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 Robin Colby

Robin Colby

Professor of English and Norma Rose Chair in English

116 Lux Hall

(919) 760-2290

Profile

From the time I was five years old, I knew I wanted to become a teacher.  I also knew that I was very happy when I entered the world of books. So it was no surprise that I found myself loving English classes in middle and high school and majoring in English at Meredith College, where I gained a solid education and developed a strong wish to give back to the community that had given me so much.  I went on to earn an MA degree at North Carolina State University and a PhD at Duke University. When I was hired as a full-time professor of English at Meredith College, I felt like I had returned home.

It has been my pleasure over the years to teach a variety of classes, ranging from freshman composition, to research methods, to British literature (especially the Victorian period), to a seminar in European literature. Two of my favorite authors are Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë.  I have written a book on the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell and love introducing this author to my students. I was awarded both the Pauline Perry Award for Publication and the Pauline Perry Award for Excellence in Teaching. I enjoy teaching all levels of students, from the freshman who is developing her voice and her confidence in ENG 111, to the upper-level English major who is figuring out her career and life aspirations. Meredith College has served me well. It is my hope that I can be a positive part of the journeys of all my students.

Academic Credentials

PhD, English, Duke University

MA, English, North Carolina State University

BA, English/French, Meredith College

Presentations

“Teaching the Other in Jane Austen’s Emma: The Gypsy Scene,” SAMLA, November 2017

“Singing It High, Singing It Low: Mixed Notes in Christina Rossetti’s Sing-Song,” SAMLA, November 2015

“Robert Browning’s Christmas Eve As Read Through the Lens of Meditation,” SAMLA, November 2010

“Meredith’s Freshman Writing Test: A Commitment to Competency,” co-presented with Eloise Grathwohl, SAMLA, November 2008

“A.S. Byatt’s Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye: Women Readers on Quests,” SAMLA, November 2005

“A Sheltered Life Can Be A Daring Life As Well: Eudora Welty and Carnival,” SAMLA, November 2003

Awards

Norma Rose Chair of English

Pauline Davis Perry Award for Excellence in Teaching

Pauline Davis Perry Award for Excellence in Research and Publication

Publications

“Browning’s Christmas Eve and Easter Day as Meditational Verse.” Christianity and Literature, vol. 61, no. 4, 2012, pp. 55-67.

“Elizabeth Gaskell: A Model of Motherhood.” Gaskell Society Journal, vol. 11, 1997, pp. 55-67.

A Woman’s Work: Vocation in the Fiction of Elizabeth Gaskell. Greenwood Press, 1995.

Need help locating someone?
Human Resources
1st Floor Park Center
(919) 760-8898
(919) 760-8164
directory@meredith.edu