EDUCATION

Ph.D. (English), Pennsylvania State University, 1978

M.A. (English), Saint Bonaventure University, 1976

B.A. (English), Caldwell College, 1970

M.S. (Psychology), Pennsylvania State University, 1979

EXPERIENCE

2001- Professor of English and Legal Studies, University of Delaware

1992-2001: Professor of English, University of Delaware

1984-92: Associate Professor of English, University of Delaware

1979-84: Assistant Professor of English, University of Delaware

1967-76: Secondary School Teacher (New Jersey)

HONORS AND AWARDS

The Fourth R: Conflicts Over Religion in America’s Public Schools, nominated for the

Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion (winner to be announced in December 2006).

College of Arts and Sciences Award for Service, 2006.

Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia Northern Campus, Summer 2002.

Faculty Fellowship in the office of Senator Thomas R. Carper, Summer 2002.

American Civil Liberties Foundation of Delaware, Gerald E. Kandler Memorial Award,

2001.

American Library Association Office on Intellectual Freedom, Thirtieth Anniversary Roll of

Honor, 1999.

Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America, Outstanding Book

Award for What Johnny Shouldn’t Read: Textbook Censorship in America, 1995.

American Library Association, Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award for What Johnny Shouldn't Read,

1994.

American Educational Research Association Outstanding Book of the Year Award for What

Johnny Shouldn't Read (co-winner with Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities), 1993.

Delaware Library Association/Social Issues Resources Series Intellectual Freedom Award, 1992.

Delaware Department of Public Instruction Order of Excellence, 1989.

GRANTS OVER $5,000

Spencer Foundation, 1999-00, $35,000; 1998-99, $12,000; 1994-95, $12,000.

General University Research Grants, 2005, $6,000; 1999, $6,000; 1994, $6,000; 1989,

$5,000.

Center for Advanced Study, University of Delaware, one year's salary and benefits, 1994 -1995.

American Association of University Women Educational Foundation Grant, 1988-89, $5000.

Delaware Humanities Forum grant to co-direct an interdisciplinary Institute for Secondary
School Teachers, "Family and Society in Literature," Summer 1985 (with a faculty
member in Education), $17396.

SCHOLARSHIP

BOOKS

In Progress

The Myth of Academic Freedom in America’s Schools and Universities (working title).

Under contract with Yale University Press (due December 31, 2007).

Published

What Johnny Shouldn't Read: Textbook Censorship in America. New Haven: Yale University

Press, 1992.

The Fourth R: Conflicts Over Religion in America’s Public Schools. New Haven: Yale

University Press, 2004.

ARTICLES AND NOTES

In Progress

“From Darwin to Dover: Analyzing Kitzmiller in the Context of the Evolution-

Creationist Controversy, 1859-2006.” Invited article to appear in the Spring 2007

issue of Rutgers Law School’s Journal on Law and Religion.

Forthcoming

“What Is Past Is Prelude: Newdow and the Evolution of Thought on Religious

Affirmations in Public Schools.” University of Pennsylvania Law School’s

Journal of Constitutional Law, forthcoming in Fall 2006.

Published

"Making the Grade." Delaware Law Weekly (March 13, 2002), pp. 3, 5, 7.

“’Good News’ Makes News.” Delaware Law Weekly (March 27, 2001), pp. 3, 6.

"Controversial Narratives in the Schools: Content, Values and Conflicting Viewpoints." In

Narrative Impact: Social and Cognitive Foundations. Ed. Melanie Green, Jeff Strange,

Timothy Brock. Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum, 2002 (pp. 131-155).

"Politicizing the Ten Commandments." Congress Monthly, 67 (July/August 2000), pp. 14-16.

"Congressional Meddling in Public Education." Congress Monthly, 67 (March/April 2000), pp.

13- 15.

"God on the Gridiron." Delaware Law Weekly (April 25, 2000), pp. 6-7.

"Columbine Tragedy Heats Up Debate About Putting God Back in Schools." Delaware Law

Weekly (July 6, 1999), p. 8.

"Goldilocks Was a Juvenile Delinquent." Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, XLII (September

1993), pp. 131, 161-164.

"Diversifying Dick and Jane." AACTE Briefs, 14 (March 29, 1993), p. 3.

"Contemporary Censorship Pressures and Their Effect on Literature Textbooks." ADE Bulletin,

83 (Spring, 1986), pp. 35-40.

"Fueling the Fire of Hell: A Reply to Censors of The Crucible." In Censored Books: Critical

Viewpoints. Ed. Nicholas Karolides, Lee Burress, John M. Kean. Metuchen, N.J.:

Scarecrow Press, 1993, pp. 201-208.

"The 'Appoquinimink Incident.'" Focus, XVIII (Fall 1991), pp. 60-63.

"Who Is Censoring America's Textbooks?" USA Today Magazine, (September l99l), pp. 70-7l.

"Religious Implications of Children's Literature as Viewed by Religious Fundamentalists: The

Mozert Case." Children's Literature Association Quarterly, 14 (Spring 1989), pp. 9-13.

"Eric Ambler." In British Mystery Writers, 1920-1939. Vol. 77 of Dictionary of Literary

Biography. Ed. Bernard Benstock and Thomas Staley. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989,

pp. 13-24.

"Leslie Charteris." Ibid., pp. 58-67.

"Gerard Fairlie." Ibid., pp. 117-21.

"Herman Cyril McNeile (‘Sapper’)." Ibid., pp. 221-25.

"Ian Fleming." In British Mystery and Thriller Writers Since 1940, First Series. Vol. 87 of

Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. Bernard Benstock and Thomas Staley. Detroit:

Gale Research, 1989, pp. 85-112.

"John Le Carre." Ibid., pp. 240-55.

"Eco’s Conflation of Theology and Detection in The Name of the Rose." In Naming the Rose:

Essays on Eco’s The Name of the Rose. Ed. M. Thomas Inge. Jackson: University of

Mississippi Press, 1988, pp. 77-89.

"A Kinder Sort of Lady-Killer." Wilmington News-Journal (August 18, 1987), pp. C1, C4.

"Contemporary Censorship Pressures and Their Effect on Literature Textbooks." ADE Bulletin,
83 (Spring, 1986), pp. 35-40.

"Women as Scholars in Chaim Potok’s Fiction." Studies in American Jewish Literature, 4

(1985), pp. 52-61.

"John Webster’s Metallographia: A Source for Alchemical Imagery in the Preparatory

Meditations." Early American Literature, XVIII ( Winter 1984), pp. 233-41.

"The Dark Stranger in Heller’s Something Happened." In Critical Essays on Joseph Heller.

Ed. James Nagel. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1984, pp. 127-38.

"John Buchan." Critical Survey of Long Fiction. Vol 1. Ed. Walton Beacham.

California: Salem Press, 1983, pp. 325-37.

"The James Bond Fantasy." In Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature. Vol 5. Ed. Keith

Neilson. California: Salem Press, 1983, pp. 2492-2500.

"Ellen Glasgow." In Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Ed. Walton Beacham. California: Salem

Press, 1981, pp. 1488-94.

"Edith Wharton." Ibid., pp. 2426-32.

"Robert M. Coates." In American Novelists, 1910-1945. Vol. 9, Part I of Dictionary of

Literary Biography. Ed. James Martine. Detroit: Gale Research, 1981, pp. 158-62.

"Herman Melville." In Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Ed. Walton Beacham. California:

Salem Press, 1981, pp. 1913-19.

"Detective Short Fiction." Ibid., pp. 748-66.

"Horror Short Fiction.” Ibid., pp. 726-47.

"The ‘Other’ Spencer Brydon." Arizona Quarterly, 35 (1979), pp. 335-41.

"Alcuin as a Poet." The Classical Bulletin, 53 (January 1979), pp. 46-47, 53.

INTRODUCTION

Introduction to Beneath Thy Guiding Hand: A History of Women at the University of Delaware,

by Carol Hoffecker. Newark, Delaware: University of Delaware Press, 1994.

MONOGRAPH

Instructional Strategies for English/Language Arts: Ideas for Effective Teaching (editor and

contributor). Delaware Department of Public Instruction, 1987.

REVIEWS

Review of The Politics of Race and Schooling: Public Education in Georgia, 1900-1961, by

Thomas V. O'Brien (Lexington, 1999). Congress Monthly, 69 (May/June 2002), pp. 19-

20.

Review of Silverless Mirrors: Book, Self and Postmodern American Fiction, by Charles

Caramello. Studies in American Fiction, 46 (Spring 1987), pp. 112-114.

Review of The Care of Time, by Eric Ambler. The Dossier, 1 (1982), p. 19.

ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS SINCE 1986

“The Fourth R and Beyond.” History of Education Society Conference, Baltimore,

Maryland, October 22, 2005.

“Urban School Districts and the Textbook Adoption Challenge.” National School Boards

Association/Council of Urban Boards of Education Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada,
October 1, 2005.

“What Is Past Is Prelude: The Newdow Case and the Evolution of Thought on Religious
Affirmations in Public Schools.” University of Pennsylvania Law School

Symposium, Philadelphia, February 12, 2005.

“Conflicts Over Religion in America’s Public Schools.” Bowen Lecture Series in Education
Policy, Graduate School of Education, George Mason University, April 27, 2004.

“The Great Voucher Debate.” Law, Humanities, and Culture Conference, New York

University Law School, New York, New York, March 7, 2003.

Keynote speaker at the Censorship Symposium at the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for

Humanities Research at Texas A&M University, October 22, 2002.

"Fade to Neutral? The Evolution of Thought Regarding Prayer in Public Schools." Law,

Humanities, and Culture Conference, University of Pennsylvania Law School,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 9, 2002.

"Challenges to Curricular and School Library Materials." University of Virginia/U.S.

Department of Education seminar, Washington, D.C., December 11, 2001.

"Current Law on School Prayer." University of Virginia guest presentation, West Falls

Church, Virginia, November 17, 2001.

"Current Law on School Prayer." University of Virginia/U.S. Department of Education seminar,

Washington, D.C., March 2, 2001.

"Free Speech in American Schools." University of Virginia/U.S. Department of Education

seminar, Washington, D.C., December 23, 2000.

"Handling Controversial Curricular Material in Public School Classes." Phi Delta Kappa

Lecture, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, April 14, 2000.

"The Search for 'Truth' in Curricular Ideology." J. William Harris Lecture, University of the

Pacific, Stockton, California, April 13, 2000.

"Congress's Emerging Role in Curriculum Development: Good News or Bad News?"

Association of American Publishers, Orlando, Florida, February 2, 2000.

"The Politics of Textbook Development." University of Virginia/U.S. Department of Education

seminar, Washington, D.C., Fall 1998, 1999, 2000.

"The Current Status of Religious Expression in Public Schools: What’s In, What’s Out, and

What’s Up in the Air." Project 30, Seattle, Washington, November 13, 1999.

"Romeo and Juliet Were Just Good Friends: The Purging of Controversial Material from

Textbooks." Project 30/Council of Colleges of Arts and Science, Seattle, Washington,

November 12, 1999.

"Current Controversies Over Religious Expression in Public Education.” Toll Fellows

Legislative Conference, Wilmington, Delaware, August 1998.

"The Role of Advocacy Groups in Challenging Children’s and Young Adult Literature." Oregon

Library Association, Eugene, Oregon, November 1997.

"Threats to Freedom of Speech in American Schools." First Annual John Swan Memorial

Lecture, Vermont Library Association, Middlebury, Vermont, April 10, 1995.

"Challenges to Free Speech in American Schools: Courts and Congress." Association of

American Publishers, Naples, Florida, March 27, 1995.

Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award Presentation Speech. American Library Association, Chicago,

llinois, June 25, 1994.

"Challenges to Whole Language Reading Programs." University of Wisconsin Thirteenth

Annual Reading Symposium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 18, 1994.

"What Johnny Shouldn't Read: Textbook Censorship in America: Discussion with the Author."

American Educational Research Association, Chicago, Illinois, April 5, 1994.

"Challenges to Children's Literature in the Schools."

Illinois Library Association, Chicago, Illinois, March 24,1994.

Missouri Library Association, Kansas City, Missouri, April 15, 1994.

Reading Council of Northern Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, February 25, 1995.

Delaware Read-Aloud Program, Wilmington, Delaware, March 11, 1995.

"The Impact of the Religious Right and the Politically Correct Left on Contemporary American

Education." University of North Carolina Bicentennial Celebration, Chapel Hill, North

Carolina, January 14, 1994.

"Controversies Regarding the Portrayal of Racial and Ethnic Groups in Literature Classes."

Modern Language Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, December 28, 1993.

"Goldilocks Was a Juvenile Delinquent: Censorship of Children's Stories, Adolescent Novels,

and Classic Literature in American Classrooms."

American Library Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, June 27, 1993;

Washington Library Association, Vancouver, Washington, September 25, 1993;

New York State English Council, Albany, New York, October 21, 1993;

Virginia Library Association, Virginia Beach, Virginia, October 29, 1993;

New Jersey Educational Media Council, New Brunswick, New Jersey, December 6,

1993.

"Textbook Censorship in America." Mark Twain Memorial Symposium, Hartford, Connecticut,

October 2, 1993 (with Arthur Miller, William Styron, George Plimpton, Christopher

Hitchens, and others).

"Romeo and Juliet Were Just Good Friends."

Florida Council of Teachers of English, Orlando, Florida, October 16, 1992;

Illinois Association of Teachers of English, Chicago, Illinois, October 30, 1992;

Maryland Library Association, Aberdeen, Maryland, May 14, 1993.

"Textbook Censorship in America." Keynote Address to the Conference on English Leadership

of the National Council of Teachers of English, Wilmington, Delaware, November 25,

l99l.

"Religious Challenges to the Presentation of Multicultural Literature in American Schools."

Modern Language Association, San Francisco, California, December 29, l990.

"Censorship in American Education." National Council of Teachers of English, April 6, 1989.

"Religious Implications of Children's Literature as Viewed by Religious Fundamentalists."

Modern Language Association, December 30, 1988.

"Literary Censorship in American Secondary Schools." Northeast Modern Language

Association, March 26, 1988.

"Induction, Deduction, Abduction: Reasoning as a Principle of Structure in the Karla Trilogy."

Modern Language Association, December 29, 1986.

"Perceptions of the Classics." Modern Language Association, December 28, 1986.

"Genre and Meaning: Black American Women Writers and the Bildungsroman." Northeast

Modern Language Association, April l5, l986.

BROADCASTS

More than thirty National Public Radio and commercial radio interviews, including Radio Times, Fresh Air, Talk of the Nation (with Dinesh D'Souza), and the Diane Rehm Show.

COURSES TAUGHT

Graduate

Intellectual Freedom in America: Studies in Literature, History, and Law

Free Speech Under Fire

Censorship in Contemporary America

Religion in Public Schools: Pros and Cons

Constitutional Issues for Educators

Psychological Interpretations of Modern Fiction and Film

American Jewish Writers

On the Nature of Good and Evil: Inquiries in Literature, Psychology, and Religion

Graduate/Undergraduate

American Literature and Film, 1920-1940

Modern American Novel and Film

Psychological Approaches to American Literature and Film

Psychological Approaches to Modern American Literature and Film

Psychology in Literature and Film

Undergraduate

Literature and Culture:

America in the 1960s

American Literature

American Literature from the Civil War to World War II

American Literature Since World War II

Black American Women Writers

Introduction to Drama

Literature, History, and Law

The Religious Impulse in America: Studies in Literature, History, and Law

Religion, Race, and Sex in American Literature and Law

Short Story

English Education:

Seminar in Teaching English I

Seminar in Teaching English II

Teaching English in Secondary School

Student Teaching

Legal Studies:

Free Speech: Cases and Conflicts

The Law and You

Religion, Law, and Politics

Political Science:

Constitutional Issues for Teachers

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

American Educational Research Association

Authors Guild

PEN

Phi Delta Kappa

SERVICE

University

University Council on Teacher Education, 1984-94, Fall 1997, 2002-2006

Coordinator, Humanities Day of the Governor's School for Excellence, 1984- present

Advisory Board, Education Resource Center, 2000- present

Legal Studies Executive Committee, 2001- present

Middle East Peace Initiative, Summer 2004, 2005, 2006

New Student Orientation Program, Parents’ Panel on Academic Life, 1996-2002

DuPont Scholars Program Workshop, 1995-2002

Council on Program Evaluation Task Force, l984-86

Committees to Evaluate Dean Frank Murray, 1985, 1990

Faculty Senate Undergraduate Studies Committee, 1985-86

Search Committee for Elementary Language Arts Education, 1986

Search Committee for Honors Elementary Education, 1986

Faculty Senate Representative-at-Large, 1985-89

Commission on the Status of Women, 1987-88; Chair, l990-92

Chair, President's Task Force on Public Elementary and Secondary Education, l988

University Advisory Committee to the Dean of Admissions, 1988-90

Committee to Evaluate the Dean of the College of Education, l990

COPE Central Committee, l990-92

Enrollment Management Committee, l990-91

Humanities Council, l990-92

President's Advisory Council, l990-92

Search Committee for Provost/Academic Vice President, 1994

NCATE/DOE Review Subcommittee on Admissions and Standing, 1998-99

Milford Project Steering Committee, 1998-2001

Center for Advanced Studies Grants Awards Committee, January 1999

Committee to Evaluate the Director of Libraries, Spring 1999

College of Arts and Sciences

Arts and Sciences Coordinating Committee on Teacher Education, Secondary Education

Committee, l979-2006; Chair, l984-94, Fall 1997, 2003-2006.

Humanities Council, 1985-1989

Search Committees for Science Education Coordinator, 1985-1987, 1994

Dean's Advisory Council, l989-90

Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program Advisory Board, l990-94

English Department

Coordinator, English Education Program, 1979-99, 2002-2006

Promotion and Tenure Committee, 1984- present; Chair, 1988-94, 2004-present

Metric Committee, 2002-03, 2005-06

Undergraduate Studies Committee, 2005-06

Search Committee for English Education, 1994, 2005-06 (Chair)

Executive Committee, l984-86, 1988-89, Fall 2000

Graduate Committee, 1983-89; ex officio, l989-1992

Search Committee for Journalism, 1990

Profession

Books Refereed for University Presses:

The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age StupefiesYoung Americans and

Jeopardizes Our Future, by Mark Bauerlein, former Research Director of the

National Endowment for the Arts (Yale University Press)

Ellery’s Protest: The Story of the Supreme Court Case That Bitterly Divided America

About Religion in the Public Schools, by Stephen Solomon (University of

Michigan Press)

How Free Can Religion Be? by Randall Bezanson, David H. Vernon Professor of Law,

University of Iowa (University of Illinois Press)

The Rape Case, by Irving Morris, former President of the ACLU-Delaware (University of

Delaware Press)

Invited Endorsements for Dust Jackets:

Bruce J. Dierenfield, The School Prayer Case: Engel v. Vitale and the Controversy over God in the Classroom (University Press of Kansas)

Randall Bezanson, How Free Can Religion Be? (University of Illinois Press)

Other:

Chair, Special Session on John Le Carre, Northeast Modern Language Association, 1986

Chair, Special Session on Fantasy Literature, Northeast Modern Language Association, 1986

Evaluator for Educational Testing Service teacher competency test, 1987, 1988

Local Coordinator, Northeast Modern Language Association, 1988

Delaware Department of Public Instruction Advisory Committee on English/Language Arts,

1988-92

Community

Language Arts Evaluation Committee of the New Castle County Vocational-Technical

School District, Fall 2004.

Rotary Club of Wilmington Scholarship Committee, 2001-present; Chair, 2002

Governor’s Committee to Improve Science and Mathematics Instruction, 1990-91

Committee on Women’s Issues, American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, 1992-

Delaware Youth Conference (Senator William Roth’s Office), 1995, 1996

Approximately 40 presentations per year to civic groups, library discussion groups, and

elementary and secondary school classes; topics include textbook censorship,

First Amendment issues in public schools, American literature, and storytelling