Barbara Mather Cobb
Professor of English
Coordinator, Liberal Arts Major
"Analyzing a good poem is like taking apart—and putting back together—a complex machine. Every part is unique, and every part is integral: the diction, the syntax, the many kinds of figurative language, the sound devices, the rhythm, the meter, the very structure. When we see how a poem is constructed, and see and hear it at work, we recognize its beauty and artistry. That's exciting, and addictive. That's what makes poetry so very fun."
Dr. Cobb's giant compass, an homage to John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning."
Education
Ph.D., English
Rutgers University
M.A., English
Rutgers University
B.A., English
Wellesley College
Highlighted Publications
"'To old Freetown, our common judgement-place': Commoners in Romeo Juliet." Journal of the Wooden O Symposium (Spring 2011).
"'Excribe'-ing, Esteem, and Estimation: Jonson as Window to the 'Soule of the Age.'" The CEA Critic 71.1 (2008): 1-11.
"'Suppose that you have seen the well-appointed king': Imagining Succession in the Henriad." Cahiers Elisabethains70 (2006): 33-8.
"Jonson's Conversations with William Drummond: A History." Ben Jonson Journal13.2 (2006): 29-42.
"Taking the Intimidation Out of Scansion: A Practical Approach." English Journal96.1 (2006): 56-61.
Courses Taught
ENG 100T Transitions (first-year orientation)
ENG 105 Critical Reading, Writing and Inquiry
ENG 221 Introduction to English Studies
ENG 303 British Literature to 1760
ENG 411 Non-Shakespearean Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama
ENG 428 Renaissance Literature (Continental)
ENG 436 17th-Century British Literature (non-dramatic)
ENG 645 Non-Dramatic English Renaissance Literature
ENG 649 17th-Century British Literature
HON 251 Honors Seminar in Literature and Philosophy I
HUM 211 The Western Humanities Tradition
LBA 100T Transitions
Areas of Specialization
17th-Century Poetry and Drama
Continental Renaissance/Early Modern
Literature
Early Modern (Renaissance) British
Literature
Poetry and Poetics
Donne
Jonson
Milton
Shakespeare
Awards and Distinctions
Regents Teaching Award, Murray State University, 2012
Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society Love of Learning Award, 2010
Omicron Kappa Delta Advisor of the Year, Murray State University, 2010
Robert A. Miller Memorial Prize (best essay in a College English Association publication),
2009
Summer Institute Fellowship, National Humanities Center, 2003
Leadership and Service
Associate Chair, Teacher Education
Coordinator,
Murray Shakespeare Festival
Director,
Shakespeare in the Schools
Partnership Initiative
Coordinator, Academic Advising
Coordinator, Liberal Arts Major
Professional Memberships and Affiliations
College English Association
Midwest Modern Language Association
Modern Language Association
National Academic Advising Association
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
Regents Residential College
Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association
South Atlantic Modern Language Association
In the Media
At the WKMS studios, Dr. Cobb and Dr. Rusty Jones talk about some of the more interesting
elements of Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night and John Webster's gripping tragedy The Duchess of Malfi in this segment called "Werewolves, Cross-Dressing and a Singing Fool."
Dr. Cobb discusses the 2011 Murray Shakespeare Festival on Roundabout U. Watch the interview here.
What is the most troubling subplot of As You Like It? What makes Barnardine such a pivotal character in Measure for Measure? What are the swounds, slids and snails of Hamlet? Select the titles to hear Dr. Cobb discuss these questions in "A Minute with Shakespeare"
segments that aired on WKMS-FM, the region's affiliate of National Public Radio.
Contact
Dr. Barbara Mather Cobb
7B-15 Faculty Hall
Murray State University
Murray KY 42071-3341
270.809.4538