Dr. Seamus O’Malley
Last year, the English department saw a drastic shrink in size with the loss of several faculty members. Students and alumni responded with concern and disappointment.
However, the English department seems to be experiencing a renaissance.
Dr. Seamus O’Malley, who holds a 2012 Ph.D. from CUNY in Modern British Literature, has been hired from a position at N.Y.U. for a three-year Lectureship at Stern. O’Malley ranked first among over fifty applicants in a national search conducted by the department last May. He will be teaching already-announced and enrolled courses in fall, as well as his specialties in Modern British Literature. In the spring he will teach a course on the Modern British Novel, and hopes to follow up with a course on the Graphic Novel, both areas on which he has published in the past.
“My hope is to bring my enthusiasm for English literature to Stern, which I intuit is an intellectually welcoming and exciting community,” said O’Malley in a recent interview with The Observer.
O’Malley has also recently received a contract with Oxford University Press for a book on literary modernism and ways of writing history.
“Finalizing it will be my research priority for the new few months, although students are always my priority!” finished O’Malley.
Additionally, beloved department professor Dr. Ann Peters has been granted tenure and a promotion.
“I was at our house upstate on my own when I got the call, and quite honestly, I felt a bit dazed,” described Dr. Peters about receiving the exciting news. “I just sat there on the couch in silence trying to process it all. Then I called my husband and let out a whoop.” With tenure comes greater job security and academic freedom for Dr. Peters. (Be sure to check out the full interview with Dr. Peters, including exclusive information about her new book, here).
Finally, the Provost and Dean have authorized one tenure track line search for the Stern English department. Recruitment will take place during the coming academic year, and the faculty member is intended to begin at the start of the 2014-15 academic year. The department plans to advertise for an expert in the Medieval/Renaissance period, the field of Dr. Lee Manion, who left last year. The search will be conducted by Dr. Linda Shires, chair of the English department who will be taking a research sabbatical next year.
Said Shires, “Our Hiring Committee expects to interview candidates at the annual MLA convention, this year in Chicago, in January. Students will have an opportunity to interact with finalists who visit campus, after MLA, and before we make a job offer. Dr. Peters will set up the campus visit phase.”
Aside from the English department, the history department has also been approved for a tenure-track search (see article on page ___).
With budgets tight, these exciting new changes for the English department demonstrate a re-focusing of resources on the humanities. For a college still priding itself upon a quality liberal arts education, this is of the utmost importance. Students wait with anticipation to see if these changes are harbingers for future growth and improvement.