Yvette Kisor

Associate Professor of Literature

Educational Background: B.A. Rice University, English and Classics; M.A. University of California at Davis, English; Ph.D., University of California at Davis, English with Minor Field in Classics and the Classical Tradition

Arrived at Ramapo College: 2004

Courses Regularly Taught: Survey of British Literature I; British Medieval Literature; Major Authors: Chaucer; Major Authors: Tolkien; Age of Chaucer; College English; Readings in the Humanities.

Areas of Specialization: Old English language and literature; Middle English; Beowulf ; Chaucer; History of the English Language; Tolkien; gender issues

Scholarship: My dissertation was entitled "The Inner Beowulf: Theories of Structure and Composition of the Poem and Their Implications for Modern Readers." Recent publications include "Moments of Silence, Acts of Speech: Uncovering the Incest Motif in the Man of Law's Tale." The Chaucer Review 40, no. 2 (2005): 141-62 and "'Elves (and Hobbits) always refer to the Sun as She': Some Notes on a Note in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings." Tolkien Studies 4, forthcoming 2007. I am currently revising two articles on Beowulf for publication and coauthoring a book of Old English texts focused on women. Recent conference presentations include papers on the Middle English romance Emaré, nineteenth-century scholarship on Beowulf, and Tolkien's use of medieval forms in his fiction.

Points of Interest:Besides medieval literature, I have a background in classics and frequently have the pleasure of teaching Greek and Latin texts. One of my interests involves examining the ways medieval authors reinterpret older texts, and the way such acts of interpretation continue throughout literature-it seems certain stories, such as the legends surrounding Troy and Arthur, have proved endlessly fascinating.