Christopher Crane

Christopher “Chip” Crane has taught literature and professional writing at the University of Maryland since 2010. He regularly co-teaches Tolkien in Oxford, a special study short-term study abroad writing course. His regular writing courses include Advanced Composition (ENGL391), Technical Writing for Honors (ENGL 393H), and Writing for the Health Professions (ENGL395). Literature courses include J.R.R. Tolkien: Middle-earth and Beyond (ENGL 375), Medieval and Renaissance Literature (ENGL 310), , This is English (ENGL301), Medieval Myth and Modern Narrative (ENGL 377), and Arthurian Legend (ENGL 466). 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 communication, leadership, and team building. He has consulted for the Department of Homeland Security, the FDIC, the Institue of International Finance, and several other organizations. He served for six years on the board of the Center for Plain Language and led the Center's Federal Report Card for plain language.