Donna Decker

Associate Professor of English
Director Honors Program; Director Women in Leadership Program

Degree Information

Ph.D. Northeastern University, Boston 2005
M.A. English Salem State College, Massachusetts 1990
B.A. English and Psychology, State University of New York at Albany, 1978

Courses Taught

Women’s Literature, Banned Books, Introduction to American Literature, Introduction to Literary Studies, Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Queer Studies, American Short Story, Theories of Fiction, Introduction to Creative Nonfiction, Fiction Workshop, Advanced Fiction Workshop, Introduction to Women’s Studies, Women in Leadership Seminar, Ancient and Medieval Worlds, College Writing I and II, Law and Literature, World Literature

Research Interests

Donna Decker is a Ms. Magazine Feminist Scholar. Read a recent Ms. Magazine blog article by Professor Decker. The purpose of the Feminist Scholars program is to advance public knowledge by making women’s studies and feminist scholarship more accessible to a mass audience. This competitive initiative (many feminist academics applied; few were chosen) is designed to engage feminist scholars in writing for Ms. Magazine. I attended the Ms. writing workshop in Washington, D.C. in May 2010 and am at work on an article about misogynist internet blogs in the wake of the Montreal Massacre.

Other research interests include: Montreal Massacre (December 6, 1989); Gender and Popular Culture; Women Writers; 19th Century New Woman Fiction; Feminism

Classroom Moments

(Spring 2010) Students and I had an hour long conference call with author Mary Roach after we read her Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers in Introduction to Creative Nonfiction Class. Roach was generous with her time, answering all questions with honesty and humor. We loved her  book, but we loved her – all the way from California – even more.

Presentations

National Collegiate Honors Council Conference, Washington, D.C. Co-presented with FPU student Christopher Lawton “Making the Grade: Academic Risk and the Honors Endeavor.” National Collegiate Honors Council. October 2009. Washington, D.C. Roundtable discussion leaders.

Grants Received

  • FPU Research Grant (Spring 2010) to travel in Toronto and research for novel on the Montreal Massacre
  • Whiting Grant (Spring 2009) to travel in Montreal and research the Montreal Massacre.
  • FPU Research Grant (Spring 2009) to travel in Montreal and research the Montreal Massacre.
    Teaching Interests:  Women Writers, Gender and Sexuality in Literature, Creative Writing, trends in contemporary literature

Publications

  • Decker, Donna. “Reading Books and Body: New Woman and Authority.” New Woman Writers, Authority and the Body. Edited by Melissa Purdue and Stacey Floyd. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009.
  • Decker, Donna. “It’s Always Hard Times for the Whistlblowers.” Northern New England Review. Spring 2010.
  • “Shoes.” Fiddlestix Review. Literary Journal of Franklin Pierce University. Spring 2009.
    Review of Janet Beer's edited collection, The Cambridge Companion to Kate Chopin (2009). LEGACY: A Journal of American Women Writers. Volume 27, Number 1, 2010.

Service

  • Campus Coordinator: New Hampshire Women in Higher Education Leadership conference, April 9, 2010 (Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, NH)
  • Coordinator First Annual Franklin Pierce University Academic Showcase
  • FPU Faculty Affairs Committee
  • New Hampshire Humanities Council Book Group Scholar: led book group discussions in 2008 at public libraries in Fitzwilliam, Milford, New Boston on Fahrenheit 451; The Case of the Stuttering  Bishop; A Great Deliverance.
  • Big Read Scholar: led book discussion in March 2009 at public library in New Boston on The Great Gatsby.

Personal Interests

Women’s literature; gender studies; popular culture

Contact Information

Phone: (603) 899-4296
E-mail: deckerd@franklinpierce.edu
Office location: Petrocelli 323