Michael Odom
Associate Professor
English
EMAIL: modom@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: N-771
Office Hours:
Phone: +1 (212) 220-8606
Michael Odom received his Ph.D. in English from the University of South Carolina where he studied the literary and religious culture of the American South. Odom’s recent book, Southern Strategies, illuminates the central role evangelical religion plays in shaping the socio-political culture of the southern region by studying the narrative strategies of acclaimed twentieth-century writers. His scholarship on religion and literature has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as South Atlantic Review, Southern Literary Journal, and Flannery O’Connor Review, as well as collected essays and book introductions published by Salem Press and University of South Carolina Press. With over two decades of secondary and postsecondary English teaching experience, Professor Odom seeks to cultivate a stimulating academic environment in his courses at BMCC.
Expertise
American Literature, Southern Studies, Religious Studies, Rhetoric and Composition
Degrees
Ph.D. English, University of South Carolina
Courses Taught
- English Composition is the standard freshman writing course. The course introduces students to academic writing. By its conclusion, students will be ready for English 201 and for the writing they will be asked to do in advanced courses across the curriculum. Students completing ENG 101 will have mastered the fundamentals of college-level reading and writing, including developing a thesis-driven response to the writing of others and following the basic conventions of citation and documentation. They will have practiced what Mike Rose calls the "habits of mind" necessary for success in college and in the larger world: summarizing, classifying, comparing, contrasting, and analyzing. Students will be introduced to basic research methods and MLA documentation and complete a research project. Students are required to take a departmental final exam that requires the composition of a 500 word, thesis-driven essay in conversation with two designated texts. Prerequisite: Pass the CAT-R and CAT-W or Accuplacer tests
- This course presents a global approach to literature by introducing prose, poetry and drama representative of different cultures and historical periods, from the 17th century to the present. Students engage in close readings of individual texts and contextual/comparative analyses. Written and spoken activities are designed to enhance students? appreciation of literature and their awareness of the ways it arises from, shapes, and reflects the world?s cultures.
Research and Projects
Publications
Religious Satire and Narrative Ambiguity in the Known World, South Atlantic Review (2019)
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
PSC – CUNY Research Award
Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellow
Joel Myerson Fellow in American Letters
Flannery O’Connor Collections Fellow
Sarah Gordon Award
James Dickey Award for Scholarly Writing
