Robert S. Nelsen


Administrative Curriculum Vitae

 

The University of Texas at Dallas                                609 Tucker Street

Admin 23, Box 830688                                              McKinney, Texas 75069

Richardson, Texas 75083-0688                 (972) 562-9529

(972) 883-2273 (972) 883-4314 FAX

nelsen@utdallas.edu

 

EDUCATION:

             

Ph.D., The University of Chicago,Committee on Social Thought

(Fields:  Modern Literature, Modern Philosophy, Modern Political Theory), 1989—Advisors:  Stephen Toulmin, Wayne Booth, A.K Ramanujan

M.A., Brigham Young University, Political Science (Fields: Political

Philosophy, Philosophy of Science), 1979

B.A., Brigham Young University, Political Science (Minor in English), 1978

 

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS:

 

Vice Provost, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2007-present; Associate

Provost, 2006-2007

Professor, Literary and Aesthetic Studies, School of Arts &

Humanities, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2008-present; Associate Professor 1996-2008, Assistant Professor, 1990-1996, Director of Creative Writing 1996-2006

Lecturer, Department of English, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1989-1990

Guest Research Associate in the Social and Human Sciences, Wolfgang

Goethe Universität der Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany, 1987

 ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • administration and oversight of the processes of hiring and evaluating faculty and academic staff,
  • administration and oversight of the various faculty review processes, e.g., annual reviews, third-year reviews for reappointment, sixth-year reviews for tenure and promotion, promotion to the rank of professor, and periodic post-tenure reviews,
  • administration of the mandated reviews of academic programs,
  • administration of mandated reviews of academic administrators,
  • administration of and SACS Liaison for SACS reaffirmation, including Quality Enhancement Plan oversight,
  • administration of the processes for orientation of new faculty and periodic training of current faculty and administrators,
  • administration of  awards for Special Faculty Development Assignments,
  • management of the Office of the Provost personnel,
  • communications between the Office of the Provost and the UTD Faculty
    Governance system,
  • management of faculty grievances and offenses,
  • management and approval of faculty, staff, and TA credentialing,
  • communications between the Office of the Provost and the Offices of Business Affairs and Student Affairs,
  • communications between the Office of the Provost and the UT System and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board,
  • administrative responsibility for UTD’s Eugene McDermott Library,
  • administrative responsibility for UTD's Office of International Education,
  • administrative responsibility for the Center for US-Mexico Studies,
  • administrative responsibility for UTD’s Office of Educational Enhancement and Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching,
  • approval authority and oversight for:
    • overseas travel of faculty and administrative officers,
    • requests to serve alcohol at university functions,
    • faculty consulting and dual employment,
    • conflict of interest issues,
    • use of self-authored text-books,
    • Professional Services contracts,
    • off-campus use of university equipment
    • employment of foreign nationals

HONORS AND AWARDS:

 

“Chancellor’s Council Award for Outstanding Teaching,” The University of

Texas System and The University of Texas at Dallas, 2004-2005

“Special Faculty Development Award,” The University of Texas at Dallas,

2003-2004

“Victor Worsfold Teacher of the Year,” Arts and Humanities, University of

Texas at Dallas, 2002

"Best Journal in Humanities, Social Studies, and Social Sciences, 1993,"

Common Knowledge, The American Association of Publishers, January 1994

"Ten Best Journals," Common Knowledge, May 1, 1993, Library Journal

The Pushcart Prize --Best of the Small Presses: Distinguished Stories

Award, 1991:  "Ronnie Big Wolf Tooth" and "Two Points of a Blue Star"

           --Finalist Nominee, 1996, 1995, 1990, 1989 (eight stories)

TEXAS STATEWIDE ACADEMIC AND GOVERNANCE ACTIVITIES:

 

Member, Academic Leadership Taskforce, University of Texas System,

2006-Present

Member, Graduate Education Taskforce, University of Texas System,

2006-Present

Member, Advisory Committee for the Academic Course Guide Manual,

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2000-Present

Member, Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity in Graduate Education, Texas

Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2005-Present

Member, Graduate Education Advisory Committee, Texas Higher Education

Coordinating Board, 2004-Present

Member, Executive Committee, Faculty Advisory Council, University of

Texas System, 1999-2006

Member, Faculty Advisory Council, University of Texas System, 1997-2006

Member, Accountability Working Group, University of Texas System, 2002-

2006

Member, Texas Council of Faculty Senates, 1998-2002, 2003-2006

Vice President, Texas Association of College Teachers, 2003-2004

Chair, Faculty Advisory Council, University of Texas System, 2001—2003

(Past Chair, 2003-2004)

Member, Board of Regents’ Committee on Student, Faculty, and Staff

Campus Life, University of Texas System, 2002—2003

Chair, Governance Committee, Faculty Advisory Council, University of

Texas System, 1999—2001

SELECTED UNIVERSITY SERVICE:

 

Co-chair, UTD Committee on Strategic Planning, The University of Texas at

Dallas, 2004-2006

Member, Commencement Committee, The University of Texas at Dallas,

2004-present (Chair, 1998-2002)

Member, Mercury Advisory Board (Student Newspaper), The University of

Texas at Dallas, 2001-2003, 2004-present

Faculty Advisor, Sojourn, School of Arts and Humanities, The University of

Texas at Dallas, 1999-2006

Faculty Advisor, Graduate Student Association, School of Arts Humanities,

The University of Texas at Dallas, 1991-2006

Speaker of the Faculty, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2004-2006

Secretary of the Faculty, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2003-2004

Member, UTD Institutional Compliance Working Committee, 1998-2006

Member, Presidential Search Committee, The University of Texas at Dallas,

2003-2005

Member, Ad Hoc Committee on Tuition and Fees, The University of Texas at

Dallas, 2004-2005

Member, UTD Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Summer Teaching, 2003

Chair, Ad Hoc Committee for the Reorganization of Academic Structure at

The University of Texas at Dallas, 2000-2002

Speaker of the Faculty, The University of Texas at Dallas, 1998-2001

Member, Academic Council, The University of Texas at Dallas, 1997-2001

Senator, The University of Texas at Dallas Academic Senate, 1996-2001

Member, SACS Self-Study Editorial Committee, The University of Texas at

Dallas, 1996-1997

 

PUBLICATIONS:

 

NOVEL:

Spirits Colliding, Under Consideration, Red Hen Press, Los Angeles, CA

             

SHORT FICTION:

“A Mother’s Kiss,” Southwest Review, Vol. 89-1, 2004, pp. 130-145

“Spirits Colliding,” Descant, Vol. 39.1 and 39.2, Spring 2000, pp. 100-103

Coz Duzego" in the Polish Translation of Fiction of the Eighties (Lublin,

Poland: 1996) [page numbers unavailable]

"The Sun, The Moon, The Star," Southwest Review, Autumn 1996,

pp. 538-544

"Miles away from Home," TriQuarterly 92, Winter 1995, pp. 211-219

"They Fly Up and Drop," Quarterly West, Summer/Fall 1994, pp. 92-100

"The Old Dreams," Common Knowledge, Winter 1993, pp. 147-150

"We Bums Are Not Homeless," Chariton Review, Fall 1993, pp. 68-74

"Everybody Needs a Fine Dancer," Southwest Review, Winter 1992,

pp. 61-71

"Something Big," Fiction of the Eighties, Reginald Gibbons, ed., (Evanston, IL:

Northwestern University Press, 1990), pp. 474-479 [anthology]

"Angel and Me," The Baffler 2, Summer 1990, pp. 35-42

"Ronnie Big Wolf Tooth," The North Dakota Quarterly 57, Fall 1989,

pp. 93-112

"The Story of a Mighty and Ferocious Warrior," Other Voices 10, Spring

1989, pp. 40-47

"Two Points of a Blue Star," Quarterly West 28, Winter 1989, pp. 5-12

"Mala Bruja," StoryQuarterly 25, Fall 1988, pp. 9-12

"Something Big," TriQuarterly 71, Winter 1988, pp. 46-51

 

PLAY:

"We Bums," Produced by Extra Virgin Performance Company, Deep Ellum

Theater, Dallas, TX, January 5-28, 1995

ESSAYS:

“B on Time,” TACT Quarterly E-Bulletin, Vol. LVI, No. 1, September, 2003

“Odilon Redon:  Femme a la Toque,” “Ben Nicholson:  White Relief,”

“Ferdinand Léger: Composition with Tree Trunks,” and “Jean Arp:  Classical Sculpture,” European Masterworks’ Exhibition (Dallas, TX, Dallas Museum Art, January, 2002)

Introduction, The Poems of Louisa May Alcott (Forest Hills, NY:  Ironweed

Press, 1999), pp. 11-14

Divoký skeptik, oddaný filosofováni ["Paul Feyerabend 1924-1994: A

Retrospective"], Nova Pritomnost (Prague, Czech Republic, Summer 1995), pp. 19-20.

"Frankfurt's Gotterdammerung:  My Rites of Passage," Wagner News 14,

November 1987, pp. 9-11

CO-EDITED VOLUMES:

Common Knowledge Volumes 1-7, 1992-1999, Oxford University Press,

Co-edited with Jeffrey Perl

BOOK REVIEWS:

39 Book Reviews

             

COMPLETED MANUSCRIPTS:

Orphans, Bums, and Angels, (a collection of 12 short stories, 192 pp.)

 

 

WORK IN PROGRESS:

 

Waiting to Die (a novel)

The Art and Structure of the Contemporary Novel

The Art of the Contemporary Short Story

 

EDITORSHIPS:         

 

Contributing Editor, Common Knowledge, Duke University Press, 1999-present

Executive Editor, Common Knowledge, Oxford University Press, 1992-1999

Senior Editor and Fiction Editor, Common Knowledge, Oxford University

Press, 1991-1992

Associate Editor, Common Knowledge, Oxford University Press, 1990-1991

 

WEB PROGRAMS:

 

Creator and Director, Creative Writing Outreach Program, School of

Humanities, The University of Texas at Dallas, 1999—2001

SELECTED PUBLIC LECTURES:

 

“Innovations in Student Learning and the GEMS Initiative,” Leadership

Richardson, Richardson, Texas, April 4, 2008

“Writing Is a Dangerous Thing,” Monterrey Technological University,

Monterrey, Mexico, April 27, 2008

“James Joyce:  The Myth and the Reality,” Monterrey Technological

University, Monterrey, Mexico, April 27, 2008

“Strategic Planning and the Future of the University,” The Institute of

Academic Studies, The University of Texas at Dallas, November 11, 2007

“The Future of the Arts in the Small Community,” North Texas Business,

Culture, and Arts, McKinney Texas April 21, 2007

“The Value of Graduate Education:  When You Become the Teacher,”

Commencement Speech, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, May 18, 2007

“Writing What You Don’t Know—The Art of Fiction,” National Library

Week Library Lecture Series, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, April 17, 2007

“Unleashing the Creative Soul,” Golden Key Keynote Speech, The University

of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, November 13, 2005

“A Defense of Postmodernism in Perilous Times,” UTD Alumni Association,

The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, October 29, 2005

“Postmodern ‘Irreality’ in Contemporary Fiction,” Collin Community College,

Frisco, TX, October 11, 2004

“Why I Wear Black,” Convocation Speech, Chancellor’s Council Outstanding

Teaching Award, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, May 7, 2005

“Identity Construction in Postmodern Short Stories,” Richland College,

Dallas, TX, July 20, 2004

“Rick Bragg’s Literary Feast,” Introduction, In Person Author Lecture Series,

Richardson Public Library, Richardson, TX, October 22, 2002

“Does Postmodern Literature Make Any Sense?  A Defense of

Postmodernism Post-September-11th-2001,” Dallas Philosopher’s Forum, Dallas, TX, May 28, 2002

“Ineluctability, Contingency, and Irony in Contemporary Fiction,”

WordSpace and Texas Council of the Humanities, Dallas, TX, May 9, 2002

“Pyrotechniques and Absurdity:  Post-Vietnam Hyperrealism,” War’s End: 

The Literature of the Aftermath, Writers’ Garret and Texas Council of the Humanities, Dallas, TX, December, 9, 2001

Art, Censorship, and the First Amendment,” The American First Amendment

Institute, Dallas, TX, January 26, 2001

“Novelistic Techniques in Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy,Gulf

Coast Association of Creative Writing Teachers, Houston, TX, April 15, 2000

"Discovery as Life," In Person Lecture Series, Richardson, TX, February 4,

1998 (broadcast on Richardson Public Access Channel)

"Voices of Darkness and Voices of Light: The Use of the Grotesque in

Scottish Fiction," Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, Dallas, TX, November 3, 1996

"Morality and the Personal Essay," PEN Annual Literary Awards, Dallas, TX,

March 5, 1996

"Objective Dialogue:  Techniques for Revision in Contemporary Drama,"

New Playwrights’ Series, Sammons Center for the Arts, Dallas, TX, July 1, 1995

"A Writer's Material," American Heart Association, Wordsmith's Group,

Dallas, TX, May 24, 1991

"Language and Concept Scaffolding," paper delivered at the Spring Institute,

Sociology Department, The University of Chicago, April 11, 1983

"#84, How Could the Founders Have Ever Believed That?—An Analysis of

the Bill of Rights Debate," paper delivered at the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, Cedar City, UT, March 1, 1979

             

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS AND PANELS:

 

Presenter, “Characteristics of Texas Public Doctoral Programs,”

Accountability Working Group, University of Texas System, Austin, TX, June 27, 2007

Presenter, “Strategic Goals for Doctoral Education in Texas,”

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Graduate Education Advisory Council, Austin, TX, June 8, 2007

Presenter, “Strategic Planning--How to Write a Plan that Is Measurable,"

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Graduate Education Advisory Council, Austin, TX, September 22, 2006

Presenter, “Faculty Governance:  How to Make It Work,” The University of

Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, September 15, 2005

Presenter, “Texas for Texans Data,” Board of Regents, The University of

Texas System, Austin, TX, February 10, 2005

Presenter, “The Ramifications of the WAG Report on UTD’s Future,”

Research Advisory Council, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, November 10, 2004

Presenter, “The Future of Arts in McKinney,” McKinney City Council,

McKinney, TX, August 17, 2004

Presenter, “UT System Faculty Satisfaction Survey,” Board of Regents,

The University of Texas System, San Antonio, TX, August 7, 2003

Presenter, “Executive Planning and Leadership Councils,” Board of

Regents, The University of Texas System, Richardson, TX, November 12, 2002

Presenter and Workshop Leader, “Tenure and Its Alternatives,”

“Academic Freedom in the Classroom,” and “Inequities in Faculty Workload Distribution,” Texas Association of College Teachers, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX, March 9, 2002

Presenter, “Open Procedures and Search Committee Representation in the

Search for a new UT-System Chancellor,” Board of Regents, The University of Texas System, Tyler, TX, November 7, 2001

Presenter, “Fields of Study Survey? No,” Board of Regents, The University of

Texas System, Tyler, TX, November 17, 2000

Presenter and Moderator, “K-16: What’s Up?”, Texas Council of Faculty

Senates, Austin, TX, February, 25, 2000

 

INTERVIEWS:

 

“The Art of Writing Fiction,” Literary Explorer—The Talk Show, KERA Public

Radio, November 10, 2006

“Man in Black and Read All Over,” UTD Network Magazine, Autumn 2005,

pp. 34-35

“Illuminations:  Write Stuff,” Plano Profile, November 2001, pp. 72-76

“Art and Religion:  The Madonna Crises,” KERA Public Television, Channels

2 and 12, Aggie Dameron Garner, producer, Multiple Viewings, March 2001

“Free Speech Issues on the College Campus,” Radio Interview, Rick

Vanderslice, National Public Radio, KERA 90.1, October 27, 2000

The KLIF Talk Radio Afternoon Drive Show, Radio Interview, KLIF AM

Radio, Billy Hayes, host, October 22, 2000

“Faculty Profile: Robert Nelsen,” Mercury (October 16, 2000):  5

"Writer, Teacher, Editor:  An Interview with Robert Nelsen," Forces

(Volume 5, Fall 1992):  21-2

 

RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

 

Chair, McKinney Commission on the Arts, McKinney City Council,

McKinney, TX 2004-present

Member, International Advisory Board, Christopher Isherwood Foundation,

Santa Monica, CA 2002-present

Member, Board of Advisors, CONTEXT, Dalkey Archive Press, Normal, IL,

2000-2005

Member, Board of Advisors, WordSpace, Dallas, TX, 1995-2005

Judge, Brazos’ Short Story Award, Texas Institute of Letters, 2000

Manuscript Referee, Method and Madness, Addison, Wesley, Longman Press,

November 4, 1999

Manuscript Referee, Creative Writing for Beginners, Addison, Wesley,

Longman Press, August 14, 1999

President, Gulf Coast Association of Creative Writing Teachers, Fairhope,

AL, 1999—2001

Member, Artists' Advisory Committee, Dallas Artists Research and Exhibition,

McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX, 1994-1999

Member, Board of Directors, The Playwrights Project, Dallas, TX, 1993-1999

Judge, Leon Rabin Theater Awards, Dallas Theater League, 1997-1998

Judge, Cultural Projects Program, City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs,

Dallas, TX, 1998

Judge, Robert Bone Memorial Playwriting Contest, Robert Bone Memorial

Foundation, Dallas, TX, 1997, 1998

Judge, PEN Literary Awards, Dallas, TX, 1997, 1998

Judge, City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, "Louise M. Kahn Memorial

Prize," 1996

Consultant, Ph.D. Program in Creative Writing, Department of English,

University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1997

Member, Editorial Board, Collegiate Press, Alta Loma, CA, 1993-1996

Manuscript Referee, Ohio State University Press, 1995

Consultant, "Texas Bound," Dallas Museum of Art and Southern Methodist

University Press, 1995

Consultant, Journal Acquisition (Postmodern Culture), Oxford University Press,

1993

Member, Editorial Board, StoryQuarterly, Northbrook, IL, 1987-1988

 

LANGUAGES:

 

Spanish—fluent

French—reading ability

 

REFERENCES:

 

President David E. Daniel

Office of the President

The University of Texas at Dallas

Box 830688 AD 22

Richardson, TX 75083

972-883-2201

dedaniel@utdallas.edu

 

Franklyn Jenifer, President Emeritus

912 Holly Lane

Cedar Grove, NJ 07009

973-857-0174

fjenifer@utdallas.edu

 

Provost B. Hobson Wildenthal

Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost

The University of Texas at Dallas

Box 830688 AD 23

Richardson, TX  75083

972-883-2271

wildenbh@utdallas.edu

 

Dean Bert Moore

School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences

The University of Texas at Dallas

Box 830688 GR 41

Richardson, TX  75083

972-883-2355

bmoore@utdallas.edu

 

Dean Hasan Pirkul

Caruth Chair

School of Management

The University of Texas at Dallas

Box 830688 SM 40

Richardson, TX  75083

972-883-6813

hpirkul@utdallas.edu

 

Dr. Emily Tobey

Nelle C. Johnston Chair

School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences

The University of Texas at Dallas

Box 830688 CD

Richardson, TX  75083

214-905-3105

etobey@utdallas.edu

 

Dr. John Ferraris

Department Head, Chemistry

Green Chair in Systems Biology

School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

The University of Texas at Dallas

Box 830688 BE 26

Richardson, TX  75083

972-883-2905

John.Ferraris@utdallas.edu

 

   
 
Spirits Colliding
(novel)
Orphans, Bums and Angels
(short stories)
Publications
Biographical Sketch C.V. Interview
The University of Texas at Dallas School of Arts & Humanities Sample Classes Creative Writing & Translation