2008 Woodie Awards
Introducing Dr. Jeffrey Myers
Elizabeth Harris
Issue date: 10/6/04 Section: Features
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Dr. Myers grew up in Baltimore, Maryland-the home of the Orioles. He earned his masters and doctoral degrees in English from Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, and received his Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College.
"I chose English" he said, "because I really liked to read and write and think about the things I read-that's how I started out. As time went on, I became interested in trying to understand how the literature of a country reflects the beliefs people have. Literature plays a big part in the way people think."
Before coming to Manhattan College, Dr. Myers taught at Stanford University. The job was part of a postdoctoral fellowship, where he spent two years teaching in Stanford's core curriculum.
"They are very different schools," he says. "Palo Alto is beautiful and sunny, and New York is completely real. And people here seem to take a more direct route with each other when they speak."
"I wanted to work in a small college where somebody could come to my office hours and I'd know them, " he continued. "I'm part of a very collegial department. Students are friendly and most are engaged in the work."
Dr. Myers teaches three courses at Manhattan. English 210 is a freshman-writing course, organized around the theme of urban nature. He also teaches English 372: American Literature to 1914 and English 253: Masterworks of American Literature.
"I try to mix contemporary works with 19th century works to keep things interesting," he said.
Dr. Myers, like many of his colleagues, is a published author. He has written articles for literary journals and criticisms on the works of Charles Chestnut and Joseph Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness. He has also written Converging Stories: Race, Ecology, and Environmental Justice in American Literature. The book will be published by the University of Georgia Press and is due out in the spring.
"The first half is about the way nature and race are represented in similar ways by certain American writers," said Dr. Myers, explaining the book's contents. He continued, "The second half is an attempt to show how Henry David Thoreau, Charles Chestnut-an African American writer, and Zitkala Sa-a Native American writer, write alternative stories about race and nature."