W.A. Senior

EDUCATION

Ph.D., English, University of Notre Dame, 1983
Dissertation: "An Edition of the Harley MS 6910 An Elizabethan Miscellany."
DAI 43 (1983): 3327
Doctoral Examinations: Major- Medieval Literature; Minors- Renaissance Poetry
and Eighteenth Century Prose Fiction
M.A., Medieval Studies, University of Connecticut, 1977
Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse, Middle English, Middle French
B.A., English and French, Colby College, 1975
Distinction in English
Semester Abroad at the Université de Caen, Caen, France, 1973

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Broward Community College, Associate Professor (Awarded Tenure, 1987), 1983-present
British Literature I and II
Science Fiction and Fantasy
The Short Story
Composition and Literature
Introduction to Composition

University of Notre Dame, Graduate Teaching Assistant, 1977-83
Freshman Seminar
English Composition
Remedial English- a two semester course

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Broward Community College, Director of the Honors Institute and Central Campus Coordinator,
1998 to 2002. Responsibilities included
Directing an office of one administrative assistant and one secretary
Maintaining the office’s annual budget and scheduling
Working with department heads on faculty selection and course scheduling
Advising honors students and supporting Phi Theta Kappa students
Visiting local high schools and recruiting students
Coordinating scholarships with universities and county high schools
Assisting with Brain Bowl and Math Bowl teams
Teaching sections of Honors classes
Representing the College and program at state and national conferences

PUBLICATIONS

Books:
Variations on the Fantasy Tradition: Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Kent, OH: Kent
State University Press, 1995.

Articles:
“Orson Scott Card: An Introduction.” The North Carolina Literary Review 10 (2001): 21-30.
"Robert Holdstock." Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. Darren Harris-Fain. Columbia, SC:
Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc. (forthcoming)
“Tolkien and the Ethos of Loss.” Tolkien and His Contemporaries. Ed. Dan Timmons and
George Clarke. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000. 173-183.
“Annotated Bibliography of Fantasy Criticism.” Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Ed. A.J. Sobczak. 1999.
"Cultural Anthropology and Rituals of Exchange in Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea." Mosaic 29.4
(December 1996): 101-14.
“Blade Runner and Cyberpunk.” Film Criticism 21.1 (Fall 1996): 1-12.
“Silence and Disaster in the Novels of Michael Bishop.” New York Review of Science Fiction
8.12 (August 1996): 12-15.
"The Function of Internal Wonder in Fantasy." Functions of the Fantastic: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on the Fantastic. Ed. Joe Sanders. Westport: Greenwood, 1995. 115-24.
"Distortion as Trope in A Canticle for Leibowitz." Extrapolation 34.4 (Winter 1993): 329-40.
"The Year in Fantasy: 1991." Ed. with C.W. Sullivan, III. Science Fiction and Fantasy Annual.
Eds. Robert A. Collins and Rob Latham. Westport, CT: Greenwood. 49-69.
"The Year's Best New Fantasy Writers: 1991." Science Fiction and Fantasy Annual.
Eds. Robert A. Collins and Rob Latham. Westport, CT: Greenwood. 70-9.
"Teaching Oedipus Rex: The Hero and Multiplicity." Teaching English in the Two Year College
19.4 (December 1992): 274-79.
"Tolkien and Donaldson: British and American Fantasy." Mythlore 18.4 (Autumn 1992):
37-43.
"Fantasy Debuts in 1990." Science Fiction and Fantasy Annual. Eds. Robert A. Collins and Rob Latham.
Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1991. 53-61.
"The Year's New Fantasy Writers: 1989. " Science Fiction and Fantasy Annual.
Eds. Robert A. Collins and Rob Latham. Westport, CT: Meckler, 1990. 57-63.
“`To goon on pilgrimages’: A Special Issue on Modern Fantasy and Medieval Literature.” Journal
of the Fantastic in the Arts 4 (Spring 1991): 3-5. (Introduction as special volume editor).
"Medieval Literature and Modern Fantasy: Toward a Common Ontology." Journal of the Fantastic
in the Arts 4 (Spring 1991): 35-53.
"Myth and Name in the First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant." Extrapolation 31 (Fall 1990): 258-69.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

“The Great War and the Fantastic.” Conference on the Fantastic. Ft. Lauderdale, March 2004
“Michael Bishop’s Eighth Deadly Sin: the Evil Men Do.” Eaton Conference. Riverside, CA., June 1997
“Silence and Disaster in the Novels of Michael Bishop.” Conference on the Fantastic, March 1996.
"The Hero in Triptych: Ellison's Harlequin." Popular Culture Association. New Orleans, April 1993.
"Gift-giving in Le Guin's Earthsea." Conference on the Fantastic, Ft. Lauderdale, March 1993.
"Chaucer's Nurturing Mothers: 'in vertue and lettrure.'" Medieval Congress, Western Michigan
University, May 1992.
"Blade Runner and Cyberpunk Fiction." Florida State University Conference on Film and Literature,
FSU, February 1992.
"Medieval Parents and Children." SAMLA, Atlanta, October 1991.
"A Reconsideration of the 'Manciple's Tale.'" Medieval Congress, Western Michigan U., May 1989.
"Narrative Logic and Knowledge in Donaldson's Works." Conference on the Fantastic, March 1990.
"Teaching Oedipus: The Protagonist and Multiplicity." College English Association, New Orleans
April 1988.
"Some Notes on Donaldson and Tolkien." Conference on the Fantastic, Ft. Lauderdale, March 1988.
"Myth and Name in Stephen R. Donaldson's First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant." Conference on the
Fantastic, Ft. Lauderdale, March 1987.
"The Harley MS 6910: the End of the Miscellany?" The Citadel Conference on Medieval and
Renaissance Literature, Charleston, March 1985.
"Science Fiction and Film: s-f or s-e?" Conference on the Fantastic, Boca Raton, March 1984.
"The Medieval Basis of Modern Fantasy." Medieval Congress, Western Michigan U., May 1982.

AWARDS AND GRANTS

1998-2001 Broward Community College Schlesinger Endowed Teaching Chair
1996 Summer Sabbatical
1994 Broward Community College Distinguished Scholar Lecture Series-
“In Defense of Fantasy,” November 7 and 9, 1994
1994 Summer Sabbatical
1990 Sabbatical for the 1990-91 academic year
1989 International Education: Resident BCC Faculty Member
during the Summer Term at Cambridge University
1988 English Speaking Union scholarship for Summer Study at
Cambridge University, Cambridge, England
1987 Recipient of Broward Community College Excellence in Teaching Award
1984-2004 Nominated for the Excellence in Teaching Award
2004 Sabbatical for Spring Term

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AND MEMBERSHIP

Editor, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 1998- responsible for printing schedule,
peer review process, administration of the editorial staff and board, and the thousand
other tasks that editors are heir to
Associate Editor, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 1991-7, responsible for copy editing
of articles, reading some submissions, directing revisions
International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, 1987-present
President, 1995-99 and 2003-4: duties included
organizing conference events and directing programming
co-ordinating with executive board members and supervising division heads
corresponding with guests
negotiating with hotel management;
Executive Board, 1988-present: duties include
organizing and directing conference registration,
co-ordinating printing and audio-visual and computer support with local universities,
supervising day-to-day conference activities and performing various on-site tasks;
Crawford Award Committee, 1988-90 (Chair, 1990)
Southern Association Accreditation Team Member, 1987, 1988, and 1996
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, 1987-present

MAJOR ACADEMIC SERVICE

Collegewide Honors Committee, Chair, 2001-2003
Vice President for Academic Affairs Search Committee, 2000 and 2001
BCC/FAU Library Advisory Committee, 1994-present, chair 1997-8, 1999-2000
Writing Lab Reassignment, 1996-7 and 1986-7
International Education Committee, 1994-6
Broward Community College Faculty Senate, 1984-90; Vice President, 1990; Secretary, 1988-9
Chair, English Department Search Committee, 1989, 1991, 1997
College Computing Committee, 1984-88
Academic Standards Committee, 1985-86

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