Talk:Gerald Richard Lucas

From 2008

Dr. Gerald R. Lucas joined the faculty of Macon State College in the fall of 2002. He successfully defended his dissertation on October 19, 2001 and graduated from the University of South Florida on May 4, 2002. His dissertation, "The Coding of Posthumanism," examines various cultural texts and their authors' illustration of how humanity will move from the transhuman into the posthuman, taking with it its conceptions of the human based on biological characteristics, but not letting embodiment limit its articulation. Read the abstract, in PDF form.

Lately, Jerry's teaching interests have been centered around digital media, from Technology and the Creative Artist; to online and hybrid sections of World Literature and Freshman Composition; to the senior seminar in New Media. For a complete list of courses I offer, see my course listing on LitMUSE.

Jerry's literary interests are eclectic: his official specialty is 20th-century British and American Literature, but his interests span many other spatial and temporal borders. He has done work on the continued relevance of the epic genre; the last two centuries of Russian literature; Latin-American fictions; images of women in literature and feminist theory; Renaissance aesthetic, political, and scientific contributions to modern thought; science fiction and cyberpunk; and cyber- and posthuman theory and literature.

In the spring of 1999, Jerry founded the text-based virtual reality LitMUSE that grew to a community of over 100 active members. This environment, based on a MOO, challenges notions of textuality, both reading and writing, that computers have prompted us to question and to reevaluate. Questions, too, about human interaction and humanistic myths of community are also implicitly addressed on the MOO. This site has since transformed into a courseware blog to facilitate Dr. Lucas' teaching.

                    

Welcome to my professional portfolio. I work as an Associate Professor of English in the Department of Humanities at Macon State College. I defended my dissertation in the fall of 2001 and earned my Ph.D. from the University of South Florida in May 2002. I also have my Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts from the same institution. My areas of interest include digital storytelling, new media, issues in technoculture, contemporary literature and theory, computer-assisted pedagogy, and epic poetry.

This web site portfolio will highlight my professional life at the college: my teaching, service, projects, and other activities that contribute to the college and community at large. The major sections can be conveniently accessed from the menu at the top of the page.

This site also serves as my blog—a place to test ideas, communicate with friends, and to show off my photography in an informal daily journal. These ostensibly random postings might lead to something more one day, or might remain as public fragments. I include lecture notes, readings of texts, and other snippets of information that I found interesting or useful on the Humanities Index mainly for student use.

My curriculum vitae is available as one document, but really this whole site details my activities relating to my professional life: teaching, professional service, research, education, and past, current, and future projects. My teaching philosophy considers my use of technology in the classroom, my active-learning approach, and other philosophical positions that influence my pedagogy. The technology section showcases my interest in technology as it aids in teaching, service, and research. I also provide a statement on the importance of technology in higher education. I should have a section that addresses my students: their evaluations of me, their writing, their projects, and my reactions to them.

Thanks for your interest. Please contact me for any additional information about this web site. For more information about me, please see my short professional biography or find me online. This site is continuously under construction, so I apologize for any broken links. I should get to them all soon enough.

Almost all aspects of computers fascinate Jerry. He prefers the Macintosh for his everyday use and maintained a Linux server for LitMUSE (now an Xserve). While competent in Windows, political and pragmatic reasons keep Wintel well outside. He is also an accomplished Web designer, practicing hand-written HTML, CSS, Flash, PHP, and subtle Java Script. In addition to running LitMUSE and its server, Jerry served as Head Coordinator for the USF Department of English Computers and Writing Program, Technical Support Specialist for the Faculty and Staff of the English Department, and currently works as Web Master and go-to tech resource for the Division of Humanities.