Peter Powers
Interim Dean of School of the Humanities
Professor of English
Education:
Ph.D., English Duke University, December 1991
M.A., English, Duke University, 1987
M.F.A., Creative Writing, University of Montana, 1985
B.A., magna cum laude, English, Wheaton College, 1982
Courses Regularly Taught:
Literary Criticism
Fiction Workshop
African American Literature
American Slavery and Freedom
Ethnic Literatures of the United States
Recent Publications:
Recalling Religions: Resistance, Memory and Cultural Revision in Ethnic Women's Literature. University of Tennessee Press. August 2001.
"The Treacherous Body: Isolation, Confession and Community in James Baldwin." Forthcoming in American Literature.
"My Culture, Their Culture: Literature, Cultural Property, and Student Identity in the Multicultural Classroom." Forthcoming in MELUS.
Personal Statement:
Professor Powers enjoys finding the connections between his many areas of interest: American literature, ethnic studies, creative writing, and cultural theory. Besides teaching, publishing, and chairing the department, he chairs the racial justice committee on campus.
Department Highlight:
Superior students who care about one another.
Favorite English Activity:
Taking students and faculty to dinner with visiting writers.
Fun Fact:
Messiah's only operatic tenor.
