Dr. Elizabeth Alison Gulley
Assistant Professor, Department of English
Student and Faculty Excellence (SAFE) fund recipient
Project: “Beowulf's Afterlives: Mearcstapa: Beowulf on the Edges in Rural America”
With the help of funding from a SAFE grant, Gulley was able to spend two days at Texas A&M (TAMU) to participate in a workshop on the uses of the Anglo-Saxon epic, “Beowulf,” in post-medieval culture with faculty and graduate students from various colleges and universities. Gulley presented a talk exploring how the character Beowulf is portrayed and treated in multiple versions of the original story that suggest the real monsters are the humans existing in “Otherized” spaces of rural America. Based on this talk, Gulley was asked to submit a chapter to an edited collection by The University of Toronto Press, a major press within the English accademia field.
Gulley is dedicated to enhancing the in-class experiences of her Appalachian students by implementing topics covered at the workshop. Gulley invited Dr. Heide Estes of Monmouth University to provide a guest lecture and lead discussion on medieval ecofeminism for Gulley’s Medieval British Literature course and capstone. Gulley’s Research and Methodology course also got the opportunity to speak with Estes about her own research methodologies, including her extensive use of the Cambridge University archives during her year-long sabbatical.
Gulley also implemented sections from Beowulf’s Afterlife in her new thematically structured course and capstone, The Age of Chaucer. For this course, she hopes to include skype interactions with two of the scholars from this project, Dr. David Johnson, Florida State University and Dr. Nandra Perry, TAMU.
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About The SAFE Fund
Initially endowed by Hughlene and Bill Frank, the College of Arts and Sciences Student and Faculty Excellence (SAFE) Fund provides resources that can be used to support undergraduate, graduate and faculty experiences. The SAFE Fund provides funding for college priorities and opportunities that arise throughout the year. These unrestricted funds support student and faculty travel, publication support for faculty and student research opportunities. Learn more at: https://cas.appstate.edu/students/student-and-faculty-excellence-safe-fund.
About the Department of English
The Department of English at Appalachian State University is committed to outstanding work in the classroom, the support and mentorship of students, and a dynamic engagement with culture, history, language, theory and literature. The department offers master’s degrees in English and rhetoric and composition, as well as undergraduate degrees in literary studies, film studies, creative writing, professional writing and English education. Learn more at https://english.appstate.edu
Compiled and written by Barclay Ann Blankenship and Ellen Gwin Burnette
July 15, 2020
BOONE, N.C.
SAFE Grant Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Elizabeth Alison Gulley
Dr. Elizabeth Alison Gulley, Associate Professor, Department of English. Photo submitted