Rainbow James McNelis

James I. McNelis, III

This page has been continuously available on the World-Wide Web since March, 1995. Last updated May 18, 2016. This page is privately owned and on a commercial server; the opinions expressed are mine, unless otherwise noted.


PUBLICATIONS                        CONFERENCE PAPERS                        INVITED LECTURES                        COURSES TAUGHT

OCCASIONAL PIECES           OTHER PROJECTS

Publications

2015:
*"Teaching the Critical Debate over The Lord of the Rings," in Donovan, Leslie A., ed., Approaches to Teaching Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Other Works (
Approaches to Teaching World Literature, the Modern Languages Association). Routledge: New York, 2015, pp. 44-49.

2007:
*Entries on "Arts and Crafts" and Piers Plowman in J.R R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Ed. Michael D. C. Drout. Associate editors: Douglas A. Anderson, Marjorie Burns, Verlyn Flieger, and Thomas Shippey. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2007.

2006:
* " 'The tree took me up from the ground and carried me off': A Source for Tolkien's Ents in Ludvig Holberg's Journey of Niels Klim to the World Underground", in Tolkien Studies 3 (2006).

2004:
*"Kicking the Hobbit; Or, The Passion of the Frodo" (two great titles; unfortunately, neither originally composed by me), Nouvelles April 2004: 12-14. Nouvelles is a newsletter/bulletin published for the affiliates of the Ohio State Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

2001:
*"Parallel Manuscript Readings in the CT Retraction and Edward of Norwich's Master of Game", The Chaucer Review 36 (2001): 87-90.
*"The Worship of Technology", from Stuart Lee's e-book Dragons in the Sky: English-Speaking Communities at the Close of the Millenia, for which I was also a member of the editorial board. My piece contrasts medieval and modern views of technology.
*"The Goose and the Golden Egg: Intellectual Property in Higher Education", in Perspectives: The Bulletin of the American Historical Association (April 2001).

2000:
*"Index of Middle English Verse 3910.5: A Misidentified Envoy to The Master of Game," Notes and Queries 245 [n.s. 47] no. 2 (2000): 171-2.

1997:
*"A Greyhound Should Have 'Ears in the Manner of a Serpent': Bestiary Material in the Hunting Manuals Livre de chasse and The Master of Game," in L. A. J. R. Houwen, ed., Animals and the Symbolic in Mediaeval Art and Literature, in the series Mediaevalia Groningana.

1996:
*"The Pen Mightier than the Sword? Hrothgar's Hilt, Theory, and Philology," in M. J. Toswell, ed., "Doubt Wisely": A Festschrift in Honour of E. G. Stanley (London and New York: Routledge).

1994:
*"Laʒamon as Auctor," in Françoise le Saux, ed., The Text and Tradition of Layamon's Brut (Suffolk: D.S. Brewer): 253-272.

1992:
*"Mailing List Management with HyperCard," Editor's Notes (journal of the Council of Editors of Learned Journals 1982:
*
"Artificial Intelligence: Much Ado About Nothing", in the Santa Cruz weekly Express vol. II no. 28 (September 9, 1982): 11-12. While not an academic publication, this piece touches on topics of broad multidisciplinary interest--and is not too bad for a 22-year-old author, anyway.


*Reviews and citations of my work, along with links to Web pages which link to my own.


Conference Papers

2014:
*Presenting on a discussion panel, "What is Ecocriticism, Anyway? (A Roundtable)," on the topic "Buton Folcscare: Royal and People's Preserves," at the 49th
Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 8-11 2014, at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
* Presented at a panel/demonstration of falconry at the "Game of Thrones Day" Conference, February 8th, at Ohio State University.

2012:
*Sponsored a session, "Kindle-ing the Codex: Are e-Books the New Lindisfarne?", at the 47th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
*Presented in a panel discussion, "J.R.R. Tolkien's Impact on Studying the Middle Ages," at the 28th annual conference of the Medieval Association of the Midwest, held at Xavier University in Cincinnati.

2010:
*Sponsored a discussion panel, "The Bow and the Canon: Teaching Robin Hood in the Survey (A Roundtable)," at the 45th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

2009:
*Presented on a discussion panel, "Teaching Tolkien (A Roundtable)," at the 44th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

2006:
*Sponsored a session, "From Papyrus to Parchment: Issues in the Management of Manuscript Collections," for the 40th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

2005:
*Presented a paper on a discussion panel, "Teaching the Middle Ages in the Small Liberal Arts College," for the 40th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

2004:
*Sponsored a session, "Is Just-in-Time Publishing Ready for Prime Time?" for the 39th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
*Presented a paper entitled " 'The Scripts and Tongues Have Become Dark': Using Tolkien to Teach Language," on a panel for the 39th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

2003:
*Presented on a panel, "Where Are We Now: Rethinking Graduate Student Training," for the 38th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
* Sponsored a session, "The Future of the Academic Library," for the 38th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

2002:
*Presented on a panel, "The Crisis of Credentialing in the Twenty-First-Century Academy: A Roundtable Discussion with Medieval Studies Journals and Acquisitions Editors," for the 37th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
*Sponsored a session, "Application of Emerging Technologies to Manuscript Studies" for the 37th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University.

2001:
*Sponsored a session, "Lights, Computer, Action: Multimedia Presentations for Teaching and Research" for the 36th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

2000:
*Read a paper, " 'As seith in his book Phebus': How Edward of York Translated Livre de chasse," in the session "The Translation Process in the Medieval Period" at The 35th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
* Sponsored a session, "Integration of Computer-Aided Teaching and Research," at The 35th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
*Participant in an e-seminar of the Twelfth International Congress (July 14-17) of the New Chaucer Society: "Computers in Research and Teaching."

1999:
*Sponsored a session, "There Can Be Only One: SGML, the Web Consortium, and the Browser Wars," at The 34th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
*Read a paper at the above-mentioned conference session: "Can There Be Only One? Scholarship vs. Business on the Web."

1998:
*Sponsored a session, "The Book of (Virtual) Memory: Scholarly Applications of the 3-D Web," at The 33rd Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

1997:
*Sponsored a session, "Instructional Applications of the Java Language on the World-Wide Web," at the 32nd Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

1996:
*Presided at "Layamon's Brut: Current Critical Questions and Desired Studies," a session organized by Wayne Glowka for the 31st Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

1995:
*"Bestiary Elements in the Hunting Manuals Livre de chasse and The Master of Game," paper read at the 30th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University.

1994:
*"Ahead on Points: A Reference to the Impeachment of Richard Lyons in Piers Plowman B," paper read at the 29th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University.
*"The Tournament as Drama," paper read at Medieval Association of the Pacific at Seattle, WA.

1992:
*"Laʒamon as Auctor in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," paper read at the First International Laʒamon Conference at Lausanne, Switzerland.


Invited Lectures

Invited/Upcoming:


*Presentation to Stephen Yandell's undergraduate Tolkien class at Xavier University, Cincinnati.

*Guest lecture for the history program at Southern State Community College on the history and context of the Peasant's Revolt of 1381.

Completed:

2010:
*Presentation in April to the crosslisted graduate/undergrad. course, "Nature in the Middle Ages," of Lisa Kiser of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Ohio State University.

2007:
*Presentation on Tolkien and his reception in the 1960's, in a crosslisted graduate/undergrad. course, "The Two Rings: Wagner and Tolkien," at Cleveland State University on Feb. 22, 2007, at the invitation of Ed Haymes.

2006:
*Presentations on Jan. 23 and Feb. 8 to the crosslisted graduate/undergrad. course, "Nature in the Middle Ages," of Lisa Kiser of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Ohio State University.

2005:
*Presentation in the English Ph.D. program on the topic of interviewing for jobs in teaching-intensive small colleges, at Ohio University, Oct. 30th, at the invitation of Josephine Bloomfield.


Courses Currently and Recently Taught at Wilmington:

Schedules are tentative. Please note that Wilmington has been undergoing a catalog revision that includes re-numbering of these courses; after spring 2013 the old course numbers will no longer be used.

* ENG 101 Composition--"Think about the Future." Texts: Frankenstein, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Neuromancer, and the films "A.I.", "Gattaca", "Blade Runner", "Ghost in the Shell", and "The Matrix". (Every fall, and some springs)
*ENG 201IW Varieties of Literature: The Lord of the Rings. I also have a site, teachingtolkien.org, which will be devoted to collaborative presentation by myself and others of teaching methods, materials, and other suitable items, intended to support the nonprofit teaching of the works of Tolkien at the collegiate level. (Next offering not yet scheduled.)
* ENG 307IW British Literature Survey I (next in Fall 2013).
* ENG 330IW Shakespeare (next in Spring 2014).
* ENG 406 Introduction to Linguistics and History of the English Language (next in Spring 2014).
* ENG 450 Senior Seminar. I teach this in rotation (next in Fall 2013).
*Taught in spring 2011: ENG 201I Hiroshima.
*Taught in spring 2012: ENG 201IW Japanese Popular Culture.
*Taught in summer 2012: Study-abroad trip to Japan: EF Tour's itinerary, Japan: Land of the Rising Sun (non-credit trip, since no-one needed academic credit for it).
*Taught in fall 2012: ENG 201W Zombies: The Walking Dead.

I have not taught the following course for some time, but the topic remains popular, and it may return someday:
*ENG 201 Varieties of Literature: Time Travel (Spring 2002)

Courses Taught at Other Universities:

*Humanities 593, online graduate course on The Lord of the Rings, at Tiffin University, Ohio in summer of 2009.


Occasional pieces:

These links are to various available-online items I have written.


Other Projects:

* Envoi: A Review Journal of Medieval Literature
I assumed the editorship of Envoi in November of 1995.
*The Medieval Science Homepage
I created this page in order to provide a convenient reference for anyone interested in any aspect of medieval science, in Europe or elsewhere. If you have a URL or other reference on a suitable topic, please e-mail it to me.
*Æstel
A journal of medieval and renaissance studies, which I founded in 1992. Full text of some articles may be accessed from the home page.

Dept. of English, Wilmington College
Pyle Center Box 1261
1870 Quaker Way
Wilmington OH 45177
Office telephone 937.382.6661 x304

Email: McNelis "at" aol dot com
Quest: to seek the Holy Grail (220K).
Favorite Color: Blue (220K).