School of Arts & Sciences
Faculty for English, Foreign Language and Humanities
Roxie J. James, Ph.D.
Chair, English, Foreign Language and Humanities Department, Associate Professor of English
Northwestern - Alva
Vinson Hall 210
Phone: (580) 327-8474
rjjames@nwosu.edu
EDUCATION
- Ph. D., University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2014
- M.A., Northwestern State University, 2008
- B.A., Northwestern State Univeristy, 2009
- B.A., Louisiana State University, 2006
COURSES TAUGHT
- ENGL. 1113: Composition I
- ENGL. 1213: Composition II
- ENGL. 3303/5413: Popular Literature: The Dirty, The Scary, and The Scandalous
- ENGL. 3423: Multicultural Literature
- ENGL. 3503: Mythology
- ENGL. 4413: Restoration and 18th Century English Literature
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Romantic and Victorian Literature
- Restoration and Eighteenth Century British Literature
- American Literature to circa 1900
- Children’s Literature
- Dirt Theory and Studies
FAVORITE QUOTE
- "But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one; men know him not—and to know not is to care not for." --Bram Stoker
Shawn P. Holliday, Ph.D.
Associate Dean of Graduate Studies,
Professor of English
Northwestern - Alva
Ryerson Hall 212
Phone: (580) 327-8589
spholliday@nwosu.edu
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1999
- M.A., Marshall University, 1993
- B.A., Marshall University, 1991
COURSES TAUGHT
- ENGL. 2883: American Literature Since Whitman
- ENGL. 3303/5413: Popular Literature: The Western
- ENGL. 3343/5433: 19th Century American Novel
- ENGL. 3463/5463: American Literature: Twain & James
- ENGL. 4163: Literary Criticism
- ENGL. 4203/5203: Contemporary Poetry
- ENGL. 4273/5273: 20th & 21st Century American Novel
- ENGL. 4480/5180: Seminar (20th Century American Playwrights; Jazz and American Literature)
- HUM. 4900: The History of Rock and Roll
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- American Realism and Naturalism
- Modernism
- Appalachian Literature
- Literature of the American West
- Music and Literature
- Literary Criticism
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- Recipient, Oklahoma Humanities Council Opportunity Grant to give a series of talks on the Oklahoma poets laureate at high at schools, museums, and libraries around the state of Oklahoma, 2014.
- Recipient, Everett T. Helm Fellowship to support research using the Clifford Odets papers at Indiana University’s Lilly Library, 2008.
- Recipient, Zelda and Paul Gitlin Literary Prize for best article published on Thomas Wolfe in 2006, 2007.
- Recipient, William B. Wisdom Grant in Aid of Research to support research using the Thomas Wolfe papers at Harvard University’s Houghton Library, Thomas Wolfe Society, 2006.
- Recipient, Berger Foundation Grant to Teach Abroad for a semester in London, England, 2005.
- Recipient, Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award, Alice Lloyd College, 2003.
- Fellow, Salzburg Seminar session in Contemporary American Literature, 2003. Faculty Mentor: Shirley Geok-lin Lim.
WHO AM I AWAY FROM WORK?
- I spend most of my time away from work writing conference papers, articles, and books on different aspects of American literature. Besides that, I love to cook, grill, read, travel, and spend time with my wife and daughter. I also enjoy playing the bass guitar. The Beatles are a special passion of mine, too.
FAVORITE QUOTE
- “Each of us is all the sums he has not counted: subtract us into the nakedness and night again, and you shall see begin in Crete four thousand years ago the love that ended yesterday in Texas.” --Thomas Wolfe
David L. Vaughan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English
Northwestern - Alva
Vinson Hall 214
Phone: (580) 327- 8470
dlvaughan@nwosu.edu
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., Oklahoma State University, 2021
- M. A., Boston University, 2009
- 鈥婤. A., Oklahoma State University, 2008
COURSES TAUGHT
- ENGL. 1113: Composition I
- ENGL. 1213: Composition II
- ENGL. 2543: British Literature to 1865
- ENGL. 3403: World Literature
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Seventeenth-Century British Literature
- Early Modern Print Culture
- English Civil War
- Archival and Textual Scholarship
- Ancient Greek Drama
- Roman Poetry
- Shakespeare
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- Presenter, "Why is Lil Nas X in Milton’s Garden?: Allusion, Adaptation, and Unoriginal Genius.” The Conference of John Milton. 2022.
- Presenter, "A Tyranny of Words: Rhetoric and Reason in John Milton." The Conference on John Milton. 2019.
- Presenter, "Milton and Catullus: The Sounds of Allusion in Latin Poetry." The 12th International Milton Symposium. 2019.
Robert C. Vest, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Spanish
Northwestern - Alva
Vinson Hall 123
Phone: (580) 327-8466
rcvest@nwosu.edu
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., Purdue University, 2018
- M.A., Purdue University, 2012
- B.A., Northern Michigan University, 2010
COURSES TAUGHT
- SPAN. 1114: Spanish I
- SPAN. 1224: Spanish II
- SPAN. 2183: Conversation/Reading I
- SPAN. 2193: Composition/Grammar I
- SPAN. 3103: Introduction to Hispanic Literature
- SPAN. 3113: Peninsular/Spanish American Culture
- SPAN. 3183: Conversation II
- SPAN. 3193: Composition/Grammar II
- SPAN. 4103: Survey of Peninsular Literature
- SPAN. 4183: Conversation III
- SPAN. 4193: Composition/Grammar III
- SPAN. 4223: Survey of Spanish American Literature
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Realism/Naturalism in Latin American Literature
- Literature of the Boom/Post-Boom
- Latin American short story
- Science and Literature
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- Helping lead a study abroad in Madrid, Spain
- Helping plan and pull off cultural activities with Spanish Club
- Publishing an article in an academic journal as an undergraduate with a great faculty advisor
WHO AM I AWAY FROM WORK?
- I love to travel every chance I get. My favorite place to travel is Mexico, especially Mexico City and Guanajuato. When I am not traveling, I am normally reading a new book or looking for people to play board games.
FAVORITE QUOTE
- "What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it." - Gabriel García Márquez
Dr. Christina Xan
Assistant Professor of English
Vinson Hall
Northwestern - Alva
cmxan@nwosu.edu