Annette Sisson

Biography

Annette Sisson (Ph.D., Indiana University) I am Professor of English, specializing in Victorian Literature (in particular, the novels of George Eliot, a.k.a. Mary Ann Evans). Within the English major, I teach various versions of Victorian Literature, as well as Modern Fiction, The Novel, Senior Seminar in English Studies, and Understanding Literary Language. In addition, I regularly teach First-Year Seminar, Third-Year Writing, and also Literature & the Stage as a paired course with The Theater Experience, together comprising a Learning Community.

I have a long-term interest in the writings of Wendell Berry—his essays, poems, short stories, and novels—and have written about his work extensively. Recently I had the opportunity to teach an Honors Seminar (“’It All Turns on Affection’: Staying Grounded in a Virtual Age”) that explored the question “How shall we live in the world?” In this course Berry’s work was foundational, but we examined writers from many disciplines (Business, Urban Planning and Public Policy, Religion, Technology Studies/Sociology, etc.) to seek multidisciplinary insight about how to live well.

Since August 2015, I have been on the Board of Directors for Nashville Children’s Theater, where I currently serve as the Secretary and also on the search committee for a new NCT Executive Artistic Director. Promoting and working with NCT is one of my favorite projects. I am also an avid theatergoer, attending productions on Belmont’s campus and also throughout the Nashville community. Besides walking at Radnor Lake and participating in many ways at my church (including singing in the choir), I also love to play the piano, write poetry, and (of course) read.

I served as the first Director of General Education at Belmont (1998-2006) and also as the Director of the Master of Arts in English program (2010-2015). I have been President of the Faculty Senate (2014-2015) and served the university on many other campus-wide committees, such as Tenure, Promotions, & Leaves, Catalog & Curriculum, the Crabb Writing Award, the General Education ReviewTeam, and many more.

I have participated in Study Abroad several times (London!) and am currently planning a Maymester trip with my Learning Community teaching partner for May 2017, as well as a solo return to the London Summer Study Program in Summer 2018. (Which one sounds good to you?!) Past Study Abroad courses have focused on Dickens and Hardy, but recent courses have focused on Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, Detective Fiction, and Theater.