VITA
ROBERT KENNETH KIRBY
rkkirby@samford.edu; (205)726-4033(w)
Experience
1992-present.  English Department (1992-2004) and Core Curriculum (2004-present), Samford University.  Teaches interdisciplinary courses (Communication Arts and Cultural Perspectives) in the university Core Curriculum; teaches literature survey courses in the university's Adult Degree Programs.  Current scholarship focuses on phenomenology as a method for literary criticism and instruction in communication.

1983-1997.  English Department, University of Alabama at Birmingham.  Taught sophomore courses in American literature, British and Irish literature, and prose fiction.

1984-1992.  Southern Research Institute, Birmingham, Alabama.  Assisted in document production as technical editor, 1984-88; coordinated publications and public relations projects as manager of communications and publications, 1988-1992.

1978-1982.  English Department, University of Alabama at Birmingham and English Department, Indiana University. Served as graduate assistant and associate instructor while in graduate school; taught remedial composition, freshman elementary composition, and freshman literature and composition.

Samford service and activities
Co-organizer, of the Old Howard 100 charity bike ride 2011, 2012, 2013
Chair, Student Affairs, Religious Life, and University Relations Committee, 2007-2008;A&S representative 2006-2007 and 2008-2009
Honors Council, 2007-2008
Chair, Metro Programs transformational learning abilities team, 2003-2006
Campus recycling coordinator (affiliated with Restoring Eden student ministry), 2001-2006
Taught Convo cadre on science and Christianity, spring 2006, spring 2008
Served on an ad hoc committee to revise the Faculty Handbook sections on adjunct faculty, 2005-2006.
Participated in the Samford in Mission program, a curriculum development initiative designed to provide faculty with guidelines for incorporating a theological exploration of vocation into their courses, 2003-2004.
Served on the information literacy teams of Samford's Core Literacies Project and the A&S Distinctive Curriculum Project, spring 2003.
Taught Convo cadre on Christian environmentalism, fall 2003, spring 2007
Advisor for undeclared majors, 2001-2004
Revised sophomore literature curriculum for Metro College to better meet the needs of adult learners, 2001
Alabama State Spelling Bee Judge, 1997 and 1998

Professional affiliations
International Society of Phenomenology and Literature

Publications and presentations
Works in preparation
"2001: A Space Odyssey: A Phenomenological Perspective."  To be submitted to the  joint conference of the Int. Soc. of Phenomenology and Literature and the Int. Soc. for Phenomenilogy, Aesthetics, and Fine Arts, Cambridge, MA, June 4-7.

Published or presented
 "Arguing from Scripture in Communications Courses: A Phenomenological Theory and Pedagogy." Association of Core Texts and Courses conference, Milwaukee, WI, Mar. 23-25, 2012.

"W. B. Yeats, Unity of Culture, and the Spiritual Telos of Ireland."  Analecta Husserliana: The Yearbook of Phenomenological Research, Vol. CIX. Ed. A-T. Tymieniecka. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2011. 

"'The Limits of Ordinary Experience': A Phenomenological Approach to 'Rappaccini's Daughter.'" Analecta Husserliana: The Yearbook of Phenomenological Research, Vol. CIX. Ed. A-T. Tymieniecka. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2011 .

"Partnering with an Environmental Consortium: The Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership." Gulf-South Summit on Engaged and Service Learning.  Baton Rouge, LA.  March 24, 2009.

"Phenomenology and the Problems of Oral History." The Oral History Review 35.1 (2008): 22-38.

"Oral History as Environmental Service Learning Project."  Roundtable discussion, North American Association for Environmental Education conference.  Albuquerque, NM.  October 29, 2005.

"'I Know Everything': The Governess's Failures of Consciousness in The Turn of the Screw." Analecta Husserliana: The Yearbook of Phenomenological Research.  Vol. LXXXV.  Ed. A.-T. Tymieniecka.  Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2005.  813-829.

"Teaching to the Mission Statement:  Using Problem-Based Learning and Reflection to Improve Students' Response to Required Literature Courses."  The Journal of Continuing Higher Education 52.1 (2004): 36-43.

"Literature and Life Mission:  Using PBL and Reflection in General Education Literature Courses."  University Continuing Education Association South regional meeting.  Montgomery, AL.  September 22, 2003.

"University Anthology Problem for Adult Learners."  PBL Clearinghouse, University of Delaware.  <http://www.udel.edu/pbl/>  March 2003.

"The Role of Environmental Service Learning in PBL and Learning Communities."  New Directions in Earth Sciences and Humanities conference.  Golden, CO.  Sept. 28, 2002.  Co-presenter with Ellen W. McLaughlin.

"Biblical Perspectives on Environmental Service Learning."  Lilly Conference on Ecology, Theology, and Judeo-Christian Environmental Ethics.  South Bend, IN.  February 23, 2002.  Co-presenter with Amanda W. Borden.

"Bringing Down the Barricades:  A Blended Communications Course."  National Communication Association Conference.  Atlanta, GA.  November 3, 2001.  Panel member.

"Milton's Biblical Hermeneutics in The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce." Milton Quarterly 18 (1984): 116-125.

Education
Ph.D. (American literature), Indiana University, 1983
M.A. (English), University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1979
B.A. (English), Auburn University, 1976