John Zuern

I teach classes in literature, literary theory, and electronic media. My research draws on the fields of literary criticism, new media studies, philosophy, and graphic design theory in an effort to think about how emerging media reconfigure our reading and writing practices. I'm interested in trying to understand how cultural productions in both print and digital realms engage in critical (and at least potentially transformative) ways with their technical, social, and economic contexts.

I'm currently engaged in a project that emerged out of my service on the faculty review board for the UHM Contemporary Ethical Issues Focus requirement. I am interested in the question of what makes the study of literature—in particular narrative fiction— distinctive as a domain for ethical inquiry. The project intersects with a range of philosophical and critical discourses on the ethics of literature, but it also aims to address practical questions of pedagogy and curriculum design.

I have been involved in a number of community- and school-based technology initiatives in Hawai‘i, including Pāku‘i ‘Onaehana (Connecting Technology), an effort to integrate digital video and multimedia development into the middle-school Hawaiian Language Immersion curriculum.

I also give workshops on desktop publishing and writing for the Web as part of the Pacific New Media program at the UHM Outreach College.

My web page lists recent classes and publications.

• Presidential/Chancellor's Citation for Meritorious Teaching, 2005
• Board of Regents' Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2012

BA, English, Moorhead State University
MA Comparative Literature, MA English, University of Texas-Austin
PhD Comparative Literature, University of Texas-Austin