Jeffrey Thompson
Associate Professor
Department of Languages, Literature, and Philosophy
Education
Ph.D., English, Middle Tennessee State University, 2007
M.A., English, Tennessee State University, 1991
B.A., Communications, Trevecca Nazarene University, 1981
BIO
Dr. Jeff Thompson, associate professor of English, has taught at Tennessee State University since 1985. He wrote his TSU master's thesis about Canadian novelist Dan Ross (Moscow Mists), and he wrote his MTSU doctoral dissertation about American filmmaker Dan Curtis (The Winds of War). Dr. Thompson specializes in popular culture, and he often uses music, art, films, newspapers, magazines, websites, and literature as writing prompts for his students.
Dr. Thompson has written chapters for books (The Films of Peter Cushing, Loss of Identity in Film), articles for magazines (Midnight Marquee, Scarlet Street), and blogs for websites about education, popular culture, and the television series Dark Shadows. He is the Rondo Award-nominated author of the books The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis: Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker, and Other Productions, 1966-2006 (McFarland, 2009); House of Dan Curtis: The Television Mysteries of the Dark Shadows Auteur (Westview, 2010); and Nights of Dan Curtis: The Television Epics of the Dark Shadows Auteur (Ideas, 2016).
Dr. Thompson has written a chapter for a 2017 Syracuse University Press book about the last episodes of television series, and he wrote a chapter for a 2014 McFarland book about participatory culture (i.e., fandom). He is the author of the introductions to eight volumes of comic-book reprints for Hermes Press. He recently gave presentations about film noir, television, and comic books at PCAS (Popular Culture Association in the South) conferences in various Southern cities, and he spoke on writers' panels at MACK (Murfreesboro Anime and Comics Konvention) and Nashville Comics & Horror Festival.
Selected Academic and/or Popular Press Publications
Ever since he was 15 years old, Dr. Thompson has written for dozens of fanzines, magazines, websites, and books. In more recent years, he wrote about Gothic novels for Paperback Parade, monster movies for Movie Club, the film Somewhere in Time for Scarlet Street, poetry for Tools for Academic Excellence, science fiction for Chattanooga Airwaves, comic books for Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia, and the TV series Dark Shadows for Fan Culture and Collinsport Historical Society. Dr. Thompson wrote the liner notes for the soundtrack CDs of Robert Cobert's music for Dracula and Burnt Offerings, two mid-1970s films directed by Dan Curtis.
Selected Conference Presentations
Dr. Thompson has given presentations about education, movies, television, comic books, or popular culture at CLA, KT-ASA, NADE, PCAS, TNADE, TPA, and other academic conferences. He often is a guest speaker at science-fiction conventions.
Selected University Presentation/Talks
From 1996 through 2010, Dr. Thompson gave an annual multimedia Halloween presentation to various English and reading classes at TSU.
Selected University Committees, Campus Groups
Dr. Thompson has served on numerous committees, including the General Education Assessment Committee and the Curriculum Committee, and he has chaired several committees, including the Academic Audit Committee and the Assessment Committee.
Classes Taught at TSU
Dr. Thompson teaches ENGL 1010 & 1020, Early American & Modern American Literature, Honors World Literature I & II, Contemporary American Poetry, and other courses.
April 2014
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Languages, Literature, and Philosophy