Ryan S. Trimm
84 Glover Street
Providence, RI 02908
(401) 275-3409
[email protected]
Current Position: Professor of English and Film Media, University of Rhode Island
EDUCATION
Ph.D., English. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, May 2001
Dissertation: "Belated Englishness: Nostalgia and Postimperial Identity in
Contemporary British Fiction and Film.”
School of Criticism and Theory, Cornell University, July 1998.
M.A., English, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, May 1994.
B.A., English, University of Alabama, May 1991.
PUBLICATIONS
In Progress
Cultural Value: Fiction and Finance in Contemporary Britain. Book manuscript in
preparation.
“Contemporary Fiction and Modernism.” Invited for Oxford Research Encyclopedia of
Literature. Edited by John Marx. Oxford University Press.
“Living On and Belated Selves: Afterwardsness in the Novels of Will Self.” Invited for
collection, Will Self and the Art of the Contemporary. Edited by Sebastian Groes.
Bloomsbury Press.
“Spirits in the Material World: Spectral Worlding in David Mitchell’s Novels of
Globalization.” Under review, SubStance.
Published or forthcoming articles and essays
Heritage and the Legacy of the Past in Contemporary Britain. Completed book
manuscript under contract for publication with Routledge in 2017.
“Witching Welcome: Haunting and Postimperial Hospitality in Hilary Mantel and Helen
Oyeyemi.” Forthcoming in Haunted Landscapes: Nature, Super-Nature and the
Environment. Edited by Niamh Dowling and Ruth Heholt. Rowman & Littlefield,
2016: 59-74.
“Bestowing Past and Future: The Given as Foreclosure in Marion, Derrida, and Nancy.”
In special issue of Poetics Today (37.2), “No Futures.” Edited by Alastair
Renfrew and Caitríona Ní Dhúill. 2016: 309-326.
‘The Suburbs That Did It’: Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia and Metropolitan
Multicultural Fiction.” In Hanif Kureishi: Contemporary Critical Perspectives.
Edited by Susan Alice Fischer. Bloomsbury Press, 2015: 51-67.
“After the Century of Strangers: Resiting Hospitality in White Teeth.” Contemporary
Literature, 56:1 (Spring 2015): 145-172.
“Taking You Back: Region, Industry, and Technologies of Living History at Beamish.”
European Journal of Cultural Studies, 15:4 (August 2012): 528-546.
“Rhythm Nation: Pastiche and Spectral Heritage in English Music.” Critique, 52:3
(2011): 249-271.
"Carving Up Value: The Tragicomic Thatcher Years in Jonathan Coe." Thatcher and
After: Margaret Thatcher and Her Afterlife in Contemporary Culture, ed. Louisa
Hadley and Elizabeth Ho, 158-179. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
“Telling Positions: Country, Countryside, and Narration in The Remains of the Day.”
Papers on Language and Literature 45:2 (2009): 180-211.
“Moving Pictures, Still Lives: Staging National Tableaux and Text in Prospero’s
Books.” Cinema Journal 46:3 (2007): 26-53.
“The Times of Whiteness; Or, Race Between the Postmodern and the Postcolonial.” In
Postcolonial Whiteness, ed. Alfred Lopez, 231-254. Albany, NY: SUNY Press,
2005.
“Inside Job: Professionalism and Postimperial Communities in The Remains of the Day.”
LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory 16:2 (2005): 135-61.
“Nation, Heritage, and Hospitality in Britain after Thatcher.” Comparative Literature and
Culture 7:2 (2005). http://clcwebjournal.lib.purdue.edu.
“Heritage Rebranded: The North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish and the
Performance of Nation.” Politics and Culture, Issue 2 (2003).
http://politicsandculture.neu.edu.
“Haunting Heritage and Cultural Politics: Signifying Britain Since the Rise of Thatcher.”
In Culture + the State: Nationalisms (Volume 3), ed. James Gifford and Gabrielle
Zezulka-Mailloux, 135-43. Edmonton: University of Alberta and CRC
Humanities Studio, 2003.
Reviews and entries
Review of Graham Matthews’s Will Self and Contemporary British Society. Under
review, C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-century Writings.
Review of Owen Hatherley’s The Ministry of Nostalgia. The International Journal of
Heritage Studies 23.1 (2017), 75-77.
“The Incredible Shrinking Empire.” Review of Jed Esty’s A Shrinking Island. Novel
39.2 (Spring 2006), 273-275.
“Between Culture and State.” Review of Pericles Lewis’s Modernism, Nationalism, and
the Novel and Martine Watson Brownley’s Deferrals of Domain: Contemporary
Women Novelists and the State. Novel 36.1 (Fall 2002), 129-132.
“Being an Englishman.” Review of Ian Baucom’s Out of Place and Antony Easthope’s
Englishness and National Culture. Published in Novel, 33.1 (Fall 1999), 129-133.
“Postmodernist Writing.” In Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture. London:
Routledge, 1999, 421-422.
Proceedings
"The Logical Errors of Matthew Paris; Or, The Violence of Order in Sacred Hunger."
Published in 1995 Proceedings of the Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of
Social Imagery Conference on the Image of Violence, 1997.
I have also reviewed articles for Contemporary Literature, Studies in the Novel, Clio,
LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory, English Text Construction, The European Journal
of Cultural Studies, and Modern Language Studies; I have reviewed book manuscripts for
Routledge and Ohio State University Press.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
“The Affective Economies of Atonement: Literary history as Ethical and Political
Practice.” 21st-Century Theories of Literature, Warwick University, UK. April
2017.
“Ecstatic Debt: Between Speculation and Indebtedness in Tom McCarthy’s Remainder.”
Bloomsbury C21 Conference: Writing and Insecurity, University of Brighton,
UK. April 2016.
"Quintessences of Englishness Past: England, England and the Heritage MetaculturalIndustrial Complex." Modern Language Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
January 2015.
“Witching Welcome: Haunting and Postimperial Hospitality in Hillary Mantel and Helen
Oyeyemi.” Haunted Landscapes: Nature, Super-Nature and the Environment,
Falmouth University, Falmouth, UK. March 2014.
“Living On and Belated Selves: Afterwardsness in the Novels of Will Self.” Will Self
and the Art of the Contemporary, University of Roehampton, London, UK.
March 2013.
“Bestowing Debt: Troping Cultural Heritage.” Modern Language Association, Boston,
MA. January 2013.
“An Occult of Images: Jarman, Deleuze, and the Contestation of Heritage.” Adapting
Historical Narratives Conference, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK.
February 2012.
“The Suburbs that Did It: Kureishi and Metropolitan Multicultural Fiction.” In Analysis:
The Work of Hanif Kureishi, University of Roehampton, London, UK. February
2012.
“Bestowing Past and Future: The Given as Foreclosure in Marion, Derrida and Nancy.”
No Future Conference, Durham University, U.K. March 2011.
"Metropole in the Age of Clouds and Ghosts: Postglobal Britain in David Mitchell."
Modern Language Association, San Francisco, CA. December 2008.
“Of Fairy Tales and Teeth: Zadie Smith and the Metropolitan Melee.” On Whose
Terms?, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK. March 2008.
“Timely Welcome: The Temporality of Gift and Hospitality.” Modernist Studies
Association, Long Beach, CA. November 2007.
“Contesting Heritage: Disrupting Patrimony and Transmission.” Modernist Studies
Association, Long Beach, CA. November 2007.
“Redressing Heritage: Adaptations of The Tempest in the Crystalline Regime.” Society
for Cinema and Media Studies, Vancouver, BC. March 2006.
“Playing the Line: Situating Metaculture in Notes toward a Definition of Culture.” T.S.
Eliot Society Conference, St. Louis, MO. September 2005.
“Rhythm Nation: Contested Cultural Legacies in English Music.” Culture/Politics
Conference, University of California, Berkeley. January 2005.
“Rhythm Nation: Peter Ackroyd’s English Music and the Cultural Narration of
Postimperial Britishness.” The Politics of Cultural Memory, Manchester
Metropolitan University, UK. November 2004.
“Posthumous Culture and the Birth of a Discipline: Cultural Studies in Retrospect.”
Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference, University of Illinois. June 2004.
“Rehaunting Heritage: Nation, Enterprise, and Hospitality after Thatcher.” Cultural
Studies Association Conference, Northeastern University. May 2004.
“Heritage Rebranded: The North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish and the
Performance of Nation.” Cultural Studies Association Conference, Carnegie
Mellon University. June 2003.
“Haunting Heritage and Cultural Politics: Signifying Britain Since the Rise of Thatcher.”
Culture and the State Conference. University of Alberta, Edmonton. May 2003.
“The Times of Whiteness; or, Caryl Phillips Between the Postmodern and the
Postcolonial.” United States Association for Commonwealth Literature and
Language Studies. Santa Clara University, April 2002.
“Narrative Antagonisms: Racial and Gendered Englishness in Cambridge.”
(Re)Thinking the Caribbean. University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados.
June 2001.
“‘Authentically’ English: John Fowles and Postimperial English Identity.” International
Association of Philosophy and Literature Conference, Spelman College. May
2001.
“Times of the (National) Signs: Postimperial Temporality in The French Lieutenant’s
Woman.” Narrative Conference, Rice University. March 2001
“Disfiguring Nationness: Taussig, Bhabha, and the Politics of the Chronotype.”
Disciplinary Diagrams, Political Fields, Duke University. March 2000.
“H Is For Heritage?: Prospero’s Books and the Cinema of Nostalgia.” Literature/Film
Association Conference, University of Bath, United Kingdom. June 1999.
“Remains, Repetition, and Revision: Ishiguro and Narratives of English Identity.”
Narrative Conference, Dartmouth College. April 1999.
"Early Modernism Redux: Narrative and Stylistic Nostalgia in Remains of the Day."
Twentieth-Century Literature Conference, Louisville University. February 1998.
"Acquired Speech, Acquired Art: Stephen Dedalus' Hybrid Aesthetics." Semi-Colonial
Joyce Conference, University of Miami. January 1998.
"Recounted Accounts; Or, The Problematics of Representation in Foe." British
Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference, Georgia Southern
University. April 1996.
"The Logical Errors of Matthew Paris; Or, The Violence of Order in Sacred Hunger."
Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery Conference on the
Image of Violence, Colorado State University. March 1995. Published in
conference proceedings, 1997.
"Order and Disorder in the Writings of Barry Unsworth." Commonwealth and
Postcolonial Studies Conference, Georgia Southern University. April 1994.
OTHER PRESENTATIONS
Introduction for screening of Down to the Sea in Ships with live piano accompaniment.
Nantucket Whaling Museum. 27 July 2016.
Panelist. “Big Brother in Our Hip Pocket: Social Media, Smartphones, and the End of
Privacy.” Post-production discussion of 1984 at the Gamm Theatre, Pawtucket,
RI. 6 May 2012.
“Popular Historical Fiction: Barry Unsworth.” Interview on MLA radio program What’s
the Word? First aired 27 June 2002. Program available at
http://www.mla.org/radio/radio_shows/radio_shows2002.
URI PRESENTATIONS
“Metropole in the Age of Clouds and Ghosts: Postglobal Britain in David Mitchell.”
Talk, URI Center for the Humanities. April 2009.
“Research Methods & Plagiarism in the Humanities.” Responsible Conduct of Research
Series, Office of Research Integrity, URI Division of Research and Economic
Development. March 2015.
Organizer and Panelist. “Diversity in Literary and Cultural Studies.” College of Arts and
Sciences Day, Diversity Week, URI Multicultural Center. October 2013.
Panelist, discussion with Paul Gilroy. February 2003.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Courses Taught
University of Rhode Island
Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor
Studies in Critical Theories (graduate)
Seminar in Culture and Discourse: The Afterlife of Culture (graduate); The Culture of
Afterwards (graduate)
Seminar in Media: Narrative and Image (graduate)
Seminar in Historical Periods: Heritage and Postmodernity (graduate)
Seminar in Subjectivities: After the Windrush: Narrative, Image, and Metropole in
Postimperial Britain (graduate)
Seminar in Critical Theory: Postcolonial Theory: Culture, Nation, Metropole (graduate)
Seminar in Genres: The Historical Novel and the Ends of History (graduate)
Studies in British Texts After 1900: Britain Between the Postmodern and the
Postcolonial (graduate); After Empire, Beyond Nation (graduate)
Studies in Postcolonial Texts: The Postcolonial Politics of the Booker Prize (graduate)
Modern Poetry (undergraduate)
Literature and Empire: The Fiction of Global Flows (undergraduate)
The Modern Novel (undergraduate); The Posthistorical Novel (undergraduate)
Literature into Film (undergraduate)
World Authors: Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee (undergraduate)
Contemporary Literature (undergraduate); Narrative and Image in Contemporary Britain
(undergraduate)
Aspects of Postmodernism (undergraduate)
Literary Theory (undergraduate)
Identity Studies Capstone: Narrative and Identity (undergraduate)
Modernist Literature, 1900-1945 (undergraduate)
Topics in Film Theory: Culture (undergraduate)
Film Genres: The Heritage Film (undergraduate)
British Authors: Charles Dickens and Peter Ackroyd (undergraduate)
British Literature II (undergraduate)
Principles of Literary Study (undergraduate)
Critical Methods in Literary Study (undergraduate)
Florida International University
Visiting Instructor (2000-2001), Adjunct Professor (1997-2000)
Modern British Fiction
Fiction, Empire, Englishness
The Rhetoric of Cinema.
Modernism, Fiction, and Film
Survey of British Literature II
Contemporary Literature and Film
Fiction After 1975
Fiction After the British Empire
Postmodern English Novel
Approaches to Literature
Introduction to Literary Analysis
Expository Writing
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill--1994-97, 1998-2000
Teaching Fellow
Introduction to Film
Introduction to Fiction
Composition and Rhetoric link (Literature)
Composition and Rhetoric link (Philosophy)
Composition and Rhetoric
Graduate Students (all at URI)
Ph.D. Students
Major Professor for John Hodgkins (graduated 2010). Dissertation: “The Drift:
Rethinking the Affective Dynamics of Adaptation.”
Major Professor for Jayson Baker (graduated 2012). Dissertation: “Imaginations: The
Henry James Literary and Cinematic Revival.”
Major Professor for Nancy Caronia (graduated 2015). Dissertation: “Permeable
Boundaries: Globalizing Form in Contemporary American and British
Literature.”
Major Professor for Kim Evelyn (graduated 2015). Dissertation: “At Home in the
Diaspora: Domesticity and Nationalism in Postwar and Contemporary
Caribbean-British Fiction.”
Major Professor for Beth Anish (graduated 2017). Dissertation: “Writing Irish America:
Postcoloniality and the Narrative in Nation in Diaspora.”
On dissertation committees of Rebecca Romanow (completed 2006), Aaron Tillman
(2009), Samaa Gamie (2009), Bryan Marinelli (2010), Bruce Johnson (2010), Andy
Ploeg (2012), Benjamin Hagen (2012), Lori Rodrigues (2013), Rebakah Greene (2013),
Jessica Gray (2014), Matt Balliro (ongoing), Charles Kell (ongoing), Molly Hall
(ongoing), Elyse Nelmark (ongoing).
M.A. Students
On portfolio committees of Megan Bradley (completed 2003), Jessyka Scoppetta (Major
Professor; 2004), Deirdre Murphy (2004), Leann Ledoux (2004), Michael Delnero
(2004), Adam Corsetti (2005), Liza Manchester (2005), Jenny Adamchek (2005), Leslie
Ulman (Streuli) (2006), Brian Dixon (2006), Jodi Apicelli (2006), Barnaby McLaughlin
(2007), Sarah Cassinelli (2007), Kim Evelyn (2009), Chisa Oshira (2011), Alyssa
MacLean (2011), Thomas Barkman (2013).
PEDAGOGY TRAINING
Fellow, Instructional Development Program. University of Rhode Island, 2003-4.
Center for Teaching and Learning Workshop Series. University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, 1994-95.
ACADEMIC SERVICE
University of Rhode Island, Department of English
Chair
Director of Graduate Studies
Acting Director of Graduate Studies
Assessments Coordinator
Assessments Committee
Academic Program Review Committee
Annual Review Committee
Selections Committee
Long Range Planning Committee
Curriculum Committee
Graduate Committee
Graduate Admissions Committee
Executive Committee
Nominating and Teller Committee
Alumni Liaison Committee
Chairs Council, College of Arts and Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences, Research, Scholarship, and Creative Work Committee
College of Arts and Sciences, Committee on Advising
College of Arts and Sciences, General Education Committee
College of Arts and Sciences, Workload Committee
Dean’s Advisory Council, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Rhode Island
Graduate Council, University of Rhode Island (Curriculum and Fellowships/Awards
Subcommittees)
Academic Plan Task Force, University of Rhode Island: Graduate Education
Center for the Humanities Executive Committee
Film Media Executive Committee
Film Media Selections Committee
Film Studies Steering Committee
Chair Search Committee (Film Media)
Convener and Member, Chair Search Committee (Philosophy)
Fellow, Instructional Development Program
UNC-CH
Co-organizer and moderator of the Fiction and Composition Undergraduate Student
Conference, April 2000.
AWARDS
Special Provost Award, December 2016; for developing university partnership with
Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India.
Carnegie Foundation Global Faculty Travel Support, February 2016; for exploring
university partnership with Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India.
Harrington School Grant Award, AY 2010-2011. University of Rhode Island.
Fellow, John Hazen White, Sr. Center for Ethics and Public Service, AY 2010-2011.
URI.
Graduate Assessment Grant, Summer 2009. URI Graduate School.
Faculty Sabbatical Grant, Spring 2008. URI Center for the Humanities.
Eric Kumpf Memorial Research Grant, Summer 2006. URI Center for the Humanities.
Assessments Grant, Academic Year 2006-7. Davis Educational Foundation, URI.
Career Enhancement Award, Summer 2004. URI Council for Research.
Ruth Rose Richardson Scholarship, Spring 2001. Department of English, UNC-CH.
Aleine McLeod McLaurin Scholarship, Spring 1999. Department of English, UNC-CH.
Tuition Grant, Summer 1998. School of Criticism and Theory, Cornell University.
Teaching Assistant Technology Supplement Award, Spring 1997. Graduate School,
UNC-CH.
Honors Graduate, Spring 1991. University Honors Program, University of Alabama.
Departmental Honors, Spring 1991. Department of English, University of Alabama.
O.B. Emerson Scholarship, 1990. Department of English, University of Alabama.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Participant, American Council of Education Leadership Academy for Chairs. Chicago,
IL. October 2012.
Participant, Association of Departments of English/Association of Departments of
Foreign Languages Summer Seminar for Chairs. Evanston, IL. June 2011.
Member, Modern Languages Association.