Jessica Brophy, Ph.D.
Adjunct Instructor of English
Lynchburg College
Carnegie 406
brophy.j@lynchburg.edu
I take great delight in words and love to spread my giddiness for language with students. I believe learning can be fun, inspiring, and lead to a life of empowerment, confidence, and compassion. I am a poet who writes about family quirks, nature's luster, childhood foods, the body, and impressions left by the places I live or visit. I also feel compelled to write scholarship about poetry — whether it be finding clusters of imagery, tragic humor, a recurring symbol, a new theoretical reading, or the "golden nugget" as Virginia Woolf would have it.
I encourage you to stop by and chat with me about your journey — any academic pursuits, your cosmic worries, how to discover your writing voice or find the right word, or if you just need a good book recommendation!
Experience
Lynchburg College, 2008-present
Central Virginia Community College, 2010-present
Stevenson University, 2007-2008
Middlesex County College, 2004-2005
Union County College, 2004-2005
Degrees/Background
Ph.D., English, Morgan State University
M.A., English, William Paterson University of New Jersey
B.S., Communications, Liberty University
Courses Taught
Composition I and II (LCSR, Writing about Literature, Writing from Sources), Literature and Culture II, Introduction to Business and Technical Writing
Research Interests
British Romanticism, Feminist Criticism, Aesthetics and Gender, American Female Poetry, Twentieth Century African-American Poetry
Publications
Scholarly
"When the Song in a Swan Song Falls Silent: A Look at the Vanishing Black Song in Cane." Literary Horizons 1 (2007): 73-83.
"Paulette Childress White." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers. Westport, CT: Greenwood. 2007.
"The Recognition of Racism in a Language of 'Race'." Summer 2002. Burning Leaf: A Website of Contemporary Writing and Art.
Creative Nonfiction
"Family Secret." Urbanite. Dec. 2005: 17.
Poetry
"My Mother." The Cherry Blossom Review. Winter (2008): 7.
"his back." Natural Bridge: A Journal of Contemporary Literature. 19 Spring (2008): 34.
Presentations
July 2010, "The Gender-Sharing Sublime and the Crisis of Love," Contemporary Women's Writing Network, San Diego, Calif.
March 2007, "The Death (and Restoration) of Postcolonial Criticism to Soyinka's Reader," Northeast Modern Language Association, Baltimore, Md.
March 2007, "The Power of Language: The Moon as Sublime Symbol and Literal Object in the Writing of Dorothy and William Wordsworth," College English Association (Middle Atlantic Group), Rockville, Md.
October 2006, "Limitations of Tolerance: The Failure of the Church in Mary Shelley's Fiction," Northeast Region Conference on Christianity and Literature, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Professional Associations
Contemporary Women's Writing Network
Conference on Christianity and Literature
Modern Language Association
The Thoreau Society
Personal Information
Growing up as a middle child twin with seven siblings, my first and most significant learning environment was the home. I learned how to share, how to communicate, how to be disciplined, and how to love. Every moment for my mother was a "teaching moment." Her ferocity for everlasting learning has motivated me to educate myself about issues in global societies and cultures, particularly about spirituality, religion, and the human rights of women. Living in a large family can also be quite loud and overwhelming. Thus, today I am determined to find a life in which I work towards peacefulness in my soul, beauty and flavor on the plate during mealtimes, and a strengthening of the body that uplifts my spirits.
