Faculty/Staff Directory

Dr. John B. Murphy

John B. Murphy

Assistant Professor
Department of English

Phone: 478-934-3694

Locations:
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 4:00 to 5:00

Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00 to 3:00
Biography: I'm a native Middle Georgian and grew up in Sandersville, midway between Macon and Augusta, midway between Atlanta and Savannah.

I earned my AB in English in the Honors Program at the University of Georgia in Athens, where I also worked at Wuxtry Records and wrote for Flagpole Magazine. I also earned my MA in English at UGA, where 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, Director of the Writing Center, and after graduation, Assistant Professor on the General Faculty. My dissertation on Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford was directed by Michael Levenson with Stephen Arata and Karen Chase.

Since 2019, I've lived in Bonaire, near Warner Robins, and taught primarily on MGA's campus in Cochran and online.

My interests as a teacher and scholar include:

Modern and Contemporary World Literature
Literary Romanticism, Realism, and Modernism
Popular Fiction: Horror, Crime, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Graphic Fiction: Comic Books, Manga, Bandes Dessinées
Virtue Ethics, Positive Psychology, and Growth Mindset in Student Support

My scholarship centers on overlapping questions of ethics, anthropology, and character in late 19th and early 20th century writers including Henry James, Joseph Conrad, and Ford Madox Ford. Its theoretical perspective is informed by current work in virtue ethics by Alasdair MacIntyre, Martha Nussbaum, and Eric Silverman.

A conference presentation last Fall (2023) in Lisbon, Portugal earned an invitation to submit my latest work on Ford for publication in The University of Lisbon's scholarly journal of English Studies, Anglo-Saxonica. A conference presentation this Summer (2024) in London, England earned a similar invitation to submit my latest work on Conrad for publication in The Joseph Conrad Society's scholarly journal The Conradian. My primary focus this Fall (2024) is completing my revision and expansion of these manuscripts.

Alongside and informed by my scholarship and teaching, I serve in the following University service roles at MGA:

Coordinator for The MGA Writing Center on the Cochran Campus
Faculty Co-Sponsor for Knight's Journey: The MGA Storytelling and Game Design Club
Governance Historian for The MGA Faculty Senate
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
ENGL 3900: On-Campus Internship (The Writing Center)
Education: Ph.D. in English, University of Virginia
MA in English, University of Georgia
AB in English, University of Georgia
Professional Experience: Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) - Middle Georgia State University
Assistant Professor (General Faculty) - University of Virginia
Assistant Professor (Adjunct) - Piedmont Virginia Community College
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)

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
The Southeastern Writing Center Association
Awards and Honors: Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia
Graduate, Cum Laude, General Honors, University of Georgia
Publications: “The ’Ind Legs of The Elephink: Pantomime, Prophecy and Tosh in Parade’s End,” in Ashley Chantler and Rob Hawkes eds, Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End: The First World War, Culture, and Modernity. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2014.


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