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Kristopher Kowal
Assistant Professor of English
Tel.: (630) 942-2902
Fax.: (630) 942-3711
Room: IC2099F
e-mail: kowalk@cod.edu
Education:
Ph.D. in English, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1994. Specialization in Language, Literacy and Rhetoric.
Awards and Recognitions:
The 1993 Anne Hopewell Selby Award for Excellence in Graduate Studies in English, University of Illinois
University of Illinois Fellowship, 1993–94 academic year
Research Interests:
International Communication
Christian Spirituality and the Arts
Contemporary Taiwanese Society
Discourse Analysis
Courses Taught:
Developmental Writing
College Composition
Short Fiction
Academic Research Writing
Comparative Rhetoric and Literacy
Discourse Analysis
The Bible as Literature
Current Projects:
From Free China to the New Taiwan: A Comprehensive Analysis of Language Change in Official Publications during the First Republican Era
Publications and Presentations:
Publications
Book
Rhetorical Implications of Linguistic Relativity. Berkeley Insights in Linguistics and Semiotics series, no. 27. New York: Peter Lang, 1998. Reviewed in Philosophy East & West (July 2000) and TESOL Quarterly (Summer 2000).
Academic Writings
“Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Dekalog 8: Narrating Jewish–Polish Reconciliation.” The European Legacy: Journal of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas, 4(4), 58–76. [1999]
“The Rectification of a Name: A Western Rhetorician looks at Taiwan’s National Identity Question.” In J.H. Lai & G.T. Yü (eds.), Taiwan on the Move. Chungli, Taiwan: National Central University, 1998. 299–318.
“Introduction.” M.T. Yang, Water Mill Fables. Taipei, 1995.
“Reading Lao-tzu as Rhetoric.” In D.A. Jolliffe & W.A. Covino, Rhetoric: Concepts, Definitions, Boundaries. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1995. 264–73.
“‘Something of the Gospel’ in Vincent van Gogh.” Modern Age: A Quarterly Review, 33, 259–68. [1990]
“Recent Catholic Literature from Japan.” Touchstone: A Journal of Ecumenical Orthodoxy, 3(3), 15–18. [1989]
“Thomas Merton's Vow of Conversation.” Touchstone: A Journal of Ecumenical Orthodoxy, 3(2), 39–41. [1989]
“Embracing the Tao: Peter Elbow Re-contextualized.” TECFORS, 10(3–4), 6–13. [1987]
Creative Nonfiction and Journalistic Pieces
“The Ministry of Education’s Naïve Initiative.” Taipei Times, January 5, 2003. 8. [on government plans to reform English education in Taiwan]
“English Spoken Here.” Taipei Review, November 2002. 30–35. [about current language policy in Taiwan]
“The Sage We Love to Hate.” Free China Review, August 1999. 48–53. [a commentary on critiques of Confucius and Confucianism in popular literary and academic discourses]
“Quote-unquote.” Free China Review, June 1999. 46–47. [an interview with Fredrick Chien, president of Taiwan’s “Control Yuan,” one of five main branches of the national government]
Twelve monthly editorials (unsigned), Free China Review, November 1998–October 1999.
Textbook Chapters and Other Publications
“Literacy: Traditional and Popular.” In From Culture to Culture: A Textbook for Building English Reading Skills. Taipei: Tamkang UP, 1998. 255–66. [an essay about the importance of self-motivated pleasure reading, with accompanying exercises and composition/discussion topics]
“Portrait of a Liar.” In From Culture to Culture: A Textbook for Building English Reading Skills. Taipei: Tamkang UP, 1998. 40–49. [an essay about intellectual property rights and software piracy in Taiwan, with accompanying exercises and composition/discussion topics]
“Student Suicide in Taiwan: Death by Degrees.” In From Culture to Culture: A Textbook for Building English Reading Skills. Taipei: Tamkang UP, 1998. 164–74. [essay with accompanying exercises and composition/discussion topics]
“Trust Me, You Can Make It!” In From Culture to Culture: A Textbook for Building English Reading Skills. Taipei: Tamkang University Press, 1998. 67–77. [an essay about body-image advertising in Taiwan, with accompanying exercises and composition/discussion topics]
“Is Tamkang University Only a Place to ‘Play’ for Four Years?” The English Major, Spring 1997. 2. [a publication of the Tamkang University Department of English]
Presentations as Invited Speaker
National Taipei Teachers College, Taipei, Taiwan, November 19, 2002. Topic: “What Is ‘Rhetoric’?”
National Taiwan Institute of Children’s Literature, National Taitung Teachers College, Taitung, Taiwan, June 12, 2000. Topic: “The Bible and/as ‘Children’s Literature’.”
Hsinpu University, Tamsui, Taiwan, April 24, 1998. Topic: “How to Read a Movie.”
Conference Presentations
“International Communication, Taipei-style.” Paper presented at “China Facing the New Millennium: The Challenge of Globalization,” an international conference organized by the Association of Chinese Professors of Social Sciences in the United States (ACPSS), Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, October 2000.
“Working in Foreign Government Publishing.” Paper presented at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Chicago, December 1999.
“Language Change in Taiwan: The Case of ‘Free China’.” Paper presented at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Chicago, December 1999.
“Taiwan’s Televised Fertility Industry Advertisements.” Paper presented at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Chicago, December 1999.
“Ironies of Translating ‘the Whorfian Hypothesis’.” Paper presented at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Washington, DC, December 1996.
“The Rectification of Taiwan’s Name: A Western Rhetorician Looks at the National Identity Question.” Paper presented at “Taiwan on the Move: An International Conference,” National Central University, Chungli, Taiwan, April 1996.
“The Rise and Fall of Mandarin Chinese on Taiwan: A Case of Language Contact, Language Change, and Language Policy.” Paper presented at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Chicago, December 1995.
“Sociocultural Dimensions of Language Policy on Taiwan.” Paper presented at the International “Taiwan in Asia” Conference of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, Champaign, Illinois, March–April 1995.
“Linguistic Relativity and the Multicultural Classroom: Educational Responsibility for Emerging Literacies.” Presentation made at the Conference on College Composition and Communication Annual Convention, Washington, DC, March 1995.
“Taiwan’s Bilingual Education Movement.” Paper presented at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention, San Diego, California, December 1994.
“The Contrastive Rhetoric Case Study: Analysis of a Genre.” Paper presented at the Rhetoric Society of America National Conference, Norfolk, Virginia, May 1994.
“Contrastive Rhetoric and Rhetorical Theory: Some Prolegomena to an Eclectic Philosophy of Language.” Paper presented at the Conference on College Composition and Communication Annual Convention, Nashville, Tennessee, March 1994.
“English Literacy in Taiwan: A Case Study.” Paper presented at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Toronto, Canada, December 1993.
“The Multilingual Consciousness of Chinese Students of English.” Paper presented at the International Association of Applied Linguistics Tenth World Congress, Amsterdam, Netherlands, August 1993.
“Chinese Rhetoric in Bakhtinian Perspective.” Paper presented at the Ninth Biennial Conference of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric, Turin, Italy, July 1993.
“The Visionary Rhetoric of Vincent van Gogh’s Religious Writings.” Paper presented at the Graduate Conference on Language and Literature, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, March 1993.
“Classical Chinese Rhetoric: The Cultural Context of the Tao Te Ching.” Paper presented at the Rhetoric Society of America Biennial Conference, Minneapolis, May 1992.
“The Influence of Conferencing on Revision.” Paper presented at the Annual Convention of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, San Antonio, Texas, March 1989. (With D. Ferris, R. Ferris, & R. Patthey)
“Vocabulary Acquisition through Reading Natural Texts.” Paper presented at the Annual Convention of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Chicago, March 1988. (With E. Kiyochi & D. Ferris)
Other Activities
Editorial Positions
Senior Editor, Free China Review (since renamed Taiwan Review), Taipei, Taiwan, August 1998–September 1999.
Executive Editor, Tamkang Review: A Journal of Comparative Literature, 2002–04 (Associate Editor, 1998–99).
Dissertation and Thesis Committees
“Foreignness and the ‘Native Speaker’ Myth in Taiwan." English MA thesis by Gloria Chiang, Tamkang University, completed May 2004.
“Teacher Ethos and the EFL Learner.” English MA thesis by Kelly Su, Tamkang University, completed May 2004.
“The Effects of Implementing Theme Cycles on Adult EFL Writers.” English doctoral dissertation by Li-Te Li, Tamkang University, completed June 2003.
“From the Gothic to the Psychic: The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton.” English MA thesis by Luke Jiale Lin, Tamkang University, completed June 1996.
