KIMBERLY E.

ARMSTRONG
Metropolitan Community College
Fort Omaha Campus, 5300 N 30th Street
Omaha, NE 68111

kimberly.e.armstrong@gmail.com
http://kimberlyarmstrong.weebly.com/
402.250.0456

EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy in English, University of Connecticut, August 2015
Master of Arts in English, Texas Tech University, May 2009
Bachelor of Arts in English and French, Creighton University, May 2006
PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
2015-Present
Instructor (full time), Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, NE
2009-2015
Graduate Instructor, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
2008-2009
Graduate Part-Time Instructor, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
2007-2008
Teaching Assistant, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
PUBLICATIONS
Susan Lenox: Reading and Rising. American Literary Realism, Forthcoming Winter 2016.
An Uncle Toms Cabin for the Indian: Helen Hunt Jacksons Ramona and the Power of Paratext.
Under Review, Western American Literature.
Caroline Kirklands Romantic and Realist Frontier. Gale Researcher. Detroit: Gale, 2016.
Walnut Grove. Litro Magazine. litro.co.uk, 2016.
Hochman, Barbara. Uncle Toms Cabin and the Reading Revolution. Amherst: U of Massachusetts Press,
2011. In Resources for American Literary Study (Summer 2013).
BOOK MANUSCRIPT (IN PROGRESS)
A Woman of Letters as a Woman of Business: Marketing American Womens Literature, 1850-1920.
From 1850-1920, the way publishers positioned texts in an ever-expanding marketplace evolved
radically. Using archival materials (from catalogs to advertisements), I reconstruct strategies
publishers and authors utilized to sell their work and themselves, challenging traditional
characterizations of women authors as hesitant to embrace authorship as a profession.
Utilizing interdisciplinary methods that consider the physical form of the text as much as
content, my project gives new attention to the material culture of books while providing new
evidence of the ways women writers navigated the literary marketplace and an increasing
demand for professionalization.
AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
Reese Fellowship, American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA, 2016
Alfred A. and Blanche W. Knopf Fellowship, Harry Ransom Center, Austin, TX, 2016
NeMLA CAITY Caucus Travel Grant, 2016
Provosts Commendation for Teaching Excellence, University of Connecticut, Fall 2014
Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Collaboratory (HASTAC) Scholar, 2014-15
Summer Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Connecticut English Department, 2014
Dissertation Fellowship Award, University of Connecticut Graduate School, 2012
Predoctoral Summer Research Fellowship, University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences Dean, 2012

Armstrong CV

Graduate Student Teaching Award for Excellence in Composition Instruction, Texas Tech
University First Year Writing Program, 2009
PRESENTATIONS (BY FIELD)
LITERATURE
You Would do Well to Learn a Little Japan Gentleness, and some Turkey Politeness: or,
Samantha at the Chinese Department. Nineteenth Century Studies Association Annual
Conference. Lincoln, NE. April 2016.
The Trashy Literature in which They Delight: Late Nineteenth Century Reading Manuals and the
Oversight of Young Womens Reading Habits. Northeast Modern Language Association
Annual Conference. Hartford, CT. March 2016. (Panel Organizer).
A Mejum Course: Marietta Holley and the Subscription Marketplace. Northeast Modern
Literature Association Annual Conference. Toronto, ON. May 2015.
A Subscription Harvest is Before Publication (Not After, When People Have Discovered How
Bad Ones Book is): Mark Twain, Elisha Bliss, and the Subscription Book Buyer." Midwest
Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Annual Conference.
Indianapolis, IN. October 2014.
An Uncle Toms Cabin for the Indians: Helen Hunt Jacksons Ramona and the Mission Myth of
Southern California. Society for the History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing Annual
Conference. Philadelphia, PA. July 2013.
Reading Helen Hunt Jacksons Ramona through Filters of Publisher and Paratext. Midwest
Modern Language Association Annual Conference. Cincinnati, OH. November 2012.
Gender, Class, and Cats: Mark Twains No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger. College English
Association Annual Conference. Pittsburgh, PA. March 2009.
COMPOSITION AND TEACHING
Co-Presenter, with Mary Mahoney and Kevin Finefrock. Digital Humanities in the Classroom.
THATCamp New England. Storrs, CT. November 2013.
Learning Communities in the First-Year Composition Classroom Roundtable. University of
Connecticut Conference on the Teaching of Writing. Storrs, CT. March 2011.
INVITED PRESENTATIONS
The Plague is Just as Great Today: Selling the Subscription Book in Nineteenth-Century
America. American Antiquarian Society Fellows Talk. Worcester, MA. June 2016.
Designing Assignments for Inquiry-Driven Projects. Workshop. University of Connecticut Early
College Experience Annual Conference. Storrs, CT. November 2014.
Other Ways of Reading: Non-Print Texts and Literacies in the Classroom. Teaching Roundtable.
University of Connecticut First Year Writing Program. Storrs, CT. October 2014.
An Uncle Toms Cabin for the Indians: Helen Hunt Jacksons Ramona and the Mission Myth of
Southern California. English Graduate Student Associations Colloquium of Ongoing
Research. Storrs, CT. April 2013.
DEPARTMENT AND CAMPUS TALKS
Co-presenter, with George Moore, From Revision to Revelation. First-Year Writing: New
Instructor Introduction Week. University of Connecticut, Storrs. August 2014.

Armstrong CV

Co-presenter, with Steven Mollmann. Prompting Student Writing through Assignment Design.
First-Year Writing: New Instructor Introduction Week. University of Connecticut, Storrs.
August 2014.
Small Group Workshops. First-Year Writing: New Instructor Orientation Week. University of
Connecticut, Storrs. August 2013.
Co-presenter, with Eleanor Reeds. Designing Assignments to Promote Inquiry-Based Writing.
First-Year Writing: New Instructor Orientation Week. University of Connecticut, Storrs.
August 2013.
Co-presenter, with Gordon Fraser. The Self-Presentation Presentation: A Panel for Teachers on
Developing a Classroom Persona. First-Year Writing: New Teaching Assistant Orientation
Week. University of Connecticut, Storrs. August 2013.
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
Program Assistant, Upward Bound/ConnCAP Program and First Star Academy, University of
Connecticut Storrs, February 2010-May 2015
Assisted director of an educational opportunity program for low-income, first-generation to
college high school students in grant writing and reporting at federal and state level.
Developed curriculum for summer courses, ran writing workshops, planned once-monthly
academic days on themes of cultural connections, academic preparedness, study skills, career
preparation, and community service. Hired instructors and staff for summer program,
maintained files for 120 students.
New Instructor Orientation Committee, First-Year Writing Program, University of
Connecticut Storrs, 2011 (Oversight Committee), 2013 (Implementation
Committee), 2014 (Implementation Committee)
Introduced new teaching assistants to the pedagogy of the First-Year Writing Program.
Revised best-practices for curriculum and delivery each year. Ran workshops, question-andanswer sessions, and provided individual mentoring on subjects like assignment and
curriculum development and lesson planning.
Learning Communities Coordinator, University of Connecticut Storrs, Spring 2012
Facilitated interdisciplinary approaches to teaching Freshman English through coordination
with the First Year Programs department, recruited and supported instructors of linked
Freshman English-Learning Community sections, completed annual assessment of data for
grant funding
COURSES TAUGHT
*I was the sole instructor of record for each of the courses listed below.
LITERATURE COURSES:
Honors Literary Study through Reading and Research: Narrative Sensation and Moral Panic
from the Gothic Novel to Video Games, ENGL 2011 (UConn) (1 section; 15 students)
A four-credit, honors-level course that surveys changes in popular narrative forms from the
eighteenth-century gothic novel, the nineteenth-century sensation novel, the development of
graphic narrative (particularly comic books) in the late nineteenth and into the twentieth
century, the emergence of film in the twentieth century, and finally to the recent advent of
video games in the twenty-first. Considers the way each form structures narrative and
implies a reader's role in the processing of narrative, and we will explore the critical
responses from cultural authorities to these forms at the times of their emergence.

Armstrong CV

American Literature Since 1880, ENGL 2203 (UConn) (1 section; 35 students)

A sophomore-level course surveying American literature since 1880. This course considers
different genres of writing (poetry, short stories, essays, novels, and graphic novels) and uses
a historical (and particularly book historical) lens to look at texts within their wider cultural
context. Topics included literary challenges to dominant culture (the New Woman/True
Woman) and considered how political debates are expressed in literature. Students produced
one revised conference length paper and one presentation during the semester.
COMPOSITION AND WRITING COURSES:
Composition I, ENGL 1010 (MCC) (4 sections; 25 students) (1 section online)
A three-credit (semester equivalent) course emphasizing drafting and revision, peer review,
and complex argumentation. This class meets in the classroom and in regular small groups
and individual conferences. Readings included David Bartholomae, Perry Nodelman, and
Adrienne Rich.
Composition II, ENGL 1020 (MCC) (4 sections; 25 students)
A three-credit (semester equivalent) course that builds on the drafting and revision, peer
review, and complex argumentation of Composition I. This course emphasizes scholarly
research as a part of the writing process. Readings included Kwame Appiah, David Foster
Wallace, Richard Rodriguez, and Susan Bordo.
Technical Writing, ENGL 1220 (MCC) (2 Sections; 25 students)
A three-credit (semester equivalent) course contexualized for students in applied technology
majors. This course uses workplace scenarios and documents to prepare students for the
kinds of writing done in their fields. Assignments have included instruction manuals,
technical descriptions, and progress reports.
Oral and Written Reports, ENGL 1240 (MCC) (1 section; 25 students)
An advanced three-credit credit (semester equivalent) course contexualized for students in
applied technology majors. This course uses workplace scenarios and documents to prepare
students for the kinds of writing done in their fields. Assignments have included project
proposals, action plans, and informational reports.
Introduction to Academic Writing: Student Support Services (TRiO) section, ENGL 1004
(UConn) (1 section; 17 students)
A four-credit required composition course designed to prepare students for academic success
in the university. Students are enrolled in this course based SAT scores and their
participation in the SSS Program. All students were from low-income, first-generation-tocollege, and/or underrepresented students. Readings included Kwame Appiah, David
Bartholomae, and Adrienne Rich.
Seminar in Academic Writing, ENGL 1010 (UConn) (1 section; 22 students)
A four-credit required composition course for freshmen emphasizing drafting and revision,
peer review, scholarly research, and complex argumentation. This class meets in the
classroom and in regular small groups and individual conferences, and each student
produces twenty-five to thirty pages of polished academic writing. Readings have included
David Foster Wallace, Kwame Appiah, John Berger, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Michael
Pollan.
Seminar in Academic Writing for Public Health Students, ENGL 1010 (UConn) (3 sections;
22 students)
A four-credit required composition course with the same structure and requirements as
above. These sections were linked to the Public Health House Learning Community, had a
service-learning component, were competitively awarded, and were funded by the Davis

Armstrong CV

Grant for Education.

Seminar in Academic Writing for EcoHouse Students, ENGL 1010 (UConn) (1 sections; 22
students)
A four-credit required composition course with the same structure and requirements as
above. These sections were linked to the EcoHouse Learning Community, had a servicelearning component, were competitively awarded, and were funded by the University of
Connecticut Office of First Year Programs.
Seminar in Academic Writing through Literature, ENGL 1011 (UConn) (3 sections; 22
students)
A four-credit required composition course with the same structure and requirements as
above. These sections used literary texts as lens to talk about contemporary issues. Past
readings have included Willa Cather, Joyce Carol Oates, Tim OBrien, Mark Twain, and
Richard Wright.
Creative Writing, ENGL 1310 (MCC) (1 section, 10 students)
A three-credit (semester equivalent) course emphasizing workshops, creative writing
exercises, and peer review. Students practice the craft of writing poetry, short stories, and
creative non-fiction and use peer review and workshops to revise their work for potential
publication.
First Year Composition II, ENGL 1302 (TTU) (4 sections; 35 students)
A three-credit required composition course that is the second half of a six-credit sequence.
Partially asynchronous format with blended in-class and online format. Students receive a
variety of instruction focusing on issues of rhetorical theory, academic writing, and research
skills and strategies.
DIGITAL PROJECTS
Developer, Repackaging America: American Paratexts.
This is a scholarly and pedagogical initiative born out of my dissertation research that catalogs
and displays the many forms of paratext surround 19 Century texts, exploring how books
evolved and were reconsidered as they aged throughout the century. The database collates
multiple editions of texts and allows users to sort the data in a variety of ways (by text,
author, publisher, illustrator, etc). In the classroom, it is a tool that will teach students the
basics of bibliography and history of the book research. The interface is in process and is
sponsored by the University of Connecticut Scholars Collaborative.
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OTHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

California Rare Book School Fall 2015.
Seminar participant: Descriptive Bibliography.
American Antiquarian Society Center for Historic American Visual Culture Summer 2013.
Seminar participant: Domestic Impressions: The Visual and Material Culture of the American
Family Home, 1750-1890.
ACADEMIC SERVICE
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Member, Level-1 Courses Assessment Team, 2016-2017
Member, Initiating Student Success Committee, 2016-present
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

Armstrong CV
Information Literacy Competencies Guidelines and Assessment Research Committee, General
Education Oversight Committee, University of Connecticut-Storrs, 2015
Graduate Student Representative to the Committee on Undergraduate Writing Instruction, 20132014
Search Committee, Connecticut College Awareness Program (ConnCAP) Advisor Search, 2013
Treasurer, English Graduate Student Association 2011-2013
Vice President, English Graduate Student Association 2010-2011
Member, AETNA Graduate Student Teaching Award Committee, 2009-2011
TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
Treasurer, Graduate English Society, 2007-2009
COLLEGE ENGLISH ASSOCIATION
Panel Organizer and Reader, 19 Century American Literature, 2009-2010
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RESEARCH INTERESTS
History of the Book, Womens Writing, Early and Nineteenth-Century American Literature and
Culture, American Studies, Digital Humanities, Service Learning
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, & Publishing
Society for the Study of American Women Writers
Midwest Modern Language Association
Northeast Modern Language Association
Midwest Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association
University of Connecticut English Graduate Student Association
LANGUAGES
French, written and spoken