Languages & Literature - Faculty

Bill Hays
Professor of English, Division Chair

Office: 202 Kethley Hall Office Phone: 846-4084 Email: whays@deltastate.edu  D.A. University of Mississippi M.A. Eastern Kentucky University B.A. Eastern Kentucky University

 Courses Taught:
          Creative Writing
          American Literature
          Film Studies

Scholarly Interests: 
          Fiction & Poetry Writing

Jerome Billingsley
Instructor of English

Office: 244 Kethley Hall Office Phone: 846-4551 Email: jbilling@deltastate.edu   M.S. Univesity of Illinois M.A. University of Mississippi B.A. Delta State University

 Courses Taught:
          Composition
          Introduction to Literature
          Expository Writing

Research Interests: 
          Library Science, Foreign Film

Benjamin Burgos-Aguilar
Professor of Spanish

Office: 260 Kethley Hall Office Phone: 846-4071 Email: bburgos@deltastate.edu Ph.D. University of Mexico M.A. Michigan State University B.S. Alma College A.A. Warren Wilson College

 Courses Taught:
          Elementary Spanish             The Literature of Spain
          Cervantes                             Spanish Drama of the Golden Age
          Latin American Literature     Intermediate Spanish
          Advanced Spanish               Spanish Conversation

Georgene Clark
Assistant Professor of English, Coordinator of Composition

Scolarly Interests: 
          Shakespeare in Performance, Milton, and other Early Modern poets and playwrights

Selected Publications:
          Twelfth Night: A Guide to the Play (Greenwood Press, 2005)
          A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Focus Edition, 2009)

Susan Allen Ford
Professor of English, Writing Center Coordinator

  Courses Taught:  
          Composition (including Advanced)      British Literature
          Jane Austen                                        Detective Fiction
          Approaches to Tutoring Writers            British Novel
          The Romantic Period                          The Gothic 

Scholarly Interests: 
          Jane Austen and her contemporaries, 
          Shakespeare in the 18^th and 19^th centuries
          Detective Fiction

Editor: 
          Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal & Persuasions On-Line
          www.jasna.org/persuasions/index.html

Bonnie Horton
Adjunct Instructor of English

Noah D. Lelek
Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and Theatre Arts
Coordinator of Communications Studies and Theatre Arts Programs

 Courses Taught:
          Public Speaking                        Interpersonal Communications
 

Selected Publications: 
          Selected publications 
        

D. Allan Mitchell
Assistant Professor of English
Chair of the University Service Learning Committee

Courses Taught: 
          Modern American Drama       History and Literature of the Blues
          Expository Writing                   Introduction to the Short Story and Novel
          Composition                           Introduction to Poetry and Drama

Research Interests:
          Blues Literature, Mississippi Literature

Renelda L. Owen
Instructor of English

Courses Taught:
          English Composition
          Introduction to Literature

Sally F. Paulson
Assistant Professor of Communication Studies 

Courses Taught:  
          Public Speaking                Business Communication
          Persuasion                        Communication Theory             
          Gender Communication    Mass Communication
          Performance Studies         Small Group Communications
          Rhetoric

Jack Phillips
Instructor of English

Courses Taught:   
          Composition                      Introduction to Literature
          Expository Writing              American Literature
          British Literature

Edward Plough
Assistant Professor of English

Courses Taught:   
          Shakespeare                       Introduction to Literature: Poetry & Drama
          History of the Theatre           Composition
          World Literature (MALS)

Research Interests: 
          Shakespeare, Donne, Spenser, Milton, Marlowe, Modern American Drama and Film,
          Adaptation Studies, Musical Theatre

Publications:
          Review of Mark Thornton Burnett, Filming Shakespeare in the Global Marketplace. 
                    Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, reprint 2012. This Rough Magic (December 2012). (LINK)

Patricia Roberts
Associate Professor of Journalism
Coordinator of the Journalism Program
Advisor to the Delta Statement  

Courses Taught:     
          Writing for the Mass Media      News Reporting
          Editing for Print Media            Print Layout and Design
          Investigative Reporting            History of Journalism
          Feature Writing                        Newspaper Workshop
          Internship in Journalism           Special Topics in Journalism

Elizabeth Sarcone
Professor of English

Courses Taught:  
          History of the English Language    British Literature 
          Introduction to Literature               American Literature I
          Composition I and II                      Chaucer
          Developmental English  

Marilyn Schultz
Associate Professor of English, Coordinator of Teacher Education,
Sponsor of NCTE Student Group

Courses Taught:  
          Problems of Teaching English                                       Young Adult Literature
          Methods of Teaching Secondary Language Arts            Composition 
          Language Development and Writing                             Grammar for Teachers

Dorothy Shawhan
Chair Emerita of the Division of Languages and Literature, Professor Emerita of English

Courses Taught:  
          Fiction Writing Workshop
          Creative Nonfiction Workshop
          Women Writers

Michael C. Smith
Assistant Professor of English, Editor of Tapestry

Courses Taught:  
          Advanced Poetry Writing                                 Introduction to Literature: Poetry and Drama
          Poetry Writing Workshop                                  American Literature II
          Literary Magazine Workshop                            Contemporary Literature
          "Deals with the Devil:" Faustian Literature       Composition

Please visit "Mike Smith's Multiverse" for information on published books and upcoming readings.

Jeff Smithpeters
Associate Professor of English
Faculty Senator
Secretary of the Delta State Chapter of American Association of University Professors

Courses Taught:  
          American Literature I and II        Expository Writing
          Southern Literature                    Toni Morrison
          Novels of the U.S. Civil War        Writers of the Mississippi Delta 
          Composition

Clint Tibbs
Assistant Professor of Philosophy 

Courses Taught:  
          The History of Western Philosophy I                                      Western Religions
          The History of Western Philosophy II                                      Eastern Religions
          Introduction to Philosophy                                                     Ethics
          Philosophy of Religion                                                          Biomedical Ethics
          Logic                                                                                  A History of Women Philosophers
           
 Research Interests:
           Biblical studies, early church history, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution,
           the history of science, theories of consciousness, and the interface between science, religion,
           philosophy, and the paranormal

James Tomek
Professor of French

Courses Taught:  
          French Language, Literature & Film – all levels                              
          Interdisciplinary courses (Film, Poetry, Painting)
          Introduction to Literature (English)

Yvonne-Marie Bryan Tomek
Instructor of English, Chair of the Sophomore Literature Committee

Courses Taught:  
          Introduction to Literature     French Grammar, 3^rd and 4^th semester 
          Expository Writing                French Women Writers
          French Conversation            French Culture, Civilization and Literature
          Composition

Donna Buford Watts
Adjunct Instructor of English  

Courses Taught:
          Composition 
          Introduction to Literature
          Developmental Writing