Faculty/Staff Directory
Dr. John B. Murphy
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| Biography: | I earned my AB and MA in English at the University of Georgia in Athens, where I studied in the Honors Program and UGA-at-Oxford, worked at Wuxtry Records, and wrote for Flagpole Magazine. My thesis on Henry James was directed by Hubert McAlexander with Hugh Kenner and Simon Gatrell. I earned my Ph.D. in English at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where I was Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant, Head Teaching Assistant for History of Literatures in English III, Director of the Writing Center, and Visiting Assistant Professor. My dissertation on Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford was directed by Michael Levenson with Stephen Arata and Karen Chase. My scholarship centers on character, contingency, and ethics in late 19th and early 20th century writers including Henry James, Joseph Conrad, and Ford Madox Ford. It is informed by work in virtue ethics by Alasdair MacIntyre, Martha Nussbaum, and Charles Taylor. In more than 25 years teaching, I've designed more than 25 courses for students ranging from 10th graders to college freshmen with developmental needs to college seniors in honors curricula. See my CV below for details. My teaching and service at MGA have been informed by my scholarship's ethical concerns. I served five years in English Learning Support, where I drew on ideas from virtue ethics and positive psychology to foster student success in ways that have enhanced the program's outcomes. I served as the inaugural Coordinator for The Writing Center on the Cochran campus from Fall 2021 through Fall 2024, during which time I helped the Cochran location's outreach to grow by 400% and The Writing Center as a whole gain recognition as a center of excellence by the Southeastern Writing Center Association. I serve in the First Year Experience initiative, where I am part of a group of faculty and administrators contributing to Knights Academy, Knights Journey, and other character-and-ethics-based, co-curricular resources to foster student success. I serve in the MGA Faculty Senate as a voting member of the Academic Enhancement Committee, as a non-voting member of the Executive Committee, and as Governance Historian. |
| Courses: | ENGL 0999: English Learning Support ENGL 1101: English Composition I ENGL 1102: English Composition II ENGL 2112: World Literature II ENGL 2122: British Literature II |
| Education: | Ph.D. in English, University of Virginia MA in English, University of Georgia AB in English, University of Georgia |
| CV: | Courses Taught (1000-Level): English Composition I (MGA) (PVCC) English Composition II (MGA) (PVCC) Films of Alfred Hitchcock (UVA) Films of Stanley Kubrick (UVA) "Mad Men" and Modern Society (UVA) Modern Times: The 1890's and 1900's (UVA) Modern Times: The 1950's and 1960's (UVA) Superheroes and Modern Mythology (UVA) "The Wire" and Modern Society (UVA) Writing with The Beatles (UVA) Courses Taught (2000-Level): American Literature I (PVCC) British Literature I (PVCC) British Literature II (MGA) Indian and Indian Diaspora Fiction (UVA) Introduction to Literary Studies: Artificial Intelligence (UVA) Introduction to Literary Studies: Twice-Told Tales (UVA) Modern and Contemporary Global Fiction (UVA) Modern and Contemporary Global Poetry (UVA) Pavilion Writers Roundtable (UVA) World Literature II (MGA) Courses Taught (3000-Level): Communicating with The Public (UVA) Apocalyptic Fiction and Film (UVA) Dystopian Fiction and Film (UVA) History of Literatures in English I (UVA) History of Literatures in English III (UVA) Shakespeare's Tragedies and Romances (UVA) Academic Service (Middle Georgia State University): Academic Leave Review Committee Coordinator, The Writing Center - Cochran Campus English Lecturer Hiring Committee Executive Committee (Non-Voting) Faculty Senate First Year Experience Committee Governance Historian, Faculty Senate Knights Academy Bridge-In Committee Strategic Plan Implementation and Assessment Committee Student Academic Enhancement Committee Academic Service (University of Virginia): Area Representative, Modern and Contemporary Literature Assistant Director, The Writing Center Coordinator of Graduate Instructor Services Director, The Writing Center Head Teaching Assistant, History of Literatures in English III Workshop Leader, Teaching Resource Center Workshop Leader, The Writing Center Tutor, The Writing Center |
| Professional Experience: | Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) - Middle Georgia State University Assistant Professor (Visiting) - University of Virginia Assistant Professor (Adjunct) - Piedmont Virginia Community College (Charlottesville) Director, The Writing Center, University of Virginia Tutor, The Writing Center, University of Virginia Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia Graduate Research Assistant, University of Georgia Teacher (10th and 12th Grade English) - Brentwood School (Sandersville, Georgia) |
| Professional Affiliations: | The Joseph Conrad Society of America The Joseph Conrad Society (United Kingdom) The Ford Madox Ford Society The South Atlantic Modern Language Association |
| Awards and Honors: | Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia Graduate, Cum Laude, General Honors, University of Georgia |
| Publications: | "The Egg and Spoon Race: Virtue Ethics and Moral Contingency in Parade's End" Article forthcoming in Anglo-Saxonica, 2025. “The ’Ind Legs of The Elephink: Pantomime, Prophecy and Tosh in Parade’s End” Chapter in Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End: The First World War, Culture, and Modernity, 2014. Recent Conference Presentations “A Very Plucky Girl: Virtue Ethics and Moral Contingency in Chance,” The Joseph Conrad Society Conference, London, England, 2024. “The Egg and Spoon Race: Virtue Ethics and Moral Contingency in Parade’s End.” Ford Madox Ford International Symposium, Lisbon, Portugal, 2023. |
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