What you learn in college is supposed to carry over into the rest of your life, right?
For Dr. Robert Sawyer of the English department, a pair of literary interests during his graduate school days sure did.
As a student at Western Carolina University and the University of Georgia, Sawyer was intrigued by both Victorian literature and Shakespeare, two areas that, while being somewhat related in the bounds of “English-dom,” are not typically connected.
But Sawyer persisted, and his unique double-interest is now in print for all the world to see in his first single-authored book, Victorian Appropriations of Shakespeare: George Eliot, A.C. Swinburne, Robert Browning, and Charles Dickens (Fairleigh Dickinson, 2003).
The work examines how Victorian authors used Shakespeare’s words to challenge and support the then-current ideas about politics, sexuality and subjectivity.
Sawyer’s previously published books, Shakespeare and Appropriation (Routledge, 1999) and Harold Bloom’s Shakespeare (Palgrave, 2001) effectively laid the groundwork for his latest work.
But what is perhaps more important than his prestigious publications is Sawyer’s dedication toward helping his own students find ways to get that “rest of your life” experience much earlier than they may have expected.
In all of Sawyer’s upper-level English courses, he requires one or more “professional quality” papers, an assignment which many students initially balk at.
Most rise to the challenge though, improve their writing skills and gain valuable experience.
For at least three of his flock, this academic exercise became a prime opportunity to present a paper at a national conference.
“Conference presentations are one of the first stepping stones to professional connections, good Ph.D. programs and a solid teaching position in the field,” Sawyer said.
In the two and a half years he has taught here, three of his students were successful in getting papers accepted to conferences that do not usually allow undergraduate work. Another went as far as Delaware, and all received money from ETSU to help cover expenses.
His current graduate class just finished preparing a panel for a state-wide literature conference to be presented in the spring of 2004. “Every time ETSU is listed on a conference program, cited in a scholarly article, or noted in a new book, the value of our students’ degree goes up,” Sawyer said.
His goal, as well as a number of other English department faculty, is to “raise the bar” by challenging students to get more out of their undergraduate experience than is necessarily expected.
It is this enthusiasm for teaching and commitment to students that sets Sawyer apart from many of the thousands of college faculty members across the country who also have published books under their belts.
Next up for Sawyer are two projects: Charles Dickens and his attempt at saving “fallen women” by establishing Urania College, a home for homeless Victorian women; and a collection of essays dealing with “Re-Placing King Shakespeare” in the 19th century.
Next up for his students: a challenging curriculum, a few professional papers and lots of encouragement to pursue those graduate and professional goals right now.

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