Thomas Leitch
Leitch is a professor in the Department of English who trained as a
literary scholar at Columbia and Yale, moving into cinema studies when he
discovered a love of storytelling that transcended literature and leading to
his first book, What Stories Are: Narrative
Theory and Interpretation.
He teaches film studies and literature at UD and has taught
undergraduate courses in film, specializing in popular Hollywood genres from
romantic comedy to film noir, and graduate courses in literary and cultural
theory. He is the author of nine books, the editor of two others and is
currently editing a collection of essays, The
Scandal of Adaptation.
Leitch has also written more than 100 essays, publishing
extensively on narrative theory, genre theory and popular culture.
His books include Perry Mason
and Crime Films, which was
nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 2003, and books about Alfred
Hitchcock. Over the past 10 years, most of his work—especially Film Adaptation and Its Discontents: From “Gone with
the Wind” to “The Passion of the Christ”—has focused on the process of
textual adaptation and its broader implications for the teaching of English.
His most recent
books are The History
of American Literature on Film (2019),
the Oxford Handbook of
Adaptation Studies (2017) and Wikipedia U: Knowledge, Authority,
and Liberal Education in the Digital Age
(2014).
A two-time alumnus
of the Salzburg Seminar, Leitch has taught as a Fulbright Lecturer at
the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He serves on the steering committee of
the
Delaware Teachers Institute and on the editorial boards of
Literature/Film Quarterly, Adaptation, Journal of Adaptation in Film and
Performance, Hitchcock
Annual, Studia Filmoznawcze, the
Contemporary Film and Media Studies series published by Wayne State
University
Press, and the Adaptation and Visual Culture series published by
Palgrave
Macmillan. He regularly reviews mystery and suspense fiction for Kirkus
Reviews, where he is mystery editor.
Promotions and tenure
announcements
The University
of Delaware Board of Trustees approved the promotions of 21 faculty members
from the College of Arts and Sciences and awarded emeritus status to several
retiring professors at its spring meeting on May 25.
Promoted to the
rank of professor were the following associate professors who had previously
been granted tenure: Erin Cassesse, political science and international
relations; Marie-Christine Delbeau, School of Music; Lars Gundlach,
chemistry and biochemistry; Rachael Hutchinson, languages, literatures and
cultures; Joanne Miller, political science and international
relations; Chiara Sabina, women and gender studies; Daniel Stevens,
School of Music; and Dannagal Young, communication.
Promoted from
associate professor to professor, without tenure, were Max Michael
McCamley, English, and Sarah Trembanis, Associate in Arts Program.
Assistant
professors promoted to the rank of associate professor with tenure
were: Jasmin Cloutier, psychological and brain sciences; John
Crowley, communication; Mahya Ghandehari, mathematical
sciences; Dominique Guillot, mathematical sciences; Lisa Jaremka,
psychological and brain sciences; Abdol-Razagh Oskooii, political science
and international relations; Lauren Reynolds, School of
Music; and Sarah Wasserman, English.
Promoted to the
rank of associate professor without tenure were Zhiyin Renee Dong,
languages, literatures and cultures; Jennifer Lobasz, political science
and international relations; and Devon Miller-Duggan, English.
New CAS emeriti
faculty are Christopher Boorse, professor emeritus of
philosophy; John Courtright, professor emeritus of
communication; Alfinio Flores, Kathleen and David Hollowell Professor
Emeritus of Mathematics Education; Lana Harrison, professor emerita of
sociology and criminal justice; Linda Pellecchia, associate professor
emerita of art history; David Stone, professor emeritus of art
history; and Gerald Turkel, professor emeritus of sociology and criminal
justice.
Article
by College of Arts and Sciences communications staff
Published July 15, 2021