Dr. M. Ferrell’s Profile
Literature of Toni Morrison, Contemporary American Literature, African American and Native American Literatures, Film Studies, and Gender & Sexuality Studies
Both Dr. Ferrell’s teaching and writing focus on issues of Womanism/Feminism, race, (C)lass, gender politics, sexuality, and representations of sexual identity. In her courses, Ferrell asks her students to examine their understanding of our growing society alongside the antiquated paradigms that govern us all. Overall, whether composition or literature, students will find her courses lend themselves to informative, lively, and animated discussions that focus on the politics, cultures, emerging technologies, social expectations/responsibilities, and ideologies that make us uniquely human.
Dr. Ferrell is an award-winning poet and fiction writer. Her work has appeared in myriad noted creative writing magazines, journals, and anthologies. Currently, she is hard at work on multiple projects: her fourth poetry collection titled Dulce Reina En Fuego (Sweet Queen On Fire), which focuses specifically on women and their experiences with identity, motherhood, death/loss, violence, illness, global politics, mental illness/depression/anxiety, and survival; and her first novel, Tuck, which examines the myths surrounding American Black masculinity and familial and cultural responses to substance abuse and Mental Illness/Depression. Ferrell, the author/co-author of a number of essays and books on popular culture, identity, and race has also published three poetry collections: Black Body Parts (Cross + Roads Press), Unsteady (NYQ Books), and Attraversiamo (NYQ Books).
My Courses
Course Description (course catalogue): Introduction to the writings of selected women writers, both major authors and less well-known women writers. A variety of genres including essays, fiction, poems, and plays will be explored. Our Course: Together, we will study the world of women through the eyes of women scholars and creative writers. We will also explore female identity as construed and designed by male authors in an attempt to understand their impact on the perception of girls and women. In doing so, we will examine the evolution of female identity, the current status and perception of the global woman, and the future prospects of girls and women worldwide, as the female identity transitions nationally and internationally. This class is both reading and writing intensive and will address the following socially sensitive topics: representations of girls and women on reality television; racial matters; sex/sexuality/sexual orientation; violence; politics; Class and the culture of power; and gender roles/expectations, among other areas of social concern.
Course Description (course catalogue): Analysis and critical understanding of selected fiction. Our Course: In this class, we will study the human condition through the eyes of scholars, creative writers and, especially, through the medium of film. In doing so, we will examine the evolution of the evolving human identity: the hero/heroine, the martyr, the vigilante, familial bonds and constraints, vengeance, rage, freedom, sex, love, hate, the bitch, the bastard, race, Class, and everything in between that showcases the human story in all its complexity. This semester, this course will also study several works of fiction that have transitioned to the big screen. As such, viewing visual texts in class is JUST as important as reading course material. English 2001 is both reading and writing intensive and will address socially sensitive topics. Those uncomfortable with any/all of the described course content should reconsider taking this course.
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