Finding Greatness: Dr. Lorraine Dubuisson

Author: News Bureau
Posted: Monday, May 21, 2018 12:00 AM
Categories: Finding Greatness | Pressroom | Faculty/Staff | College of Arts and Sciences

Cochran, GA

Dr. Lorraine Dubuisson is president of the Georgia Philological Association and organizer of the recent Knight Writers camp, designed to connect MGA's Cochran Campus with the local school system.

Full Name: Dr. Lorraine Dubuisson.

Title: Associate Professor of English.

Degrees: Ph.D. in Victorian literature from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss).

Describe your service to Middle Georgia State University and the community at large.

"My current project is Knight Writers, a day camp sponsored by the English department for the freshman Honors English students at Bleckley High School. This camp brings high school students onto the Cochran Campus and provides them with a day of writing and instruction in literature. It's also an experiential learning opportunity for select Middle Georgia State (MGA) students who conduct research about elements of pedagogy, plan the activities for the camp, and implement them on the day of the camp. I started the project because I want to find a way to strengthen ties between MGA and the surrounding community; I want to recruit high-performing students to MGA, of course, but I also want to offer English majors a chance to conduct meaningful research and participate in a teaching experience that will prepare them for graduate school. Above all, I want to help the high school students who participate in the camp become stronger, more confident writers. The inaugural Knight Writers took place this year, and I'm looking forward to next year's camp.

"Another ongoing project is the Georgia Philological Association (GPA), the only philological association in the state of Georgia. I've been the president of the association for the past two years, and we hold a robust conference each year in which academics and graduate students from across the region present scholarship on a variety of subjects - language, literature, history, and film to name a few. The GPA publishes a journal each year that is blind peer reviewed and indexed on MLA and EBSCOHost; I am on the editorial board for the journal as well. GPA has grown under my tenure, and I am looking forward to its continued expansion."

What attracted you to a faculty position at Middle Georgia State University?

"I have always lived in the South, and I wanted to stay in that environment of azaleas and Southern hospitality. Cochran is a safe and welcoming community with an excellent public school system, which was very attractive to me as a parent. I was also impressed with the colleagues with whom I now work; MGA has so many faculty publishing creative works (including musical arrangements and poetry), scholarly articles, and books (some of which like Dr. Stephen Fuller's examination of Eudora Welty have received national acclaim). I wanted to be a part of a faculty that is contributing in vital ways to the academy while still retaining a primary focus on teaching."

What do you like best about teaching at Middle Georgia State?

"I have enjoyed being able to follow students as they progress from introductory writing courses to sophomore-level literature classes and beyond. I love watching freshmen who are nervous and insecure about their writing mature into confident writers who are able to handle reading and writing about complex material in my World Literature classes. I also really like that our classes are small and allow me to develop relationships with students that larger classes would not allow."

In your opinion, what does it take for students majoring in your discipline to be successful these days?

"I think English majors need to be intellectually curious; in fact, I think intellectual curiosity is one of the most important traits of a successful student in any discipline. Being interested in the community around us, what makes people tick, how the world works, the history that informs our lives, the way people in different times and places express their creativity-- being curious about subjects in addition to writing and literature make English majors better at reading literature and writing about it."

What would students be surprised to learn about you?

"Students might be surprised to learn that I am a huge nerd. I am constantly reading fantasy and science fiction. Some of my recent favorites are the Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie and the Southern Reach series by Jeff Vandermeer. I watch way too much TV; some of my favorite shows include Westworld, Game of Thrones, Gotham, and Lucifer. I am also a huge Marvel fan. I am eagerly awaiting Infinity Wars and the latest installment of Deadpool."