Jeff Jeske
Besides teaching courses in American literature, writing, journalism, and film, I am the faculty adviser to the college's student newspaper, The Guilfordian, which for each of the past three years has tied for first place nationally for best all-around newspaper in its size category in the American Scholastic Press Association's annual competition (come join us!). I am also the author of the college's online writing manual, Writing at Guilford, which you can visit at www.guilford.edu/writing_manual.
I've written articles and delivered papers on such subjects as Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Cotton Mather, Edward Taylor, research writing, editing strategies, gender and style in language, and films such as Saw III, Predator, and 12 Monkeys. Books include Storied Words: The Writer's Vocabulary and Its Origins (2004) and the satiric novel The Return of the War Pigs (2002).
Some fun facts: As a member of the Los Angeles Conservancy and the Hollywood Heritage Association, I gave architectural tours of Los Angeles and its movie palaces (and was the caretaker of Gary Cooper's star on Hollywood Boulevard) . . . I was a founding coach of the UCLA Special Olympics team . . . I have won Guilford's Excellence in Teaching award twice . . . I am the accordionist for Die Quakerhosen, Guilford's oom-pah band . . . I have a brick in my office from the Yellow Brick Road (The Wizard of Oz, 1939).
Publications
Storied Words: The Writer’s Vocabulary and Its Origins. New York: iUniverse, 2004.
"How Will We Write? A Report from the National College Media Convention." The Writing Instructor. Beta 3.0. 2004. http://www.writinginstructor.com/
“Nurturing Rich General Education Courses.” Journal of General Education. 51(2002): 103-114.
The Return of the War Pigs. San Jose: Writer’s Club Press, 2002
"Edward Taylor and the Traditions of Puritan Nature Philosophy." 27-67. The Tayloring Shop. University of Delaware Press, 1997.
Rev. of Gracious Laughter: The Meditative Wit of Edward Taylor by John Gatta. vol. 13 of The Eighteenth Century: A Current Bibliography. New York: AMS Press, 1994.
"Balancing the Peer-Response Group Triangle." 11-17. Perspectives on Practice in Developmental Education. Ed. Patricia Malinowski. New York: NYCLSA, 1993.
"Troubleshooting the 'W' Course." ERIC, 1994. ED 362 871.
"Creating the Institution-Specific Writing Guide." Writing Program Administration 16 (1993): 27-36.
"Peer Response Groups: Answering the Critique." ERIC, 1989. ED 309 446.
"Borrowing from the Sciences: A Model for the Freshman Research Paper." The Writing Instructor 6 (1987): 62-67. Rpt. in The Bedford Handbook for Writers: Background Readings for Instructors. 4th ed. Ed. Glenn Blalock. NY: St. Martin's, 1994. 315-319.
"Resources for Graduate Writing Instruction." ERIC, 1987. ED 273 975.
"Cotton Mather: Physico-Theologian." Journal of the History of Ideas 47 (1986): 583-594. Rpt. in The American Enlightenment. Rochester, NY: U of Rochester Press, 1993.
"Demystifying the Dissertation." ERIC, 1986. ED 268 529.
"Gender and the Official Language." International Journal of Women's Studies 7 (1984): 322-35, with Kathleen Overman.
"Thomas Budd," "Ebenezer Gay," and "Francis Makemie" in American Colonial Writers,1606-1734. ed. Emory Elliot. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Co., 1984.
"Using the Short Art Film as Model." The Writing Instructor 2 (1984): 17-23.
"Antony as a Source fo pierre: The Saga of the Male Psyche." American Transcendental Quarterly 50 (1983): 117-128.
"Clough's Mari Magno: A Reassessment." Victorian Poetry 20 (1982): 21-32.
"Macbeth, Ahab, and the Unconscious" American Transcendental Quarterly 31 (1976): 8-12.
"Solomon Stoddard's Arguments for the Proposition." Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 80 (1976): 75-111, with Thomas M. Davis.
"Walden and the Confucian Four Books." American Transcendental Quarterly 24 (1974): 20-24.
Presentations
“First Things First: Recruiting--And Then Retaining a Dynamic Staff for the College Weekly.” National College Media Convention. Kansas City, October 2008.
“Jigsaw as Moralist: the Ascetic’s Way in ‘Saw III’.” American Culture Conference. San Francisco, March 2008.
"Fusing Comp 2 and History." Conference on College Composition and Communication. San Antonio, March 2004.
"Ethical Choices in Advertising and Editorials," National College Media Convention, Washington, D.C., November, 2000
"Shaping the College Curriculum Revision Process," Albion College, August, 2000
"The Liberal Arts Faculty in the New Millennium," Association of American Colleges and Universities Regional Meeting, Greensboro, October, 1998
"What Makes 12 Monkeys Film Noir." American Culture Association/Popular Culture Association Convention, San Antonio, March, 1997.
"Edward Taylor's Symbology: Garden, Book and Machine." Modern Languages Association, Chicago, December 1995.
"Creating the Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Staff Manual." Second National Conference on Writing Across the Curriculum. Charleston, February 1993.
"What Makes "W" Courses Go Bad- and How to Fix Them." First National Conference on Writing Across the Curriculum. Charleston, February 1993.
"Balancing the Peer-Group Triangle." Conference on College Composition and Communication. Cincinnati, March 1992.
"What's Happening with Invention?" Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago, March 1990.
"Using Student Peer-Groups: State-of-the-Art Methods." Conference on College Composition and Communication. Seattle, March 1989.
"Arnold Schwarsenegger Meets Joseph Campbell: A New Mythos for the 80's?" American Culture Association/Popular Culture Association Conference. New Orleans, March 1988.
In House Publications
Teaching Writing at Guilford