Announcement of New Department Chair

As the incoming Chair, Dr. Thomas Martin will encourage his English colleagues to pursue academic excellence in their research and writing as they faithfully shape students into lifelong learners and disciples of Christ. An accomplished scholar, Dr. Martin has published in the fields of Renaissance studies, the literature of the fantastic, and literary theory. As a theorist, he explores the Christian perspective on human creativity, refuting the impoverished views of contemporary materialists, postmodernists, and posthumanists. In addition to his research on Christian fantasists George MacDonald, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien, Dr. Martin is especially recognized as a scholar of possible worlds (PW) theory. Readers consulting the forthcoming edition of The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature will encounter his article on Poiesis. And his examination of Lacanian readings of the psyche in the works of Edmund Spenser—published in the Ben Johnson Journal—garnered him the 2016 Beverly Rogers Award for the Essay of the Year in Renaissance Studies. Possessing a reputation as a warm and approachable teacher, Dr. Martin covers a broad range of courses, including literature, literary criticism, fantasy, theory, and the Bible as literature.

Awarded an endowed Excellence in Teaching Chair and “Professor of the Year” at her previous institution, Professor Dyanne Martin will share her remarkable classroom talent and skill with students across campus, teaching in both the Christ at the Core program and the English Department. Her dynamic dialogical approach to instruction encourages active student participation, no matter what the course or topic of discussion. Given her significant experience with composition pedagogy, secondary education, and literary study, Professor Martin will enrich our English offerings significantly. Furthermore, her dissertation research investigates the semiotics of race, based on her examination of Caribbean and African American literature, employing both rhetoric and critical race theory. Her plan is to turn her dissertation into a published academic book. Professor Martin approaches her work from a distinctly Biblical perspective, emphasizing unity in Christ while honoring God-ordained diversity.

Dean of Humanities Dr. Jeffry Davis heartily commends the character and expertise of the Martins:

“Dr. Thomas Martin exhibits a remarkable publishing record, with a national reputation as a literary theorist, bringing stature and vision to his role as the chair of the English Department. And Dyanne Martin is an accomplished classroom instructor who possesses professional acumen in several areas, including the literature of the Americas, the teaching of writing, and secondary English preparation. Wheaton College is truly blessed to have the Martins, who are deeply dedicated Christian teacher-scholars.”

The Martins look forward to meeting Wheaton students and inviting majors over to their home.