We cordially invite you to join us for a discussion of recent publications and scholarly work from Assistant and Associate Professors in History, English, and Creative Arts.

Patrick Brown, PhD, Assistant Professor of History

Dr. Brown will discuss some key ideas of his current book project, A Factory Defiant: Stalinist Centralization and Local Resistance at Red Sormovo, 1917-1941. He will note some aspects that have developed and emerged over time, while commenting on ways that attention to microhistories serves to assist in infusing diverse voices and perspectives into his classroom teaching. As time permits, Dr. Brown may also note specific developments of this current project in relation to earlier iterations and in response to professional development activities and current geopolitical developments.

Alecia Barbour, PhD, Associate Professor of Music

Dr. Barbour will note some interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological frameworks she is working within and against via discussion of a recent article: “Home is Together: Sounds of Belonging in the Correspondence of Two Japanese American Families Separated by Wartime Incarceration.” Journal of the Society for American Music, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1752196323000317.  As time permits, Dr. Barbour may observe relationships to her pedagogy, including as discussed in “Global Music History as Teaching Framework: Perspectives of a Generalist.” Journal of Music History Pedagogy, 13(1), November 2023, 97-106.  https://www.ams-net.org/ojs/index.php/jmhp/issue/view/30

Rachel Bragg, PhD, Associate Professor of English

Dr. Bragg will discuss a current project, “Do the Time: Tour the Crime: True Crime Podcast Websites as Virtual True-Crime Tourism.” In her discussion, Dr. Bragg will contextualize how this project reflects her interest in developing and applying theories of visual rhetoric. As time permits, Dr. Bragg will comment on how document design’s visuality contributes to storytelling and how this relates pedagogically to the emphasis of technical writing (such as in ENGL 305) on document design. 

Douglas Terry, PhD, Associate Professor of English

Dr. Terry will discuss the stages and process of an article currently in development, noting connections to previous and ongoing work. Literary works under analysis include Now in November, by Josephine Johnson (1935). As time permits, Dr. Terry may also comment on or address questions about his article that was published earlier this year: “On the Threshold of Education: Race and Antebellum Schooling in the Colored American.” The CEA Critic, 85(1), March 2023, 58-83. https://doi.org/10.1353/cea.2023.0004

Cortney Barko, PhD, Associate Professor of English

Dr. Barko will discuss theoretical frames behind her in-progress book project, Mothers, Grandmothers, and Community Mothers: Representations of Motherhood in Jesmyn Ward’s Writing. This work grows from and extends Dr. Barko’s ongoing interest in women writers and women’s literature. Dr. Barko will set forth broad concepts such as frames of “traditional” motherhood; of "resilient and selfless" Black mothers; and note how Ward situates lived experiences of domains of Black motherhood within the context of systemic forms of oppression that render these figures largely silent and invisible. As time permits, Dr. Barko may note specific examples or comment on relationships to additional aspects of her scholarship and pedagogy. 

The WVU Institute of Technology Brown Bag lecture series began in 2012 and is hosted by the Department of History, English, and Creative Arts within the College of Business, Humanities, and Social Sciences. These lectures provide a venue for WVU Institute of Technology faculty to share their work in an interdisciplinary forum and receive supportive feedback on scholarly projects from colleagues, students, and the campus community.