A Digital Education Portfolio
My name is Grant William Currier, and I am completing a doctorate in English at Oklahoma State University. My research areas are Fiction/Fiction Theory and Guilt and Shame in the Post-Apocalyptic Novel. In November 2020, I was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi; their motto is Φιλοσοφία Kρατείτω Φωτῶν (Philosophía Krateítõ Phõtôn), "Let the love of learning rule humanity.” This is one part of my teaching perspective, an important one. The love of learning continues to be important to me personally, and to my teaching, which is primarily influenced and crafted around the teachings and teaching style of Jesus of Nazareth.
I am quite the bibliophile and love knowing (and using) obscure, Latinate words. Mirific, sagittation, and cantillate are just a few of my favorite sounding words.* For some reason, I enjoy seeing how many dinner foods pair well with figs (so far I've found: prosciutto pizza, burgers with caramelized onions and bacon, and blackened chicken thighs. I'm open to suggestions as well.).
The first book I remember loving was Beowulf, followed shortly by Crime and Punishment. I remember trying pad thai for the first time at 19 and think the years before that wasted. When I'm not reading for research or coursework, I enjoy the works of St. Augustine of Hippo, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Marilynne Robinson, Murakami Haruki, and Toni Morisson, which, if you peruse this site, you will hopefully see.
While I love studying and learning (I'm studying Latin, German, and to some extent, quantum physics in my spare time) and teaching, I am not in education because I believe in the education system. I am in education because I believe in the educated. That is, I believe in students.
I don't teach writing; I teach writers.
I don't teach literature; I teach readers.
A rough summary of my teaching philosophy is this: Love the subject to better love the student.
It is my hope that this site reveals my attempt to do both.
—Grant William Currier
*For those interested, the meaning of these words are, approximately, mirific: tending to work miracles or wonders; sagittation: death or execution by being pierced with many arrows; cantillate: to chant or intone a religious passage or text (especially during a liturgical service).
**Additionally, for those interested, a PDF of my current CV is made available by clicking the icon below.