Christopher Rieger

Associate Professor of English

Director, Center for Faulkner Studies

Southeast Missouri State University

Education

Ph.D.Louisiana State University, May 2002

M. A.Louisiana State University, 1997

B. A.Emory University, 1993

Academic Appointments

Associate Professor of English2012-present

Director, Center for Faulkner Studies2013-present

Assistant Professor of English2007-2012

Assistant Director, Center for Faulkner Studies

Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO

Assistant Professor of English2003-2007

Westminster College, Fulton, MO

Graduate Teaching Assistant /Postdoctoral Appointment1997-2003

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA

Courses Taught

Southeast Missouri State University

Rhetoric and Composition (EN 140)

Writing About Literature (EN 201)

Fiction and the Human Experience (LI 220)

Varieties of Literature (LI 256)

American Literature Survey I & II (LI 270 & 271)

Cross-Cultural American Voices (LI 421/621)

Southern Literature (LI 565)

Nineteenth-Century American Novel (LI 568)

Twentieth-Century American Novel (LI570)

Literary Criticism (LI 658)

M.A. Thesis Hours (EN 694)

Westminster College

Academic Writing (ENG 103)

Introduction to Literature (ENG 204)

American Literature Survey I & II (ENG 238 & 239)

Introduction to Journalism (ENG 260)

20th Century Southern Literature (ENG 325)

Major American Authors: William Faulkner and Zora Neale Hurston (ENG 350)

Science Fiction on Page and Screen (ENG 355)

Critical Practicum (ENG 370)

Louisiana State University

Freshman Composition (English 1001)

Argument Writing (English 1002)

Business Writing and Communication (English 2002)

Introduction to Fiction (English 2025)

Research and Publications

Books

Rieger, Christopher and Robert W. Hamblin, eds. Faulkner & Morrison. Cape Girardeau, Mo.: Southeast Missouri State University Press, 2013.

Rieger, Christopher and Robert W. Hamblin, eds. Faulkner & Chopin. Cape Girardeau, Mo.: Southeast Missouri State University Press, 2010.

Rieger, Christopher. Clear-Cutting Eden: Ecology and the Pastoral in Southern Literature. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2009.

Articles/Essays

“Outside the Garden: Nature in The Sound and the Fury.” Critical Insights: The Sound and the Fury. Ed. Taylor Haygood.Salem Press, 2014. (Forthcoming)

“The Pickup Truck in the Garden: Larry Brown’s Joe.” Mississippi Quarterly 63: 3-4 (Summer-Fall 2010): 679-94. (actually published summer 2011)

“God’s Little Acre.” The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 July 2011.

“Tobacco Road.”The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 April 2011.

“Erskine Caldwell.” The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 February 2011.

“The Green Breast of the Southern Plantation: Equating Women and Property in Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses and Chopin’s ‘A No-Account Creole’” Faulkner & Chopin. Ed. Robert W. Hamblin and Christopher Rieger.Cape Girardeau: Southeast Missouri State University Press, 2010.77-86.

“Joe Christmas Meets Victor Frankenstein in the Classroom.” Teaching Faulkner. 27 (Fall 2009): 1.

“Silent Spring on Tobacco Road: The Degradation of the Environment in Erskine Caldwell’s Fiction.”Reading Erskine Caldwell: New Essays.Ed. Robert McDonald. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland Press, 2006.131-49. (invited essay)

“Mitchell, Margaret” and “Spencer, Anne” in Southern Writers: A New Biographical Dictionary. Eds. Joseph M. Flora and Amber Vogel. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 2006.

“Don’t Fence Me In: Nature and Gender in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s South Moon Under.” Mississippi Quarterly.57: 2 (Spring 2004): 199-214. (invited essay)

“‘Dawn and Doom was in the branches:’ Nature, Vodou, and the Pastoral Impulse in Their Eyes Were Watching God” The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature. 13 (2004): 35-61.

“The Working-Class Pastoral of Zora Neale Hurston’s Seraph on the Suwanee.”Mississippi Quarterly. 56:1 (Winter 2002/2003): 105-24.

Reviews

Review of Larry Brown: A Writer’s Life, by Jean Cash. Resources for American Literary Study.Forthcoming. (invited review)

Review of Faulkner and Hemingway: Biography of a Literary Rivalry, by Joseph Fruscione. MFS: Modern Fiction Studies 59.4 (Winter 2013): 872-4. (invited review)

Review of William Faulkner: Seeing Through the South, by John T. Matthews. Literature & History 18.2 (October 2009): 96-7. (invited review).

Review of William Faulkner: An Economy of Complex Words by Richard Godden.Literature & History 17.2 (October 2008): 95-6. (invited review)

Review of Beyond Nature Writing: Expanding the Boundaries of Ecocriticism, eds.Karla Armbruster and Kathleen R. Wallace. South Atlantic Review (Spring 2003)

Selected Conference Presentations

“‘Some of those boys are animals now’: Walking the Border in Daniel Woodrell’sWoe to Live On,” American Literature Association Symposium “War and American Literature,” New Orleans, LA, October 2013

“The Postsouthern Sense of Race in the Early Novels of Daniel Woodrell,” The Louisville Conference, Louisville, KY, February 2013

“Missing Judas: Faulkner’s Last-Minute Revisions of A Fable,” Faulkner and Warren Conference, Cape Girardeau, MO, October 2012

“Poor Relations: God’s Little Acre on Page and Screen,” Society for the Study of Southern Literature, Nashville, TN, March 2012

“From Working-Class Fiction to Low Class Film: Erskine Caldwell’s God’s Little Acre,” The Louisville Conference, Louisville, KY, February 2011

“‘How can a man beat a machine?’: An Ecocritical Approach to Ernest Gaines’ A Gathering of Old Men,” Society for the Study of Southern Literature, New Orleans, LA, April 2010

“Funny Farm: Agrarian Madness in the Novel and Film Versions of God’s Little Acre,” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 2009

“The Green Breast of the Southern Plantation: Equating Women and Property in Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses and Chopin’s ‘A No-Account Creole,’” Faulkner and Chopin Conference, Cape Girardeau, MO, Oct. 2008

“The Roots, Branches, and Flowers of Southern Pastoral: From John Smith to Barbara Kingsolver,” Society for the Study of Southern Literature, Williamsburg, VA, April 2008 (also panel chair)

“Road to Nowhere: The Lack of Movement in Erskine Caldwell’s Tobacco Road,” College English Association, St. Louis, MO, March 2008

“The Pickup Truck in the Garden: Larry Brown’s Joe,” American Literature Association, Boston, MA, May 2007

“Working the Land: Ecocriticism and Southern Literature,” Society for the Study of Southern Literature, Birmingham, AL, March 2006 (also panel chair)

“Caldwell and Ecocriticism,” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Roanoke, VA, Nov. 2004

“Striking it Poor: The Search for Gold and Grace in Erskine Caldwell’s God’s Little Acre,” Society for the Study of Southern Literature, Chapel Hill, NC, March 2004

“Burning Down the House: Destruction and Reconstruction of the Home-Place in Hurston’s Seraph on the Suwanee,” MELUS, Boca Raton, FL, April 2003

“Dog Bites Man: Rabies and Madness in Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Popular Culture Association, New Orleans, LA, April 2003

“Nature in Black and White: The Role of the Environment in Hurston’s Seraph on the Suwanee,” Society for the Study of Southern Lit., Lafayette, LA, March 2002

“‘A torn fragment of the larger cloth’: Selfhood and Nature in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s Cross Creek,” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 2001

“Nature and Vodou in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God,” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Birmingham, AL, Nov. 2000

“Fencing, Nature and Gender in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s South Moon Under,” Society for Literature and Science, Atlanta, GA, Oct. 2000

Conferences Organized/Directed

Co-director, Faulkner and Warren Conference, Southeast Missouri State University, October 2012.

This conference attracted 41 scholars from 16 different American states and 5 foreign countries (Australia, France, Nigeria, Japan, and Taiwan) and featured a keynote address by Patricia Bradley (Middle Tennessee State University).

Co-director, Faulkner and Morrison Conference, Southeast Missouri State University, October 2010. This conference attracted 52 scholars from 23 different American states and 5 foreign countries (Nigeria, France, Japan, Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of China) and featured a keynote address by John Duvall (Purdue University).

Co-director, Faulkner and Chopin Conference, Southeast Missouri State University, October 2008. This conference attracted 39 scholars from 13 different American states and 5 foreign countries (Canada, England, Japan, Croatia, and the People’s Republic of China) and featured a keynote address by Barbara Ewell (Tulane University).

Lectures Organized

2012 Robert W. Hamblin Lecture Series: Sylvia Jenkins Cook, “Literary Dress and Southern Modernism: William Faulkner and Erskine Caldwell.” (lecture attendance approx. 125).

2011 Robert W. Hamblin Lecture Series: Erin Chamberlain, “Lazy Susan's Service: Disappearing Domestics and the Technology of the Late Victorian Home” (lecture attendance approx. 115).

Grants

  • Wrote unsuccessful $1,725 grant application for a Missouri Humanities Council grant for the Faulkner and Warren Conference hosted by the Center for Faulkner Studies at Southeast Missouri State University, October 2012.
  • Co-wrote unsuccessful $109,755 grant application (with colleague Robert Hamblin) for a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Seminar, Faulkner and Morrison, proposed for summer 2012. There were 153 proposals; 41 were funded.
  • Wrote successful grant application resulting in a $1,767 grant from the Missouri Humanities Council for the Faulkner and Morrison Conference hosted by the Center for Faulkner Studies at Southeast Missouri State University, October 2010.
  • Wrote successful grant application resulting in $1,658 grant from the Missouri Humanities Council for the Faulkner and Chopin Conference hosted by the Center for Faulkner Studies at Southeast Missouri State University, October 2008.

M.A. Theses Directed

  • Michael Derby, “Cherry Trees” (2012-13)
  • Yangzi Wang Duncan, “William Faulkner and Mo Yan: Connections Between Two Cultures” (2012-13)
  • Sindy Puckett, “A Picture of Slavery: A Comparative Study of American and Caribbean Slave Narratives” (2011-12)
  • Amber Walker, “Re-evaluating African-American Women in 20th Century Literature,” (2010-11)

Honors and Awards

  • Nominated for College of Liberal Arts Service Award, 2013
  • Nominated by a student for Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce 2008 Educator of the Year
  • Recognized as an Outstanding Professor by Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority, Westminster College, 2004, 2005, 2006
  • Selected to Omicron Delta Kappa National Honor Society, 2005
  • Awarded “Most Fun Professor” by Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, 2006
  • Winner of Lewis P. Simpson Dissertation Award, May 2002, given annually for the outstanding dissertation in the LSU English Department
  • English Department’s Nominee for 2002 LSU Distinguished Dissertation Award
  • Recognized by Alpha Lambda Delta Freshman Honor Society for Dedication to Instruction of Freshman Students, Fall 2002

Professional Service

  • Director, Center for Faulkner Studies, Southeast Missouri State University, 2013-present (Assistant Director 2007-12)
  • Editor, Teaching Faulkner, 2013-present (Associate Editor, 2009-13)
  • Chair, Dr. Robert W. Hamblin Lecture Series Committee, Southeast Missouri State University, 2011-present
  • Faculty Advisor, Sigma Tau Delta, English Honor Society, Southeast Missouri State University, 2011-present (increased membership by over 100% in time as advisor)
  • Faculty Advisory Committee for Academic Program Review, 2012-present
  • University Commencement Committee, Southeast Missouri State University, 2009-12
  • University Parking Appeals Committee, Southeast Missouri State University, 2010-12
  • Chair, College of Liberal Arts Sabbatical Leave Committee, Southeast Missouri State University, 2011-present
  • English Department Chair Search Committee, Southeast Missouri State University, 2013-14
  • Chair, Rhetoric/Composition Assistant Professor (tenure-track) Search Committee, Southeast Missouri State University, 2011-12
  • Literature/Composition (renewable non-tenure track) instructor Search Committees, Southeast Missouri State University, 2011-12, 2013-14
  • Communication Studies (Organizational Communication) Assistant Professor (tenure track) Search Committee, Southeast Missouri State University, 2012
  • Communication Studies Department Tenure and Promotion Committee, 2012-present
  • English Dept. Tenure and Promotion Committee, 2013-present
  • English Dept. Graduate Committee, Southeast Missouri State University, 2009-present
  • English Dept. Literature Committee, Southeast Missouri State University, 2007-present
  • English Dept. Public Relations Committee, Southeast Missouri State University, 2007-present
  • Faculty Advisor, Theta Xi Fraternity, Southeast Missouri State University, 2009-present
  • Bibliography Committee, Society for the Study of Southern Literature, 2006-10
  • Peer reviewer for Studies in American Culture
  • Peer reviewer for African-American Review
  • Peer reviewer for Mississippi Quarterly: The Journal of Southern Culture
  • Peer reviewer for Publications of the Missouri Philological Society
  • Peer reviewer for Arkansas Philological Review
  • Chair, Curriculum Committee, Westminster College, 2006-07
  • Faculty Personnel Committee, Westminster College, 2005-06
  • Professional Standards Committee, Westminster College, 2005-07
  • Technology Assessment Task Force, Westminster College, 2005-06
  • Faculty Advisor, The Columns, Westminster College student newspaper, 2003-07
  • Faculty Academic Advisor, Sigma Chi Fraternity, Westminster College, 2003-07