Gregory Eiselein uses his passion for literature to help improve the education of first-year students at K-State.
Eiselein, professor of English and the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars, graduated with a bachelor's degree in history and English from the University of Idaho in 1987. He then pursued a graduate degree in English at the University of Iowa.
As a doctorate student, Eiselein specialized in two primary areas of study: 19th-century American literature and historical and cultural theories of literature. His thesis focused on humanitarianism during the American Civil War and the literature surrounding it.
Eiselein's study of humanitarianism encompassed a wide range of people, from anti-slavery advocates to members of various relief organizations. Eiselein was interested in such personas as John Brown, Frederick Douglas, Walt Whitman and Louisa May Alcott and the literature written about them.
Initially, Eiselein started his intellectual pursuit with a study of Whitman and his poetry. Eiselein said at the beginning of the Civil War, Whitman spoke in favor of military action and expressed excitement about preserving the Union. Inspired by seeing young soldiers marching in parades, Whitman glorified the Union's military effort.
Eiselein further expanded his research interests to include other famous Civil War writers. For instance, he studied literary works and the biography of Alcott, who also volunteered as a nurse during the Civil War.
"I became interested in this girl who was at the intersection of these important literary and intellectual events in the 19th century," Eiselein said.
Eiselein's most recent work, edited in conjunction with Anne K. Phillips, associate professor of English, is a new critical edition of Alcott's "Little Women."
Alcott's first version of "Little Women" was re-edited with slang and tomboyish qualities taken out of the book. Phillips and Eiselein examined the various copies, manuscripts and Alcott's letters and restored the book to its original version.
For the majority of his teaching career at K-State, Eiselein taught American literature and theory of studying literature.
"I was especially interested in theories that say you should put literature in its cultural and historical context," Eiselein said.
In the past few years, though, Eiselein said he became immersed in general education and education of first-year students.
"I guess what I thought is that we treat our graduate students really well and sometimes our first-year students are thrown into classes that are huge lectures and sometimes they get the least-experienced teachers," Eiselein said. "I just became more interested in how we could make that first year one of the best experiences of their lives and help them get ready for the rest of their college career."
Eiselein has been awarded the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars, which is a top award for teaching excellence and also requires its recipient to promote improvements in education.
"If you win this award, which honors your teaching, [administrators] give you permission to promote the improvements in teaching and learning that you care about," Eiselein said. "I became interested in first-year students."
As a Coffman Chair, Eiselein works on projects to improve the overall university education, such as working with other professors on a pilot study of the first-year freshman seminar.
"I think we can improve education of our first-year students by making it more challenging for them," Eiselein said.
Eiselein now also teaches general education classes such as Great Books and Bible as Literature.
Great Books focuses on introducing freshman students to the most prominent works of world literature, such as Shakespeare's "Othello" and Eliot's "Silas Marner."
"The idea of the Great Books [course] is that these are super-famous books that have been read over the course of centuries," Eiselein said. "These are books that you can re-read and get something new out of them each time. And they often deal with the most profound issues of human life: questions of good and evil, difficult ethical decisions, the ultimate reality of the cosmos."
The class allows for only 22 students and requires a substantial amount of reading and writing. It also incorporates challenging and thought-provoking discussion about the world literary masterpieces.
"These books are overwhelming, but that's why people come to college," Eiselein said.
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