Sean Heuston
Department of English
The Citadel
sean.heuston@citadel.edu
(843) 953-5143 or 953-5068
Education:
• Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
• M.A., Stanford University
• B.A., California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Appointments:
• Professor, Department of English, The Citadel, 2014-present
• Associate Professor, Department of English, The Citadel, 2008-2014.
• Assistant Professor, Department of English, The Citadel, 2002-2008.
Honors/awards:
• Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award (2012) for Modern Poetry and Ethnography: Yeats, Frost, Warren, Heaney, and the Poet as Anthropologist
• Inducted into Phi Kappa Phi honor society (2012)
• Research leave/sabbatical (2010)
• James A. Grimsley Undergraduate Teaching Award (2008)
Teaching:
• ENGL 700—Plural Souths: Tradition and Change (graduate seminar)*
• ENGL 700—Irish Literature: The Irish Question (graduate seminar)*
• ENGL 560—Film Studies (graduate seminar)*
• ENGL 402—Senior Seminar: War and Social Conflict on Film*
• ENGL 401—Anglo-Irish Literature*
• ENGL 401—Film Studies: Britain: Empire and After*
• ENGL 401—Westerns and Western Literature*
• ENGL 401—Beat Generation Literature*
• ENGL 372—Film Studies*
• ENGL 348—Twentieth Century Southern Literature
• ENGL 336—Twentieth Century British Poetry
• ENGL 215—Masterpieces of American Literature
• ENGL 209—Introduction to Film
• ENGL 208—Crime on Film*
• ENGL 208—War on Film*
• ENGL 208—Detective Fiction*
• ENGL 204—Survey of British Literature II
• ENGL 203—Survey of British Literature I
• ENGL 202—Major British Writers II
• ENGL 102—Composition and Literature II
• ENGL 101—Composition and Literature I
• HONR 300—Honors Film Studies: The South in Literature and Film*
• HONR 300—Honors Film Studies: War and Social Conflict*
• HONR 201—Plural Souths: Tradition and Multiculturalism*
*Course developer and instructor
Scholarly and Professional Activities:
Authored Books
• Modern Poetry and Ethnography: Yeats, Frost, Warren, Heaney, and the Poet as Anthropologist (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011)
Scholarly Journal Publications—Peer Reviewed
• "Cheering American Casualties? Avatar and the Global War on Terror." Review of Arts and Humanities 3.3-4 (2014). (Note: This journal issue was back-dated to December 2014. The issue was not actually published until March 2015.)
• “The Most Famous Thing Robert E. Lee Never Said: Duty, Forgery, and Cultural Amnesia.” Journal of American Studies 48.4 (2014): 1069-1082.
• “‘Are You Sure?’: Unstable Narrative and Multiple Interpretations in Robert Frost's ‘The Fear.’” The Explicator 71.3 (2013): 160-168.
• “The Gist of What Yeats's Epitaph Means: A Possible Oisin Reference in W. B. Yeats's ‘Under Ben Bulben.’” Notes and Queries 258.2 (2013): 292-295.
• "Trucker Tricks: Helping Students Stay Awake in Class." College Teaching 61.3 (2013): 108.
• "Off with the Fairies: Yeats, Ethnography, and Identifiction." International Journal of Humanities and Social
Science 1.11 (2011): 172-181.
• “Chopin's The Awakening.” The Explicator 64.1 (2006): 220-223.
• “Anybody Raised Down Home—Down South: Brother to Dragons and Warren’s Southern Ethnography.”
Mississippi Quarterly 58.1-2 (2005): 347-372.
• “Weapons of Mass Instruction: Terrorism, Propaganda Film, Politics, and Us.” 2005 Film and History CD-
ROM Annual; originally published in Studies in Popular Culture 27.3 (2005): 59-73.
• “Robert Frost’s ‘West-Running Brook.’” The Explicator 63.1 (2004): 40-43.
Essays in Edited Volumes
• “It Can Be Done: Getting a Tenure-Track Job as an ABD in the Humanities.” In Job Search in Academe (Stylus Press, 2009): 119-124.
Book Reviews and Encyclopedia Entries
• Review of Tim Kendall's The Art of Robert Frost. The Robert Frost Review (forthcoming)
• Review of Joseph Millichap's Robert Penn Warren After Audubon: The Work of Aging and the Quest for
Transcendence in His Later Poetry. Mississippi Quarterly (forthcoming).
• Review of Marit J. MacArthur's The American Landscape in the Poetry of Frost, Bishop, and Ashbery: The
House Abandoned. English Studies 94.3 (2013): 361-362.
• Review of Jason David Hall's Seamus Heaney's Rhythmic Contract. English Studies 93.6 (2012): 742-743.
• Review of Mark Royden Winchell (ed.) Robert Penn Warren: Genius Loves Company. Mississippi Quarterly.
Fall 2008.
• Entries on Rita Dove, Thylias Moss, Robert Frost, and Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” A Companion to
Twentieth- Century American Poetry (Facts on File, 2005), 134-136, 171-174, 329, 425-426.
• Entries on the social construction of the male body and on sports in American culture. American
Masculinities: A Historical Encyclopedia (Sage Publications, 2004), 56-59, 435-437
• Review of Andrew Myers' Black, White & Olive Drab: Racial Integration at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and the Civil Rights Movement. Studies in American Culture 30.1 (2007): 155-156.
• Review of Tom French’s Touching the Bones. Nua: Studies in Contemporary Irish Writing 3.1 (2002): 139-144.
• Review of Lance Pettit’s Screening Ireland: Film and Television Representation. Nua: Studies in
Contemporary Irish Writing. Spring 2002.
• Review of Ralph Black’s Turning Over the Earth.” Solo. Fall 2001.
Conference Presentations
• "The Smog of War: The American Civil War, the Global War on Terror, and the National Psyche." CAPA
International Education Seminar: ‘Ain’t Gonna Study War No More’: The Lost Agenda in Education Abroad. NAFSA Association of International Educators Annual Conference. San Diego. May 25-28, 2014.
• “Cheering American Casualties? Avatar and the Global War on Terror.” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference. Savannah. October 4-6, 2013.
• “Growing 'Yankier and Yankier': Frost, Ethnography, and New England Identity.” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference. Boston. April 11-14, 2012
• "The Most Famous Thing Robert E. Lee Never Said: Duty, Forgery, and Cultural Amnesia." Society for the Study of Southern Literature Biannual Conference. Nashville. March 29-31, 2012.
• "'They tried to kill us in Katrina': Black Southerners and Conspiracy Theories in Hurricane Katrina Documentaries." South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Atlanta. November 4-6, 2011.
• "Troubling Waters: The Politics of Hurricane Katrina Documentaries." Society for the Study of Southern Literature Biannual Conference. New Orleans. April 8-11, 2010.
• "Superideology: Post-9/11 Superhero Movies and the Global War on Terror." Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference. New Orleans. April 9-12, 2009.
• "Monster and the Aileen Documentaries: Recording and Revising History on Film." Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference. San Francisco. March 19-22, 2008.
• "Texas, Florida, and the New New South: John Sayles' Lone Star and Sunshine State." Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference. Boston. April 4-7, 2007.
• "Human Rights, Civil Rights, and the New New South: John Sayles’ Lone Star and Sunshine State.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference. Charlotte. November 10-12, 2006.
• “Anybody Raised Down Home—Down South: Warren’s Southern Ethnography.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference. Charlotte. November 10-12, 2006.
• “Monster and the Aileen Documentaries: Civil Rights, Human Rights, and Justice on Film.” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference. Savannah. October 5-7, 2006.
• "Weapons of Mass Instruction: Terrorism, Propaganda Film, Politics, and Us." University Film and Video Association Conference. Chicago. August 2-6, 2005.
• “‘I choose to be a plain New Hampshire farmer’: Robert Frost and Literary Ethnography.” American Literature Association Conference. Boston. May 26-28, 2005.
• “Open Texts and the World Beyond the Big Screen: Propaganda Film in the Twenty-First Century.” Literature/Film Association Conference. Dallas. November 11-14, 2004.
• “Terrorism, Propaganda Film, Politics, and Us: New Media, New Meanings.” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference. New Orleans. September 23-25, 2004.
• “What We Teach About When We Teach ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.’” American Literature Association Conference. San Francisco. May 27-30, 2004.
• “‘Where’re you from?’: Place, Race, and Southern Literary Ethnography.” Society for the Study of Southern Literature Biannual Conference. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. March 26-28, 2004.
• “As We Know: Robert Frost, Proto-Postmodernist.” Dartmouth College Robert Frost Conference. Hanover, New Hampshire. July 11, 2003.
• “Telling About the South: The Fiction of Ernest Gaines.” American Culture Association Conference. Charlotte, North Carolina. October 2-5, 2002.
• “Whatever You Say, Say Nothing: Seamus Heaney and Postcolonial Ethnography.” Postcolonial Literature Section. South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Atlanta. November 9-11, 2001.
• “The Politics of Indeterminacy: Transatlantic Abolitionism and Racial Hybridity in Dion Boucicault's The Octoroon.” Multi-Ethnic Drama Section. MELUS: The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States. Knoxville. March 1-4, 2001.
• “‘Name children some names and see what you do’: Indeterminacy and Destiny in Robert Frost's Poetry." Modern Language Association. Washington, D.C. December 27-30, 2000.
• “The Predicament of Literary Ethnography: Narrative Instability and Robert Penn Warren’s Brother to Dragons.” Ethnographic Poetics Section. Modern Language Association. Washington, D.C. December 27-30, 2000.
• "Poetical Football: John Ashbery, Romantic Poetry, and the Shape of the Canon." South Atlantic Modern Language Association. American Literature Section. Birmingham. November 9-11, 2000.
• “Who Speaks for the South?: Robert Penn Warren’s Southern Ethnography.” South Central Modern Language Association. Southern Literature Section. San Antonio. November 9-11, 2000.
• “Mastering Discourse: Literary Ethnography and Narrative Instability.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Atlanta. November 4-6, 1999.
Service
Service to the College:
Standing College-Wide Committees:
• Fine Arts Advisory Board, 2013-present.
• Faculty Development Committee, 2010-present.
• International Education Study Group, 2007-present.
• Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Council, 2006-present.
• Summer Scholarship Committee, 2005-2012.
• Citadel Scholars Admissions Committee, 2005-2012.
• Athletic Advisory Committee, 2005-2009 (Chair, 2007-2008).
• Honors Committee, 2003-present.
• Awards Committee, 2003-2006.
College-Wide Ad Hoc Committees or Task Forces:
• Cadet Driving Safety Committee, 2005-present.
College-Wide Accreditation or Strategic Planning Initiatives:
• Citadel NCAA Compliance Self-Study Committee, 2007-2008.
Other Service to the College:
• Fine Arts Advisory Board, 2013-present.
• DUI/Drowsy Driving Cadet Video Project Coordinator.
• The Citadel Summer in London Program Co-Director, 2005-2008; Director, 2008-present.
Service to the Department:
• English Department MAT Program Committee, 2012-present.
• English Department Adjunct Committee, 2012-present.
• English Department Job Candidate Search Committee, 2007.
• English Department American Studies Minor Subcommittee, 2006-present.
• Citadel Summer in London Program Director, 2005-present.
• English Department Job Candidate MLA Interview Committee, 2005-6.
• English Department Faculty Mentor (for Lauren Rule), 2008-2010.
• English Department Faculty Mentor (for Barton Swaim), 2005-2006.
• English Department Faculty Mentor (for Harry Keuper), 2004-2005.
• English Department Core Courses Committee, 2004-2005.
• Faculty Advisor to The Shako (Citadel student literary magazine), 2002-2004.
Service to the Students:
• Cadet Driving Safety Committee, 2006-present.
• DUI/Drowsy Driving Cadet Video Project Coordinator, 2006-present.
• Faculty Academic Advisor to Bravo Company, 2002-present.
• Citadel Cadet Talent Show Judge, 2006.
• Citadel Honor Code Program Mentor, 2005-2006.
• Awards Committee, 2003-2006.
Service to the Community or Public:
• Judge, 2014 competitions for Poetry Society of South Carolina: Beatrice Ravenel Prize, Jeanne Crandall Broulik Memorial Prize, John H. Bennett, Jr. Memorial Prize.
• Judge, 2014 competitions for Poetry Society of South Carolina: John Edward Johnson Prize, Marjorie E. Peale Memorial Prize, Nancy Walton Pringle Memorial Prize, Archibald Rutledge Prize.
• Lecture and discussion (“The Most Famous Thing Robert E. Lee Never Said: Duty, Forgery, and Cultural Amnesia”) for Kiawah Island Community Center (February 13, 2014), for Friends of the Daniel Library (November 15, 2012) and for Phi Kappa Phi (October 22, 2012).
• Lecture and discussion ("Misdirections and Roads Not Taken: Robert Frost as a Misleading Poet") for Kiawah Island Community Center (February 7, 2013) and for Friends of the Daniel Library (September 28, 2011).
• Lecture and discussion ("Post-9/11 Superhero Films and the Global War on Terror") for Friends of the Daniel Library (September 8, 2009).
• Lecture and discussion ("Modern Irish Literature and Social Conflict") at the Center for Creative Retirement (March 17, 2009).
• DUI/Drowsy Driving Cadet Video Project Coordinator.
• Judge, 2007 competitions for Poetry Society of South Carolina: Lyric Poem Prize and Post and Courier Prize.
• Charleston Public Library “Let’s Talk About It” series discussion: film history, technology, and recent changes in the American film industry (October 9, 2006).
• Judge, 2006 and 2005 competitions for Poetry Society of South Carolina: Beatrice Ravenel Prize, Jeanne Crandall Broulik Memorial Prize, Ellen Douglas Everett Carruthers Memorial Prize, Patricia and Emmett Robinson Prize.
• Judge, 2005 Citadel cadet literary competition.
• Lecture and discussion (“Terrorism, Propaganda Film, Politics, and Us: New Media, New Meanings”) with The Citadel’s Senior Scholars Program (January 26, 2005).
• Judge, 2004 and 2003 competitions for Poetry Society of South Carolina: Lyric Poem Prize; John Robert Doyle, Jr. Prize.
• Charleston Public Library “Let’s Talk About It” series discussion: David Ogilvy’s Confessions of an Advertising Man (November 10, 2003).
• Lecture on Robert Frost at the Shepherd’s Center, Charleston (October 9, 2003).
• Lecture (“How to Succeed in College While Bracing”) as part of The Citadel’s College Success Institute (June 20, 2003).
Service to the Profession:
• Reader/referee for Mississippi Quarterly and South Atlantic Review.
• Finance Committee member, Society for the Study of Southern Literature, 2011-present.
• Cal Poly English Department Advisory Board, 2009-present.
• Chair, Film and Media Studies Panel, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference, 2009.
• Secretary, Robert Penn Warren Circle Section, South Atlantic Modern Language Association Convention, 2008 and 2006.
• Chair, Robert Penn Warren Circle Section, South Atlantic Modern Language Association Convention, 2007.
• Chair, Film Panel, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference, 2006.
• Executive Committee, Postcolonial Literature Section, South Atlantic Modern Language Association Convention, 2004-2006.
• Chair, Panel on Film and Politics, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference, 2004.
• Chair, Postcolonial Literature Section, South Atlantic Modern Language Association Convention, 2003.
• Chair, Panel on Frost Influence/Frost Influential, Dartmouth College Robert Frost Conference, 2003.
• Secretary, Postcolonial Literature Section, South Atlantic Modern Language Association Convention, 2002.