Curriculum Vita
Printable PDF
Dr. Alex E. Blazer
Georgia College & State University
Milledgeville, GA 31061
478.445.0964
Education
Ph.D., English, The Ohio State University, 2003
M.A., English, The Ohio State University, 1999
B.A., English, Denison University, Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude, 1997
Publications
"A Phenomenological Approach to Donnie Darko." Film-Philosophy Journal 19 (2015): 208-20. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.
"'blinded by the book': Between Metafictional Madness and Sublime Solitude in the Work of Paul Auster." The Sublime Today: Contemporary Readings in the Aesthetic. Ed. Gillian B. Pierce. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Eng.: Cambridge Scholars, 2012. 49-66. Print. Abstract. Amazon, Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
"Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club." The Literary Encyclopedia. 23 Aug. 2011. Web.
"Bret Easton Ellis: Glamorama." The Literary Encyclopedia. 19 May 2011. Web.
"American Psycho, Hamlet, and Existential Psychosis." Bret Easton Ellis: American Psycho, Glamorama, and Lunar Park. Ed. Naomi Mandel. London: Continuum, 2011. 36-49. Print. Abstract. Amazon, Bloomsbury.
"The Phony 'Martyrdom of Saint Me': Choke, The Catcher in the Rye, and the Problem of Postmodern Narcissistic Nihilism." Reading Chuck Palahniuk: American Monsters and Literary Mayhem. Eds. Cynthia Kuhn and Lance Rubin. London: Routledge, 2009. 143-56. Print. Abstract. Amazon, Routledge.
"Glamorama, Fight Club, and the Terror of Narcissistic Abjection." American Fiction of the 1990s: Reflections of History and Culture. Ed. Jay Prosser. London: Routledge, 2008. 177-89. Print. Abstract. Amazon, Routledge.
"I Am Otherwise": The Romance Between Poetry and Theory After the Death of the Subject. Champaigne, IL: Dalkey Archive Press-U of Illinois, 2007. Print. Abstract. Amazon, Dalkey Archive Press.
"The Matrix Trilogy and the Revolutionary Drive through 'The Desert of the Real.'" Literature/Film Quarterly 35.4 (2007): 265-73. Print. Abstract
"Chasms of Reality, Aberrations of Identity: Defining the Postmodern through Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho." Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture (1900-present) 1.2 (Fall 2002). Web. Abstract
"Charting Ironic Progress: The Reflexive and the Romantic in Barrett Watten's Progress." Moria Poetry Journal 2.3 (2000). Web. Abstract
"the mad dame's descent." Eclipse 1.16 (Spring 1997): 7. Print. [Poem]
Presentations
"Bret Easton Ellis's The Shards and the Horror of Autofiction." Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Association. Tropicana Casino & Resort, Atlantic City, NJ. 9 Nov. 2024. Abstract
"Flashback and the Gift of Post-Postmodern Cinema" South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Atlanta Marriott Buckhead Hotel & Conference Center, Atlanta, GA. 9 Nov. 2023. Abstract.
"The Changing Matrix: Resurrections and Everything Everywhere All at Once." South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Virtual Conference. 12 Nov. 2022. Abstract.
"Donnie Darko, Deleuze, and the Time-Image." Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. Virtual Conference. 13 Nov. 2021. Abstract.
"Pynchon as Prestige Cable TV: The Thermodynamics of Lodge 49's Daemonization of The Crying of Lot 49." South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Virtual Conference. 14 Nov. 2020. Abstract.
"Twin Peaks of Present: Lynch and Deleuze on Music, Trauma, and Time."Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. Pittsburgh Marriott City Center, Pittsburgh, PA. 8 Nov. 2019. Abstract
"The Psychoanalysis of Satire: A Short Paper about Aphanisis in A Short Film about Disappointment." Southeast Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures. Georgia Tech Savannah Campus, Savannah, GA. 11 Apr. 2019. Abstract
"Sentimentality or Sustenance: Art in Postmodern Novels Then and Now." Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, MD. 8 Nov. 2018. Abstract
"Legion: The Traumatic Encounter between Fantasy and Reality in Noah Hawley's
Superhero Drama." Southeast Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures. Coastal Georgia Center, Savannah, GA. 6 Apr. 2018. Abstract
"'That's a Bit Creepy, What You're Doing': Black Mirror and the Perverse Gaze." Southeast Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures. Coastal Georgia Center, Savannah, GA. 24 Mar. 2017. Abstract
"'This is Chuck's Happy Ending': Fight Club 2 and Authorial Anxiety." Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. Tropicana Casino & Resort, Atlantic City, NJ. 4 Nov. 2016. Abstract
"Sooooooooo Real, Sooooooooo Much Trouble: The Familiar Tormenting Textuality of Mark Z. Danielewski." Southeast Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures. Coastal Georgia Center, Savannah, GA. 7 Apr. 2016. Abstract
"First as Tragedy, Then as Aporia: The Continuum from Dialectical to Deconstructive Criticism." Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. Sonesta Hotel, Philadelphia, PA. 5 Nov. 2015. Abstract
"Pussies, Snowflakes, and Bret Easton Ellis: A Case Study of Authorial Persona in Social Media." Georgia College & State University. Milledgeville, GA. 27 Apr. 2015. Abstract
"Logos Cowboys: Postmodern Football and Post-Postmodern War in Don DeLillo's End Zone and Ben Fountain's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk." Southeast Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures. Coastal Georgia Center, Savannah, GA. 26 Mar. 2015. Abstract
"Pussies, Snowflakes, and Bret Easton Ellis: A Case Study of Authorial Persona in Social Media." Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore MD. 7 Nov. 2014. Abstract
"Vampires, Valium, and Vanitas: A Lacanian Reading of Bret Easton Ellis's The Informers." Southeast Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures. Coastal Georgia Center, Savannah, GA. 27 Mar. 2014. Abstract
"Jonathan Franzen's Freedom from Depression: Traversing the Vicissitudes of Bad Faith." Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. Tropicana Casino and Resort, Atlantic City, NJ. 8 Nov. 2013. Abstract
"People Show You Who They Really Are": A Lacanian Reading of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy." Southeast Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures. DeSoto Hilton Hotel, Savannah, GA. 4 Apr. 2013. Abstract
"'A Good Man Is Hard to Find' and Postmodern Theory." English 661 Flannery
O'Connor Immersion Studies, Grand Valley State University. Milledgeville, GA. 2 Aug. 2012. Abstract
"Media and Melancholia: Notes on David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest." Northeast MLA Convention. Hyatt Regency, Rochester. 17 Mar. 2012. Abstract
"Fight Club and The Social Network: Two Brands of Postcapital Culture." The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 24 Feb. 2012. Abstract
"'Disappear Here': The Pathological Decadence of Bret Easton Ellis's Less Than Zero and Imperial Bedrooms." The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 24 Feb. 2011. Abstract
"Infinite Interiority in Paul Auster and Maurice Blanchot." The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 19 Feb. 2010. Abstract
"'the simulacrum is real': Rivka Galchen's Atmospheric Disturbances." South Atlantic MLA Convention. Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown, Atlanta. 8 Nov. 2009. Abstract
"'blinded by the book': Between Metafictional Madness and Sublime Solitude in the Work of Paul Auster." The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 21 Feb. 2009. Abstract
"'the dolls are real, but not that real': Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted and Postmodern Horror." Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Assoc. Conf. Sheraton Fallsview Hotel, Niagara Falls, ON, Can. 1 Nov. 2008. Abstract
"'Naked in the guy-light like an emptied sentence': Sexuality and Textuality in Two Novellas by William H. Gass." The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 23 Feb. 2008. Abstract
"A Phenomenological Approach to Donnie Darko." South Central MLA Convention. Hilton Hotel, Memphis. 3 Nov. 2007. Abstract
Multicultural Poetry Ready. Northeast MLA Convention. Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel, Baltimore. 4 Mar. 2007.
"'You're not a fictional character, are you, Mr. Ellis?': Bret Easton Ellis's Involution from Intertextuality into Textuality in Lunar Park." The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture Since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 22 Feb. 2007. Abstract
"Of Five and a Half Minute Hallways and Useless Tunnels: Some Notes on Nothing in Danielewski's House of Leaves and Gass's The Tunnel." 20th Century Literature & Culture Conf. U of Louisville, Louisville. 23 Feb. 2006. Abstract
"'Too real and too pointless': The Disappearance of the Subject in Bret Easton Ellis's Less Than Zero and The Rules of Attraction." South Central MLA Convention. Hyatt Regency Hotel, Houston. 28 Oct. 2005. Abstract
"Barton Fink and the Vicissitudes of Writing for Film." 20th Century Literature & Culture Conf. U of Louisville, Louisville. 25 Feb. 2005. Abstract
"'Slide down the surface of things': Bret Easton Ellis's Glamorama and the Terror of Narcissistic Abjection." Central New York Conf. on Language and Literature. State U of New York, Cortland. 30 Oct. 2004. Abstract
"The Matrix Trilogy and the Revolutionary Drive through 'The Desert of the Real.'" Central New York Conf. on Language and Literature. State U of New York, Cortland. 29 Oct. 2004. Abstract
"Barrett Watten: From the Other Side of the Machine." 20th Century Literature Conf. U of Louisville, Louisville. 27 Feb. 2004. Abstract
"'Diving into the Wreck': Adrienne Rich and the Language of Death." Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Assoc. Conf. Wyndham Hotel, Wilmington, DE. 8 Nov. 2003. Abstract
"Self-Portrait in an Opaque Language: John Ashbery and the Deconstruction of Language." Tropology: Text & Context. State U of New York, Binghamton. 21 Mar. 2003. Abstract
"Jorie Graham: Hollows and Voids." Summer Fellowship Forum, Department of English. The Ohio State University, Columbus. 16 Oct. 2002. Abstract
"Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho and the Horror of Postmodernism." Central New York Conf. on Language and Literature. State U of New York, Cortland. 28 Oct. 2001. Abstract
"Convolution, Cataclysm, and Conspiracy: The Crying of Oedipa Maas." 20th Century Literature Conf. U of Louisville, Louisville. 23 Feb. 2001. Abstract
"A Symptomatic Sinthome: Adrienne Rich's Floating Poem and the Problem of the Real of Love." Central New York Conf. on Language and Literature. State U of New York, Cortland. 30 Oct. 2000. Abstract
"Jorie Graham's Errant Universalism." Northeast MLA Convention. Hyatt Regency, Buffalo, NY. 7 Apr. 2000. Abstract
"Charting Ironic Progress: The Reflexive and the Romantic in Barrett Watten's Progress." Student Association of Graduate English Studies, U of Oklahoma, Norman. 15 Oct. 1999. Abstract
Teaching
Professor, Georgia College & State University, 2020-present
Associate Professor, Georgia College & State University, 2013-2020
Assistant Professor, Georgia College & State University, 2008-2013
Department of English (semester system, 4/4 load with course releases for literature program coordination, co-chair, and university senate)
English 1101 English Composition I
first-year composition course, essay oriented
English 1102 English Composition II
first-year composition course, literature oriented
English 2110 World Literature
world literature course
English 2130 American Literature
survey course
English 2200 Writing about Literature
introduction to literature course
English 3900 Critical Approaches to Literature
theory survey course
English 4110/5110 Literary Criticism
theory specific course
English 4440/5440 Modern Drama
genre course
English 4446/5446 Modern Poetry
genre course
English 4665/5665 American Literature from 1920 to the Present
period course
English 4675/5675 Contemporary American Literature
period course
English 4810 Film Studies
genre course
English 4850 Single Author
single author course on Don DeLillo
English 4900 Seminar of Language & Literature
senior seminar
English 4910/4925/4955/5950 Film Noir, Then and Now
genre course
English 4950 Special Topics
special topics course on film
English 4960 Internship
Capstone project
English 4970 BA Thesis
Capstone project
English 4980 Study Abroad
Capstone project
English 6601 Methods of Research
graduate course
English 6685 Graduate Seminar in Critical Approaches to Literature
graduate theory course
English 6690 Variable Topics
graduate theory course
English 6970 MA Thesis
MA thesis
English 6971 MFA Thesis
MFA thesis
Georgia College First-Year Seminar in Critical Thinking
special topics course on science fiction and philosophy
Georgia College Second-Year Seminar in Global Perspectives
special topics course on global horror films
Visiting Assistant Professor, Grand Valley State University, 2006-2008
Department of English (semester system, 4/4 load)
Joint Appointment with Department of Liberal Studies, 2007-2008
English 205 Literatures in English
introduction to literature course
English 225 American Literature I: to 1860
survey course
English 226 American Literature II: from 1860
survey course
English 335 Literature of American Minorities
minorities literature course
English 386 Literary Responses to Death and Dying
theme course
English 399 Independent Study
independent study course
Liberal Studies 310 Creativity
liberal studies course
Liberal Studies 314 Life Journey
liberal studies course
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Louisville, 2003-2006
Department of English (semester system, 4/4 load with course release for research)
English 101 Introduction to College Writing
composition course
English 102 Intermediate College Writing
composition course, research-oriented
English 310 Writing about Literature
gateway course for English majors
English 311 American Literature I
survey course
English 312 American Literature II
survey course
English 319 American Literature, 1830-1865
period course
English 322 American Literature, 1960-present
period course
English 382 Contemporary Poetry in English
period genre course
English 491 Interpretive Theory, New Criticism-present
theory course for English majors
English 501/502 Independent Study
Honors thesis
Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University, 1997-2003
Department of English (quarter system, 1/1/1 load, instructor of record for all courses)
English 110 First-Year Composition
first-year composition course
English 260 Introduction to Poetry
genre course
English 261 Introduction to Fiction
genre course
English 263 Introduction to Film
genre course
English 291 U.S. Literature, 1865 to the Present
survey course
English 367 Second-Year Writing, The U.S. Experience
advanced composition course for upperclassmen, research-oriented
367.01 Essay Emphasis
367.02 Literature Emphasis
Administration
Department of English, Georgia College & State University, Spring 2015-2020
Department of English, Georgia College & State University, August 2018-June 2019
Coordinator of the Teaching Fellows
Department of English & Rhetoric, Georgia College & State University, 2008-2013
Graduate Administrative Associate, Computers in Composition and Literature,
Department of English, The Ohio State University, 2001-2003
Service
System Committees
Board of Regents Academic Advisory Council on English, University System of Goeriga, 2018-2019
University System of Georgia Faculty Council, University System of Georgia, 2017-2018
University Committees
Executive Committee of the University Senate, University Senate, Georgia College &
State University, 2017-present
Secretary, 2019-present
Past Presiding Officer, 2019-2020
Presiding Officer, 2018-2019
Presiding Officer Elect and Vice-Chair, 2017-2018
Subcommittee on Nominations, University Senate, Georgia College & State University; 2017-2020
Secretary, 2019-present
Chair, 2017-2018
University Senate, Georgia College & State University, Spring 2013; 2013-2014; 2016-present
Honors Faculty Council, Georgia College & State University, 2017-present
President's Commission on Diversity, Georgia College & State University, 2018-2019
Faculty Affairs Policy Committee, University Senate, Georgia College & State University, 2010-2011; Spring 2013; 2013-2014; 2015-2017
Chair, 2013-2014, 2016-2017
Secretary, 2015-2016
Promotion & Tenure Task Force, Georgia College & State University, Spring 2017
Parking & Transportation Advisory Committee, Georgia College & State University, 2015-2017
Phi Kappa Phi Executive Board, Georgia College & State University, 2013-present
Past-President, 2015-2016
President, 2014-2015
President-Elect, 2013-2014
Faculty Strategic Planning Committee, Georgia College & State University, 2015-2016
Convocation Committee, Georgia College & State University, Spring 2015
Curriculum and Assessment Policy Committee, University Senate, Georgia College & State University, 2011-2012
University Curriculum Committee, University Senate, Georgia College & State University, 2010-2011
Academic Policy Committee, University Senate, Georgia College & State University, 2009-2010
Convocation Book Committee, Georgia College & State University, 2008-2010
Chair, 2009-2010
College Committees
Promotion & Tenure Committee, College of Arts & Sciences, Georgia College & State University, 2024-present
Chair, 2024-present
Curriculum and Instruction Committee, College of Arts & Sciences, Georgia College & State University, 2012-2013
Department Committees
O'Connor Scholar Search Committee, Department of English, Georgia College & State University, 2024-2025; Chair
Promotion & Tenure Committee, Department of English, Georgia College & State University,
Chair, 2024-2025
Member, 2016-2018; 2020-2022; 2022-2024; 2024-2026
Master's Committee, Department of English, Georgia College & State University, 2008-2013;
Chair, 2022-present, 2010-2013
Member, 2019-present, 2016-2017, 2008-2013
[formerly Master's Exam & Portfolio Committee, 2016-2020]
[formerly Master's Exam Committee, 2008-2010]
Film Concentration Committee, Chair, 2018-2020
Poetry Search Committee, Department of English, Georgia College & State University, 2019-2020
Temporary Poetry Lecturer Search Committee, Department of English, Georgia College & State University, 2019; Chair
Film Lecturer Search Committee, Department of English & Rhetoric, Georgia College & State University, 2017-2018; Chair
Compositionist Search Committee, Department of English & Rhetoric, Georgia College & State University, 2013-2014
Fiction Writer Search Committee, Department of English & Rhetoric, Georgia College & State University, 2012-2013
Early Americanist Search Committee, Department of English & Rhetoric, Georgia College & State University, 2009-2010
Internationalization Committee, Department of English, Georgia College & State University, 2008-2009
Master's Program Committee, Department of English, Grand Valley State University, 2006-2008
20th Century Literature & Culture Conference Committee, Department of English and Department of Classical and Modern Languages, University of Louisville, 2003-2006
Conference Panel Chair
Midcentury Modern: Scandals on TV. South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Virtual Conference. 14 Nov. 2020.
Film Theory of Generation History & Adaptation. The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture Since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 24 Feb. 2012.
The Hermeneutic Hit List: Postmodernism's Popular Influences. The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture Since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 24 Feb. 2012.
H.D. and D.H. Lawrence: Love, Art. The Louisville Conf. on Literature and
Culture Since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 25 Feb. 2011.
Fictions of Late Capitalism: Ellis, Theroux, Ferris. The Louisville Conf. on
Literature and Culture Since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 24 Feb. 2011.
Auster. The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture Since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 21 Feb. 2009.
Huelle, Nabokov, Pynchon, and Barnes: Purpose, Obsession, and Paranoia. The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture Since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 23 Feb. 2008.
Rethinking the Messiah: Christianity and Pop Culture. The Louisville Conf. on Literature and Culture Since 1900. U of Louisville, Louisville. 24 Feb. 2007.
Violence: Formal Questions, Social Questions. 20th Century Literature & Culture Conf. U of Louisville, Louisville. 25 Feb. 2006.
American Pastorals: Childbirth, Family, and Pedagogical Portraits. 20th Century Literature & Culture Conf. U of Louisville, Louisville. 25 Feb. 2006.
The Language of Postmodern Conflict," 20th Century Literature & Culture Conf. U of Louisville, Louisville. 23 Feb. 2006.
Metanarratives and Myths: Constructions and Deconstructions," Narrative: An International Conf., Brown Hotel, Louisville. 8 Apr. 2005.
Commodification and the Grotesque," 20th Century Literature & Culture Conf. U of Louisville, Louisville. 24 Feb. 2005.
Pop Culture and Postmodernity," 20th Century Literature Conf. U of Louisville, Louisville. 26 Feb. 2004.
Conferences Attended
Association of American Colleges & Universities. 2018 Annual Meeting: Can Higher Education Recapture the Elusive American Dream? Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, DC. 24-27 Jan. 2018.
American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Academic Affairs Summer Meeting: Curricular Coherence: Finding Meaning and Purpose. Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, Baltimore, MD. 20-22 July 2017.
Reviews
Panel Member, "Film, Media, and Theory," National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Program, Washington, D.C., Fall 2011.
Reviewer, College Literature, 2009-2010
Reviewer, LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory, Summer 2010
Miscellaneous
The Department of English Newsletter, Department of English, Georgia College & State University,
Founding Editor and Publisher, 2009-2021, 2024-present
Webmaster, Department of English, Georgia College & State University, 2013-2019, 2024-2027
Honors and Awards
Distinguished Faculty Member Award, Eta Sigma Alpha, Georgia College & State University Honors Student Association, Spring 2022
Phi Kappa Phi, Georgia College & State University Chapter, Spring 2011
Eta Sigma Alpha, Georgia College & State University Honors Student Association, Spring 2010
Summer Dissertation Fellowship, Department of English, The Ohio State University, Summer 2002
Undergraduate Teaching Award for Graduate Teaching Associates, Department of English, The Ohio State University, Spring 2002
Phi Beta Kappa, Denison University Chapter, Spring 1997
Denison University Young Scholar Award, Summer 1996
Thesis: "Language Poetry: From the Modern, Some Notes toward Context"
Advisor: Professor Richard Hood
Denison University Young Scholar Award, Summer 1995
Thesis: "Surveying the Gone World: Will Eros or Civilization win' in the Writings of Lawrence Ferlinghetti?"
Advisor: Professor John Miller
References
Allen Gee, Donald L. Jordan Endowed Professor of Creative Writing, Department of English, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, 31907, 478.457.7627, gee_allen@columbusstate.edu
Katie Simon, Associate Professor, Department of English, Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, GA, 31061, 478.445.5564, katie.simon@gcsu.edu
John Sirmans, Interim Co-Chair and Associate Professor, Department of English, Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, GA, 31061, 478.445.5139, john.sirmans@gcsu.edu
Lois Tyson, Professor Emeritus, Department of English, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, 49401, tysonl@gvsu.edu
David Anderson, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40292, 502.852.3050, david.anderson2@louisville.edu
Walter A. Davis, Professor Emeritus, Department of English, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, davis.65@osu.edu