Faculty List

Dana E. Aspinall

Dana E. Aspinall

Associate Professor of English
Joined Alma College Faculty in 2007
Swanson Academic Center 335
(989) 463-7269
Office Hours: MWF 10:30-12:00; TR 9:00-12:00

I encourage students to realize and embrace two wonderful possibilities: that they may be capable of far more than they see in themselves, and that our connections to one another--through our experiences and desires--may provide some answers to our struggles with politics, religious belief, and cultural and personal difference. I use literature, particularly that of the English Renaissance, to illustrate how these possibilities have shaped and motivated us throughout much of our existence.

Although I expect a great deal from my students, I try to make myself available to them so that they do not feel alone in, or overwhelmed by, their studies, nor do they miss out on an opportunity to articulate and argue what they may discover through their reading and thinking. I welcome you to my office and to the world of Early Modern Literary Studies.

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Connecticut (1996)
  • M.A., University of South Carolina (1987)
  • B.A., University of Maine, Fort Kent (1984)

Research Interests

Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Contemporaries
Editing Shakespeare
The English Civil Wars

Selected Book Publications

Selected Articles

  • Dana E. Aspinall.  "'I wol thee telle al plat’: Poetic Influence and Chaucer’s Pardoner."  Mississippi Studies in English.  11 & 12 (1993-1996), pp. 230-242
  • Dana E. Aspinall.  "The Role of Folk Humor in Seventeenth-Century Receptions of Beaumont’s The Knight of the Burning Pestle."  Philological Quarterly.  76.2 (Spring 1997), pp. 169-192

Selected Reviews

  • Dana E. Aspinall.  Review of Henry V, at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival,  Cahiers Elisabethains (Paris, France).  82 (Autumn 2012), 57-58, 66.
  • Dana E. Aspinall.  Review of Elektra at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival,  Didaskalia.  9 (2012)  2012.
  • Dana E. Aspinall.  Review of Titus Andronicus at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival,  Shakespeare Bulletin.  30.2 (Summer 2012), 202-204.
  • Dana E. Aspinall.  Review of Merry Wives of Windsor at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival,  Shakespeare Bulletin.  30.2 (Summer 2012), 199-202.
  • Dana E. Aspinall.  Review of Richard III at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival,  Cahiers Elisabethains (Paris, France).  Vol. 80, Autumn 2011, pp. 100-101
  • Dana E. Aspinall.  Review of Twelfth Night at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival,  Cahiers Elisabethains (Paris, France).  Vol. 80, Autumn 2011, pp. 99-100
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Recent Presentations

  • Dana E. Aspinall.  "'Everyman', Service-Learning, and Collaboration."  College English Association Annual Conference.  Savannah, GA.  April 4-6, 2013.
  • Dana E. Aspinall.  "Making Performance Archives Perform: The Transference of Interpretive Influence from Reviewer to Theater Program."  Shakespeare Association of America Annual Meeting.  Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  March 27-30, 2013.
  • Dana E. Aspinall.  "“Blending Scholarship and Contemporaneous Texts into the Teaching of Taming of the Shrew and As You Like It.” Presented as part of the “Pitiful Goers-Between: Teaching Intertextuality” Workshop."  at the Shakespeare Association of America Annual Meeting.  Boston, MA.  April 5-8, 2012.
  • Dana E. Aspinall.  "“Pageant Plays as Service-Learning Tools.”."  Michigan Campus Compact Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Institute Conference.  East Lansing, MI.  January 30-31, 2012.
  • "Teaching _Othello_ and _Macbeth_," as part of the "Shakespeare without Chairs: Open-Space Pedagogies" session chaired by Carol Rutter and Jonathan Heron."  Shakespeare Association of America.  Chicago, IL.  April 1-3, 2010.
  • Dana E. Aspinall.  "The Merchant of Venice at The Theater at Monmouth, as part of the "Reviewing Reviewed" session conducted by Lois Potter."  Shakespeare Association of America.  Washington, DC.  April 9-12, 2009.
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Service to the College

Service to the Community

 

In December 2011, Alma College students, faculty and staff designed and hosted a conference in Washington, D.C., on the 500th anniversary of human rights advocacy. Earlier in the year, Alma College became one of the first undergraduate colleges in the United States to belong to the International Criminal Court Student Network, joining Duke University School of Law, The University of Cambridge and other prestigious institutions in a global community that connects students who share an interest in the ICC.

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Leadership Profile

Frank Knox

Frank Knox

Frank Knox may have gotten a C in chemistry, but that didn't stop him from living a life filled with explosive examples of leadership. After leaving Alma, he fought alongside Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. As publisher of the Chicago Daily News, he exposed Chicago rackets and corrupt politicians. Eventually, he served as Secretary of the Navy during Franklin Roosevelt's presidency.

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