Jeffrey Keith Stiles

Education:

M.A., English, Western Carolina University, 2001
Thesis:  "Chaucer and the Magical Arts:  Perceptions of Medieval Magic in the Canterbury Tales"
Director:  Gayle H. Miller

B.A., English, Western Carolina University, 1997

M.B.A., Western Carolina University, 1993

B.S.B.A., Accounting and Economics, Western Carolina University, 1991

Employment:

Social Research Associate, Office of University Planning, Western Carolina University, 1998-Present

English/Spanish Teacher, Tuscola High School, 1997-1998

Adjunct Instructor, Department of Economics, Finance, & International Business and Continuing Education & Summer School, Spring, 1996; Fall, 1997; and Spring, 1997

Adjunct Computer Instructor, Southwestern Community College, 1995-1996

Adjunct Instructor (Business, Computers, and Remedial Mathematics), Haywood Community College, 1991-1996

Honors and Awards:

English Department Award for Highest Distinction in English Scholarship, 1996-1997

Sigma Tau Delta Award for Best Paper Presented at WCU's Undergraduate Research Conference, April 9, 1996

Publications:

"George Ella Lyon."  In Contemporary Southern Writers.  Ed. Roger Matuz, St. James Press, 1999.  238-9.

Works in Progress:

"A Visionary's Economic Commentary:  Margery Kempe's Discourse on the Evils of Bourgeois Materialism."  29th Annual Conference of the Southeastern Medieval Association.  Fayetteville, Arkansas.  October 23-25, 2003.

"Nature Reacts to Technology:  Tolkien's Use of Nature in the Lord of the Rings."  Proposal submitted for consideration to SAMLA for upcoming annual conference.

"Not Worth a Piece of Land:  Gender Bias in Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth."  Currently choosing a journal for submittal.

Conference Presentations:

"Chaucer's Vignette's of Magic:  Natural Magic, the Magic of Faerie, and the Pseudo-Science of Alchemy."  28th Annual Conference of the Southeastern Medieval Association.  Tallahassee, Florida.  September 26-28, 2002.

" 'Thurgh the craft of Artemage':  Gower's Nectanabus and Medieval Ritual Magic."  37th International Congress on Medieval Studies.  Medieval Institute.  Western Michigan University.  Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 2-5, 2002.

"The 'Warlaw' in the Alliterative Morte Arthure and the Wakefield Second Shepherd's Pageant:  Mordred as a Form of Antichrist."  27th Annual Conference of the Southeastern Medieval Association.  New Orleans, Louisiana.  October 18-20, 2001.

"Testing the Spirits:  Late Medieval Visionary Literature and Patristic Concerns About Demons."  36th International Congress on Medieval Studies.  Medieval Institute.  Western Michigan University.  Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 3-6, 2001.

"Canacee's Ring:  Magical Ring-Making in Chaucer's Squire's Tale."  26th Annual Conference of the Southeastern Medieval Association.  University of North Carolina-Asheville.  September 29, 2000.

"Chaucer and the Orleans Clerk:  Magical and Legal Studies at the University of Orleans."  35th International Congress on Medieval Studies.  Medieval Institute.  Western Michigan University.  Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 4-7, 2000.

"Bringing the Outsider In:  A Unit Plan for Understanding and Accepting Differences."  89th Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English.  Denver, Colorado.  November 18-23, 1999.

"Chaucer and the Magical Arts:  Perceptions of Medieval Magic in the Franklin's Tale."  25th Annual Conference of the Southeastern Medieval Association.  University of Tennessee-Knoxville.  October 14-16, 1999.

"Mountain Valor and The Red Badge of Courage:  A Teaching Unit Exploring Appalachian Culture and the Civil War."  Youngstown State University Young Adult Literature Conference.  Youngstown, Ohio.  May 1-3, 1998.

"Mountain Valor and The Red Badge of Courage:  A Teaching Unit Exploring Appalachian Culture and the Civil War."  Appalachian Studies Conference.  Boone, North Carolina.  March 21, 1998.

"Mountain Valor and The Red Badge of Courage:  A Teaching Unit Exploring Appalachian Culture and the Civil War."  87th Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English.  Detroit, Michigan.  November 20-25, 1997.

Professional Activities:

Western Carolina University Staff Forum, Delegate (2000-2001)
Staff Forum Public Relations Committee Member (2000-2001)

Membership in Professional Organizations:

Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the NCTE (ALAN)
Modern Language Association (MLA)
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Societas Magica
South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA)
Southeastern Medieval Association (SEMA)

Computer Skills:

Microsoft Office XP (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook)
Microsoft FrontPage 2002
Microsoft Publisher 2000
Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000
Macromedia Studio MX Plus (Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX, Flash MX, Freehand MX, ColdFusion MX, Contribute)
Adobe Photoshop 6.0
Adobe Acrobat 5.05
Netscape Communicator 4.76, 7.02
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5, 6.0
EndNote 3.0