The School of Arts and Humanities enthusiastically welcomed back to the English Department Dr. Andrea Porter, the department’s new head, who began leading the department in January, after the retirement of Dr. Bob Felgar.

Porter is an Associate Professor of English, she specializes in Vietnam War literature, and she returned to the department from her position as Director of Graduate Studies. Porter is excited to be back in the English Department and is already making plans to expand opportunities for English students and faculty.

What is your favorite thing about working in the English Department?

My favorite thing is working with all the creative people in our department.  Our faculty are fun, engaged, and always trying new things in the classroom.  I like that what we do never stays the same–we’re constantly adapting our courses (and what we research) based on the world and culture around us.  If you had told me ten years ago I’d be preparing to teach a course called Writing for the Web, I wouldn’t have believed you!  I like that, in English, we never get bored; we’re always applying our skills to new things for our students.

What are some of your plans for the English Department? 

Right now, we’re working on creating a new English major and revamping the Graduate Program. We’re breaking up the English major into three concentrations: literature, creative writing, and professional writing. In the Graduate Program, we’re expanding the courses, such as offering courses in professional or legal writing, and also working to offer new opportunities for English students at the graduate level such as teaching introductory courses. We are also considering possible course revisions to graduate course offerings such as new micro-credentials and courses in Teaching College Writing and Teaching College Literature. 

In addition, we’re changing the name of the Writing Clinic to the Writing Center and beginning to offer new services in that area. 

What hopes do you have for the new Reading Series?

We actually have several series going on right now.  We have the English Department Lecture Series, chaired by Dr. Di Biase, which brings us writers and scholars on all types of subjects.  We’ve had a visiting lecturer who spoke on Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and we just hosted a panel discussion on “The Art and Impact of Marvel Comics.”  We also have a Visiting Writers series that is coordinated by Professor Donaldson and will bring writers to campus like Caribbean-American poet and novelist Tiphanie Yanique.  And then we have the reading series for our new Creative Writers to share their work.  So, my hope is that we can continue to grow these fun, creative series and attract even more students to our classes, minors, and major.

What do you think is interesting about literature from the Vietnam War?

OK, let me nerd out for a minute here and say “What’s not interesting about literature of the Vietnam War?”  There has been more written about the Vietnam War than about all other American wars combined.  Why?  Because it was the first war we lost.  And that loss–not just of a war, but of our national innocence and our idea of exceptionalism, that America is a shining city upon a hill–has shaped everything that has come after . . . politically, culturally, musically, and, yes, literarily.  So to study literature of the Vietnam War is to study America’s coming of age, how our collective voice changed from adolescence to experience.  (And anyone who finds this intriguing, plus likes to hear great 60s music and watch some awesome war films like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, should totally take my EH 417 Writing the Vietnam War class!)

What is your favorite thing to eat around Jacksonville? 

My favorite thing would probably be the tortilla soup at Baja. 

Do you have any pets? 

I am cat mom to former strays Lucy (McCat, because I found her at McDonald’s in Tuscaloosa 18 years ago), Sophie (Baja Kitty, found at the local Mexican restaurant begging for food three years ago), and Annie (a kitten found starving in the snow in Anniston on December 10, 2017, while I was out canvasing for the Doug Jones for Senate campaign).  I didn’t choose the cat mom life; it chose me.