Sean Murray, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Writing, Institute for Core Studies
First-Year Writing Program, Institute for Writing Studies
murrays@stjohns.edu
Ph.D. in English, Suny-Binghamton
My journey as an educator began in the fall of 1998, when I stepped
into a 7th grade Language Arts classroom as a
student-teacher. When my cooperating teacher was whisked away
without warning, I found myself suddenly alone with a roomful of
rambunctious tweens. The details of what happened next are
foggy, but I do remember being overwhelmed by a wave of dread and
panic. Thankfully, those initial emotions have long since
been transformed into an excitement that keeps me returning to the
classroom.
A year later, with a Master of Arts in Teaching English and a
Master of Arts in English Literature from Binghamton University, I
started teaching high school English in upstate New York.
Over the next three years, various interactions with students and
colleagues sparked my interest in writing pedagogy, critical
thinking, and the politics of education. Subsequently, I
found myself back at Binghamton University in 2002, this time
working towards a doctorate in English. My coursework and
field exams covered a broad range of subjects, including
composition theory, 20th century American literature, and gender
studies; likewise, I taught a diverse array of courses, including
rhetoric, public speaking, science fiction, and horror fiction.
In 2007, after defending my dissertation entitled
Composition Incorporated: Turbo Capitalism, Higher Education,
and the Teaching of Writing, I came to St. John's Institute
for Writing Studies. The faculty here, with academic
backgrounds ranging from composition to literary theory to
creativity writing, have helped me envision the limitless
possibilities for teaching college writing. My current
scholarly interests include academic service-learning and critical
pedagogy.