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Dean Davis-Undiano teaches undergraduate courses in the areas of American literature, American Studies, Chicano Studies, cultural studies, and literary and cultural theory. At the undergraduate level, he focuses on American identity, community problems in America, gender relations in America, and Chicano Studies. He also addresses problems of criticism and theory as they relate to the practice of American Studies, cultural studies, and Chicano Studies. His books and articles are concerned with the history of criticism and cultural theory in America but also with problems in the history of literary criticism more broadly. The Paternal Romance: Reading God-the-Father in Early Western Culture ( Illinois 1993), for example, examined the foundations of patriarchy in Greek and early Christian texts. Culture and Cognition (Cornell 1992), with Ronald Schleifer and Nancy Mergler, discussed points of intersection between humanistic studies and science. Criticism and Culture: The Role of Critique in Modern Literary Theory (Longman 1991), with Ronald Schleifer, discussed philosophical and cultural foundations, from the eighteenth century forward, for the very idea of criticism and cultural critique. Contemporary Literary Criticism: Literary and Cultural Studies (Longman, four editions 1989, 1991, 1994, 1998) is a textbook account of the development of modern literary and cultural criticism. As well as being the Dean of the Honors College, he is Executive Director of World Literature Today and Neustadt Professor of Comparative Literature. |
Books (selected)
1993 The Paternal Romance: Reading God-the-Father in Early Western Culture (Univ. of Illinois Press)
1992 Culture and Cognition: The Boundaries of Literary and Scientific Inquiry . With Ronald Schleifer and Nancy Mergler ( Cornell Univ. Press)
1991 Criticism and Culture: The Role of Critique in Moder Literary Theory . With Ronald Schleifer (Longman)
1984-98 Contemporary Literary Criticism: Literary and Cultural Studies . (Four editions in 1984, 1989, 1994, and 1998).
Articles and essays (selected)
1990 "Woman as Oppositional Reader: Cixous on Discourse," in Gender in the Classroom: Power and Pedagogy , eds. Susan Gabriel and Isaiah Smithson. Champaign: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1990, pp. 96-111.
1994 "Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and the Ethos of the Subaltern," by Robert Con Davis and David S. Gross. In Ethos: New Essays in Rhetorical and Critical Theory . James S. and Tita French and Baumlin. Southern Methodist Univ. Press, 1994, 65-89.
1994 "Two Conversations on Literature, Theory, and the Question of Genders,” in Men Writing the Feminine: Literature, Theory, and the Questionf of Genders . Thais E. Morgan, ed. Albany, NY: State Univ. of New York Press, 1994, 189-200.
1994 "Freud, Lacan, and the Subject of Cultural Studies," in Margins in the Classroom: Teaching Literature . Kostas and Linda S. Myrsiades Minneapolis: Univ.of Minnesota Press, 1994, 188-202 (reprinted).
1994 "A Dialogue on Instituting Cultural Studies: Gerald Graff, Janice Radway, Gita Rajan, and Robert Con Davis," in English Studies/Culture Studies: Institutionalizing Dissent . Isaiah Smithson and Nancy Ruff, eds. Champaign, Illinois: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1994, 25-42.
1997 "Aristotle, Gynecology, and the Body Sick with Desire," in Textual Bodies: Changing Boundaries of Literary Representation . Ed. Lori Hope Lefkovitz Albany: SUNY Press, 1997, 35-57.
1999 "Cixous, Spivak, and Oppositional Theory," in Hélène Cixous: Critical Impressions . Lee A. Jacobus and Regina Barreca, eds. Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach Publishers, 1999, 165-184 (reprinted).1999 “The Rise of New-World Studies” GENRE 32/1-2 (1999):115-140.
1999 “Chicano/a Studies: Writing Into the Future” GENRE 32/1-2(1999):1-13.
1999 “Poe and the American Affiliation with Freemasonry” symplok ‘ 7/1-2 (1999) 119-138.
2000 “Mestizos Critique the New World: Vasconcelos, Anzaldúa, and Anaya” LIT 11/2. (2000):117-142.
2001 “Denise Chávez,” Hispanic Magazine April (2001):88-90.
2004 “Mildred D. Taylor and the Art of Making a Difference” World Literature Today 78/2 (2004): 11-13.
2004 “The Fifth of May: Why is Cinco de Mayo Growing, and What Does It Mean for American Cultural Life?” Oklahoma Gazette May 2004 26 (19):29-33.
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Associate Dean, Honors College and Associate Professor of Sociology, Human Relations, and Women’s Studies
Office hours
I’m almost always in my office at the Honors College unless I’m attending meetings, conferences, or doing my off-campus teaching for the Advanced Programs.
Courses taught
As a Department of Sociology faculty member, my teaching and research fields were Gender Roles, Family, and Medical Sociology.
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Biography
I began my tenure-track appointment at OU in 1981 in the Department of Sociology and received tenure in 1987. That same year I received an AMOCO Foundation Good Teaching Award. I served as the Interim Director of Women’s Studies Program during the Spring 1994 semester and joined the Honors College in January 1995. Because of my administrative responsibilities, my teaching today is off campus. During the last decade I’ve taught Human Relations courses in the Advanced Program format in Spain, Portugal, England, Guam, and at various locations in the United States.
I consider myself lucky to have the very best job at OU, beginning with recruiting students to the Honors College and working with them until they attain the cum laude graduation distinction.
Advisory roles
My advisory roles are to help Honors College students in curriculum decisions that lead to cum laude graduation. I meet with most Honors College students in their Junior year as they decide on their Reading and Research enrollment, which leads to their Senior Honors Thesis.
Publications
I have published in The Journal of Marriage and the Family, Social Science Quarterly, Family Relations, Youth and Society, Psychology of Women Quarterly, Set Roles, Social Psychology Quarterly, Population Research and Policy Review, Teaching Sociology, and Journal of College Student Personnel.
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Dr. Wright has been with the Honors College since 1994 and is currently the Director of Honors Curriculum. Among her most pleasant duties is to supervise the Honors at Oxford program, teach one of the courses offered, and travel with the group of students to Oxford, England every summer.
The Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, and Goldwater faculty representative for the University of Oklahoma, Wright works with students as they apply for these and other prestigious, nationally competitive scholarships and assists them with interview practice. In addition, she meets with high school recruits, helps organize the annual Undergraduate Research Day conference, and serves on the Honors Council.
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Wright received her Ph.D. in 1991 from the University of Oklahoma and wrote her dissertation on Gustave Flaubert and James Joyce.
She has taught several courses in the English Department including advanced composition, World Literature, Poetry, Modern European Novel, and Shakespeare. While at Honors, Wright has taught World Literature, Postmodern Detective Fiction, Modern British Fiction and Poetry, Ulysses, and London in Literature.
A devoted Boston Red Sox fan, she experienced the culmination of a 30-year dream as they won the World Series in 2004. Wright is also an expert on I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show (black and white episodes only), a talent not widely appreciated. |
