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Curriculum Vitae

Adobe PDF version Microsoft Word version About Michael Michael E Bryson Department of English California State University, Northridge 18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge, CA 91330 818-677-5695 michael.bryson@csun.edu EDUCATION PhD   English Northwestern University 2001 MA   English Truman State University 1996 BA    English Northeast Missouri State University 1994 PUBLICATIONS     BOOKS Love and its Critics: From the Song of Songs to Shakespeare and Milton's Eden (with Arpi Movsesian) Open Book Publishers, 2017 2017 The Atheist Milton Ashgate Press, 2012, Reprinted by Routledge, 2016  2012  The Tyranny of Heaven: Milton’s Rejection of God as King U. Delaware Press, 2004.   2004 BOOK CHAPTERS “The Gnostic Milton: Salvation and Divine Similitude in Paradise Regained” The New Milton Criticism. Eds. Peter C. Herman and Elizabeth Sauer, Cambridge UP, 2012, 102-19.  2012 “The Problem of God” Approaches to Teaching Paradise Lost. 2nd ed. Ed. Peter C. Herman. MLA Press, 2012, 76-83.  2012 “From Last Things to First: The Apophatic Vision of Paradise Regained” Milton and the Visionary Mode: Essays on Prophecy and Violence. Eds. Peter E. Medine and David V. Urban. Duquesne UP, 2010, 241-65. 2010 “The Mysterious Darkness of Unknowing: Paradise Lost and the God Beyond Names” A Poem Written In Ten Books: Paradise Lost 1667, Eds. John Shawcross and Michael Lieb. Duquesne UP, 2007, 183-212. 2007   JOURNAL ARTICLES Carpe Diem: Love, Resistance to Authority, and the Necessity of Choice in Andrew Marvell and Elizabeth Cary Humanities 2018, 7(2), 61 2018   “The Artist as Critic: Two Modern Musical Responses to Paradise Lost.” Milton Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 2, 2017, 146-52. 2017   “A Poem to the Unknown God: Samson Agonistes and Negative Theology.”  Milton Quarterly, March 2008, vol. 42, No. 1, 2008, 22-43. 2008   “'His Tyranny Who Reigns': The Biblical Roots of Divine Kingship and Milton's Rejection of Heav'n's King” Milton Studies 43, 2004, 111-144.  2004   “Dismemberment and Community: Sacrifice and the Communal Body in the Hebrew Scriptures” Religion and Literature 35.1 (Spring 2003),  1-21. 2003   “'That be far from thee': Divine Evil and Milton's Attempt to 'Justify the ways of God to men'” Milton Quarterly, May 2002, vol. 36, no. 2, 87-105.   2002   “The Horror is Us: Western Religious Memory and the Colonialist God in Heart of Darkness” Henry Street (9.1), Spring 2000, 20-39. 2000 ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES “Thomas Shadwell” The Age of Milton: An Encyclopedia of Major 17th-Century British and American Authors. Ed. Alan Hager. Greenwood Press, 2004. 2004 REVIEWS Review of Stephen Greenblatt, The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve. Spenser Review 48.2 (Spring-Summer 2018). 2018 Review of Gordon Teskey, The Poetry of John Milton. Spenser Review 45.3.15 (Winter 2016). 2016 Review of William Walker. Antiformalist, Unrevolutionary, Illiberal Milton: Political Prose, 1644-1660. Milton Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 4, 2015, 275-79. 2015 Review of Stephen Dobranski, ed. Milton in Context. Milton Quarterly, volume 46 issue 1 (March 2012), 39-31. 2012 Review of Abraham Stoll, Milton and Monotheism. Renaissance Quarterly, volume 62 issue 4 (1 December 2009), 1391-1392. 2009 Review of Victoria Silver, Imperfect Sense: The Predicament of Milton's Irony and David Loewenstein, Representing Revolution in Milton and his Contemporaries Religion and Literature 37.3 (Autumn 2005) 127-36. 2005 WEBSITES John Milton: Background, Summary, and Analysis Site dedicated to Milton’s prose works in their historical contexts. 2000 SELECTED PRESENTATIONS "Paradise Lost: Love Against Tyranny in Eden, and the Authoritarianism of Critics." Renaissance Society of America 2018 "An You Be Mine, I'll Give You to My Friend: The Dawn Song, Marriage, and the Authority of the Father in Romeo and Juliet and Paradise Lost" Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association 2015 "The Gnostic Milton" Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies 2010 “From Last Things to First: The Apophatic Vision of Paradise Regained” Modern Language Association 2006     "The Libertine Samson: Samson Agonistes and the Rakes of Restoration Drama" Renaissance Society of America 2006   “Samson Agonistes And The 'Intimate Impulse': Negative Theology in Milton” Modern Language Association 2005   “Embarassed Into Silence: Samson Agonistes as Milton's Negative Theology” Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association 2005   “The Satanic Samson” Eighth International Milton Symposium 2005   “The Negation of God: Samson Agonistes and Negative Theology” Newberry Library Milton Seminar 2005   “Samson Agonistes and Negative Theology” Midwest Conference on Christianity and Literature, Notre Dame 2004 Panel: “Crossing Through Theory: The New Milton Criticism” American Comparative Literature Association 2003 “'Though ye rebel': The Motivation for Satan’s Rebellion in Paradise Lost” Seventh Annual International Milton Symposium 2002 “To Prove that God is not the Devil”: Kingship and Milton’s Struggle to Re-Imagine God Yale Divinity School Religion and Literature Symposium Series 2002 “'That be far from thee': Divine Evil and Milton's Attempt to 'Justify the ways of God to men'” Renaissance Conference of Southern California 2001 “'His Tyranny Who Reigns': The Biblical Roots of Divine Kingship and Milton's Rejection of “Heav'n's King” Modern Language Association  2000 “The Tyranny of Heav'n: Milton, Magistrates and the Rhetoric of Satan's Protestantism in Paradise Lost” Renaissance Society of America 1999 “Western Religious Memory and the Colonialist God in Heart of Darkness” Northern Illinois University Conference on Language and Literature 1998 EDITORIAL ROLES Editorial Board Member, Humanities, 2018- Reviewer, Milton Quarterly Reviewer, Spenser Review Reviewer, Renaissance Quarterly Reviewer, Religion and Literature Reviewer, Journal of British Studies Reviewer, McGill-Queen's University Press   LANGUAGES Reading competency in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Occitan, Spanish, Italian, French, German   TEACHING Professor of English 2014- California State University, Northridge Designed, taught, and evaluated Love and its Critics, The Poet as Critic, Renaissance Drama, Shakespeare: Of Lovers and Tyrants, Milton, Donne and Herbert, Research Methods and Bibliography, Milton's Gods, The Bible as Literature, Restoration Drama, Shakespeare, Shakespeare and Machiavelli, 17th Century Literature, 16th Century Literature Associate Professor of English 2009-2014 California State University, Northridge Assistant Professor of English 2004-2009 California State University, Northridge Designed, taught, and evaluated such courses as Milton, Donne and Herbert, Research Methods and Bibliography, Milton's Gods, Restoration Drama, Shakespeare, Shakespeare and Machiavelli, 17th Century Literature, Writing About Literature, and Composition Visiting Assistant Professor of English 2003-2004 DePaul University Designed, taught, and evaluated such courses as Introducing Shakespeare, Bible as Literature, and Composition Visiting Assistant Professor of English 2001-2003 Northwestern University Designed, taught, and evaluated courses in the departments of English and Religion, including the upper division courses Topics in Religion, Studies in 17th Century Literature, Topics in Shakespeare, and Studies in Theory and Criticism,  as well as a Freshman Seminar entitled Heroes and Antiheroes, and an Introduction to Reading and Interpretation course. PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS Shakespeare Association of America Milton Society of America Modern Language Association Renaissance Society of America