Curriculum Vitae

for

Lawrence Simmers Ellis

 

          Arizona State University                                                                                      1522 E. Southern

          Department of English                                                                                          Apartment 1132

          Tempe, AZ 85287                                                                                               Tempe, AZ 85282

          (480) 965-6139                                                                                                   (480) 755-0421

EMAIL: bedwyr@asu.edu

Education

Ph.D. English Literature

       Arizona State University, awarded May 2003.

       Dissertation Title: Turtle Sang Himself Together: Themes of Survival in the Oral Traditions of the   

                                   Florida Panhandle Creek Indians.

       Committee Chair: Dr. Kathleen Sands.

       Co-Chair: Dr. Donald Bahr

       Readers: Dr. Craig Womack (Creek/Cherokee), Dr. Scott Stevens (Mohawk), Dr. Charles Colbert (Creek).

 

M.A. English Literature

       Arizona State University, awarded May 1997.

       Thesis Title: Rabbit and Big Man-eater: Identity Shifts and Role Reversals in Creek Indian Trickster

                          Tales.

       Committee Chair: Dr. Kathleen Sands.

       Readers: Dr. Donald Bahr, Dr. Dawn Bates

 

B.A. History

       Arizona State University, awarded August 1975.

 

Publications

Refereed Journal/Anthology Articles

“Shamanism and Liminality in Two Nez Perce Trickster Tales.” Joker, Trickster, Christ: The American Fool in Literature, Mythology, and Popular Culture. Eddie Tafoya, ed. Bowling Green: Popular Press (forthcoming).

 “’As long as Time Lasts’: Ritual, Alliance, and Cultural Survival in Creek Indian Origin/Migration Narratives.” Tributaries: Journal of the Alabama Folklife Association 4 (Spring 2001).

 “Rabbit and Big Man-eater: Identity Shifts and Role Reversals in a Creek Indian Trickster Tale.” Thalia: Studies in Literary Humor 18 (1998).

 “Trickster: Shaman of the Liminal.” Studies in American Indian Literatures 5.4 (Winter 1993).

Book Reviews

Western Subjects: Autobiographical Writing in the North American West. Kathleen A. Boardman and Gioia Woods, eds. Great Plains Quarterly (forthcoming).

The Literary West: An Anthology of Western American Literature by Thomas J. Lyon . ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews 17. 4 (Fall 2004).

Humanity: A Moral History of the 20th Century by Jonathan Glover. War, Literature, and the Arts: An International Journal of the Humanities 13.1 & 2 (2001).

Indians, Franciscans, and Spanish Colonization by Robert H. Jackson and Edward Castillo. Studies in American Indian Literatures 8.2 (Summer 1996).

The Things That Were Said of Them told by Asatchaq, trans. Tom Lowenstein. Studies in American Indian Literatures 6.3 (Fall 1994).

 

Presentations

“Preparing Proposals for the Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society.” Arizona State University Graduate Scholars of English Association. Tempe, Arizona (February 2006).

“Abandoned Babies, Indian Princesses, and Black Dutchmen: The Role of the Internet in the Performance and Dissemination of Southeastern Creek Indian Family Legends.” American Folklore Society Annual Meeting. Albuquerque, New Mexico (October 2003).

“Turtle Sang Himself Together: T ales and Images of the Creek Indian Cultural Revival in the Florida Panhandle.” Arizona State University English Department Speaker Series (April 2003).

“The Significance of the Tie Snake in Creek Indian Folklore.” American Folklore Society Annual Meeting. Rochester, New York (October 2002).

"Themes of Dispersal, Survival, and Reemergence in the Folk Literature of the Florida Panhandle Creek Indians." American Folklore Society Annual Meeting. Anchorage, Alaska (October 2001).

“Themes of Cultural Survival in the Folk Literature of the Northwest Florida Creek Indians.” American Indian Studies Colloquium Series. University of Arizona, Tucson (April 2001).

"Medicine, Alliance, and Survival in Creek Indian Migration Legends."  American Folklore Society Annual Meeting.  Memphis, Tennessee (October 1999).   

“Diasporic Identities in Creek Indian Trickster Tales.” American Folklore Society Annual Meeting. Portland, Oregon (October 1998).

“Rabbit and Big Man-eater: Identity Shifts and Role Reversals in a Creek Indian Trickster Tale.” American Literature Association: The Trickster. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (October 1997).

“Trickster: Shaman of the Liminal.” Graduate Scholars of English Symposium. Arizona State University, Tempe (April 1994).

“Place Where the Waters Crossed: The Significance of the Number Five in the Navajo Creation Story.” Directions in Critical Theory Graduate Student Conference. University of Arizona, Tucson (March 1994).

 

Works in Progress

Books

Turtle Sang Himself Together: Survivals of Creek Indian Folk Narrative in the Family Lore of the Western Florida Panhandle.

Articles

“Abandoned Babies, Indian Princesses, and Black Dutchmen: The Role of the Internet in the Performance and Dissemination of Southeastern Creek Indian Family Legends.”

“Rabbit and Orphan Travel Along: Mediations of Placement and Displacement in Creek Indian Trickster Literature.”

“Legend-Making, Bricolage, and Family Narrative in Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose .”

“Constance and Griselda, Rhiannon and Branwen: Expressions of Sacred Female Agency in Medieval Welsh Parallels to Chaucer’s Accused Queens.”

“Image and Mythic Transition in W. B. Yeats’ Cuchulain Cycle.”

“This Old House: Home Improvement as Bildung in Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer.”

 

Teaching Experience

Arizona State University; Tempe, AZ

            Teaching Assistant/Associate, Department of English (1995-2002)

            Faculty Associate, Department of English (2002-2003)

            Instructor, Department of English (2004-2005)

            Lecturer of American Literature, Department of English (2005-Present)

     Courses Taught:

            English 101: First Year Composition (Standard Classroom)

            English 101: First Year Composition (Computer Classroom)

            English 102: First Year Composition (Standard Classroom)

            English 102: First Year Composition (Computer Classroom)

            English 200: Critical Reading and Writing About Literature

            English 215: Writing Across the Disciplines

            English 241: Literatures of the United States to 1860

            English 241: Literatures of the United States to 1860 (Online)

            English 242: Literatures of the United States from 1860

            English 301: Writing for the Professions (Standard Classroom)

            English 301: Writing for the Professions (Computer Classroom)

            English 331: American Drama

            English 332: The Major American Novel

            English 333: American Ethnic Literature

            English 352: The Short Story

            English 359: American Indian Literatures

            English 360: Western American Literature

 

DeVry Institute; Phoenix, AZ

            Adjunct Instructor, Department of Liberal Arts (July 1997-January 1998)

     Courses Taught:

            English 120: Advanced Composition

            English 225: Professional Writing

 

Mesa Community College; Mesa, AZ

            Adjunct Instructor, Department of English (January 2004-May 2004)

     Courses Taught:

            English 071: Sentence/Paragraph Writing

 

Central Arizona College; Coolidge, AZ

            Adjunct Instructor, Department of English (June 2004-August 2004)

     Courses taught:

            English 101: First Year Composition

 

Research

Arizona State University; Tempe, AZ; January 2000-May 2001.

            Research Associate, Departments of English and History.

            Project: Southwestern Regional Humanities Center National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Grant    Proposal (This position involved arranging meetings and moderating EMAIL listserves for task forces that researched the feasibility of implementing an NEH-endowed regional humanities center at Arizona State University. It further involved developing a Southwestern Humanities Center web page, compiling databases of humanities resources in the NEH-proscribed southwestern region [Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas], and writing case studies for Humanities Center projects. The data collected in this research phase informed a proposal for a 20 million dollar implementation grant that was submitted to the NEH in August 2001).

 

Service

Researcher and Case Study Writer, Arizona State University Graduate Scholars of English Association Community Outreach Reading Circles Program (2002).

Submissions Reader and Panel Chair, Arizona State University Graduate Scholars of English Association Southwest Graduate Literature Symposium (2000, 2001, 2002).

Submissions Reader, Arizona State University English Department Printer’s Devil Competition (1999, 2004, 2005).

 

Teaching/Research Interests

Native American Oral Traditions Tricksterism

Native American Print Literature Western American Literature

American Folk Narrative Ethnic Literatures of the United States

Legend Studies

 

Awards/Grants/Scholarships

Arizona State University 2003-2004 “Last Lecture Series” Award (English Department Nominee, March 2004)

Matching Funds Travel Grant/ASU Department of English (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)

DeMund Scholarship (Arizona State University English Department Nominee, March 2001. Awarded Honorable Mention, May 2001)

2000-2001 Arizona State University Millennium Fellowship (Awarded April 2000. I declined due to unanticipated conflicts with teaching and research priorities)

Associated Students of Arizona State University (ASASU) Graduate Research Grant (November 2000)

Phelps-Dodge Scholarship (Arizona State University English Department nominee, March 2000)

Arizona State University Graduate College Tuition Grant (Spring 2000)

Arizona State University Student Affairs Faculty Recognition Award (1997, 1998)

 

Professional References

Professor Kathleen Sands (Retired)

Department of English

Arizona State University

Tempe, AZ 85287

Home Phone: (480) 921-2011

EMAIL: Kathleen.Sands@asu.edu

 

Professor Maureen Daly-Goggin,

Associate Chair, Department of English

Arizona State University

Tempe, AZ 85287

(480) 965-3168

EMAIL: Maureen.Goggin@asu.edu

 

Professor Donald Bahr (Retired)

c/o Department of Anthropology

Arizona State University

Tempe, AZ 85287

(480) 965-6213

EMAIL: Don.Bahr@asu.edu