Contact Information

Office: 4106 JFSB

Phone: 422-8150

Email: jesse_crisler@byu.edu

Commonly Taught Courses ENG 362, 361, 420, 336

Semester Schedule: Winter 2012:

ENGL 361
MWF 9:00-9:50
B103 JFSB

Other University Assignments:
Head, Dept. R&S Committee
Director, Christian Values Center
Editor, Literature and Belief

Student Consultations:
M 10:00-10:50

Biography: Jesse Crisler specializes in American Realism, focusing his research and publications on empirical, bibliographical, biographical, and textual criticism of the authors and texts of this period, with particular interest in literary naturalism.

Since joining BYU's faculty in 1994, Professor Crisler has taught courses in American literature, adolescent literature, and literary criticism. He also taught composition and British literature at BYU-Hawaii for eleven years, including five as chair.

His books include Frank Norris: A Reference Guide (with Joseph R. McElrath, Jr., Hall, 1974); Frank Norris : Collected Letters (Book Club of California, 1986); John Steinbeck: The Contemporary Reviews (with Joseph R. McElrath, Jr., and Susan Shillinglaw, Cambridge, 1996); and Essays and Speeches of Charles W. Chesnutt (with Joseph R. McElrath, Jr., and Robert C. Leitz, III, Stanford, 1999). He has also edited two collections: Lectures in Honor of David O. McKay (with Jay Fox, BYU 1996) and Essays on Children`s Literature (with Judith Kellogg, U of Hawaii, 1994).

Co-editor of Frank Norris Studies since 1986, he also co-founded the Frank Norris Society and is a member of both the Stephen Crane and Jack London societies. He participated in the first NEH Institute on Childrens Literature in 1983 and held a Fulbright lectureship in Finland in 1993.

Professor Crisler lives in Provo with his wife and a constantly varying number of his seven children.

Degrees: BA, Trinity U, 1969
PhD, U of South Carolina, 1973

Interests: Realism and Naturalism