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Christopher Crane

Dr. Chip Crane

Senior Lecturer, English

(410) 507-6938

1204 Tawes Hall
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Christopher “Chip” Crane has taught literature and professional writing at the University of Maryland since 2010.  His writing courses include Advanced Composition (ENGL391), Writing for the Health Professions (ENGL395) and Technical Writing (ENGL 393); literature courses include Medieval and Renaissance Literature (ENGL 310), J.R.R. Tolkien: Middle-earth and Beyond (ENGL 375), Critical Methods in the Study of Literature (ENGL301), Medieval Myth and Modern Narrative (ENGL 377), Arthurian Legend (ENGL 466) and survey courses.   Chip holds a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from the Catholic University of America, where he also received a certificate in Rhetoric studies.  He received an M.A. in Teaching Writing and Literature from George Mason University.  His doctoral dissertation focused on the rhetoric of comedy in late medieval English literature.   His research interests include the intersection of rhetoric and comedy, translation and identity in Anglo-Saxon through seventeenth-century English literature, Tolkien, young adult fantasy, and medievalism in pop culture. 

Chip previously taught English as a military instructor at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, from 1999-2010, directing the Academy’s Writing Center from 2002-2010.  During this time he taught technical writing, creative writing, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Korean American literature, Tolkien and Lewis, freshman composition, literary theory, film, and several other courses. During his years as the Naval Academy’s Writing Center Director, Chip established the peer tutoring program utilizing volunteer midshipmen and expanded the usage of a Writing Center endowment with workshops and other forms of Writing Across the Curriculum initiatives.   

Chip also works as a consultant for technical and business writing and speaking.  He has taught and coached for the Department of Homeland Security, the FDIC, and other agencies or organizations.  He also served on the board of the Center for Plain Language for six years and led the Center's Federal Report Card for plain language from 2015-2017. 

 

Publications

"Starting with the Film: Jackson as a Way Back to Tolkien on Heroism and Evil."

"Offers pedagogical techniques for teaching Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion in undergraduate and graduate classes.

English

Author/Lead: Christopher Crane
Dates:
Topics include race, gender, sources, environmental sustainability, interdisciplinarity, learning communities, science, epic, pastoral, and reception.

Read More about "Starting with the Film: Jackson as a Way Back to Tolkien on Heroism and Evil."