{"id":190,"date":"2019-04-05T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T17:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.muw.edu\/mfacreativewriting\/?p=190"},"modified":"2022-12-05T12:04:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T18:04:16","slug":"english-professor-to-be-recognized-by-mississippi-humanities-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.muw.edu\/mfacreativewriting\/news\/english-professor-to-be-recognized-by-mississippi-humanities-council\/","title":{"rendered":"English professor to be recognized by Mississippi Humanities Council"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Kris<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

COLUMBUS, Miss. — Thomas \u201cKris\u201d Lee celebrates his unconventional ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now in his fourth year as an assistant professor of English\/creative writing at Mississippi University for Women, Lee has enjoyed coming home to the state of Mississippi to build metaphors and mystery. In each case, Lee relies on his experiences to allow a personal approach to take root. He follows that thinking in his writing and in his work with undergraduate and graduate students in creative writing, drama, playwriting and American Literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am not terribly conventional about a lot of things,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIn a lot of ways, yes, I think I fit that mold in which most people in the South are brought up to respect or honor or recognize about the South as a culture, but the South is also very complicated. I think I recognize that every day in the classroom and I try to embrace that because I love diversity and I love the many ways of looking at one thing and they\u2019re all the right ways. However you look at the thing is the right way to look at the thing. If we all come to the table and talk about it, which is the way I conduct my classrooms, is the better way, I think, for the future of the South, and America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee\u2019s unique style has helped his writing, which includes his first collection of poems, \u201cTo Square a Circle,\u201d attract attention and has enabled him to have success in the classroom. On Friday, April 5, Lee\u2019s work in bringing the insights of the humanities to public audiences was recognized at a reception at the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson. Presented annually by the Mississippi Humanities Council, Lee was The W\u2019s honoree at an event in which humanities faculty members from Mississippi colleges and universities were recognized for their contributions in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was shocked,\u201d said Lee, who taught in Indiana and at Mississippi State and at East Mississippi Community College prior to coming to The W. \u201cI know none of us do what we do because we want to be awarded, but I am not going to lie and pretend it doesn\u2019t feel good to be respected or honored by your peers, and to know peers have to nominate you (for the award).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even know it was a thing. I didn\u2019t really believe it at first, but I was honored. \u2026 It keeps me in check. It is a good perspective to have, and to have validation that this weird way that I have of teaching actually resonates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee was chosen by humanities faculty for his work in literature and theatre. As part of the award, Lee presented a lecture in February titled \u201cThe Elephant in the Room Wants a Cup of Coffee\u201d that described his creative process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee\u2019s collection of poems \u201cTo Square a Circle\u201d was published in October 2018 by Unsolicited Press. He also has written and produced several plays, including \u201cPaper Thin,\u201d which won Mississippi Theatre Association awards in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee, who was born in Charleston, South Carolina, grew up around Hattiesburg and in Louisville. He also has lived in Europe, New York and Washington, D.C., but he returned to the state of Mississippi shortly after earning his master of fine arts degree in creative writing from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. Lee said he has enjoyed the last four-plus years at The W and continues to celebrate the diversity on campus. He remains excited about the energy he receives from his students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cTo Square a Circle,\u201d the South is Lee\u2019s primary topic. When asked how he captures the feel, nuance or tone of a part of the country he has lived for most of his life so it isn\u2019t forced, Lee said he tries to follow the words of Eudora<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welty, who wrote in the essay \u201cWords into Fiction\u201d that fiction is \u201ca personal act of vision.\u201d Lee said his \u201cvision\u201d comes primarily from experiences he has had and from people he has met. He said the people in his work are archetypes who possess the qualities he has observed and are designed not to satisfy or to offend anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess it develops over years, too, the way you learn to see and look at a thing and seeing a thing is not the same as looking at a thing,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIf you keep it active and you keep it personal, you can follow that root out, it will always be less forced, but it is a unique way of seeing the same thing everybody looks at but not sees and looks at the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is what I try to do. I don\u2019t really have a writing process, per se. Progress is process, so if I am writing I am moving through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to teaching, Lee said he tries to show his students he cares about what he does and them to help them learn at a pace that is comfortable to them. He said he also tries to cast a wide net and to take a simple approach so students can keep all of their \u201cdoors\u201d open and can learn in their way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want them to have a voice, and so many times they don\u2019t know how to find it because they think what they feel about a piece of literature isn\u2019t right, but it isn\u2019t that black and white,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIt isn\u2019t right or wrong, really. It is theoretical, for the most part, unless the author specifically tells you. \u2026 I just try to find where they are and keep them doing the thing they know to do and try to add to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Kendall Dunkelberg, director of creative writing at The W and the chair of the Department of Languages, Literature, and Philosophy, said Lee \u201cbrings a dynamic new voice to Southern poetry\u201d in his review of \u201cTo Square a Circle.\u201d He said Lee has been a fixture on campus and in the area in promoting the humanities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKris has been active in the local theatre scene, writing, directing and performing in plays for the Starkville Community Theatre, where he also serves on the board,\u201d Dunkelberg said. \u201cHe came to The W in 2015 when we started our low-residency MFA program in creative writing, and has been a vital member of our department, teaching literature survey, creative writing and playwriting at the undergraduate level. Kris is a very energetic teacher who has a close relationship with the students in his classes. He was instrumental in starting the Emerging Voices series with the Theatre Department, featuring original scripts by students in our MFA and undergraduate playwriting classes. In his classes, through his work in the theatre and with his new collection of poetry, Kris actively promotes the humanities and was an obvious choice for this year\u2019s Humanities Faculty Member of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Nora Corrigan, a professor of English at The W, echoed Dunkelberg\u2019s thoughts and said Lee is a \u201cvery supportive professor and mentor\u201d to his students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have noticed this both while serving with him on Honors research committees, and just from observing his work with the playwriting students,\u201d Corrigan said. \u201cI\u2019ve been particularly impressed with the amount of work he puts in with the theater department to make the staged readings of student-produced plays possible. Seeing their words brought to life by actors is an incredibly powerful, emotional experience for our student playwrights, which would not be possible without Kris\u2019 energy and enthusiasm and the strong collaborations he has forged with our colleagues in theater.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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