Dr. Patricia M. Ard

(Literature Convener)

Professor of Literature

Educational Background: B.A. Douglass College , Rutgers University , English major; J.D., Seton Hall School of Law; Ph.D., English, Rutgers University

Arrived at Ramapo College : 1997

Areas of Specialization: Composition pedagogy; Nineteenth Century American and British culture; visual culture; women writers; material culture.

Courses regularly taught: College English; Readings in the Humanities; Survey of British Literature; Children's Literature; Introduction to Literature; American Photography and American Visual Culture.

Scholarship: The Jews of New Jersey: A Pictorial History, Rutgers University Press, 2002 (coauthor Michael Rockland); edited and wrote a long introduction to Mary Peabody Mann's 1889 novel Juanita: A Romance of Real Life in Cuba Fifty Years Ago, University of Virginia Press, 2000. I've also published several articles on nineteenth century American and American literature and New Jersey related issues. And I make presentations regularly at scholarly conferences nationwide.

Points of interest: Besides literature, I teach composition. I am interested generally in American literature and culture, especially that of the nineteenth century, material culture, and New Jersey literature and culture. I especially enjoy making cross cultural comparisons between Britain and the United States . Visual culture is a particular interest of mine—I employ visual culture regularly in my publications and in my teaching. And since I once practiced law, I use my legal background when I teach writing and to analyze American legal culture.