Curriculum Vitae:
Introduction

Anyone who wishes to find out about my academic background and interests can click here to access my standard Curriculum Vitae. CVs give only the basics, however, so let me add a few informal remarks.

Although I am a specialist in the earliest period of English literature and have always taught in departments of English, my PhD is in Comparative Literature and I still consider myself a comparatist by training and temperment. Beowulf was the focal point of my graduate research and has remained a special interest of mine. Since completing the doctorate, I have developed competence in such areas as orality and textuality; manuscript studies; linguistics and language history; social history; anthropological approaches to the study of literature; comparative folklore and mythology; archaeology and material culture; and Celtic Studies. To supplement my library research I have undertaken substantial fieldwork into current singing and storytelling practices in Scotland, particularly among the Scottish travelling people, or tinkers.

When I am not at my desk I enjoy cycling, hiking, swimming, meeting up with friends, gardening in fresh weather, and all kinds of music.

My aims as a teacher and scholar have always been first, to help perpetuate a great tradition of letters, and second, to integrate knowledge drawn from different intellectual areas so that sparks of new insight are ignited in my classrooms and through my writings. I am thankful to have taught for most of my academic career at great state-funded public universities where I have been able to learn from outstanding colleagues and students.

CV

UW-Madison

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English