English Department Faculty
Theodore F. Sheckels
Professor of English and Communication
Educational Background:
B.S. Duquesne University
M.A., Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University
Recent courses:
ENGL 367 – Post-1950 Canadian and Australian Literature
ENGL 368 – Post-1950 Caribbean and African Literature
FILM 215 – Australian Film
COMM/PSCI 307 – Political Communication
COMM/AMST 310 – American Public Address
Research Areas:
In literary studies, I am currently working on a book-length study of the political dimensions of Margaret Atwood’s fiction. In communication studies, I remain interested in studying the quadrennial presidential debates, and I hope to embark soon on the study of successful, lesser-known political communicators from the 20th Century. The first subject is highly likely to be former Maryland Governor Albert Ritchie, who deftly used communication strategies to keep the state’s Democratic Party from splintering.
Recent publications and presentations:
Textbooks:
Perspectives On Political Communication: A Case Approach (Allyn & Bacon, 2007) (With Lauren Cohen Bell & Joan L. Conners)
Readings On Political Communication (Strata, 2007) (With Janette Kenner Muir, Terry Robertson, & Lisa Gring-Pemble)
Books:
Maryland Politics and Political Communication, 1950-2005 (Lexington, 2006)
The Island Motif In The Fiction Of L. M. Montgomery, Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood, And Other Canadian Women Writers (Peter Lang, 2004)
Celluloid Heroes Down Under: Australian Film, 1970-2000 (Greenwood, 2002)
When Congress Debates: A Bakhtinian Paradigm (Praeger, 2000)
Articles/Chapters:
“Anne Of Green Gables As Inter-Text In Post-1960 Canadian Women’s Fiction,” In L. M. Montgomery’s Anne Of Green Gables: A Centennial Tribute (Scarecrow, In Press)
“Australian Cinema,” In Companion To 20th Century Australian Literature (Boydell & Brewer, 2007)
“The Rhetoric Of Thabo Mbeki On Hiv/Aids: Strategic Scapegoating,” The Howard Journal of Communications 15.2 (2004): 69-82
“Character Versus Competence: Evidence From The 2000 Presidential Debates And Election,” In The Millennium Election (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003) (With Lauren Cohen Bell)
“Scene, Symbol, Subversion: The Evolving Uses Of Mapping In Margaret Atwood’s Fiction,” American Review Of Canadian Studies 31.3 (2001): 403-22 (With Kathleen Mackin Sweeney)
“The Rhetoric Of Nelson Mandela: A Qualified Success,” The Howard Journal of Communications 12.2 (2001): 85-100
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