Michael Olmert
Professor of the Practice, English Department,
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
(410) 924-4889
[email protected]
P.O. Box 147, Wittman, Maryland 21676
(410) 745-3937
________________________________________________________________
SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE
Film Writer
Two feature films, an IMAX film, and over ninety television documentaries
on both cultural and natural history.
Many film awards: three Primetime Emmys (2001, 2002, and 2006), the CableAce
Award (1996), and the New York Festivals Gold Medal for Writing (2004).
Writer
Four books, three plays, and some 200 articles, essays, and reviews in such
magazines as Smithsonian, Historic Preservation, Colonial Williamsburg,
Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
Ten scholarly articles in refereed journals such as Chaucer Review, Annuale
Mediaevale, TLS, Motif, and Florilegium.
Teacher
Twenty-six years teaching advanced English Literature. Winner the 1999 Phi
Kappa Phi mentoring award (only two are given each year, covering all campuses of the University of Maryland system.) Three Olmert students have won
the prestigious Phillip Merrill Award (2007 and 2010).
Study Abroad and Alumni courses taught in London, Yorkshire, East Anglia, the
Cotswolds, Sicily, Sorrento, Florence, Tuscany, Burgundy, Provence, Scotland,
Ireland, India, and Greece, covering history, literature, archaeology, art, and
architecture. Fifty-eight invited public lectures.
EDUCATION
University of Maryland, Ph.D., English.
Georgetown University, M.A.
University of Maryland, B.A.
Inducted into the Maryland
Alumni Hall of Fame, June 2005
Oxford University, Department of External Studies, Short Courses:
British Archaeology and Architecture, 1983.
Sicilian Architecture and History, 1987.
Romanesque Architecture & the Compostella Pilgrimage, 1988.
Albigensian Crusade, 1990.
Burgundian History, 1993.
1 PLAYWRIGHT
Shakespeare & Doctor Lopez. 2004. This is a play about secrets. It's to do with
a Portuguese Jew, a real historical figure and the Queen's doctor, who was
forced to become Catholic and then Protestant in violent and sectarian 16th
Century England. There was perhaps no way he could survive. But if he could
only get inside the head of a young playwright of promise, he could change the
world.
Rehearsed Table-Read, University of Maryland, October 21, 2004.
Rehearsed Table-Read, University of Maryland, February 7, 2007.
Rehearsed Table-Read, Theatre J, Washington, D.C., May 15, 2007.
Great Creating Nature. 2005. The play concerns the John Tradescants, father and
son, and the botanical garden and museum they created in 17th Century London.
They expected their collection to change the world. But they were undone by the
dead hand of the past, in the person of an alchemist and ambitious lawyer who
tricked them out of their collection and used it to set up his own museum in Oxford.
Rehearsed Table-Read, University of Maryland, December 7, 2005.
Rehearsed Table-Read, University of Maryland, December 5, 2007.
Moving the Chains: The Darryl Hill Play. 2010. Darryl Hill was the Jackie
Robinson of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Maryland’s the first black football
player and the first black player in the league. The play is to do with Civil Rights
in the early 1960s, the growth of a young man’s mind, and the integration of
southern college football.
Rehearsed Table-Read, Ulrich Hall, University of Maryland. May 5, 2010.
Rehearsed Table-Read, Lincoln Theatre, Washington, D.C. March 21, 2011.
FILM WRITING
Features
Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins. 2008. This was a theatrical-release prequel to
the popular Animal Planet series, Meerkat Manor. Co-production of Discovery
and Oxford Scientific Films. Mike Slee and Chris Barker, directors. Caroline
Hawkins, producer. Carole Tomko & Mick Kaczorowski, Discovery executives.
Whoopi Goldberg, narrator.
The Leopard Son. 1996. Opened in 127 theaters nationwide. This was a
coming-of-age beast fable, and marked the first time that 35-mm film was
used for a wildlife feature. A Hugo van Lawick film. Mick Kaczorowski, senior
producer for Discovery Pictures. Mark Fletcher, editor.
2 Sir John Gielgud, narrator.
Einstein & Margarita. 1997; rev. 2008. Screenplay about Albert Einstein’s private life in Princeton and his relationship to the Manhattan Project. Now in
fund-raising and development. Leona and Jerrold Schecter, producers.
IMAX Film
Wildfire! 1999. A Discovery Pictures production about forest fire and
smoke jumpers. In 25 IMAX theaters. Listed in Variety’s top 60 grossing
films (June 1999). Directed by Mike Slee, Principal Pictures, London.
Mick Kaczorowski, senior producer. Josh Berkley, editor.
Andre Braugher, narrator.
TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY WRITING
Discovery
Channel:
Atlas France. A 2-hour Special in the Discovery Atlas series. 2008.
A tour through the history, geography, and natural history of
France. Maureen Lemire, executive producer for Discovery.
Candice Bergen, narrator.
Atlas Australia. A 2-hour Special in the Discovery Atlas series. 2006.
Co-writer. A tour through the history, geography, and natural history of
the island continent. A Beyond production. Steve Burns, Vice President for
Discovery.
Russell Crowe, narrator.
Pre-Human: The Riddle of the Skull. June 2006. On the paleontology of a surprising hominidskull, 7 million years old, found in Chad in 2001 by French paleontologists. This find, Sahelanthropus tchadensis, in effect doubles the age of
our hominid ancestors from 3.5 to 7 million years. Greg Smith, producer for Discovery.
Ed Gero, narrator.
Krakatoa. June 2006. Co-writer. A two-hour special on the 1883 eruption
of the South Seas volcano. BBC/Discovery co-production. Greg Smith, producer
for Discovery.
Before the Dinosaurs. Co-writer. A two-hour special on the paleontology
of the pre-dinosaur world. 2005. A BBC co-production. Tim Haines,
producer. Greg Smith, producer for Discovery.
3 Ed Gero, narrator.
WINNER: PRIMETIME EMMY AWARD, 2006.
Walking with Cavemen. A 2-hour special covering human origins from
Australopithecus, through Boisei, Homo habilis, Ergaster, Erectus,
Heidelbergensus, Neanderthal, and on down to modern man. June 2003.
A BBC co-production with Discovery and Evergreen Films.
Pierre de Lespinois, producer. David Foster, editor.
Alec Baldwin, narrator.
GOLD MEDAL, WRITING, N.Y FESTIVALS, 2004.
Walking with Prehistoric Mammals. A three-hour animated special.
Co-written with Jasper James and Kate Bartlett. December 2001. A BBC
co-production. Tim Haines, producer. Mick Kaczorowski, Exec. Prod. for
Discovery. This turned out to be the third-most-watched show on the
network (at that date).
Stockard Channing, narrator.
WINNER: PRIMETIME EMMY AWARD, 2002.
Allosaurus. An animated version of the life and times of the most complete
allosaurus dinosaur specimen ever found, in Wyoming, plus talking-heads
paleontology segments. A one-hour special. April 2001. A BBC co-production.
Tim Haines, producer. Mick Kaczorowski, E.P. Greg Smith, editor.
Co-written with Kate Bartlett.
Avery Brooks, narrator.
WINNER: PRIMETIME EMMY AWARD, 2001.
Extreme Martial Arts. November 2003. A 2-hour special on the Asian history
and modern practice of the martial arts. Mick Kaczorowski, E.P.
Tom Guo, editor. Robert Jiminez, narrator.
Dinosaur Planet. A 4-hour animated special looking at dinosaur life on four
continents, 70 million years ago. Olmert co-wrote the South American & Asian
hours. December 2003. Discovery and Evergreen Films.
Christian Slater, narrator.
Island of the Pygmy Mammoths. About the effects of island-living on large
creatures, turning Columbian mammoths into pygmy versions, on the Channel
Islands, off the California coast. Doug Paynter, producer. A one-hour special.
May 2002.
Women in the Ring. A profile of three determined young fighters in the
fledgling sport of female boxing, the “bittersweet science.” May 2000.
Connie Rinehart and Tom Donohue, producers.
Ed Gero, narrator.
4 Savage Paradise. Hugo Van Lawick’s wildlife special on the nurturing and
fostering aspects of African wildlife usually presented as merely “red in tooth
and claw.” July 1999. Greg Smith, editor.
Peter Thomas, narrator.
The Intimate Truths of the Canela Tribe. A look at changes in this Brazilian
Indian culture over 25 years of filming by Smithsonian anthropologists, with
special attention to their games, hunting, justice, and their tradition of
extramarital sex. October 1999. Steve Schecter, producer.
Linda Hunt, narrator.
Eyes in the Sky. Two-hour Special. On the seismic changes imposed on the
world by the satellite revolution. Patrice Andrews and Paul Gasek, producers.
March 1996.
Barry Corbin, narrator.
Nile: River of Gods. Two-hour Special. On the relationship between
Ancient Egyptian culture and the land’s natural history. Michael McKinnon,
producer. Co-written with Charlie Pye-Smith. May 1995.
F. Murray Abraham, narrator.
Everest. The history of the mountain, as both challenge and symbol. Part
of the Series, The Himalaya. 1995. Brando Quilici, producer.
The Living Sands. A survey of desert animal adaptations among elephants,
camels, crocs, and fish, in Africa, Australia, and Mexico. Brando Quilici,
producer. August 2000. Maggie Noble, editor.
Africa’s Great Migration. On the world's last great animal migration, that
of the wildebeest in the Serengeti. 1990. Mick Kaczorowski, editor/producer.
Learning
Channel:
ARTHUR: King of the Britons. A hour special on the latest historical research
and archaeology delving into the original Arthur, the Fifth Century warlord
who fought the Anglo-Saxons. August 2003. Kathy Davidov, executive
producer for TLC.
Richard Harris, narrator.
GULAG. A two-hour special on the history and victims of the Soviet work
camps and the Stalinist terror, between 1917 and 1953, which claimed over 20
million victims. May 2002. Angus MacQueen, producer. Nancy Lavin,
executive producer for TLC. Edited and co-produced by Sharon Gillooly.
F. Murray Abraham, narrator.
5 The Dawn of Man. A four-hour special on paleoanthropology and 5 million
years of human evolution. A BBC-TLC co-production. Edited and
co-produced by Sharon Gillooly. August 2000.
Richard Dreyfuss, narrator.
Pirates. A two-hour special on the rise and fall of privateering and
buccaneering in the 16th to 18th Centuries. Covers Drake, Morgan, Kidd,
Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and Bart Roberts; also archaeology,
material culture, and the whims of British colonial and imperial policy.
December 1998. Martha Conboy, executive producer. Co-produced
and edited by Paul Don Vito.
Gabriel Byrne, narrator.
Twins. Hour three of a 3-hour Special on the human biology of twins,
which includes a long segment on twins in folklore, myth, legend, and
Shakespeare. This hour is also to do with the use of twins in experiments on the
nature of aging, mental health, intelligence, and a tendency toward violence and
crime. May 2000. A BBC-TLC coproduction. Paul Don Vito, executive
producer. Greg Smith, producer-editor.
Baron Robert Winston, narrator.
World War II: Its True Colors. On the aesthetics and psychology of color film
used to record the war. June 2001. Edited by Theo Smith.
Secrets of the Rich & Famous. A cynical look at the lifestyles of the rich, driven
by Woody Allen’s observation that “Money doesn’t come with instructions.”
Nancy Lavin, executive producer. August 2000.
Animal Planet:
The Great Siberian Grizzly. The wildlife biology of the great Russian
Brown Bear, living without interference from man, in remote Far Eastern
Siberia. Josh Berkley, co-producer and editor. 1997.
Paul Winfield, narrator.
Winner, 1997 CableAce Award, for Best Natural History Special.
Travel Channel:
Voodoo. A one-hour survey of the history and doctrines of this Haitian folk
religion and its modern adherents and practices. September 2000. One of the
highest rated shows ever on the Travel Channel. Greg Smith, producer-editor.
Henry Strozier, narrator.
6 Discovery
High-Definition
Channel:
The Great Serengeti Migration. One of the first wildlife films shot entirely in the
high-definition format. 2001. A 62 Blue Production. Greg Smith,
producer-editor.
Ed Gero, narrator.
The Leonids Meteor Shower. On the Leonids shower that occurs every
November, which is on a 33-year peak cycle. This show was on the outcome of
the autumn 1999 return. 2002. A 62 Blue Production. Greg Smith,
producer-editor.
Dawn of the Pamir. A survey of the peoples and geology of this region in south
Tajikistan, on the Afghan border. 2004. Greg Smith, producer-editor.
Ed Gero, narrator.
Manhattan. A look at New York architecture and life. 2004. Greg Smith,
producer-editor.
Hawaii. A two-hour look at the islands’ history and natural history. Katherine
Chase, editor. 2005. Greg Smith, producer. Ed Gero, narrator.
The Czech Republic. A look at the composers, contemporary musicians, and
violin makers of Prague and the countryside. 2005. Greg Smith, producer.
Ed Gero, narrator.
Berlin. Two hours on the architecture, history, music, and movie-history of the
once-divided city. And The Wall. 2006.
Greg Smith, producer. Ed Gero, narrator.
Discovery
International:
The Archives of Babel. A round-up of ideas related to the history of language
and how we create our world with words. Centered on the work of the Max
Planck Institue, Leipzig. December 2002. Pierre Morize, director. Deana
Jordan Sullivan, executive producer. Ronnie Farrar, narrator.
Marathon: the Long Run to Democracy. The history behind Pheidippides’ run
from Athens to Sparta and back in 490 B.C., as well as his death run Athens
after the victory over the Persians. June 2004. Jim Kowats, director.
Kelly McInerey, editor.
7 CBS:
The Lions’ Pride, 1996. A study of pride and predation among the Serengeti
lions. No myths, no cartoons, just lions. Sophie Buck, producer. Chris Ward,
editor.
Malcolm McDowell, narrator.
Winner: 1997 NEA Award.
PBS:
For the Living: Creating The Holocaust Museum. On the process of writing
history, finding artifacts, and designing the building and exhibits for the new
museum. Broadcast in 1993. Jeff Bieber, producer. Penny Trams, editor.
Ed Asner, narrator.
Winner of numerous awards.
Intimate Enemies: Lion & Buffalo. Co-written with Meg Olmert. A look at the
competitive and survival strategies of these old adversaries. Part of the PBS
Nature Series. Tigress Productions, London. Justine Kershaw, EP. Sophie Buck,
producer. Fall 2000. John Mahoney, narrator.
Mr. Justice Brennan. On the man behind the liberal judicial revolution that
brought us Brown v. the Board, affirmative action, one-man-one-vote, and
women's rights. 1996. Jerry Colbert, producer. Barr Weisman, editor.
Martin Sheen, narrator.
Winner: 1997 NEA Award.
Winner: National Bar Association Silver Gavel Award.
Half-Lives: Pioneers of the Atomic World, 1995. On the early workers
& engineers who created the atomic age. Paul Don Vito, editor.
Courtney Vance, narrator.
Science Bowl 1992. Top high-school scientists compete for scholarships.
Mick Kaczorowski, editor and producer.
Bill Kurtis, narrator.
Smithsonian
World, PBS:
Nigerian Art, 1990. On how modern African artists respond to the tensions
imposed by industrialization on tribal folkways. Series executive producer,
Adrian Malone. Ruby Dee, narrator.
Latin American Voices, 1987. On Latin American writers as heroes over
five centuries: Garcilaso de la Vega, Sor Juana, Jose Marti, Jorge Luis Borges,
& Elena Poniatowska. Barr Weisman, editor.
8 David McCullough, narrator.
Islam, 1987. On Islamic history, religion, and art & the rise of Islamic
fundamentalism. Steve York, producer. Nancy Kallman, editor.
David McCullough, narrator.
The Elephant on the Hill, 1986. On the tension between art & technology in
the 20th Century. Sandy Bradley, editor.
David McCullough, narrator.
A&E:
National
Geographic
Special, PBS:
National
Geographic
Explorer:
The Korowai: Treetop Cannibals of New Guinea, 1993. A near-first-contact trek
to visit this tribe in the Irian Jaya rainforest, with Smithsonian anthropologist
Paul Taylor, to study its language, folklore, use of natural resources, and use of
cannibalism as part of their system of justice. Sam Green, editor. Judy Hallet,
producer.
Henry Strozier, narrator.
Lost at Sea. A look at the hazards faced by modern fisher folk in Scotland,
Maine, & Alaska. 2001. Martha Conboy, senior producer.
Gail MacFarquhar, editor.
Gary Sinise, narrator.
Sixteen films, written between 1985 and 1991:
"Gauchos"
"Mardy Murie: Environmentalist"
"19th-Century Time Capsule"
"Swedish Underwater Archaeology"
"Falcons"
"Monhegan Lobstermen"
"Hog Island Cattle Roundup"
"Killer Bees"
"Shark Trackers"
"Winter in Yellowstone"
"Caesarea Archaeology'
"Opal Mines of Australia"
"Tabasco"
"Herculaneum"
"Dolphin Talk"
"Brazilian Naturalists"
9 National Geographic
Channel:
Secrets of Angkor. 2009. On the surprising new archaeology in Cambodia showing that the Angkor Wat sacred temple area was in fact a vast metropolis organized around a network of canals and reservoirs. This 12th-century site was
much larger than New York city. A Co-production of Geographic and Der
Spiegel TV. Andreas Sawall, producer. Howard Swartz, executive producer for
Geographic.
Babur & Clive of India. Twin biographies of two empire-builders on
the subcontinent: the first Mogul emperor, Babur, and Robert Clive,
the founder of British India. Both, men who conquered but were
subsumed into Indian culture. 2001.
Graham Townsley, executive producer.
National
Geographic
Educational
Films:
Aidan & Otto, 1990. A children's film, on contrasts & opposites.
American Immigration, 1991. Documentary, for high schools.
WETA:
D.C. History Moments, 1991. Twelve dramatic monologues, covering 200 years
of Washington history. Jeff Bieber, producer. Broadcast during the D.C.
Bicentennial Year.
ESPN:
Amazing Games, 5 hours on sports history, 1991. An ABC-Kane Production.
Bob Chandler, narrator.
U.S. Holocaust
Museum:
The Rise of Anti-Semitism. Co-writer. The history of anti-Semitism through
the medieval and early modern period in Europe. A 12-minute film,
permanently running in a small theater inside the main exhibit hall.
Sandy Bradley, producer.
10 Discovery Channel
& the
National Parks
Foundation:
Everglades National Park. A short film introducing the history and natural
history of the park. Jim Kowats, producer. 2003.
The Boston Area National Parks. 2004.
The Washington, D.C. National Parks. 2004.
TV Awards:
Before the Dinosaurs: Winner, Primetime Emmy Award, 2006.
Walking with Cavemen: Gold Medal for Writing, New York Festivals, January 2004.
Walking with Prehistoric Beasts: Winner, Primetime Emmy Award, 2002.
Allosaurus: Winner, Winner, Primetime Emmy Award, 2001.
Dawn of Man: Nominated for a News & Docs Emmy, September 2001.
For the Living: Chris Award, CINE Golden Eagle, and Ohio State Award, 1993.
Smithsonian World: Winner, Emmy Award (News and Docs) for the 1987 season; again
for 1990. Olmert wrote all four shows in the 1987 season; one out of four
shows for 1990.
Nile: River of Gods. Bronze Worldmedal, New York International Film Festival, 1995.
Eyes in the Sky: Gold Medal, New York Film Festival, January 1997.
Mr. Justice Brennan: Silver Gavel, American Bar Association, 1997; NEA Award 1997;
Worldfest Houston Bronze Award 1997.
The Lions’ Pride: NEA Award, 1997.
The Great Siberian Grizzly: Winner, CableAce Award, November 1997.
“Best Film” at Filmfest Charleston, November 1997.
Note: The 1997 NEA “Awards for the Advancement of Learning through Broadcasting”
were given to twenty films, including The Lions’ Pride and Mr. Justice Brennan. This is
thought to be the first time that one writer has ever had two films on the list.
11 PUBLICATIONS
Books
Kitchens, Smokehouses, and Privies: Outbuildings and the Architecture
of Daily Life in the Colonial Mid-Atlantic. 286 pp., illustrated.
Cornell University Press, 2009. A study of the small architecture of the
18th Century backyard.
The book is covered in a New Yorker blog at:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2009/06/ask-anacademic-outbuildings.html
Milton's Teeth & Ovid's Umbrella. 256 pp. Simon & Schuster, 1996.
A study of the nature of history. The book examines the margins
between history and archaeology, folklore, art and literary history,
anthropology, antiquarianism, and philology.
Reprinted by Barnes & Noble, hardback, 2005.
Note: A quotation from Milton’s Teeth was the answer to the acrostic
in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, January 23, 2005.
The Smithsonian Book of Books. 320 pp. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992.
The history of writing and reading, the production of manuscripts, the
origins of printing and analytical bibliography, and the archaeology of
the book. On reserve in the British Library's Manuscripts Reading
Room. 41,000 copies sold.
"Top Ten Books of the Year 1992” -- Assoc. of School Librarians.
Reprinted, Random House, 1995.
Reprinted, Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Note: A quotation from this book is carved on the oak door of the
Curtis, Michigan public library (Grand Opening, Jan. 11, 2007).
The quote: “Books reveal the wisdom of the ages, and
beyond.”
The Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg. 160 pp. Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation Press, 1985. A study of 18th Century material culture at the
most-studied 18th Century city in the world. This was a new
guidebook based on the principles of New Social History. Reprinted
many times.
12 Baseline Jumper. 2010. A novel (301 pp.) of basketball and detection. Now
under consideration to be published.
Dissertation
“A Man May Seye Full Sooth in Game and Play”: The Tradition of Sport in
Middle English Literature.
University of Maryland, 1980. Covers Chaucer, SGGK, Pearl, and
medieval drama, plus a survey of all sorts of medieval sports and
games and their cultural significance.
Director, Neil D. Isaacs. 375 pp. 900 footnotes.
Scholarly Articles (Refereed Journals)
"The Canon's Yeoman's Tale: An Interpretation," Annuale Mediaevale, 8 (1967), 70-94.
Cited in the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (1974) and in the Riverside
Chaucer (1987): "Olmert unifies the tale by making the second canon anagogically equivalent to
the fiend, who is the first canon."
"Troilus and A Classical Pander: TC 3, 729-30," Chaucer Newsletter, 1 (1979), 18-19.
"Troilus in Piers Plowman: A Contemporary View of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde," Chaucer
Newsletter, 2 (1980), 13-14.
"The Towneley Processus Talentorum: Dicing Toward Jerusalem," Florilegium, 5 (1983), 157-177.
"Chaucer's Little Lotteries: The Literary Exploitation of a Medieval Game," Arete, 2 (1984), 171-182.
"The Parson's Ludic Formula for Winning on the Road (to Canterbury)," Chaucer Review, 20 (1985),
158-168.
"Game-Playing, Moral Purpose, and the Structure of Pearl," Chaucer Review, 21 (1987), 383-403.
[Frequently cited in critical studies of the Pearl poet.]
"An Eskimo Analogue of Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale," Motif (Ohio State), No. 6, October 1988.
"Cranch on Emerson: A Letter Re-Edited," American Transcendental Quarterly, 13 (1972), 31-32.
"The Lantern in Romeo and Juliet, V.iii.84," TLS, July 14, 1989. [Now cited in several editions of the play.]
Other Invited Scholarly Articles
"Archaeology and the Poetry of Tom Paulin," Archaeology, January 1995.
"The Crewe MS. of The School for Scandal," Shakespeare Theater Playbill, November 1994. [On the most
important MS. of the play, which resides in the Georgetown University Library.]
"Shakespeare's Lanterns," Archaeology, March 1990.
"Shakespeare's Rose Theatre Found," Archaeology, November 1989.
"Harold Pinter the Magician . . . Lethal Patter," Washington Star, April 21, 1974.
Rev. of Wainwright the Poisoner, by Andrew Motion, Washington Post, September 13, 2000.
Acknowledgments & Citations in Others’ Books & Articles
Books:
13 Meg Daley Olmert, Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond. Boston: DaCapo
Press, 2009.
Sir Howard Colvin, Architecture and the Afterlife. New Haven: Yale, 1992.
David McCullough, John Adams. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001.
Alberto Manguel, A History of Reading. New York: Penguin, 1996.
D.C. Greetham, Textual Scholarship: An Introduction. New York: Garland, 1994.
Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization. New York: Doubleday, 1995.
Howard Bloom, The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History.
New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1995.
Hank Nuwer, Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 2001.
Michael Oriard, Sporting with the Gods: The Rhetoric of Play and Game in American Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Ellen Datlow, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.
Marion Tinling, Women Remembered: A Guide to Landmarks of Women's History in the United States.
Oxford: Greenwood Publishing, 1986.
Vincent Carretta, The Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, An African. New York: Penguin, 1998.
Carol Kettenburgh Dubbs, Defend This Old Town: Williamsburg During The Civil War. Louisiana State
University Press, 2004.
Michael J. O'Shea, James Joyce and Heraldry. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986.
Entry on “hearken” in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. Chicago: Merriam-Webster,
1994.
David Lowenthal, The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1998.
Richard Handler and Eric Gable, The New History in an Old Museum. Durham: Duke University Press,
1997.
John Bate, Lanterns for the Dead: The Medieval Lanternes des Morts of Central and South-West France.
Hereford: Lapridge, 1998.
Larry D. Benson, ed. The Riverside Chaucer. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
John H. Fisher, ed. The Complete Poetry and Prose of Geoffrey Chaucer. New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, 1989.
Nicholas A. Basbanes, A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books.
New York: Holt, 1999.
Drew Sparks, A Salon at Larkmead. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2000.
John D. Russell, Reciprocities in the Nonfiction Novel. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2000.
Neil D. Isaacs, You Bet Your Life: The Burdens of Gambling. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press,
2001.
Jane Donawerth, ed., Rhetorical Theory By Women Before 1900: An Anthology.
Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
Bill Bradfield, ed. Books and Reading: A Book of Quotations. New York: Dover, 2002.
Anders Greenspan, Creating Colonial Williamsburg. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002.
James McGrath Morris, The Rose Man of Sing-Sing. New York: Fordham University Press, 2003.
M. Kent Brinkley, The Green Spring Plantation Greenhouse/Orangery and the Probable Evolution of the
Domestic Area Landscape. National Park Service Research Report, 2003.
Steven Roger Fischer, A History of Reading. London: Reaktion Press, 2003.
Jason Reynolds, Jacob’s Ladder. Baltimore: Mwaza Publications, 2004.
Edward Samuels, The Illustrated Story of Copyright. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
Eric Gamble and Richard Handler, “Deep Dirt: Messing Up the Past At Colonial Williamsburg,” Chap. 10
in Yorke Rowan and Uzi Baram, Marketing Heritage: Archaeology and the Consumption of the
Past (Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2004), pp. 167-181.
14 Todd Kliman, The Wild Vine: A Forgotten Grape and the Untold Story of American Wine. New York:
Clarkson Potter, 2010.
Articles:
Albert E. Hartung, “Pars Secunda and the Development of the Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale,” Chaucer Review,
12(1977), 111-128.
Glending Olson, “Chaucer, Dante, and the Structure of Fragment VIII (G) of the Canterbury Tales,”
Chaucer Review, 16(1982), 222-236.
Jackson J. Campbell, “The Canon’s Yeoman as Imperfect Paradigm,” Chaucer Review, 17(1982), 171-181.
James D. Johnson, “Identifying Chaucer Allusions, 1953-1980: An Annotated Bibliography,” Chaucer
Review, 19(1984), 62-86.
Robert Cook, “The Canon’s Yeoman and His Tale, Chaucer Review, 22(1987), 28-40.
Thomas Rendall, “Gawain and the Game of Chess,” Chaucer Review, 27(1992), 186-199.
Lee Patterson, “Perpetual Motion: Alchemy and the Technology of the Self,” Studies in the Age of
Chaucer, 15(1993), 25-57.
P. Portnay, “Beyond the Gothic Cathedral: Postmodern Reflections in The Canterbury Tales,” Chaucer
Review, 28(1994), 279-292.
B.K. Cowgill, “Sweetness and Sweat: The Extraordinary Emanations in Fragment 8 of The Canterbury
Tales,” Philological Quarterly, 74(1995), 343-357.
D.F. Pigg, “Figuring Subjectivity in Piers Plowman C, the Parson’s Tale, and Retraction: Authorial Insertion
and Identity Poetics,” Style, 31(1997), 428-439.
W.J. Rempel, “Scrolls, Codices, and Contemporary Technologies: Writing the Book,” Descant, 26(1995),
13-22.
B. Danet, “Books, Letters, Documents: The Changing Aesthetics of Texts in Late Print Culture,” Journal
of Material Culture, 2(1997), 5-38.
Y. Edwards-Ingram, “Toward True Acts of Inclusion: The Here and the Out-There Concepts in Public
Archaeology,” Historical Archaeology, 31(1997), 27-35.
Neil D. Isaacs, “Alan Lelchuk’s Playing the Game and the New National Pastime,” Aethlon, 16(Fall 1998),
1-6.
Eric C. Brown, “A Note on the Lottery of Queen Elizabeth I and Coriolanus, 5.2,” Shakespeare Quarterly
50 (1999), 70-73.
“Scribleriana: On ‘Robinsons’ [Umbrellas],” The Scriblerian, 34 (2002), 117.
MAGAZINE WRITING
"Points of Origin," a regular series of essays on history, literature, philology, anthropology, and
folklore in Smithsonian, 1981-1988. Topics included:
"Football Origins"
"Solstice and Christmas Customs"
"Running"
"Weddings and Courtship"
"Handicapping"
"Clothes and Fashions"
15 "Dictionaries"
"Pets"
"Vacations"
"Luther's Relics"
"Handshakes"
"Royal Births"
"Knights and Cowboys"
"Lotteries"
"Graduation Ceremonies
"April Fools"
"Hair"
"Taxes"
"Hazing
"Children's Games"
"Lawns
"Betting
"Keys"
"Place-names"
"King's Dibs"
"Horseracing"
Archaeology
"The John Page House and the Idea of 17th Century Virginia," Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 1997.
"Archaeology and Architecture in Burgundy," N.Y. Times, August 7, 1994.
"East Anglian Archeology, Field Monuments, and Helen Paterson," Smithsonian, September 1993.
Rev. of Sylvia L. Horwitz, The Find of a Lifetime: Sir Arthur Evans and the Discovery of Knossos,
Smithsonian, March 1981.
Rev. of J.P.M. Pannel, Techniques of Industrial Archaeology, Smithsonian, June 1975.
Colonial American History & Culture
“Christmas in Print,” Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 2008.
“The Great Play called Christmas,” Colonial Williamsburg, Christmas Issue 2007.
“Christmas Games,” Colonial Williamsburg, Christmas Issue 2005.
“Celebrating the Long Christmas in Virginia,” Colonial Williamsburg, Christmas Issue 2004.
“Loyalists in Williamsburg,” Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 2005.
“The Year 1699: When Virginia was the Frontier,” Colonial Williamsburg, June 1999.
“Recent Changes in Space, Imagination, and the Teaching of 18th Century History at Williamsburg,”
Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 1998.
"African-American Williamsburg," American Visions, September 1986.
"James Madison and Montpelier," Historic Preservation, March 1987.
"Preservation and Archeology in Annapolis," Historic Preservation, June 1986.
"The Read House and the Restoration of Colonial New Castle, Delaware,"
Historic Preservation, June 1985.
"Williamsburg and New Social History," Historic Preservation, October 1985.
"Virginia's Role in Opening the West," background paper for River Foundation, Roanoke, Virginia, 1987.
30 pp. [Study undertaken for a proposed new museum on Virginia History.]
Bibliography
"Paper, Watermarks, & 18th Century Paper Mills," Colonial Williamsburg, Fall 1997.
"The Dibner Library of the History of Science," Smithsonian, November 1979.
"Pope Clement’s Books in Washington: The Clementine Library," Smithsonian, January 1978.
Rev. of Stanley Morison, by Nicholas Barker, Book World, February 4, 1973.
Rev. of Printed Ephemera, by John Lewis, and The MLA Style Sheet, Book World, March 5, 1972.
16 Medieval Studies
"St. Benedict & Medieval Monastic Life," Smithsonian, June 1980.
"Heraldry and London’s College of Arms," Smithsonian, May 1984.
"St. Bernard, his Dogs, and his Mountain Pass" Smithsonian, March 1990.
"The Symbolism and History of the Chess Pawn," ICON Magazine, April 1997.
"Stained Glass: A Minicourse," Modern Maturity, December 1986.
Rev. of Frontiers of Paradise [a history of monastic life], by Peter Levi, Smithsonian, February 1989.
Rev. of Merlin, by Norma Lorre Goodrich, Smithsonian, September 1988.
Rev. of The Gothic Choir Stalls of Spain, by Henry Kraus, Smithsonian, February 1987.
Rev. of Gold Was the Mortar: The Economics of Cathedral Building, by H. Kraus, Smithsonian, August 1979.
Rev. of The Visconti Hours, Washington Star, February 27, 1974.
Rev. of The Rohan Master, Book World, December 1974.
Rev. of The Tain, trans. Thomas Kinsella, Book World, September 3, 1972.
History
“Longinus on the Sublime,” Colonial Williamsburg, forthcoming.
“Anniversaries and the Idea of History,” Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 2007.
“Why History,” Colonial Williamsburg, Summer 2004.
“John Clayton, Virginia Plant Collector,” Colonial Williamsburg, Winter 2004.
“The John Tradescants: 17th Century Plant Collectors,” Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 2006.
“Lord Clive of India, 1725-1774,” Smithsonian, February 2001.
“17th & 18th Century Coffeehouse Culture,” Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 2001.
“The Public Hospital of 1773 Releases its Mental Patients,” Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 2000.
“The Pineapple as a 17th and 18th Century Icon,” Colonial Williamsburg, Winter 1998.
"18th Century Tools as Implements & Symbols," Colonial Williamsburg, Winter 1995.
"Environment and Ecology in the 18th Century Tidewater," Colonial Williamsburg, Fall 1994.
"Fifes and Drums in Colonial Military History," Colonial Williamsburg, Summer 1989.
"Belva Lockwood: First Female Presidential Candidate, 1884," Woman's World, March 18, 1986.
"Historic Bathrooms," Historic Preservation, February 1985.
"Graffiti," Historic Preservation, October 1984.
"Life and Lore of the Bering Strait Eskimos in the 19th Century," Smithsonian, May 1982.
"The History of the Violin" (co-written with Philip Kass), Smithsonian, September 1977.
Rev. of The Spice Islands Voyage: In Search of Alfred Russel Wallace, by Tim Severin, Book World,
May 17, 1998.
Rev. of A Walk Toward Oregon, by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., Washington Post, April 24, 2000.
Architectural History
“Slave Hospitals,” Colonial Williamsburg, forthcoming.
“Garden Mounts,” Colonial Williamsburg, forthcoming.
“Follies and The Folly,” Colonial Williamsburg, forthcoming.
“Orangeries,” Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 2011.
“The Reconstructed Coffeehouse at CW,” Colonial Williamsburg, Winter 2010.
“Laundries,” Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 2009.
17 “Offices,” Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 2009.
“Kitchens,” Colonial Williamsburg, Summer 2007.
“Dairies,” Colonial Williamsburg, Winter 2006.
“Bowman’s Folly: Accomac, Va.,” Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 2006.
“Smokehouses,” Colonial Williamsburg, Winter 2005.
“Straight & Narrow: Garden Canals in the 17th & 18th Century,” Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 2003.
“Benjamin Henry Latrobe in Virginia,” Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 2003.
“Necessary and Sufficient: Necessary Houses and Privies in Anglo-America,” Colonial Williamsburg,
Autumn 2002.
“Peering into Rings of Grain” [Dendrochronology], Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 2002.
"Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg and the Village Church of Bruton, Somerset," Colonial
Williamsburg, Winter 2002.
"The Hexagon in Iconography, Architecture, and Symbolism," Colonial Williamsburg, Summer 2001.
“17th & 18th Century Dovecotes,” Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 2000.
“The Octagon in Iconography, Architecture, and Symbolism,” Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 2000.
“17th & 18th Century Ice Houses,” Colonial Williamsburg, April 1999.
"The New Courthouse of 1770," Colonial Williamsburg, Summer 1991.
"18th Century Courthouses," Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 1990.
"Period Gardening," Historic Preservation, June 1984.
"Topiary Gardening History and the Ladew Gardens," Horticulture, July 1984.
"Preservation in York, England," Preservation Workshop Report, 20 pp., April 1984. A study of British
historic preservation, town planning, and the edges between urban & rural environments.
Rev. of The Architecture of Maximilian Godefroy, by Robert L. Alexander, Maryland Magazine, Fall 1975.
Rev. of Nonesuch Place: A History of the Richmond Landscape, by T. Tyler Potterfield. Virginia Magazine of
History and Biography. Forthcoming.
Art History
“Henry Raeburn’s The Skating Minister,” Colonial Williamsburg, Christmas 2006.
"Masaccio and the Brancacci Chapel," Smithsonian, February 1990.
"The Neoclassical Profile Portraits of St. Memin," Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 1995.
"The Art of J. J. Grandville," Smithsonian, September 1978.
"The 19th and 20th Century Art of the Delaware Water Gap," Smithsonian, July 1975.
Oxford University Studies
"The Ashmolean and Fitzwilliam Museums," Smithsonian, September 1983.
"The Destruction of Roger Bacon's Study, Oxford, 1779," Historic Preservation, September 1983.
"A Yank at Oxford," Historic Preservation, February 1984.
"Virginians at Oxford," Richmond News Dispatch, September 1985.
Museum Studies
"Dumbarton Oaks," Smithsonian, April 1981.
"The Huntington Library and Museum," Smithsonian, February 1982.
"The Huntington Library and Gardens," Horticulture, February 1983.
18 "Winterthur Museum," Historic Preservation, January 1989.
"Winterthur Museum," Smithsonian, May 1983.
"The Corning Museum of Glass," Smithsonian, May 1980.
"Steuben Glass Retrospective," Smithsonian, November 1984.
"American Glass," Vista Magazine, Spring 1986.
"Making Museum Figures Out of Wax," Smithsonian, April 1985.
"American Antiquities and the Great Collectors," Historic Preservation, November 1982.
"Hunting American Antiquities in Baltimore," Baltimore Magazine, March 1983.
"The St. Michael's Maritime Museum," Historic Preservation, January 1983.
"Museum Appraising," Historic Preservation, May 1983.
Science
"Sedimentology Looks at the Old Testament Exodus Route," Science '86, June 1986.
"Plant Sciences at Beltsville," Smithsonian, March 1982.
"Exotic Animal Veterinary Medicine at the National Zoo," Smithsonian, November 1978.
Annual Project Summaries, Center for Building Technology, National Bureau of Standards, 1975-1984.
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Newsletter, 1984-1987.
Rev. of The Diary of Thomas A. Edison, Book World, March 21, 1971.
Rev. of Thinkers and Tinkers: Early American Men of Science, by Silvio Bedini, Smithsonian, Nov. 1975.
Rev. of The Constant Pest: A History of Pests and Their Control, by George Ordish, Smithsonian, June 1976.
Rev. of Charles Darwin, by John Chancellor, Smithsonian, December 1976.
Rev. of Wild Habitats, by Aleta Kerstad, Smithsonian, November 1979.
Rev. of Lords of the Arctic: A Journey Among Polar Bears, by Richard C. Davis, Smithsonian, April 1983.
Rev. of Lot's Wife: Salt and the Human Condition by Sallie Tisdale, Smithsonian, September 1989.
Rev. of three books on endangered species: Buffalo, Cougar, & Grizzly, Book World, January 7, 1996.
Rev. of Into the Porcupine Cave, by William W. Warner, Book World, April 11, 1999.
Rev. of Four Wings and a Prayer [on monarch butterflies], by Sue Halpern, Book World, August 5, 2001.
Rev of The Extinction Club by Robert Twigger, and The Natural History of the Buffalo by Dale F. Lott,
Book World, September 1, 2002.
Sports
"Madison Square Garden & Its Scalpers," Sports Illustrated, March 1973.
Rev. of Stop Action: The Autobiography of Dick Butkus, Sports Illustrated, October 16, 1972.
“Quoits and Megs in 17th and 18th Century Literature & Life,” Colonial Williamsburg, Fall 1997.
"18th Century Quoits," Colonial Williamsburg, Spring 1995.
"K as in Strikeout: Dwight Gooden," Washington Post, May 4, 1986.
"Lacrosse '84," Baltimore Magazine, March 1984.
"Lacrosse '83," Baltimore Magazine, March 1983.
Rev. of Best Sports Stories: 1966, Washington Star, August 28, 1966.
Rev. of The City Game, by Pete Axthelm, Book World, June 1970.
Rev. of Diamonds Are Forever: Artists and Writers on Baseball, Smithsonian, April 1988.
Rev. of Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer [on mountain climbing], Washington Post, June 16, 1997.
John McPhee Studies
19 Rev. of A Sense of Where You Are, by John McPhee, Washington Star, May 22, 1966.
Rev. of Oranges, by John McPhee, Washington Star, June 4, 1967.
Rev. of The Pine Barrens, by John McPhee, Washington Star, May 1968.
Rev. of The Crofter and the Laird, by John McPhee, Washington Star, October 25, 1970.
Rev. of Encounters with the Archdruid, by John McPhee, Washington Star, September 5, 1971.
Rev. of Wimbledon: A Celebration, by John McPhee, Book World, June 25, 1972.
Selected Op-Ed Pieces, Back-of-the-Book Essays, and Reviews
"Bashin' the Reds," N.Y. Times, Op-Ed page, December 22, 1985.
"Col. North's Language: Neat," N.Y. Times, Op-Ed page, March 25, 1988.
"First Lines of Famous Novels," Smithsonian, back page, November 1978.
"Famous Dates in History," Smithsonian, back page, April 1978.
"Mnemonic Devices," Smithsonian, back page, October 1977.
"The Dan Ellsberg Desk-Top Model" [on xeroxing the Pentagon Papers], Book World, January 9, 1972.
"Proper Names," Book World, June 27, 1971.
Rev. of Our Gang, by Philip Roth, Book World, November 7, 1971.
Rev. of U.S. Journal, by Calvin Trillin, Book World, May 16, 1971.
Rev. of The Citizen Kane Book, by Pauline Kael, Book World, October 31, 1971.
Rev. of Mortal Consequences: A History from the Detective Story to the Crime Novel, by Julian Symons, Book
World, May 28, 1972.
Rev. of Batouala, by Rene Maran, New York Times Book Review, January 28, 1973.
Rev. of Tarantula, by Bob Dylan, Book World, July 18, 1971.
Rev. of The Last Kings of Thule, by Jean Malaurie, Smithsonian, March 1983.
Rev. of Lying, by Sisela Bok, Smithsonian, May 1978.
TEACHING
English Department, University of Maryland, 1986-present.
English Department, Catholic University, 1981-82.
Courses Taught
"Creative Non-Fiction Writing (& The Books of John McPhee),"
English 689A (Graduate course)
"Late Shakespeare," English 404.
"Early Shakespeare," English 403.
“Restoration Poetry & Prose, 1660-1700,” English 415.
"Augustan Literature: 1700-1750," English 416.
"Restoration and 18th Century Drama," English 452.
“Contemporary British Drama,” English 454.
"The Eighteenth Century Novel," English 455.
“Satire,” English 447.
20 "New Historicism," English Honors Senior Seminar 399Y.
"Everybody's Hamlet," English Honors Senior Seminar 399Z.
"Advanced Composition," English 391.
"Contemporary British Drama: Stoppard & Bennett," English Senior Sem. 399.
“British Plays in Performance: Rehearsed Table Reads,” English 379M.
"Romantic to Modern Survey," English 312.
"Baroque and Augustan Survey," English 311.
"Medieval and Renaissance Survey," English 310.
"Tudor and Stuart Drama," English 305.
"Shakespeare: The Major Works," English 304.
“Survey of English Lit: Medieval to 1800,” English 211.
"Introduction to Shakespeare," English 205.
“Introduction to the Novel,” English 241.
“Introduction to Drama,” English 244.
"Independent Study," English 429: "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight."
"Kingsley Amis and Martin Amis."
"Herbert and Vaughan."
"Julian Barnes."
"Tom Stoppard"
"William Cowper."
"18th Century Letter Writers"
"Sir Thomas Browne & Robert Burton"
"Science Friction: Hard Science, Soft Science, Card Tricks, & Bluffing in
the History of Drama," Honors 208D.
“Screenwriting,” A special summer course for high school students.
Engl. 294 (Summer 2003).
“Playwrighting,” a course in writing, directing, and performing, ARHU Honors
106.
“The Middle Ages on Film,” Ten films and the medieval history and myths that
inspired them. Engl. 379-O. (Summer 2004).
"The Age of Chaucer," English 351-352, Catholic University, 1981-1982.
"Medieval and Byzantine History," team tutorial, Catholic University, 1982.
"Classical Rhetoric for Writers," Food and Drug Administration, 1975-1982.
Study Abroad
& Alumni Courses
“British History, Literature, and Culture,” English 379O, a three-week course
taught in London and East Anglia. Covers archaeology, architecture, art,
literature, history and drama, with special attention to topics ranging from
21 monasticism to the English Civil War. Readings include Ruskin, Waugh,
Stoppard, Ackroyd, Austen, Pevsner, J.L. Carr, Hornby, Dickens, Shakespeare,
and Sacheverill Sitwell. 1998 to 2010.
“Sicilian History, Archaeology, and Architecture,” Maryland Alumni Study
Tour. Material culture from the Greek and Roman worlds, through to the
Normans, and on up through the Baroque. Visits to Palermo, Monreale, Cefalu,
Segesta, Selinunte, Aggrigento, Syracusa, Catania, and Taoramina.
April 2000 and November 2003.
“Scottish History, Archaeology, and Architecture,” Maryland Alumni Study
Tour, at Stirling, May 2001.
“Irish History, Books, Archaeology, and Architecture,” Maryland Alumni Tour,
at Ennis, County Clare, May 2002.
“Florentine History, Art, and Architecture,” Maryland Alumni Tour,
November 2002.
“Ancient Greece,” Maryland Alumni Tour, May 2004.
“India,” Maryland Alumni Tour, February 2005.
“The Cotswolds,” Maryland Alumni Tour, May 2005.
“Sorrento,” Maryland Alumni Tour, November 2005.
“Burgundy & Provence,” Maryland Alumni Tour, October 2006.
“Tuscany,” Maryland Alumni Tour, August 2007.
Teaching Awards
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, University-wide Faculty Mentor Award, 1999.
Panhellenic "Outstanding Campus Teacher" Nomination, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996,
& 2001.
College Park Parents' Association, Best Teacher Nominee, April 1996.
Campus "Celebrating Teachers" Award, 1992 and 1993.
Diamondback "Top Eight Campus Teachers," April 1993.
Philip Merrill Award, Faculty Mentor for two awardees, November 2007.
Theses Directed
“The Janus-faced Earl of Rochester,” by John P. Waggoner, M.A., Dec. 2000.
‘Timberlake Wertenbaker’s After Darwin,” by Lauren Mancini, M.A., May 2007.
"As a Matter of Fact I Called Him Sid": Misnaming Politics in the Plays of
Harold Pinter, by Yun-Ju Julie Huang, Honors, Spring 2003.
"Like a Pendulum between Darkness and Darkness”: The Search for Balance in
Stoppard's Jumpers, by Nicole Menton, Honors, March 2004.
22 The Mundane Philip Larkin: The Balance of Life and Art, by Gillian Amrhein,
Honors, April 2004.
Roald Dahl: The Man Who Loved Children, by Cara Shepley, Honors, April
2004.
Refashioning the Fairy Tale: A Creative Response to the Grimms’ Snow White,
by Kat Snow-Milon, Honors, January 2005.
Lying for a Living: A Play about Marlon Brando, Douglas Kern, March 2006.
Romance in Fanny Burney, Jacqueline Way, Honors, April 2006.
History in the Plays of Brian Friel, Meghan Wahl, Honors, April 2006.
Hardy and the Pre-Raphaelites, Luisa Cole, Honors, May 2008.
Mummy in the Renaissance: Resurrecting Meaning in Hydriotaphia, Love’s
Alchymie, and Othello. Julie Smith, Honors, May 2008.
David Simon’s The Wire. Michael Cameron, Honors, April 2009.
The Memory Play in Tennessee Williams and Brian Friel. Kevin Ford, Honors,
March 2011.
Hospital Play. Tripp Kramer, Honors, April 2011.
Reflections on the Surprising Connection Between Harold Pinter's Moonlight
and Alexander Pope's "Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady,"
by Rindi Savitt, Honors, Spring 1996.
Invited Lectures
“Outbuildings,” Lifetime Learning Day, Anne Arundel Community
College, Arnold, MD, April 6, 2011.
Video-cast, “Past and Present: Dirty Life Out Back.” Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation. Oct. 2010. At:
http://www.history.org/media/videplayer/?cat=vodcast&file=HiddenWilliamsburg
Podcast, “Hidden Williamsburg,” Oct. 2010.
At: http://history.org/media/podcasts.cfm
“Outbuildings,” Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society, Ker House,
Onancock, VA, October 25, 2010.
““Writing for Film” & “Writing Across Genres”: James River Literary Festival,
Richmond, VA, October 8-9, 2010.
“Architecture & Worship in the Stuart Church,” St. Martin’s Church, Worcester
Co., MD. August 29, 2010.
23 “About Palestine Hill: DC Latin teacher” and a reading of her two scenes from
my play “Moving the Chains.” Conference on the Teaching of Classics at
Historically Black Colleges, University of Maryland.
“Teaching Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” Thornton Wilder and the
Classics Conference, University of Maryland, March 27, 2010.
“Othello,” Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Prince George’s County, MD,
March 1, 2010
“Rackliffe Plantation and the Recovery of History,” Rackliffe Hall,
Worcester Co., MD. Oct. 23, 2009.
“History, Imagination, and Orangeries,” Talk to the College of Arts & Humanities, Alumni supporters, Oct. 21, 2009.
“Colonial Outbuildings,” Talk to the Docents’ Association, Gunston Hall
Plantation, VA. Oct. 5, 2009.
“The 18th Century Orangery at Wye House,” a lecture as part of the Frederick
Douglass Day celebration, Wye House, Talbot Co., MD. Oct. 3, 2009.
“Early Kitchens,” Talk to the Archaelogists, Montgomery County, MD., Uncle
Tom’s Cabin site. Sept. 14, 2009.
“Purpose-Built: Backyard Architecture,” Colonial Williamsburg Podcast. July
27, 2009. http://history.org/media/podcasts.cfm
“Williamsburg and History,” St. Michael’s Museum, St. Michael’s, MD,
June 13, 2009.
“April Fool’s Day,” Canadian Broadcasting Corp., “Current” interview, April 9,
2009.
“’The Poetry is in the Pity,’ and in the Printing Too: The Great War and the
Special Case of Isaac Rosenberg,” University of Maryland, Conference on
War and Libraries, December 5, 2008.
“The Architecture and History of Outbuildings in the 18th Century,”
St. Michael’s Museum, St. Michael’s, MD, October 24, 2008.
“Writing Natural History Documentary Films,” Parents’ Weekend, “Classes
Without Quizzes,” University of Maryland, October 10, 2008.
Panelist, Discussion of Shakespeare’s Anthony & Cleopatra, Shakespeare
Theatre, Washington. May 4, 2008.
“Colonial Williamsburg and the Idea of History,” One-day University, Shady
Grove, MD, March 29, 2008.
Panelist, Discussion of Arthur Miller’s The Price, Theatre J, Washington, March
9, 2008.
Talk to the Cast of The History Boys, Studio Theatre, Washington, Feb. 26, 2008.
“Dairies and Other Outbuildings in the 18th Century Backyard,” Riversdale
Mansion, Riverdale, MD, May 1, 2007.
“Meet the Professors,” panelist, English Undergrad Association, April 27, 2007.
“Using Video in the Classroom,” panelist, University of Maryland, Non-Print
Media, April 11, 2007.
“Outbuildings: Architecture & Culture in the Anglo-Tidewater Backyard,”
Upper Patuxent Archaeology Group, Ellicott City, MD, March 12, 2007.
Interviewer, “A Night with Detective Fiction Writer Martha Grimes,” University
of Maryland Alumni event, February 27, 2007.
“Screenwriting,” F. Scott Fitzgerald Conference, Rockville, Maryland, October
14, 2006.
“18th Century Botany,” The Little Garden Club of Warrenton, North
Carolina, October 4, 2006.
“An Evening with Olmert,” University Alumni Fireside Chats, Riggs Alumni
Center, March 29, 2006.
24 “Williamsburg and the History of Historic Preservation,” Teachers as
Scholars Program, a one-day course for high-school teachers, University
of Maryland, March 29, 2006.
“The Tradescants and 18th Century Botany,” The Little Garden Club of
Warrenton, North Carolina, February 8, 2006.
Panelist, “Provosts’ Conference on Creativity in the Research University,”
University of Maryland, November 17, 2005.
"Meet the Filmmakers," Maryland Day Presentation, Non-Print Media
Department, Hornbake Library, University of Maryland, April 24, 2005.
“Smokehouses,” Lecture, Kensington Historical Society, April 12, 2005.
"The University, Books, & Reading," talk to the Gemstone Honors seminar,
Ellicott Hall, October 13, 2004.
"Teaching at Maryland," Talk to the Alumni Board of Governors,
October 9, 2004.
Alumni Awards Presenter, University of Maryland, Alumni Gala Banquet,
April 17, 2004.
“Writing the Television Documentary,” Seminar talk, University of Maryland
Center for Technology and the Humanities, March 15, 2004.
“John Clayton and 18th Century Botany,” The Little Garden Club of Warrenton,
North Carolina, February 11, 2004.
“Address to the University Trustees Meeting,” University of Maryland,
October 25, 2003.
“Screenwriting Panel,” South Asian Literary Festival, Crystal City, Virginia,
October 19, 2003.
“Williamsburg and the History of Historic Preservation,” Honors Talk, Anne
Arundel Hall, University of Maryland, October 6, 2003.
“Writing the Television Documentary,” President Mote’s Hospitality Tent,
Maryland Day, April 26, 2003.
“Meet the Filmmakers,” Maryland Day Presentation, Non-Print Media
Department, Hornbake Library, University of Maryland, April 26, 2003.
“Keynote Speaker,” Graduate Research Interaction Day, UMd., April 10, 2003.
“Williamsburg’s Historic Gardens,” The Little Garden Club of Warrenton,
North Carolina, February 12, 2003.
“The Historic Privy,” Londontown Public House Gardens and Museum,
Edgewater, Maryland, November 6, 2002.
“What Can You Do With an English Major?” Panel Moderator, University of
Maryland, October 16, 2002.
“Meet the Filmmakers,” Maryland Day Presentation, Non-Print Media
Department, Hornbake Library, University of Maryland, April 27, 2002.
“The First Crusade, 1096-1100," University of Maryland Alumni Association
and the Senior University, Hardwick House, February 25, 2002.
"Prehistoric & Medieval Ireland," University of Maryland Alumni Association
and the Senior University, Hardwick House, February 11, 2002.
"Theater Architecture and the 18th Century Townscape," Lecture to the Theater
698 class of Prof. Heather Nathans, Theater Department, University of
Maryland, March 1, 2001.
“The 17th and 18th Century Ice House,” Frederick, Maryland, Historic Sites
Consortium, Master Docent Lecture, February 24, 2001.
“Surviving a Classical Education,” Panelist, Classics Department, University of
Maryland, November 3, 2000.
“The 17th and 18th Century Ice House,” Belair Mansion, Bowie, Maryland,
February 9, 2000.
25 “The 17th and 18th Century Pineapple,” Londontown Public House, Edgewater,
Maryland, October 23, 1998.
“Othello,” Shakespeare Class, Educatieve Faculteit Amsterdam, Department of
English, October 7, 1998.
“Pineapple History,” English Undergraduate Association, University of
Maryland, April 9, 1998.
“The 17th and 18th Century Pineapple,” Garden History Society of
Williamsburg, March 9, 1998.
“Doing History,” University of Maryland Honors Teaching Colloquium,
April 15, 1997.
“Williamsburg and the Nature of History,” a two-lecture sequence of University
Honors Course 169Y, Knowledge and its Human Consequences, Two
lectures on the history of Williamsburg, Virginia,” April 7 & 14, 1997.
"Milton’s Teeth," Borders Bookstore, White Flint, Maryland, Sept. 19, 1996.
"Milton’s Teeth," Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, August 8, 1996.
This talk was also telecast on C-SPAN, September 1, 1996.
“Cricket & C.L.R. James,” presented to the English 719 seminar of Prof. Nicole
King, May 5, 1996.
"A Writer's Life," Gallaudet College, Writing Awards Banquet, April 11, 1995.
"Othello," CAST Conference, University of Maryland, February 3, 1994.
"History of the Book," CAST Conference, University of Maryland, April 25,
1993.
"History of the Book," Library of Congress, February 3, 1993.
"History of the Book," Smithsonian, September 29, 1992.
"Censorship," Borders Bookstore, Rockville, October 1, 1992.
"Incunable Typography and Design," Catholic University, November 4, 1981.
"Chaucer's Little Lotteries," the Augustinian Patristic, Medieval, and
Renaissance Conference, Villanova University, October 4, 1980.
Play Directing (Rehearsed Table Reads, with English & Theatre undergrad actors):
Philip Massinger, The Roman Actor (1626). Center for Renaissance and Baroque
Studies, University of Maryland, Sept. 24, 2003.
April de Angelis, A Laughing Matter (2002). University of Maryland, Oct. 22, 2003.
Ben Jonson, John Marston, & George Chapman, Eastward Ho! (1605). University of
Maryland, Feb. 4, 2004.
Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love (1997). University of Maryland, Feb. 25, 2004.
Brian Friel, Translations (1980). University of Maryland, September 9, 2004.
Michael Olmert, Shakespeare & Doctor Lopez (2004). Maryland, October 21, 2004.
Alan Bennett, The History Boys (2004). University of Maryland, January 27, 2005.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis (407 BC). University of Maryland, April 19, 2005.
Robin Soans, Talking to Terrorists (2005). University of Maryland, September 7, 2005.
26 Michael Olmert, Great Creating Nature (2005). Maryland, December 7, 2005.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon (458 BC). Maryland, February 14, 2006.
Roy Williams, Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (2002). Maryland, March 2, 2006.
Iris Murdoch, The Black Prince (1977). Maryland, April 11, 2006.
David Hare, Stuff Happens (2004). Maryland, May 4, 2006
Alan Bennett, Kafka’s Dick (1986). Maryland, September 13, 2006.
George Villiers, 2d Duke of Buckingham, The Rehearsal (1675). Maryland, Oct. 4, 2006.
Five Modern Plays About the Life of Shakespeare, for the “Shakespeare in
Washinton” semester, Spring 2007:
Michael Olmert, Shakespeare & Doctor Lopez (2004). UMd., February 7, 2007.
Edward Bond, Bingo: Scenes Of Money & Death (1974). UMd., February 21, 2007.
Peter Whelan, The Herbal Bed (1996). Maryland, March 7, 2007.
Lee Blessing, Fortinbras (1991). Maryland, April 4, 2007.
Nicholas Wright, Cressida (2000). Maryland, April 18, 2007.
Tom Stoppard, Rock ‘n’ Roll (2006). Maryland, September 19, 2007.
Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers (458 BC). Maryland, October 10, 2007.
Anton Chekhov, The Seagull (1896). Maryland, October 31, 2007.
Nick Dear, Power (2003). Maryland, November 14, 2007.
Michael Olmert, Great Creating Nature (2005). Maryland, December 5, 2007.
John Barton, The War that Still Goes On (1991). Maryland, April 16, 2008.
Four Plays for the “Semester on War,” Fall 2008:
R. C. Sherriff, Journey’s End (1927). Maryland, September 10, 2008.
Stephen MacDonald, Not About Heroes (1983). Maryland, September 24, 2008.
Frank McGuinness, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme (1985).
Maryland, October 15, 2008.
Shakespeare, Troilus & Cressida (1602). Maryland, November 12, 2008.
27 Verlyn Flieger, The Bargain/ Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2009). Maryland, April 15, 2009.
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land and Other Modern Poetry by Auden, Larkin, Hardy, Housman, and
Betjeman. A dramatic reading by Maryland undergraduates. Maryland, Sept. 16, 2009
Joe Penhall, Landscape with Weapon (2007). October 28, 2009.
Michael Olmert, Moving the Chains: The Darryl Hill Play (2010). May 5, 2010.
Brian Friel, Translations (1980). University of Maryland, October 27, 2010.
Sons
Mike, Tony, Pat
Date of this resume: 3/5/11 28