Jim L. Kerbaugh

Professor

Department of English

 

Education: University of North Texas, B.A. 1977; M.A. 1979; Ph.D. 1984

 

Courses: Medieval Literature; The Age of Chaucer; Studies in the Renaissance; Introduction to Creative Writing; British Literature to 1800; Classical Literature; Topics in Literature: Russia; Principles of Writing; Poetry Workshop; Fiction Workshop; Senior Writing Project; Senior Seminar

 

Achievements: Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers (2002, 2004, 2006)

 

 

In the 20 years Professor Jim Kerbaugh has been teaching literature not once has he written a lecture.

 

“I prefer to be more spontaneous,” he says. “I point out a passage in the text and invite my students to comment or ask questions. Usually, we both learn something that way.  Of course, I like to comment—at length—about many

passages.”

 

Kerbaugh joined Illinois College in 1987 and served as chair of the English Department from 2001 to 2004. He specializes in classical and medieval literature, with an emphasis on poetry. He infuses class discussions with history lessons.

 

“It’s impossible to discuss literature from the Middle Ages without using a multidisciplinary approach,” he says. “I think there’s a tendency in the world to call the past irrelevant, but I remind my students that the past can teach us a great deal about customs and beliefs. And when you really look at it, not much essential has changed in the past in 700 years. Human nature doesn’t change.”

 

To immerse students more fully in the history of the Middle Ages, Kerbaugh has directed several overseas BreakAway trips including, “The Cathedral and Castles of England and Scotland,” “The Florentine Renaissance” and “From Tuscany to Rome.”

 

Kerbaugh also established the department’s Poetry Workshop.

                       

“The fact that you can say so much in so few words is a powerful thing,” he says. “I try to instill in my students that poetry is more than an art or an expression of emotion. Poetry is a craft that requires technique and analysis or it just becomes an exercise in self- indulgence.”

 

Kerbaugh is a prolific writer, having more than two dozen of his poems published in literary reviews and journals. He carries a notebook with him constantly so he can jot down random thoughts and impressions and mull them over later. The following poem was published in The William and Mary Review.

 

            Cityscape

 

                                                Two squirrels in the street,

                                                One alive, pushing at the other,

                                                Trying to revive immobile, limp.

 

                                                As my Mercury – bad messenger,

                                                Grim Wayfinder, approached,

                                                The extant one (so far), abandoning

                                                The obviously significant remains,

                                                Dashed beneath the wheels,

                                                Somehow, amid the shriek of tires,

                                                Emerging on the other side, intact –

                                                For now – to scramble up a tree

                                                Close enough to watch the stiffening.

 

In addition to writing, Kerbaugh enjoys traveling and listening to classical music. He also describes himself as a “fool for cats.” He has five—down from his all-time high of nine.  

 

 

 

 

   

 

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