Lecturer
B.A., English and Ethnic Studies (minor), 2001, UC Berkeley
M.A. English, 2003, University of Washington, Seattle
Ph.C., English, 2005, University of Washington, Seattle
Office: UW2-228
Phone: 425-352-3460
Email: gmr2@u.washington.edu
Mailing: Box 358511, 18115 Campus Way NE, Bothell, WA 98011
Teaching
Each of us approaches education from a unique social location, a personal history and context. I often teach through the rubric of popular culture because it's one of those places where our understanding of the world may likely ‘overlap' and intersect. I am not suggesting that we always agree on the definition and/or the merits of popular culture; quite the contrary. However, I believe culture becomes ‘popular' because it speaks to something familiar in our understanding of ourselves as social beings - for better or for worse. The key is tracing out what that ‘something' is and learning from it in a way that informs an active response to the present. I strongly believe that knowledge is made both inside and outside of the classroom, and for this reason, I encourage an ethics of mutual respect, difficult dialogue, and persistent, critical reflection about our practices in the university and in our various communities.
Courses Taught
BIS 313: Critical Perspectives on the World Cup: Politics, Media & Sport
BIS 351: Textual Appeal of Tupac Shakur
BIS 391: 20th Century American Literary Realism: from Henry James to Jay Z
BIS 420: Colonizing History in Sub-Saharan Africa
BIS 493: Cultural Studies and Critical Praxis
Research/Scholarship
My research interests include global hip hop culture, American and Comparative Cultural Studies, Critical Race Theory and public scholarship. I am also interested in late nineteenth century American literature, pragmatism and turn-of-the-century political and practical (everyday) conceptions of race, nation and empire.
Selected Publications
Engaged Scholarship, co-edited volume with Amanda Gilven and Craig Martin. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Graduate School Press, forthcoming.
“What is Engagement: Public Education in the Age of Permanent War” in Engaged Scholarship, Amanda Gilvin,Craig Martin and Georgia M. Roberts, eds. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Graduate School Press, forthcoming.
"Many Moons: Hip Hop, Global Mass Culture & The Planetary Popular". On The Boards Podcast, February, 2010.
The Tupac Shakur Reader, edited volume with James Braxton Peterson, forthcoming.
"Affect, Ethics, and the Imaginative Geographies of Permanent War: An Interview with Derek Gregory." With Keith P. Feldman and Anoop Mirpuri. Theory & Event 12.3 (2009).
"Antiracism and Environmental Justice in an Age of Neoliberalism: An Interview with Van Jones." With Keith P. Feldman and Anoop Mirpuri. Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography 41.3 (2009): 401-415.
Honors & Awards
2009-2010: Associated Students (UW Bothell) annual faculty award recipient
2009-2010: Principal Investigator, “Reading Group at Stafford Creek,” funded by the
Walter Chapin Simpson Center
2006-2007: University of Washington Excellence in Teaching Award
2004, 2006, 2008: Publicly Active Graduate Education Fellowship, Imagining America
2004-2006: Co-Principal Investigator, “Public Rhetorics and Permanent War,” funded by the Walter Chapin Simpson Center