Faculty Profiles

Cynthia Belmont

Title: Associate Professor of English
Office Location: Wheeler 425
Phone:(715) 682-1320
Email: cbelmont@northland.edu
At Northland Since: 1996

Education

• Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 1996
• M.A. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 1992
• B.A. Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 1990

Profile

Northland College students' seriousness, investment in making a positive impact in the world, and optimism inspire me. Many are truly dedicated to their studies; they know why they’re in college. It's such a pleasure to work with students who care. The college's small size, unique atmosphere, and environmental focus make for a one-of-a-kind education. Northland College is a quirky little school with a big heart and a wealth of talent. It offers quality and diversity in service of a great mission.

As an undergraduate at Grinnell College, I encountered marvelous teachers whose passion for literature was contagious. They encouraged me as a writer and taught me the rewards of close reading – I was hooked. Now I have devoted my career to encouraging my students in the same way. I divide my research time between poetry writing/publishing and ecofeminist theory/criticism. My recent scholarship has made connections between academic ecological feminism and the new field of queer ecology, examining politics of nature, gender, the body, and sexuality as represented in literature and especially in film.

Research

POETRY PUBLICATIONS

• “Paperwhites.” 2011 Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar (2010): 112.
• “Crosley Fiver Foreign Broadcast.” Natural Bridge 22 (Fall 2009): 131.
• “The Other Manar of Egypt.” Oyez Review 36 (Spring 2009): 38-39.
• “In Vivo.” Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments 23 (Jan. 2009).
• “Tick Season.” Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments 23 (Jan. 2009).
• “In the Resale Store.” Tiger’s Eye 16 (Autumn 2008): 16-17.
• “The Visible Woman.” Tiger’s Eye 16 (Autumn 2008): 13.
• “The Taste of Licorice in California.” Tiger’s Eye 16 (Autumn 2008): 14-15.
• “I Dream of Jeannie.” Tiger’s Eye 16 (Autumn 2008): 18.
• “Valentine.” Fickle Muses 2:4 (Nov. 2008).
• “Lady Godiva, Twenty Years Later.” Fickle Muses 2:4 (Nov. 2008).
• “Viewing the Hessian Treasures.” The Fourth River 5 (Autumn 2008): 176.
• “Yes, You, October.” The Fourth River 5 (Autumn 2008): 177.
• “Funatomy.” Earth’s Daughters 71 (2007): 3.
• “The Electronic Dream Phone.” Earth’s Daughters 71 (2007): 28.
• “Elephant Inside Elephant.” Animus 18 (Winter 2007): 12.
• “Blue Windmills.” Eclipse 17 (Fall 2006): 87.
• “What He Gave.” Conte 2.1 (Jan. 2006).
• “The Opening in the World.” Wisconsin Academy Review 51.3 (Summer 2005): 22.
• "The Shape of Eyes." Karamu 18.1 (Spring 2002): 28.
• "Ode to Ashland." Devil Blossoms/New World Poetry, 2002.
• "Valkyrie Song." New World Poetry Online, 2002.
• "Dinosaur Dreams." Feathers, Fins and Fur: Animal Stories. Ed. Whitney Scott. Crete, IL: Outrider Press, 1999.
• "For Women Who Still Sleep With Stuffed Animals." Feathers, Fins and Fur: Animal Stories. Ed. Whitney Scott. Crete, IL: Outrider Press, 1999.
• "At the Baby Shower." Iris: A Journal About Women 37 (Spring/Summer 1998): 26.
• "The Cinder Lady." Iris: A Journal About Women 37 (Spring/Summer 1998): 68.
• "Blackberries." Parnassus Literary Journal 22.2 (Summer 1998): 9.
• "Donald Trump in the Men's Room." The Small Pond Magazine of Literature 34.1 (Winter 1997): 22.
• "Fields of Asphodel." Poetry 167.4 (Jan. 1996): 211.
• "Mirabeau à L'Hôtel Dieu." Sojourner 19.4 (Dec. 1993): 33.
• "Speaks the Masochist, On a Pleasure." The Cream City Review 16.2 (Fall 1992): 86.
• "Poem for Olivia." The Cream City Review 16.2 (Fall 1992): 87.
• "Another Version of the Dinner." The Cream City Review 16.2 (Fall 1992): 88-89.

SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS

• “Claiming Queer Space in/as Nature: An Ecofeminist Reading of Secretary.” Forthcoming in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment.
• “Ecofeminism and the Natural Disaster Heroine.” Women’s Studies 36.5 (2007): 349-372.

BOOK REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS

• Hacker, Marilyn. Interview. The Cream City Review 19.2 (Spring 1996): 126-142.
• Rev. of Possible Sibyls, by Madeline De Frees. The Cream City Review 16.2 (Fall 1992): 302-303.
• Rev. of Insomniac Heart, by Alice Friman. The Cream City Review 16.1 (Spring 1992): 198-200.
• Rev. of Creating Poetry, by John Drury. Freshman English News 19 (1991): 39.

READINGS AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

• "Marrying the Mountains, Making Love to the Earth: Recent Ecosexual Performances of Annie, Sprinkle and Beth Stephens," 2011 Joint Conference of the National Popular Culture & American Culture Association and the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, April 2011
• Poetry Reading, Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, Drummond Library, Drummond, WI, September 2010
• “Claiming Queer Space in/as Nature: An Ecofeminist Reading of Secretary,” Southwest/ Texas
• Popular & American Culture Associations 31st Annual Meeting, “Alien to You? Not to Me,” Albuquerque, NM, February 2010
• Poetry Reading, Oyez Review Featured Poets reading, 57th Street Books, Chicago, IL, February 2009
• “World Made by Man: Ecofeminism and Contemporary Primitivist Narratives,” (Panel Chair), Association for the Study of Literature and Environment Eighth Biennial Conference, “Island Time: The Fate of Place in a Wired, Warming World,” Victoria, BC, June 2009.
• “Adventures in Mother Nature: Experimental Film and the Ecofeminist Classroom,” Association for the Study of Literature and Environment Sixth Biennial Conference, “Being in the World, Living With the Land,” Eugene, OR, June 2005.
• “Critical Questions, Vital Connections: Ecofeminism, Consciousness, and Pedagogy,” Keynote Speech, Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education Winter Workshop, “Glacial Thaw: Flowing Forward in Environmental Education,” Tomahawk, WI, January 2004
• "Neither 'Man-Haters' Nor 'Bunny-Huggers': Working Against Stereotypes to Help Students in Urban Environments Understand Environmentalism, Feminism, and Ecofeminism" (discussion panel), Association for the Study of Literature and Environment Fifth Biennial Conference, "The Solid Earth! The Actual World!", Boston, MA, June 2003
• "Ecofeminism and the Natural Disaster Heroine," Women and Society Conference, Maris College, Poughkeepsie, NY, June 2001
• "American Hero Saves Girl, World: Ecofeminism and the Natural Disaster Heroine," West Virginia University's Colloquium on Literature and Film, "The Female Gaze in Literature and Film," Morgantown, WV, October 2000
• Poetry Reading, TallGrass Writers Guild, Printers Row Book Fair, Chicago, IL, June 1999
• "Mother Nature Strikes Again: Mother Nature and the Postmodern Pastoral," Marquette University Women's Studies Conference, "Women and Creativity," Milwaukee, WI, March 1999
• "Ongoing and Midterm Assessment Strategies to Transform our Teaching," co-presented with Northland College faculty, The Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning Conference, "Coming Full Circle: Using Assessment to Transform Our Teaching," Bloomington, MN, November 1998
• "Women and Nature Connections," co-presented with Gail Green, Inland Sea Symposium, Bayfield, WI, June 1998
• "Survival of the Fittest: Conflict and Coherence in Ecofeminist Philosophy," University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Consortium Conference, "Making Environmental Connections: Women, Communities, and the Land," La Crosse, WI, October 1997

READINGS AND PRESENTATIONS—NORTHLAND COLLEGE/UWM

• Last Lecture, “Life as Poem/Poem as Life,” Alvord Theater, Northland College, May 2009
• Poetry Reading, Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, Northland College, March 2009
• Poetry Reading, Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, Northland College, February 2006
• Marshall Honors Day Convocation Address, Northland College, April 2004
• "Female Subjectivity and the Gaze in Pornography," Faculty Teach-in, Northland College, October 2003
• "Gendered Rhetoric in Media Discourse on the War in Iraq," Faculty Teach-in, Northland College, March 2003
• Poetry Reading, Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, Northland College, November 2002
• "The Present and Future State of Technology at Northland College," Faculty Lecture Series, Northland College, February 2000
• "Uses of the Web in Teaching," Faculty Lecture Series, "Exploring Technology to Build and Support Community," Northland College, October 1999
• "Conflict and Coherence in Ecofeminist Philosophy," Faculty Lecture Series, Northland College, April 1999
• "Ecofeminism at Northland College," Winter Meeting of the Northland College Board of Trustees, Bloomington, MN, January 1998
• Speaker, "Passions for Learning," Northland College, September 1997, September 1998, September 2002
• Poetry Reading, Northland College Dinner Lecture Series, "Cafe Bohemia," Northland College, March 1997
• Poetry Exhibit, "New Work By the Usual Suspects" Art Show, Northland College, January 1997
• Poetry Reading, Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, Northland College, November 1996
• Poetry Readings, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Graduate Creative Writing Program's Student/Faculty Reading Series, April 1996, March 1995, April 1994, March 1993, March 1992

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