M.A. Alumni
Erin Gloster (M.A. 2019 with a cultural studies specialization) has started a position as Research Assistant at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS Northwest) in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She works with with the Office of Community Health and Research to help edit and revise medical research articles in preparation for journal publication. Their research focuses on identifying and understanding health needs and disparities in the community in order to help ensure that all individuals have access to their best health. In the past five years, the Office has published over 100 scientific articles focusing on community programs, health research, healthy food systems, and maternal child health. Gloster is excited to be a part of this team and the important work they do for the community!
Rebecca Newth Harrison (M.A. 1985) is presently transcribing ArkansasVoices interview tapes she did from KUAF files. These are interviews with Arkansas authors, as well as guests to the English Department.
Jackie Lawrence (M.A. 2014) was promoted to Talent Optimization Consultant at J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc., in 2020. She is now responsible for the creation and optimization of all of the company’s talent processes including performance reviews, talent calibrations, succession planning, and potential assessments for over 10,000 employees.
Ray Allen Parker (B.A. 1974; M.A. 1978) had his oil paintings presented in “Altarpieces & Icons,” the inaugural exhibition of the Windgate Museum of Art at Hendrix College. Following a 32-year communications and advertising career with the J.C. Penney Co., Parker returned to Fayetteville and began studying figurative and portrait painting in the U of A School of Art. His work has been included in the annual Delta Exhibition in Little Rock, the International Biennial Portrait Competition, and the Figurativas Exhibition in Barcelona, Spain.
Shirley Rash (M.A. 2015), in Fall 2020, had a revised version of her thesis chapter “‘I’ll Be Damned If I’m The Only Killer in the Courtroom’: Anti-Pastoralism, Violence, and Kansas Identity in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood” published in Salem Press’s Critical Insights: In Cold Blood, edited by Nicolas Tredell.
Delia Remington (M.A. 1998)’s small press, Eagle Heights Press, won several awards in 2020. Their first anthology, Dark Conjurings: A Short Fiction Horror Anthology, with a foreword by Bram Stoker Award Winner Sarah Read, won the international eLit Awards Gold Medal for ebook Anthologies, the Ben Franklin Awards Silver Medal for Horror sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association, and a Midwest Book Awards Silver Medal for Short Story Anthologies sponsored by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association. In addition, Remington’s book Soar: Indie Author Business Planner was a 2020 Silver Medalist at the Midwest Book Awards for Business. She was a guest speaker and panelist at the 2020 Multiverse Sci-fi and Fantasy Convention which was held online.
Stephen D. Rowe (M.A. 1968):
- Retired from full time employment (Concord University, Athens, WV) in 2015 but is still serving as Vice President of the Concord University Research & Development Corporation. Sponsored AX Honor Society chapters at Indiana Tech, West Liberty and Concord. Awarded Outstanding Sponsor by AX National Council
- Earned PhD 1978 from Indiana University of PA and full professor of English. Earned MLSIS from LSU, 1988. Served as FT English faculty and VPAD at Indiana Institute of Technology, West Liberty State College and Concord University. Dissertation: “Tamburlaine the Great: A Renaissance Moral Tragedy in 10 Acts.”
- Team Chair Corps of the Higher Learning Commission, 1980-2015, Peer Review Corps, 2015-present. Awarded Outstanding Team Chair by the HLC.
- Awarded over $30M in external funding through grant writing; continues to conduct study and grant proposals as external consultant.
- Published creative writing and peer reviewed scholarship (medieval/renaissance).
Mary Ann Stafford (M.A. in English 1976; Ed.S. in Secondary Education 1982; Ed.D. in Secondary Education 1985) recently published her second book of poetry entitled On My Way: Poems about Living and Dying by an Old Woman in December 2020. The book includes over 100 poems written since the 2007 publication of her first poetry book, Then and Now: Poems and Prayers From a Lifetime. Six different chapters are introduced by images of her artwork in pastel and watercolor. Chapter titles are: On Seasons of the Year; On Living; On Families; On Aging; On Mourning; and On Believing. Stafford recently celebrated her 88th birthday in January 2021.
Ph.D. Alumni
David Deller (Ph.D. 1999) has an upcoming chapter on Arkansas gospel music to be published by the University of Illinois Press.
James Gamble (M.F.A. 1994; M.A. in Comparative Literature 2000; Ph.D. in Comparative Literature 2006) retired as Senior Instructor of English at the University of Arkansas after the Spring 2020 term. He misses interaction with students and colleagues but does not miss grading papers. At present he is reading and writing, watching hockey, and spending time with his breathtakingly helpful wife, Laura, two French bulldogs Piglet and Thunderchunk, and two cats, Ozark and Goldie.
Robert Griffith (Ph.D. 2012) was recently named President of the Table Rock Campus of Ozarks Technical Community College. In that position, he will be responsible for all day-to-day and strategic operations of a campus that serves about 900 traditional and online students while offering a variety of Associates Degrees and Certificates.
Garrett Jeter (Ph.D. 2018) is in his second year at Georgia Military College, Warner Robins, GA, as Assistant Professor of English, teaching Comp 1 and 2, American Literature, World Literature, British Literature, and Creative Writing. In addition, he is teaching Latin and Classical Greek through Zoom to learners from around the globe. He recently presented a paper, “A Gothic Man Is Hard To Find: O’Connor’s Misfit as Gothic Uncanny,” for SAMLA. Garrett has been recognized by Marquis’s Who’s Who of America with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award; only 5% of listees ever receive this award. He was also recognized by the same as Top Educator and Top Military.
Margaret (Peggy) Maddox (M.A. Comparative Literature 1999; Ph.D. Comparative Literature 2004) has had her book The Fabergé Flute published by Wild Rose Press. It was released in January 2021. Peggy also now goes by “Maeve Maddox,” a pen name she began using in 2007 when she became a contributor to DailyWritingTips.com, an international language blog to which she contributes four posts a month.
Ethel C. Simpson (Ph. D. in Comparative Literature 1977), Professor Emerita for the University of Arkansas Libraries, continues to study Arkansas authors and their writing. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly in Summer 2020 published her article “Thyra Samter Winslow’s Magazine Fiction.” Winslow (1885-1961) was a native of Fort Smith who published extensively in Smart Set, The New Yorker, and other popular magazines of the early twentieth century. Simpson enjoyed a long career as an archivist in the Special Collections department of the library. She continues to consult informally with the editorial staff of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas, an online resource.
Richard Winegard (Ph.D. 1970) is retired from Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri, as a Full Professor. He taught there for 30 years. He doesn’t do a lot at age 84, although he still manages yard work. He still reads a book or two a week, mostly thrillers and historical mysteries. Occasionally, he read in the Odyssey or one of the Greek plays. Both of his children live in or near Marshfield, Missouri. He has eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. He walks at least three miles six days a week.