroscuro in Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness.” Semiotics around the World: Synthesis in Diversity--Proceedings of the Fifth Congress of the International Association for Semiotic Studies, Berkeley 1994. Ed. Irmengard Rauch and Gerald F. Carr. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1997. 453-56.

“He Reads, She Speaks: How Narrative Form Conveys Conflicting Values in Corinne, or Italy.” Reader: Essays in Reader-Oriented Theory, Criticism, and Pedagogy 40 (1998): 28-52.

“I baci PC di ‘Star Trek’: politicamente corretti o piuttosto conservatori?” (“Star Trek's PC Kisses: Politically Correct or Pretty Conservative?”). Trans. Michele Fadda. Star Trek: Il cielo è il limite. Ed. Franco La Polla. Torino, Italy: Lindau, 1998. 173-76.

“Mediation and Mediators: Letters, Screens, and Other Go-Betweens in The Tale of Genji.” Approaches to Teaching Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji. Ed. Edward Kamens. New York: Modern Language Association, 1993. 108-14.

Review of 19th-Century American Women’s Novels: Interpretative Strategies, by Susan K. Harris. American Literature 63 (1991): 747-48.

“Corinne's Shift to Patriarchal Mediation: Rebirth or Regression?” Germaine de Staël: Crossing the Borders. Ed. Karyna Szmurlo, Madelyn Gutwirth, & Avriel Goldberger. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1991. 101-12, 212-14.

“Semiotic Subversion in ‘Désirée's Baby.’” American Literature 62 (1990): 223-37.

Rev. version. “Semiotic Subversion in ‘Désirée's Baby.’” Louisiana Women Writers: New Essays and a Comprehensive Bibliography. Ed. Dorothy H. Brown and Barbara C. Ewell. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State UP, 1992. 57-73.

“Utopian Feminism, Skeptical Feminism, and Narrative Energy.” Feminism, Utopia, and Narrative. Ed. Libby Falk Jones and Sarah Webster Goodwin. Tennessee Studies in Literature 32. Knoxville: U of TN P, 1990. 34-49.

“The Self Is Always an Other: Going the Long Way Home to Autobiography.” Twentieth Century Literature 35 (1989): 1-16.

“Subject, Object, and the Alternation of First- and Third-Person Narration in Novels by Alther, Atwood, and Drabble: Toward a Theory of Feminist Aesthetics.” Critique 30 (1989): 107-22.

“Contradictions of Form and Feminism in Corinne ou l’Italie.” Essays in Literature 14 (1987): 281-98.

“Leaving the Self Behind in Marriages.” Doris Lessing Newsletter 11.2 (1987): 3, 10.

“Feminist Narrative Persuasion: The Movement of Dynamic Spatial Metaphor in Doris Lessing's The Marriages between Zones Three, Four, and Five.” Sociocriticism/Sociocritique 4-5 (1987): 115-42.

“The Irony of Women: Reflections of Irigaray.” Cincinnati Romance Review 5 (1986): 109-20.

“Communicating Differently: Lessing's Marriages.” Doris Lessing Newsletter 6.2 (1982): 11-13.

“Psychoanalysis and the Uncanny in Literature.” Comparative Literature Studies 17 (1980): 410-17.


PAPERS AND PANELS
"'My Hideous Progeny': Self-Referentiality and Metaphor in Literature of the Constructed Body." American Comparative Literature Association. California State Univ.-San Marcos Apr. 2003

“Matters of Matching: Belief, Rhetoric, and Literature.” Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association. Santa Clara Univ. Nov. 2001

“The Emergence of Galatea: Rewritings of a Myth.” Feminist Literature: Global Outlook on Gender Issues (international conference). Srinakharinwirot Univ. and Salisbury State University. Bangkok, Thailand Jan. 1999

“He Reads, She Speaks: How Narrative Form Conveys Conflicting Values in Corinne, or Italy.” Narrative: An International Conference. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, Illinois Apr. 1998

“Belief-bridging: How Literature Conveys Ethical Values.” Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association. San Jose State Univ. Nov. 1997

“Belief-bridging: A Technique of Narrative Persuasion.” Narrative: An International Conference. Univ. of Florida-Gainesville Apr. 1997

Organized and chaired session “Gender, Race, and Power in Star Trek.” Colloquium: Where No One Has Gone Before . . . The Star Trek Phenomenon and the Human Frontier. San Francisco State Univ. Feb. 1997

“Black and White and Read All Over: Difference and Chiaroscuro in Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness.” Also panelist in session “New Narrative Strategies in Feminist Speculative Fiction (1990-1996).” Also moderated session on “Complications of Utopia and Dystopia in Feminist Speculative Fiction.” WisCon 20 (feminist science fiction convention). Madison, Wisconsin May 1996

Moderated session, “Senses of Ending: Nations, Worlds, Millennia.” Narrative: An International Conference. Ohio State Univ. Apr. 1996

“He Reads, She Speaks: How Narrative Form Conveys Conflicting Values in Corinne, or Italy.” Germaine de Staël: Mediating Culture in the Age of Revolution (international conference). Invited paper. Univ. of California-Los Angeles. Mar. 1996

“Visionary Feminist Novelists: Lessing, Le Guin, and Wittig.” Jing Lyman Lecture Series. Institute for Research on Women and Gender. Invited paper. Stanford Univ. Nov. 1995

“A New Definition of Feminism.” Public lecture. Beatrice M. Bain Research Group. Univ. of California-Berkeley Apr. 1995

“Protean Metaphor in Narrative Persuasion.” Philological Association of the Pacific Coast (now Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association). San Francisco State Univ. Nov. 1994

“Black and White and Read All Over: The Semiotics of Difference and Chiaroscuro in Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness.” International Association for Semiotic Studies. Univ. of California-Berkeley Jun. 1994

“How Narrative Metaphor Fosters Cultural Beliefs.” International Conference on Narrative Literature. Simon Fraser Univ., Vancouver Apr. 1994

“Beyond Utopia: Pragmatic Feminism and Narrative Energy.” Jing Lyman Lecture Series. Institute for Research on Women and Gender. Invited paper. Stanford Univ. Oct. 1993

“Teaching The Tale of Genji: Letters, Screens, and Other Go-Betweens.” California Humanities Association. San Francisco Mar. 1993

“Pygmalion and the Questioning of Patriarchy: Rewritings of a Myth.” Society for the Classical Tradition. Boston Univ. Mar. 1991

“The Riddle of Doris Lessing's Feminism.” Modern Language Association. Chicago Dec. 1990

“Staël's Corinne and Browning's Aurora Leigh as Paradigmatic Feminist Comparatists.” Modern Language Association. New Orleans Dec. 1988

“Corinne's Shift to Patriarchal Mediation: Rebirth or Regression?” International Conference on Germaine de Staël. Invited paper. Rutgers Univ. Oct. 1988

“Corinne's Shift to Patriarchal Mediation.” Also chaired session on “Semiotics and Gender Awareness.” Semiotic Society of America. Univ. of Cincinnati Oct. 1988

“Utopian Feminism, Skeptical Feminism, and Narrative.” Modern Language Association. New York Dec. 1986

“The Irony of Women: Reflections of Irigaray.” Cincinnati Conference on Romance Languages and Literatures May 1985

“Cherchez la mère noire: Chopin's ‘Désirée's Baby.’” Modern Language Association. Washington, DC Dec. 1984

“Contradictions of Form and Feminism in Corinne ou l’Italie.” Modern Language Association. Washington, DC Dec. 1984

“Doris Lessing: Going the Long Way Home.” Northeast Modern Language Association. Philadelphia Mar. 1984

Chaired panel “Comparative Literature: The Politics of Dramatic Form.” Twentieth-Century Literature Conference. Univ. of Louisville Feb. 1984

“Communicating Differently: Lessing's Marriages.” Twentieth-Century Women Writers' International Conference. Hofstra Univ. Nov. 1982

Organized and chaired WCML Program “Female Aesthetics: Beyond Modernism?” Modern Language Association. New York Dec. 1981

“The Threat to Dualism in Staël's Corinne.” Georgia Colloquium Apr. 1981

WORK IN PROGRESS
The Text of the Body/The Body of the Text. The book examines texts about the physical and mental construction of human bodies. The motif is traced in Western texts from ancient times to the present. Particular attention is paid to self-referential literature in which construction of the human body parallels construction of the textual one.

RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
18th- and 19th-century fiction (French, English); 20th-century fiction (English, U. S.); literary theory and criticism (especially narrative, feminist, psychoanalytic, reader response); women's literature; science fiction and utopian literature; surveys of Western and world literature

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Full Professor (tenured), Dept. of Comp. & World Lit. (formerly World & Comp. Lit.) & Dept. of English, San Francisco State Univ. 1999-

Associate Professor (tenured), Dept. of Comp. & World Lit. & Dept. of English,
San Francisco State Univ. 1992-1999

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Comp. & World Lit. & Dept. of English, San Francisco State Univ. 1990-1992
Courses taught:
English: Narrative Theory, Eighteenth-century British Novel, Feminist Criticisms (cross-listed in Women Studies), Junior Seminar, Feminist Literary Criticism (cross-listed in Women Studies), The Rise of the Novel, The Age of Wit
NEXA, with Marcia Green (Music): The Demonic Pact: The Faust Myth in Music and Literature, Dangerous Liaisons: The Don Juan Myth in Music and Literature
Comparative and World Literature: Directed Reading, Advanced Study in Comparative Literature, The Body of the Text/The Text of the Body, The Novel and the Letter, Women's Literature in International Perspective, Narrative Theory, Introduction to Graduate Study in Comparative Literature, Imagining the Constructed Body: From Statues to Cyborgs, Fables and Tales
Reader on M.A. theses & member of M.A. oral exam committees (55 completed, 7 in progress)

Associate Professor (tenured), Dept. of English & Comp. Lit., Univ. of Cinti. 1989

Assistant Professor, Dept. of English & Comp. Lit., Univ. of Cinti. 1983-1989
Courses taught:
Leader of seminar for fellow Women's Studies faculty in project funded by FIPSE (Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education) 1989
British Women Writers, Narratology, Feminist Literary Theory and Criticism, Theory of Literature: The Philosophical Problem of Literary Interpretation--with Jenefer Robinson (Philosophy), Contemporary British Fiction, The Novel and the Letter, Theories of Fiction, Modern Fiction III, Introduction to the Study of Literature, Twentieth Century Fiction, World Literature--Love, World Literature--Quest, World Literature--Epic, World Literature--Fate, Topics in Literature: Sex and the Sexes in Science Fiction, Freshman English
On doctoral committees for oral exams and dissertations

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE TO COMMUNITY
"Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness." Invited talk. Working Group on Science Fiction in Literature, Film, and Culture. University of California-Berkeley Sep. 2001

Participated in Focus Group #1. California Humanities Association. SFSU Feb. 2000

Discussed gender, race, and power on Star Trek panel for Forum. KQED radio Feb. 1997

Interviewed about feminism by Lynne Lori Sylvan for Forte. Pacifica (California) Community Television Nov. 1996

Chaired session “Southwest Indians—Ties to the Natural World.” California Humanities Association. Costa Mesa Mar. 1996

“Feminist Utopias.” Guest lecture. Political science class. Stanford University 1995, 1997

“American Women Novelists.” Invited talk. Volunteers in Asia, Trans-Pacific Exchange. Stanford University 1995, 1997

“Alice Walker's ‘Everyday Use’: Using Heritage or Losing Heritage?” Invited talk. SFSU Humanities Club Feb. 1994

Chaired session “Teacher Workshops Demonstrating the Arts as a Reflection of a Culture's Life and Values.” California Humanities Association. San Francisco Mar. 1993

Chaired session “The Donner Party: American Dreams and American Characters.” California Humanities Association. Sacramento Apr. 1992

“Sculpting Snow into New Myths: Le Guin and ‘Sur.’” Invited talk. SFSU Humanities Club Apr. 1992

“Beyond Nationality: Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Aurora Leigh, Germaine de Staël and Corinne.” Invited talk. San Francisco Browning Society Mar. 1992

Board of Governors, California Humanities Association: 1990-1994
Membership and Nominations Chair 1992-1994
Member at Large 1990-1992

Fundraiser (grants from Haas Fund, SFSU Office of Research & Professional Development, SFSU School of Humanities, & SFSU School of Science) 1990-1991
Secretary 1990

“Le Guin on Motherhood and Writing.” Invited talk. Cincinnati Radcliffe Club Apr. 1989

“Introduction to Feminist Literary Theory and Criticism.” Invited talk. Hebrew Union College Apr. 1989
Led debate “What Are We Afraid of?” and spoke on “Human Imagination and Artificial Intelligence.” Cincinnati Science Fiction Festival Apr. 1986

Writer and editor for feminist periodical Second Wave 1974-1975

Co-founder and publications editor, Massachusetts Feminist Federal Credit Union 1974-1975


PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Member, Feminist Theory Workshop. Stanford University 2001-2002

Member, Working Group on Science Fiction in Literature, Film, and Culture. University of California-Berkeley 1999-2002

Reviewed essays submitted to PMLA, Studies in the Novel, LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory, National Women’s Studies Association Journal 1990-2002

Reviewed grant proposal for National Endowment for the Humanities Aug. 1990

“Black Writers” seminar. Nantucket, MA Jun. 1986

“Feminism” seminar. Nantucket, MA Jun. 1984


Technical writer and editor, Cambridge Computer Associates, Cambridge, MA 1973-1975

Writer, Let’s Go: Europe and The Harvard Independent 1970-1971

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
Modern Language Association, International Comparative Literature Association, American Comparative Literature Association, Women's Caucus in the Modern Languages, Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, Société des études staëliennes, Doris Lessing Society, California Humanities Association, Phi Sigma Iota (International Foreign Language Honor Society)

UNIVERSITY SERVICE (San Francisco State University)
Publications, papers, and panels
"Narrative Persuasion in Feminist Utopias." Foreign Language Colloquium Series May 2003
"Politics, Persuasion, and Pragmatism: A Rhetoric of Feminist Utopian Fiction." Graduate Literature Association Mar. 2003
Panelist, "Masterpiece Theatre: Professors Present Professional Projects." Comparative Literature Student Association Nov. 2002
Organizer and panelist, “Towards a Ph.D. and Beyond.” (English and Comparative and World Literature) 2001, 2003
“Thoughts on Imagining the Constructed Body.” English Department Colloquium Jan. 2001
“He Reads, She Speaks: How Narrative Form Conveys Conflicting Values in Corinne, or Italy.” Magazine 16.2 (1998): 103-29
Proofreader, Tied Together, Newsletter of AIDS Coordinating Committee 1997-2001
“A History of Literary Theory.” Comparative Literature Graduate Association Mar. 1997
“Pygmalion and Patriarchy: Rewritings of a Myth.” Magazine 14.2 (1996): 33-46
“Black and White and Read All Over: The Semiotics of Difference and Chiaroscuro in Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness.” Comparative Literature Graduate Association Sep. 1994
“Mirrors, Women, and Language: An Introduction to Luce Irigaray.” French Literature Association and Comparative Literature Graduate Association Mar. 1994
Preface. Powerlines 1 (1994): 7
Organizer and participant, “Workshop for Faculty Readers of English M.A. Theses” Nov. 1993
Participant in monthly Writing Group 1993-
Panelist, annual “Publishing and Conferencing Workshop.” Graduate Literature Association (English Department) 1993-1994
“Pygmalion and the Questioning of Patriarchy: Rewritings of a Myth.” English Department Petite MLA Jan. 1992
Leader, NEXA interdisciplinary staff seminars on feminism and science fiction 9/91-10/91
Organizer of talk by Gillian Gill (Harvard Univ.): “Daughter of Philosophy: Luce Irigaray and the Philosophical Tradition” Sep. 1991
“The Riddle of Doris Lessing's Feminism” Magazine 11.1 (1992): 45-62 English Department Petite MLA Jan. 1991
Asilomar/Monterey Faculty Retreat Jan. 1991
Founder and co-organizer, Theory Reading Group 1990-2002
Founder and organizer. Speaker or panelist, annual presentation on writing M.A. thesis (English, Classics, and Comparative and World Literature) 1990-1994, 1996-
Participant, NEXA interdisciplinary staff seminar 1990-1991
Other service
Chair, HRTP—Hiring, Retention, Promotion, and Tenure (Comp. & World Lit.) 1994-2001, 2004-
Co-author, Department Self-Study (Comp. & World Lit.) 1993-1994
Sponsor, California Pre-Doctoral Scholar 1992-1993
Advisor (for all majors & all graduate students, 1992-1994) (Comp. & World Lit.) 1991-1994, 1996-
Advisor for graduate students (English) 1991-1992
Advisor for majors (English) 1990-1991
13 other committees (department and university)

UNIVERSITY SERVICE (University of Cincinnati)
Publications, papers, and panels
“Stereotypes: A Second Look.” Univ. of Cincinnati Women's Studies Conference Apr. 1986
Wrote “Improving the Climate for Women Students” for Univ. of Cincinnati English Department Oct. 1985
Comptalk presentation, “Gender inside and outside the Classroom” Apr. 1985
Led discussion with Samuel Delany. Univ. of Cincinnati Fiction Festival Oct. 1983
Attended and led sessions at Univ. of Cincinnati Women & Literature Group and Rhetoric Circle 1983-1989
Other service
11 committees

FOREIGN LANGUAGES
French, German, classical and medieval Latin, and beginning Spanish

 

last updated: July 15, 2004