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RICHARD VELA


768 Rozier Church Road The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Lumberton, NC 28360 Pembroke, NC 28372
910. 738.3037 (Tel/Fax ) 910. 521.6600

CURRENT POSITION

Professor, English, Theatre, and Languages Department

EDUCATION

Ph.D. English (1986) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Major in Renaissance literature and minor in modern British and American literature.
Dissertation: Obscure Design: A Study of Shakespeare's Cymbeline (Directed by Jerry Leath Mills)

M.A. English (1970) University of Dallas, Dallas, TX

Thesis: The Merchant of Venice and the True Bond of Comedy (Directed by Louise Cowen)

B.A. English (1968) University of Dallas, Dallas, TX

Major in literature and minor in philosophy.

Languages: Spanish (native speaker), French (reading knowledge)

ACADEMIC HONORS

North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence, 2000

University Outstanding Teacher Award, UNCP 1998

Danforth Foundation Fellowship, UNC, 1978_80

Ford Foundation Fellowship, UNC, 1978_80

Braniff Graduate School Scholarship, UD, 1967_68

Texas Church Related Schools Scholarship, UD, 1962_65

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Pembroke, NC 1971_78; 1981_present

The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, (Teaching Assistant) 1978_80

Westark Junior College, Fort Smith, AR, 1969_70

Cistercian Preparatory School, Dallas, TX, 1968_69

Also adjunct professor at several community colleges in North Carolina.

PUBLISHING

Currently contributing editor for Literature Film Quarterly, Pembroke Magazine, and on the editorial board of Postscript: The Journal of the Philological Association of the Carolinas.

Recent articles published in The Encyclopedia of Stage Plays into Film, Pembroke Magazine, Postscript, and Film & Philosophy. Articles under review for The Directory of Major Film Directors and for the Proceedings volume for BRICHA.

Several recent conference papers on Shakespeare, Film, the Renaissance, Contemporary and Latino Literature. Poetry and reviews in Puerto Del Sol, The Quarterly, Mestizo: Anthology of Chicano Poetry, Southern Poetry Review, RiverSedge, St. Andrews Review, T he Paper, The Small Pond, Bitterroot, Voices International, Tar River Poetry, Pembroke Magazine, Epos, South and West, Kerygma, Contemporary Poets, and others.

CONFERENCE PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS

2001 "The Latino Romeo and Juliet: Baz Luhrmann, Robert Wise, and Cantinflas." Blue Ridge International Conference of the Humanities and the Arts, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

2001 "Romeos and Juliets: On Ten Adaptations of Shakespeare’s Play." Southwest Popular Culture Association. Albuquerque, NM

2001 "The Blue Angel Figure in Recent Academic Novels." 25th Annual Meeting of the Philological Association of the Carolinas, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

2001 "Crossing the Border: Mexico as Emotional Boundary in American Films." Conference on Film and Literature. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.

2000 "Shakespeare and The Uses of Violence in Henry V." Second Millennium Literature/Film Conference. Ocean City, Maryland.

2000 "Going Indian": the Role of the Go-Between In Hollywood Westerns." The Western Literature Association, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

2000 "Shakespeare’s ‘Rude Mechanicals’: Interpreting the Role of Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream." Medieval-Renaissance Conference, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Wise, VA

2000 "The Idea of Boundaries in the Work of Alberto Ríos." The Blue Ridge International Conference on the Humanities and the Arts. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

2000 "Shakespeare’s Comic Endings." The 24rd Annual Meeting of the Philological Association of the Carolinas. Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC

2000 "Party at the Capulets: Visual Strategies in Romeo and Juliet." Southwest Popular Culture Association. Albuquerque, NM

2000 "Into the Past: The Separation of Experience and Understanding in Film Noir." Conference on Film and Literature: On the Edge of Time. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.

1999 "The Representation of Public and Private Space In Filmed Versions Of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet" Medieval-Renaissance Conference, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Wise, VA

1999 "Bilingual Humor in The Works of Julia Alvarez," Blue Ridge International Conference of the Humanities and the Arts. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

1999 "The Subject of the Poem: Religion, the Everyday World, and the New Formalism in the Poetry of Mark Jarman" 23rd Annual Meeting of the Philological Association of the Carolinas. The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC.

1999 "Breaking The Skin: Construction And Destruction in Dystopian Films," for the 24th annual Conference on Film and Literature. Tallahassee, FL.

1998 "‘Things which Cannot in Their Huge and Proper Life Be Here Presented’:

1998 "The Relationship Between Language and Action in Henry V." Medieval-Renaissance Conference, Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, Wise, VA

1998 "Daughter of Invention: The Poetry of Julia Alvarez." Philological Association of the Carolinas. Converse College, Spartanburg, SC

1998 "The Translator Device in Films About Native Americans." Film-Literature Conference, The University of Florida, Tallahassee, FL

1997 "Comic Codas in Shakespeare." Medieval-Renaissance Conference, Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, Wise, VA

1996 "Hamlet’s ‘Have You Eyes...Ha, Have You Eyes’: Visual Signals and the Problem of Proof in Hamlet." Medieval-Renaissance Conference, Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, Wise, VA

1996 "Slandered Women, Faithless Men: Jealousy in Shakespeare." Meeting of the Philological Association of the Carolinas, Winthrop College, Rock Hill, SC.

1995 "Sublunary Lovers: The Problem of Knowing in Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and Cymbeline. Medieval-Renaissance Conference, Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, Wise, VA

1994 "Portentous Things: Knowledge and Death in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. Medieval-Renaissance Conference, Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, Wise, VA

1993 "The Function of Outrageousness in Screwball Comedy." [Co-authored with Dr. Jeffery Geller] International Interdisciplinary Conference on the Fine Arts of the 20th Century. St. Andrews College, Laurinburg, NC

1993 "Classical Unities and Shakespearean Stagecraft: The Comedy of Errors and The Tempest." Medieval-Renaissance Conference, Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, Wise, VA

1993 "Elizabethan Publishing Practices and the Shakespeare/Oxford Debate. Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC

1993 "Darwin and the Dinosaurs: Obstacles to Retention." Strategies for Increased Retention Conference, Fayetteville State University. Fayetteville, NC

1992 "Retention: A Whole Campus Approach." Strategies for Increased Retention Conference, Fayetteville State University. Fayetteville, NC

1992 "Shakespeare's Strategies of Place." Medieval-Renaissance Conference, Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, Wise, VA

1989 "Caliban, Comedy, and Colonialism: The Structure of Experience in The Tempest." Medieval-Renaissance Conference, Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, Wise, VA

1988 "Visual Analogues to Spenser's House of Alma." Medieval-Renaissance Conference, Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, Wise, VA

1987 "Place in Shakespeare's Cymbeline." Medieval-Renaissance Conference, Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, Wise, VA

1987 "Film Literacy." Three-hour workshop for the English Department, Scotland High School, Laurinburg, NC.

1987 "Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the Elizabethan Stage." Talk given before a performance of the play. Givens Performing Arts Center. Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC.

1987 "Surviving the Freshman Year." Presentation to parents, counselors, and scholarship students. Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC. [Presented in 1985, 1986, 1987]

1984 "Sex in Utopia: The Renaissance Background for Orwell’s 1984." Interdisciplinary Seminar, Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC.

1980 "Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima and the Mexican-American Experience." Guest Speaker, Minority Literature Seminar, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.

1978 "The Image of Childhood." Series of three talks on the films THE BICYCLE THIEF, THE 400 BLOWS, and MY UNCLE ANTOINE, Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville, NC

1977 "Baroque as a Literary Term." Humanities Seminar. Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC.

1977 "Mexican-American Language and Literature." Minority Literature Conference. Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC.

1977 "Teaching the Research Paper." Freshman English Conference. St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Laurinburg, NC.

1976 "The Argument from Design: Theology and Literature." Religion Seminar, Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC.

1976 "Hesiod in Art History." Art Seminar, Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC.

1975 "The Male Image in Literature." North Carolina Humanities Committee Symposium on Religious Images and Sexual Responsibility, Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC

1975 "Movies and Minorities." North Carolina Humanities Committee Forum on American Indian Culture, Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC

ARTICLES AND REVIEWS

"As You Like It." The Encyclopedia of Stage Plays into Film. James Welsh and John Tibbetts, eds. New York: Facts on File. 2001. [3900 words]

"Cymbeline" The Encyclopedia of Stage Plays into Film. James Welsh and John Tibbetts, eds. New York: Facts on File. 2001. [2700 words]

"Much Ado About Nothing." The Encyclopedia of Stage Plays into Film. James Welsh and John Tibbetts, eds. New York: Facts on File. 2001. [3900 words]

"Romeo and Juliet." The Encyclopedia of Stage Plays into Film. James Welsh and John Tibbetts, eds. New York: Facts on File. 2001. [8500 words]

"The Subject of the Poem: Religion, the Everyday World, and the New Formalism in the Poetry of Mark Jarman" Pembroke Magazine. 2001.

"Ruben Navarette, Jr.:  A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano (Bantam, 1993)" AGLS Newsletter. 2000.

"Writing Research" The Teaching and Learning Center Newsletter (UNCP) 1999.

"Daughter of Invention: The Poetry of Julia Alvarez." Postscript. 1999. 33-42. [publication award]

"The Function of Outrageousness in Screwball Comedy." Film and Philosophy. 1997. 58-65. [Co-authored with Dr. Jeffery Geller]

"Movies and Minorities." The Carolina Indian Voice. March 20, 1975.

"Sam Ragan: The Journey that Counts." Pembroke Magazine, 1972: 90_92.

"There Was a World: The Poetry of Arthur Gregor." Pembroke Magazine. 1973: 55-62.

"This Native Pond, That Naked Tree: The Realities of Guy Owen." South and West. Winter, 1973: 14_20. [best article award]

Review of Father and Son by Darrell Sillford, Presbyterian Survey. June 1984.

Review of Papa: A Memoir by Gregory Hemingway. The Robesonian. May 15, 1977.

Review of Cockpit by Jerzy Kosinski. The Robesonian. June 5, 1977.

Review of Vonnegut in America by Jerome Klinkowitz and Donald L. Lawler. The Robesonian. September 1, 1974.

"Guy Owen: Painted Signs and Blinding Eyes." Pembroke Magazine. 1971: 48_49.

Review of "Perchance to Dream: Shakespeare for Two." Southwest Times Record. April 18, 1970.

POETRY

Custody Battles and Other Poems: 1970-1999.  Book manuscript currently in circulation.

"Autobiography With Horses." Mestizo: An Anthology of Chicano Poetry. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Pajarito Publications, 1978.

"A Way to Say Death." Epos. Summer, 1973

"Being There." RiverSedge Chicano Issue: 4. Fall 1995.

"Bird Shot." The Paper. Winter, 1972.

"Briefly." The Small Pond. Spring, 1972.

"Blue Animals." Epos. Spring, 1972.

"Cinnamon_Orange." The Paper. Winter 1972.

"The Civil War Field." Bitterroot. Autumn, 1979.

"Cranes." Pembroke Magazine. 1977.

"Custody Battles." Puerto Del Sol. Summer, 1997

"Cycle." Voices International. Winter, 1970.

"Dying in Miami." Tar River Poetry. Fall, 1978.

"Dying Into A Dance." Mestizo: An Anthology of Chicano Poetry. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Pajarito Publications, 1978.

"Elegy: For A Son." St. Andrews Review. Spring and Summer, 1972.

"Ice." RiverSedge 7:1 Chicano Issue, Fall 1992.

"Julia, Mostly." Mestizo: An Anthology of Chicano Poetry. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Pajarito Publications, 1978.

"Medication."RiverSedge Chicano Issue: 4.Fall 1995.

"Mexican Heritage." Pembroke Magazine. 1972.

"Night After the Move From L.A." Mestizo: An Anthology of Chicano Poetry. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Pajarito Publications, 1978.

"Night Fishing." RiverSedge 7:1 Chicano Issue, Fall 1992.

"Poem." Bitterroot. Fall, 1971.

"Portraits." The Paper. Winter, 1972.

"Reason and Direction." Pembroke Magazine. 1976. [Translated into German: "Grund und Richtung." Katapult 77, 1977.]

"Resurrection." South and West. Winter, 1970.

"Sail." South and West. Winter, 1970.

"Selling the House After My Father Died." RiverSedge 7:1 Chicano Issue, Fall 1992.

"Signs." Mestizo: An Anthology of Chicano Poetry. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Pajarito Publications, 1978.

"Snake Skins." Pembroke Magazine. 1977.

"Something Like the Waves." The Quarterly. Spring 1994.

"Tiger Hunting in Siberia." Pembroke Magazine. 1976.

"To El Mariachi Juvenil." Pembroke Magazine. 1976.

"To That Man Who Thought He Saw A Vision of The Virgin Mary Naked in The Rio Grande." Southern Poetry Review. Spring, 1972.

"Vital Signs." RiverSedge 7:1 Chicano Issue, Fall 1992.

"Whitewater Lake, 1964_1973." Pembroke Magazine. 1976.

"Wild Horses." Pembroke Magazine. 1977.

"Winding Up." RiverSedge Chicano Issue: 4. Fall 1995.

"Working For My Father." RiverSedge Chicano Issue: 4. Fall 1995.

FICTION

"Watermelons." Kerygma. Spring, 1963.

DRAMA AND TELEVISION

"The Food of Love." Connecting narrative for scenes from Shakespeare performed by Pembroke State University Drama Department, 1972.

"At the Beach." Commercial for Sugar's Men's Store, Lumberton, NC; aired on WECT, Channel 6, Wilmington, NC, 1973.

POETRY READINGS AND WORKSHOPS

In the Summer of 1996, I participated in the two week Sewanee Writer’s Conference, during which I studied with Pulitzer Prize poet Donald Justice and poet Mark Jarman, who won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets.

1999 Read poetry at The Wildacres Retreat, Little Switzerland, NC

1999 Read poetry during Library Week, UNCP, Pembroke, NC

1995 Was panel member and workshop leader with Ron Bayes and Steve Smith at "Bright from Dark: Poetry Discussion and Workshop" at St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Sponsored by the N. C. Poetry Society, Laurinburg, NC.

1992 Conducted an all day "Writing For Publication Workshop," Hoke County Senior High School, Raeford, NC

1975 Conducted a three hour poetry workshop for teachers at Pembroke Senior High School, Pembroke, NC

1973 Read poetry at Pembroke State University, sponsored by the North Carolina Arts Council Poetry Series, Pembroke, NC

1973 Read poetry at the North Carolina Writers Conference, Raleigh, NC

1973 Conducted a poetry workshop for high school students at Scotland County High School,Laurinburg, NC

1972 Conducted a five day poetry workshop for the North Carolina Poetry in the Schools Program, Central Elementary School, Laurinburg, NC

1972 Conducted a five day poetry workshop for the North Carolina Poetry in the Schools Program, Starmount High School, Yadkin County, NC

1972 Read with two other poets at the Museum of Art, Fayetteville, NC, sponsored by the North Carolina Arts Council Poetry Series

1972 Read poetry at St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Laurinburg, NC

1971 Read poetry at Queens College, Charlotte, NC

1969_70 Read poetry at several meetings of the South and West Writers Club, Fort Smith, AR

EDITING

Contributing Editor, Literature Film Quarterly, 2001-.

Editorial Board, Postscript: The Journal of the Philological Association of the Carolinas, 2000-.

Contributing Editor, Pembroke Magazine. The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 1998-.

Assistant Book Review Editor, The Journal of Law and Social Work, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 1993-1998.

Fiction Editor, Carolina Quarterly, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 1980_81.

Associate Editor, Pembroke Magazine, Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC, 1971_78

Editor. Communications. Communicative Arts Department Newsletter. Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC. 1977-1978.

Freelance writing and editing in the fields of architecture, banking, educational administration, history, political science, sociology, and Spanish.

 

COURSES TAUGHT (partial list)

ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY

Pre-form linguistic grammar; second-form Spanish; fourth-form literature (genre approach); fifth-form literature (Greeks to Renaissance); Oral History Workshop; English, Speech and Computers for Health Careers Opportunity Program Students (a bridge program for students going into health careers).

UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE

Writing and Language Courses

Remedial Composition, Freshman Composition I and II; Honors English

Practicum in Composition Tutoring

Advanced Composition

Advanced Writing and Editing (graduate course)

Process Writing: Theory (NC Writing Project; graduate course)

English as a Second Language Workshop (graduate course)

Creative Writing Courses

Creative Writing I (poetry) and Creative Writing II (fiction)

Creative Writing Workshop (fiction section)

Writing for Publication Workshop

Literature Courses

Introduction to Literature

World Literature I and II (Greeks to Renaissance; Enlightenment to Contemporary)

American Literature I and II (Bradford to Melville; Whitman to Plath)

British Literature I and II (Anglo_Saxon to Renaissance; Neo_Classical to Romantic)

Major British Authors (Chaucer to Amis)

The Novel Since 1960 (British, American, European)

Contemporary Literature (poetry, prose, drama)

Studies in Comedy (Aristophanes to Stoppard)

The American Novel

The British Renaissance

British Comic Drama

Shakespeare: the Early Plays

Shakespeare: the Late Plays

Shakespeare: a One-semester Survey

Shakespeare’s Comedies (graduate course)

Film Courses

Introduction to Film Study

The Art of Film

Time and the Director

Studies in Film (seminar)

Film Literacy (graduate course)

The American West: Myth and Reality (interdisciplinary)

Philosophy

Introduction to Philosophy

 

UNIVERSITY SERVICE (partial list)

Director, Composition Program, 1987-2001

Director, Advisement and Retention, 1984-1994

Activity Director, Title III, Activity II, Retention, 1993-1994

Member, University Image Committee, 1994-1994

Writer, HCOP Grant, 1993

Writer, Title III Grant, 1988-1993

Co_Director, The North Carolina Writing Project at PSU, 1987-1990

Chairman, PSU SACS Institutional Effectiveness Committee, 1988_89

Member, PSU SACS Self_Study Steering Committee, 1988_1989

Member, PSU Financial Aid Appeals Committee, 1988_present

Chairman, PSU Ad Hoc Committee on Communication Proficiency, 1987_90

Member, Admissions Scholarship Committee, 1988-92

Member, CMA Advisory Committee, 1989-present

Member, CMA Library and Computer Committee, 1987_98

Member, PSU Academic Council, 1986_94

Chairman, CMA Faculty Evaluation Committees, 1986_87

Member, PSU Academic Affairs Committee, 1984_94

Chairman, PSU Subcommittee on Admissions and Retention, 1984_94

Writer, PSU Long Range Planning Study Commission on the Library, 1984; and on Intra_Campus Communications, 1984

Vice_chairman, University Orientation Committee, 1983_87

Chairman, PSU Curriculum Committee, 1982_84; Member, 1974_77

Member, CMA Graduate Committee, 1982_1992

Chairman, CMA Composition Committee, 1981_87; Member 1974_76

Chairman, CMA Curriculum Review Committee, 1977

Member, University Lyceum Committee, 1972_72

Member, University Humanities Committee, 1971_72

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS

The Philological Association of the Carolinas

The Renaissance Society of America

Shakespeare Association of America

The South Atlantic Modern Language Association

The Western Literature Association

The Literature/Film Association

COMMUNITY SERVICE (partial list)

Rape Crisis Center of Robeson County

 President of the Board of Directors (1993-95)

 Vice-President of the Board of Directors

 Chairman of the Training Committee

 Member of the Executive Committee

 Member of the Liaison Committee

 Member of the Public Relations Committee

 Member of the Law Enforcement Committee

Completed workshop on counseling survivors of sexual abuse. Asheville Mental Health

Center, Spring 1992

Rape Crisis Volunteers of Cumberland County

 Member, 1986-1990

 On-call, Womack Army Hospital

Completed rape crisis counselor certification course at Fayetteville Technical Institute, 1986; renewal course, 1990

Other

Robeson County Task Force on Sexual Abuse, Member, 1988

"Teaming For Kids: Two Day Conference on Child Sexual Abuse," Conference Planning Team, Member, 1988

Robeson County Team for Drug Free Schools and Community, Member, 1988

Robeson County District Court, Jury Foreman, 1985

Pembroke State University Summer Youth Program, Coordinator, 1984

Black/White Dialog Committee, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, Group Leader, 1979-80