Graduate Faculty

Professor

Director, Office of Prestigious External Scholarships,
Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College

Interim Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Affairs,
College of Arts & Sciences

2002 Lee Hall

Shakespeare, Critical Theory, Early Modern British Literature

Thomas Anderson specializes in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century British literature, especially drama from Shakespeare and his contemporaries. He teaches undergraduate and... more

Associate Professor

Editor of the Mississippi Quarterly

2010 Lee Hall

Southern studies; U.S. literature, 1900-present

Ted Atkinson joined the MSU faculty in 2009 and has served as editor of Mississippi Quarterly since 2012. His areas of research and teaching interest include southern studies... more

Associate Professor

2506 Lee Hall

Renaissance literature, drama

Greg Bentley received his B.A. and M.A. from California State University, Fresno, and he earned his Ph.D at the University of California at Davis. He joined the English... more

Associate Professor

2502 Lee Hall

Nineteenth-century British literature, literary theory, science and literature

Shalyn Claggett teaches courses on nineteenth-century British literature and literary theory. She is the co-editor (with Lara Karpenko) of Strange Science: Investigating the... more

Associate Professor

2003 Lee Hall

Eighteenth-Century British Literature; Literary Theory

Peter DeGabriele specialises in the study of eighteenth century literature and culture, with a particular emphasis on the relation between literary texts and the political... more

Professor

Director of Graduate Studies

2304 Lee Hall

Milton, Early Modern British Literature, Early Modern Women’s Writing, Research Methods

Lara Dodds specializes in seventeenth-century literature, with a particular focus on Milton and on early modern women’s writing. She teaches undergraduate and graduate... more

Assistant Professor

2012 Lee Hall

Academic, digital, public, and professional writing

Katherine Flowers specializes in writing studies and teaches courses in academic, digital, public, and professional writing. Her research interests include language policy,... more

Professor

2006 Lee Hall

Creative writing, fiction

Becky Hagenston grew up in Maryland and received her MFA from the University of Arizona and her MA from New Mexico State. She is the author of three award-winning story... more

Associate Professor

TESOL Director

Dr. Herd coordinates the TESOL Study Abroad opportunity.

Dr. Herd is able to sometimes offer undergraduate research assistantships. Contact her for details.

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Linguistics, phonetics, phonology, psycholinguistics, second language acquisition, research methods in linguistics

Wendy Herd is a linguist with research interests in phonetics, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, and second language acquisition. She uses experimental methods to... more

Professor

2005 Lee Hall

Old and Middle English Literature

Holly Johnson teaches courses in medieval English literature and specializes in late medieval sermons. Her recent volume, The Grammar of Good Friday: Macaronic Sermons of... more

Professor

Co-Director of Creative Writing

Editor of Jabberwock Review

2308 Lee Hall

Creative writing, fiction, 20th/21st century American literature

Michael Kardos co-directs the creative writing program at Mississippi State. He is the author of the novels Before He Finds Her (Grove Atlantic/Mysterious Press, 2015) and... more

Associate Professor

2510 Lee Hall

American literature, Legal writing

Matthew Little received his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1971, his M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1972, and his Ph.D. from the University of... more

Professor

2505 Lee Hall

Creative writing, poetry

A former winner of the Peter I.B. Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets, Richard Lyons received a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, an M.F.A.... more

Professor

Faculty Associate, Center for Teaching and Learning Mississippi State University

2504 Lee Hall

Contemporary literature, the British and Irish novel since 1900, women and literature, narrative theory

Kelly Marsh teaches courses on British and Irish literature since 1900, contemporary literature, women’s literature, and narrative theory.  She is a Faculty Associate with... more

Assistant Professor

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Rhetorical history and theory, digital rhetoric, and academic writing.

Elizabeth Miller’s research interests include rhetorical history and theory, public writing, and genre studies. Her current book project examines civil rights mass meetings,... more

Associate Professor

2508 Lee Hall

Early American literature, nineteenth-century American literature, American women writers, American culture studies

Dr. Bonnie Carr O’Neill teaches early American literature and nineteenth-century American literature. Her research focuses on nineteenth-century American literature and... more

Professor

Co-Director of Creative Writing

2310 Lee Hall

Creative Writing, poetry, 20th and 21st Century American literature

Catherine Pierce co-directs MSU's creative writing program, and teaches classes in creative writing and American literature. She is the author of three books of poems: The... more

Associate Professor

Director of Undergraduate Studies

2305 Lee Hall

Linguistics, sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology

Ginger Pizer teaches courses in linguistics and linguistic anthropology. Her research combines approaches from sociolinguistics and first language acquisition to investigate... more

Professor

Head of the Department of English

2004 Lee Hall

Literary theory and aesthetics , American Literature.

Dan Punday began his service as Head of the Department of English at Mississippi State University in July, 2016. He has previously served as Head of the Department of English... more

Associate Professor

Mentor, Shackouls Honors College Presidential Scholars

2311 Lee Hall

African American literature

Dr. Donald Shaffer holds a joint appointment to the English Department and the African American Studies Program. more

Assistant Professor

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Second language acquisition, linguistics, psycholinguistics, language teaching methods

Megan Smith is a linguist with an interest in second language (L2) acquisition, and particularly in L2 syntax and psycholinguistics. Her research focuses on whether non-... more

Associate Professor

2515 Lee Hall

Postcolonial Literature, World Literature, Critical Theory, Film

Andrea Spain specializes in late twentieth-century and contemporary postcolonial literature, with a focus on post-apartheid South African Literature and culture. She teaches... more

Assistant Professor

Faculty Fellow, Shackouls Honors College

2011 Lee Hall

Sixteenth Century Literature, Shakespeare, Satire, Cultural Studies

Eric Vivier specializes in sixteenth and seventeenth century drama, satire, and religious history, with a particular interest in Shakespeare’s contemporaries. He teaches... more

Associate Professor

African-American Literature, Contemporary Cultural Studies

Professor Ward received her PhD from the University of Memphis in Literary and Cultural Studies. She did her dissertation on Zora Neale Hurston, and has published most... more

Professor

2008 Lee Hall

American, British, and Irish literature after 1900

Robert West is the editor of The Complete Poems of A. R. Ammons, published by Norton.Robert West (B.A., Wake Forest; M.A., Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill... more