Faculty
Amid their quests for knowledge, our Department of English and Philosophy faculty have picked up a few stories of their own. They come from the United States, China, Korea and Ireland. They have volunteered for the Peace Corps and earned Fulbright Scholarships. They have collected beached marine animal carcasses, dug graves, repaired pool tables, delivered hair styling products, worked on off-shore oil rigs, painted dorm rooms, made chocolate bunnies. One was the first person to walk into Disney World in 2009. One grew up next door to the Gambino family. Yet another hitchhiked 8,000 miles on $125—in 1971. And yet another played the bagpipes at Jerry Garcia's funeral.
At the core of the search for knowledge is passion: for words, stories, ideas. Our faculty members are ready to share their expertise with you, and to set you on the path to your own adventures.
Meet our faculty

- Sue Sroda
- Chair, Dept. of English and Philosophy
- Associate Professor of English and TESOL
- Areas of Expertise: TESOL, Linguistics,
ESL/EFL Teacher Training
- msroda@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4715

- Josh Adair
- Associate Professor of English
- Coordinator, Gender and Diversity Studies
- Areas of Expertise: Modern and
Contemporary British Literature, Gender Studies - Website
- jadair1@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4540

- Constance Alexander
- Adjunct Faculty
- Areas of Expertise: Humanities and Creative Writing
- calexander9@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4539
- Carissa Amburgy
- Adjunct Faculty

- Mike Arneson
- Lecturer
- Areas of Expertise: TESOL, Professional Writing
- marneson1@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.6300

- Deborah Bell
- Assistant Professor of English
- Co-director, Purchase Area Writing Project
- Co-coordinator, English Education
- Areas of Expertise: English Education,
Composition, Writing Instruction
- dbell@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4725

- Kevin Binfield
- Professor of English
- Coordinator, Graduate Studies
- Areas of Expertise: British Romanticism,
18th- and 19th-Century British Women's Literature,
Laboring-Class Writing, Textual Scholarship - Website
- kbinfield@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4541

- Andrew Black
- Associate Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise: Critical Theory,
History of Rhetorical Theory,
Long 18th-Century Literature, Philosophy,
Religion and Rhetoric; Media Studies - Website
- ablack9@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4718

- Tim Carter
- Adjunct Faculty
- Areas of Expertise: Creative Writing,
Rhetoric and Composition, Humanities,
American Short Story, Southern Literature - Website
- lcarter@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.2406

- Alicia J. Carthell
- Assistant Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise:
- Professional and Technical Writing/Communication;
- Writing and Rhetoric in the Social Sciences;
- Educational Leadership, Student Success,
- and Retention in Postsecondary Education;
- Retention of High-Achieving African-American
- Undergraduate Students at PWIs
- Website
- acarthell@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4270
- David Cignoni
- Adjunct Faculty
- dcignoni@murraystate.edu

- Gina Claywell
- Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise: Rhetoric and Composition,
Early American Literature,
Nineteenth-Century British Literature - Website
- gclaywell@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4279

- Barbara Cobb
- Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise:
- Shakespeare, Early Modern Drama,
17th-Century British Poetry, - Continental Renaissance Literature
- Website
- bcobb@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4538

- Sara Cooper
- Assistant Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise: Composition, Rhetoric, Pedagogy,
New Media - Website
- scooper19@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4716

- Judy Crofton
- Senior Lecturer
- Areas of Expertise: English Composition,
Humanities, American Feminist Literature - Website
- jcrofton1@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4724

- Julie Cyzewski
- Assistant Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise: 20th and 21st Century
transnational and diasporic literature,
postcolonial theory, media studies
- jcyzewski@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4846

- Dean Davenport
- Adjunct Faculty
- Areas of Expertise: Ethics,
Business Ethics, Logic, History of Philosophy - Website

- Laura Dawkins
- Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise: American Literature,
Modernism, Race Studies, Gender Studies
- ldawkins@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.3418

- Joshua Easterling
- Assistant Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise: Late-medieval English language,
literature, and culture - Website
- jeasterling@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.3064

- Warren Edminster
- Professor of English
- Director, Honors College
- Areas of Expertise: Medieval Literature,
Professional and Technical Writing - Website
- wedminster@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.5274
- Zachary Garrett
- Visiting Assistant Professor
- zgarrett@murraystate.edu

- Rory Goggins
- Associate Professor of Philosophy
- Coordinator, Philosophy program
- Areas of Expertise: History of Ancient Philosophy,
Philosophy of Religion - Website
- rgoggins@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4549

- Ron Hopper
- Adjunct Faculty
- Areas of Expertise: Composition,
Distance Learning, Humanities - Website
- rhopper3@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.2406

- Ray Horton
- Assistant Professor
- Coordinator, Undergraduate Literature
- Faculty Advisor, English Student Organization
-
Areas of Expertise: American Literature,Literature and Religion, Secularization Theory,Contemporary Fiction
- rhorton3@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4542

- Carrie Jerrell
- Associate Professor of English
- Assistant to the Dean, CHFA
- Coordinator, Undergraduate Creative Writing
- Areas of Expertise: Creative Writing (Poetry & Nonfiction),
- Modern & Contemporary Poetry
- Website
- cjerrell@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4723

- Timothy Johns
- Associate Professor of English
- Coordinator, Jesse Stuart Fellowship
- Areas of Expertise: World Literature and Cinema,
South African Writing, Post-colonial Studies - Website
- tjohns@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4722

- Rusty Jones
- Associate Professor of English
- Chair, Murray Shakespeare Festival
- Areas of Expertise: Shakespeare,
English Renaissance Poetry and Drama,
Renaissance and Restoration Satire - Website
- wjones1@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.2397

- Cara Mathis
- Lecturer
- Areas of Expertise: Western Humanities,
Composition, Research, Writing Across the Disciplines - Website
- cmathis@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4539

- Sally McIntosh
- Lecturer
- Areas of Expertise: Composition and Rhetoric
- Website
- smcintosh@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4728
- Vince Medlock
- Adjunct Faculty
- vmedlock@murraystate.edu

- Michael Morgan
- Associate Professor of English
- Co-coordinator of English Education
- and Racer Writing Center
- Areas of Expertise: English Education, TESOL
- Faculty Hall 7B-18
- mmorgan@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4536

- John Muenzberg
- Assistant Professor of Philosophy
- Areas of Expertise: British Empiricism,
Early Modern Philosophy, Ethics, Humanities - Website
- jmuenzberg@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4542

- Ann Neelon
- Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise: Poetry and Poetics,
- Contemporary World Literature
- Website
- aneelon@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4713

- Danielle Nielsen
- Associate Professor of English
- Dean, Commonwealth Honors Academy
- Areas of Expertise: Rhetoric and Composition,
Professional and Technical Communication,
Victorian and 20th-Century British Literature,
Literature of the Empire, Gender and Language,
Print Culture and New Media - Website
- dnielsen@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.2407
- Jeff Osborne
- Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise: Early American Literature, Humanities
- Website
- josborne@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4544

- Ho Ryong Park
- Associate Professor of English and TESOL
- Co-coordinator, Racer Writing Center
- Areas of Expertise: TESOL, Computer-Assisted Language,
Learning and Teaching Second Language Literacies,
Reading Strategies - Website
- hpark16@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4532
- Personal Website

- Dale Ray Phillips
- Associate Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise: Creative Writing,
Humanities,
Rhetoric and Composition - Website
- dphillips@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4710

- Juyoung Song
- Associate Professor of English
- Coordinator, Undergraduate TESOL Programs
- Areas of Expertise: Sociolinguistics,
Second Language Teacher Education
- jsong2@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.2409

- Latricia Trites
- Professor of TESOL and English
- Director, TESOL Program
- Areas of Expertise: Reading and Writing
Instruction and Assessment,
ESL/EFL Teacher Training,
Applied Linguistics - Website
- ltrites@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4721
- Tim Wallin
- Adjunct Faculty
- twallin@murraystate.edu

- Paul Walker
- Professor of English
- Areas of Expertise: Professional and
- Technical Writing, Rhetoric, New Media
- Website
- pwalker1@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4533

- W. Keith Winkler
- Lecturer
- Areas of Expertise: English Composition,
History of the English Language - Website
- wwinkler@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4726

- Saihua Xia
- Associate Professor of English and TESOL
- Areas of Expertise: ESL/EFL Teacher Training,
SLA, Pragmatics,
Cognitive Approaches to Second Language Learning - Website
- sxia@murraystate.edu
- 270.809.4548