Vita

School of Arts and Humanities

University of Texas-Dallas

Richardson, TX 75083-0688

(972) 883-2071
psgossin@utdallas.edu

 

EDUCATION

University of Wisconsin-Madison	Dual PhD	History of Science and English	1989
Special joint program. Completed all regular doctoral course work in both departments, two sets of preliminary examinations and an interdisciplinary dissertation. Area of study: Literature and History of Astronomy, 1600-1900.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	MA	English	1984
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	BA*	English and Latin, Math minor	1978
Degree with Highest Distinction; Senior Honors Thesis Teaching Certification for English at Secondary level

EMPLOYMENT

Assistant Professor of Arts and Humanities	University of Texas-Dallas	1994-
Visiting Assistant Professor, History of Science	University of Oklahoma	Sum 1994
Assistant Professor of English	University of Missouri-Rolla	Spr 1994
Visiting Assistant Professor, History of Science	University of Oklahoma	1991-93
Rockefeller Fellow, History of Science	University of Oklahoma	1990-91
Assistant/Adjunct Professor of English	Millikin University	1988-90
Teaching Assistant	University of Wisconsin	1985-87
Archivist, Neb.Literature and History Collection	Lincoln City Libraries	1981-84
Graduate Assistant, English	University of Nebraska	1979-80
Special Collections Assistant/Researcher	Princeton University, Biology Library	1978-79

HONORS AND AWARDS

Howard Foundation Fellowship in History of Science	Brown University	1997-98
NEH Summer Research Stipend	National Endowment for the Humanities	1997
Pollock-Dudley Research Award	Dudley Observatory	1995
Course and Curriculum Improvement Award	University of Missouri (declined)	1994
Pollock-Dudley Research Award	Dudley Observatory	1993
Rockefeller Fellowship	University of Oklahoma	1990-91
Provost's Commendation--Teaching Excellence	Millikin University	1990
National Graduate Fellowship	U.S. Dept of Education	1986-88
National Science Foundation	Travel Award	1988
Preliminary Exams--with distinction	English/ History of Science	1988
Graduate School Fellowship	University of Wisconsin	1985-86
Phi Beta Kappa
Regents Scholarship, Steckelberg Stipend-Classics, Barbar Prize-Latin
Dawson Memorial Fellowship-English
Grace Bridge Award-English	All: University of Nebraska	1974-78

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS:

• An Encyclopedia of Literature and Science, under contract with Greenwood Press, expected 1999-2000.
• Beneath the Stars: A 'Literary' History of Astronomy, Women and Poetics, 1590-1990, in progress.

IN PRESS:

• "Literature and the Modern Physical Sciences," Cambridge History of Science, Volume 5: Modern Physical and Mathematical Sciences, ed. Mary Jo Nye, expected 1999.

• "Literature and the Scientific Revolution," The Scientific Revolution, ed. Wilbur Applebaum, NY: Garland, expected late 1998.

• "Aphra Behn," Women of Science, ed. Marilyn Ogilvie et al, Holt/Routledge, expected 1998.

ARTICLES:

• "Living Poetics, Enacting the Cosmos: Diane Ackerman's Popularization of Astronomy in The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral," Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 26 (1997) 605-638.
• "News on the Encyclopedia of Literature and Science," Decodings, 6.2 (Spr 1997) 4-9.
• "'All Danae to the Stars': Nineteenth-Century Representations of Women in the Cosmos," Victorian Studies, 40.1 (Aut 1996) 65-96.
• "Literature and Astronomy," History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia, ed. J. Lankford, NY: Garland, 1996, 307-314.
• "Literature and Science," annotated bibliography, in Guide to Historical Literature, American Historical Association, Oxford University Press, 1994.

REVIEWS:

• Markley, Robert, Fallen Languages: Crises of Representation in Newtonian England, 1660-1740, Early Science and Medicine 3.3 (Aug 1998) 265-267.
• Haffenden, John ed. William Empson...Donne and the New Philosophy, ISIS 85.4 (Dec 1994) 692-3.
• Carithers, Gale, Mumford, Tate and Eiseley, ISIS 84.3 (Sept 1993) pp. 609-610.
• Peterfreund, Stuart, ed, Literature and Science: Theory and Practice and
• White, Fred D., ed, Science and the Human Spirit: Contexts of Writing and Learning
• ISIS 82.2 (June 1991) pp. 356-358.

WORKS IN PROGRESS:

• Review: J. Thomas, Thomas Hardy's Minor Novels, for CLIO.
• Review: Denise Albanese, New Science, New World, for ISIS.
• Joint Review: Lankford, John, American Astronomy: Community, Careers and Power, 1859-1940 and History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia; for Configurations, due 1998
• "'Literary' History of Science."
• "The Dramatic Cosmologies of Margaret Cavendish and Aphra Behn."
• "Desire, Destruction and Dissolution: A Cosmology of the Pagan and Perverse in Algernon Swinburne's 'Anactoria'."

OTHER PUBLICATIONS:

• A Celebration of Loren Eiseley, conference monograph, 1983.
• A Loren Eiseley Bibliography, Lincoln City Libraries, 1982.
• "Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman: An Annotated Checklist of Her Works," Nebraska Library Assoc.Quarterly,1981.
• Poetry, Runes, 1974.

 

PRESENTATIONS (over 40 to date)

"An Encyclopedia of Literature and Science: Experimental History or Experimental Community?"

-- Society for Literature and Science, November, 1998

 

"Literature/History/Science ... Life, the Universe and Everything"

-- History of Science Colloquium, University of Oklahoma, April 1998

 

"Literature and History of Astronomy" (invited talk)

--History of Astronomy Interest Group, Biennial Workshop, Notre Dame, June, 1997.

 

"Pulp Poetry: Diane Ackerman's Popularization of Astronomy in The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral"

--Society for Literature and Science, October, 1996.

--Midwest Junto for the History of Science, March, 1996.

 

"Pulp Poetry: Doing Violence to the History of Science?"

--History of Astronomy Interest Group, University of Notre Dame, June, 1995.

 

"Living Poetics, Enacting the Cosmos: Diane Ackerman's Popularization of Astronomy in "The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral"

--Center for the Study of Science and the Arts, Univ. of Texas-Dallas, January, 1995.

--History of Science Colloquium, University of Oklahoma, October, 1994.

--History of Science Society, October, 1994.

 

"'All Danae to the Stars': Art, Myth, Gender and the Popularization of Astronomy in Tennyson and Hardy"

--University of Texas-Dallas, February, 1994.

 

"April Fools: Newton, Halley, Flamsteed and Swift's Satire Against Astrology and Astronomy"

--History of Science Society, November, 1993.

--Group for Early Modern Cultural Studies, Inaugural conference, University of Oklahoma, October, 1993.

--Physics Department Colloquium, University of Missouri-Rolla, October, 1993.

 

"The Fractal Taxonomy Takes Shape for Literature and Science: An Encyclopedia"

--SLS: Society for Literature and Science, November, 1993.

 

"Thomas Hardy's Two on a Tower: An Unpopular Novel and the Popularization of Astronomy"

--English Department, University of Missouri-Rolla, April, 1993.

--Comparative Studies, The Ohio State University, April, 1990.

--SLS, University of Michigan, September, 1989.

--Midwest Junto for the History of Science, Notre Dame, March 1988.

 

"Literature and Science--No Kidding!"

--Phi Lambda Upsilon, Chemistry Honorary, Annual Banquet, April, 1993.

 

"Fictional Women and Real Astronomy in the Novels of Thomas Hardy"

--History of Science Colloquium, University of Oklahoma, March, 1993.

 

"Is an Encyclopedia of Literature and Science Possible, when History of Literature and Science is Impossible?"

--Interdisciplinary Faculty Workshop, February, 1993.

--SLS: Society for Literature and Science, October 1992.

--History of Science Colloquium, University of Oklahoma, October 1992.

 

"Sightlessness and Insight: Milton's Blindness in Contexts of Literature, Medicine and Astronomy"

--History of Science Society, October 1991.

 

"Fractured Fairy Tales and Fractal History: Revolutionary Models in the History of Science and Literary History"

--Crossing the Disciplines: Cultural Studies in the 1990s," Joint meeting of Oklahoma Project for Discourse & Theory and Semiotic Society of America. University of Oklahoma, October 1990.

 

"What if You Gave a Revolution and Nobody Came? Revolutionary Models in the History of Science and Literary History"

--SLS, October, 1990.

--Graduate Student Colloquium, University of Oklahoma, October 1990.

 

"John Donne and Johannes Kepler: Doubting that New Philosophy Calls All in Doubt"

--Project on the Rhetoric of Inquiry, University of Iowa, March, 1990.

--History of Science Society, University of Florida, October, 1989.

--Midwest Junto for the History of Science, April, 1989.

 

"The Progress of Lunar Theory in Swift's 'The Progress of Beauty'"

--Department of Literature, Communications and Culture and Division of Social Sciences and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, March, 1990.

--Midwest American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Notre Dame, October, 1988.

--Society for Literature and Science, Worcester Polytechnic, October, 1987.

 

"Literature and Astronomy for All Ages"

--Twin Cities Amateur Astronomers, Illinois State University, February, 1990.

 

"Whose Comet Is It Anyway? The Reception and Use of John Flamsteed's Cometary Theory and Data by Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley"

--History of Science Colloquium, University of Oklahoma, March 1991.

--Program for Liberal Studies, Notre Dame, December 1989.

--British and U.S. History of Science Societies, with the Society for Literature and Science, Manchester, England, July, 1988.

--Midwest Junto for the History of Science, April, 1987.

 

"History of Science and Literary History: Toward a Grand Unification Theory?"

--Interdisciplinary Faculty Forum, Northwestern University, November, 1989.

 

TEACHING HONORS

"Superior" evaluation, Dean's Merit Report, University of Texas-Dallas, 1997

"Excellent" rating, Pre-Tenure Review committee, University of Texas-Dallas, 1996-97.

"Exceptional / Clearly Superior" Teaching, University of Oklahoma, 1992-93.

Letter of Commendation for Teaching Excellence from Provost of Millikin University, 1990.

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Assistant Professor of Arts and Humanities, University of Texas-Dallas, 1994-

Doctoral advisement/direction:

• Evelyn Montgomery, paper work in progress, 1999-
• Michele Marshall, Chair, Katherine Phillips and Early Modern Women's Literature, 1996-
• Tonja Wissinger-LaPrelle, Chair, Women, Literature and Medicine, 1995-
• Joe Hinman, committee member, Science, Religion and Literature during Enlightenment, 1994-

Masters advisement/direction:

• Cathy Mathers, paper work in progress, 1998-
• Kristi Wesloh, Chair, John Donne and Astronomy; Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Muse motif, 1998-
• Natalie Delker, Chair, Artificial Intelligence and 20th-c Literature, 1996-1998.

• Lori Eaton, Chair, Satanic Heroes in Literary History, 1996-97.

Senior Honor Thesis advisement/direction:

• Sloan Rawlins, Honors Thesis committee, Law and Literature, 1995.

• Emily Armstrong, Honors Thesis committee, Early Modern Science and Culture, 1996 (inc).

• Brian Worrall, Chair, Utopian/Dystopian Literature, 1997-98.

• Anne Warmus, Chair, Tragedy and Comedy in Regional Literature, 1998-

Graduate courses:

• Fictions and Histories: Scientific Auto/biographies

• Literature of Frontiers: From Epic to Science Fiction

• Imagination and the Cosmos: Humanity, Nature and Science to the Age of Newton

• Literature and Science in 19th C. Britain

• Readings in Literary Studies (independent study)

• Literature, Science and Technology (Prep)

Undergraduate courses:

• Reading and Writing of Texts: Natural Wonders

• Genre Course in Prose Narrative: The Private Lives of Science

• Western Literary Tradition: Quest Literature from the Odyssey to Star Trek

• Literature of the Scientific Revolution (1590-1745)

• Literary Encounters with Science in 19th C. Britain

• Science and Technology in Western Civilization

• Freshman Seminar in University Life (lower division)

 

Assistant Professor of English, University of Missouri-Rolla, Spr 1994

UG Seminar:

• Steam, Stars, and Strata: Literary Encounters with Science in 19th C. Britain

Lower Div.:

• Argument and Exposition: Science and the Human Spirit (2 sections)

 

Visiting Assistant Professor - History of Science, University of Oklahoma, 1991-94

Graduate:

• Critical Analysis and Historiography in the History of Science

• Law, Literature and Science -- Masters of Liberal Studies Program

Upper Div.:

• History of Science from Ancient times to Newton (multiple sections)

• History of Science Since Newton (multiple sections, including Honors)

 

Assistant Professor of English, Millikin University, 1989-90

 

Adjunct Professor of English, Millikin University, 1988

Upper Div.:

• Major English Authors I: Beowulf to 18th c.

• Major English Authors II: Blake to Virginia Woolf

Lower Div.:

• Composition (American literature, interdisciplinary themes, multiple sections)

 

Teaching Assistant, University of Wisconsin, 1985-89

• The Scientific Revolution: Copernicus to Newton (Lindberg)

• History of Ancient and Medieval Science (Lindberg)

• History of Astronomy (Siegfried)

• Introduction to Nineteenth Century Literature (American and British)

• Introduction to Twentieth Century Literature (American and British)

 

Other:

• Freshman World Drama (Teaching Assistant, Nebraska)

• English and American Lit., Greek and Latin Word Power (Student Teaching)

 

ACADEMIC SERVICE

Editorial Board, Biographies of Women in Science series, Harwood Academic Publishers.

Associated Scholar, History of Science Dept. University of Oklahoma.

Peer Review and Evaluation: Journals, scholarly volumes, presses:

• book manuscript, anthology of cosmological writings, Oxford University Press, 1998.
• book manuscript, collective biography of Victorian women scientists, Harwood Academic Pub, 1998.
• book manuscript, Pulp Science: Race, Gender and Prediction, Columbia University Press, 1998.
• journal article, Swift's satiric treatment of Newtonian ether, Perspectives on Science, 1997.
• book manuscript, biography of biologist, Alice Boring, Gordon and Breach, 1997.
• book manuscript, Profiles of Pioneering Women in Science: Astronomers, Gordon and Breach, 1996.
• article for edited volume, philosophy of time, International Society for the Study of Time, 1996.
• book manuscript, Pioneering Women of Physics, Gordon and Breach, Fall, 1995.
• Dudley Research Award. Evaluated and ranked research proposals for 1994 competition.
• journal article, natural philosophy of Margaret Cavendish, Configurations: A Journal of Literature, Science and Technology, Fall, 1993.
• book manuscript, Word of God, Languages of Man, Literature and Science Series, U Wisconsin Press, Sum. 1993.
• article for edited volume on ancient religion, science, Pascal Centre--Studies in Science, Religion. Spring, 1993.
  
  

History of Science Society

• Committee on Research and the Profession (CORP), 1996+
• Session Organizer

"Style and Contention: Literary History and Rhetoric in the History of Science," proposed for 1997.

"Humor, Literature and Science," November 1993.

"Science, History and Poetics in Early Modern Europe," October 1991.

"Science in Literature," October 1989.

Society for Literature and Science:

• Executive Committee, At-Large Post, 1992-94
• Chair of Program Committee, 1992
• Nominee: Vice-President, 1991
• Program Committee: 1993
• Membership Representative, 1987+
  
  

University of Texas-Dallas: 1994+

• Associate Director, Center for the Study of Science and the Arts
• Advisor, Teachers Education Students seeking Certification in History, 1998+
• Central Faculty Advisor, Undergraduate Studies, 1996+
• Doctoral Committees, Masters committees
• Undergraduate Honors Thesis Committees
• Gender Studies Program Faculty
• Gender Studies Work Group
• Development Committee
• Search Committee, American Women's History, American History & Teachers Education
• Library Committee
• Supervisor: Teaching Assistants/Research Assistants
• Dean's Task Force for Teachers Education
• Advisor: Historical Studies majors with Teachers certification
• Social Study of Science Reading Group
• Advisor: Graduate Student Handbook project
• Association of Professional Women
• Presenter: Graduate Student Association Job Fair
• New Faculty Advising Orientation
• Faculty revision of course catalogs
  
  

University of Missouri-Rolla: 1993-94

• Director of Literature and Science program
• Graduate Faculty
• Annual Faculty Peer Review of Teaching Portfolios
• Departmental Curriculum Committee
• Intercultural Community Development Workshop
• Student Affairs Committee
• English Department Advisory Board
• Course and Curriculum Improvement
• Personnel Committee
• Faculty evaluation of Departmental Chair
• Supervisor: Work-Study Students
• Outreach: Literature and Science Bibliography for Brigham Young University Faculty
  
  

University of Oklahoma: 1990-1994

• Graduate Faculty
• Faculty Sponsor: OU Lutheran Student Study Group
• Masters Thesis Committee
• Judge: Oklahoma History Day
• Supervisor: 4 Graduate Teaching Assistants
• Interdisciplinary Faculty Workshops (monthly)
• Undergraduate Curriculum Reform Proposal
  
  

Millikin University: 1988-1990

• Literature and Science--Student Workshop
• Career Counselling for Potential Graduate Students
• Faculty WAC Workshop--William Zinsser
• Supervisor: Secondary Education Intern
• Adviser: Interdisciplinary Honors Students
• Supervisor: Work-Study Students
• Organizer: Conant Writing Competition
• Participant: New Faculty Mentoring Program
  
  

COMMUNITY SERVICE

• Faculty Sponsor: Student Group, Campus Chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous, 1996+
• Habitat for Humanity, 1996+
• Callier Angel Gift Tree (UTD), 1994+
• Volunteer: March of Dimes; American Diabetes Association, 1995+

 

ACTIVE MEMBERSHIPS

SLS: Society for Literature and Science

History of Science Society

Modern Language Association

Midwest Junto for the History of Science

Midwest Modern Language Association

Friends of Loren Eiseley

American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies

South-Central Society for 18th-Century Studies

 

GRANTS

Awarded:

Consulting Humanist for Planning Grant, "'The Centre Will Not Hold': Cosmology from Copernicus to the Big Bang," Dr. Marilyn Ogilvie, PI, OU History of Science Collections, Oklahoma Foundation for the Humanities, January 1993-May 1993, $5,000.00

National Science Foundation Travel Award for British Society for the History of Science, Summer, 1988, $750.00

 

Applications, unsuccessful:

"Beneath the Stars..." NEH, Fellowships for University Teachers, 1998, $40,000

"Beneath the Stars," American Council of Learned Societies, Fellowship, 1996, $20,000.00

"Beneath the Stars," NEH, Fellowships for University Teachers, 1995-96, $38,000.00

"Literature and Science: An Encyclopedia," NEH, Reference Materials, 1993, $106,000.00

"A Literary History of Astronomy" and "Literature and Science: An Encyclopedia," Guggenheim Foundation, 1993, $45,000.00

 

OTHER EXPERIENCE

University of Wisconsin: Organizer: Graduate Student Conference Workshop

George Sarton Graduate Student Society

University of Nebraska: Grade Appeals Committee, Classics Department.

Editorial work: Knoll, Robert E. Weldon Kees and the Midcentury Generation..., Lincoln: UNP, 1986.

Bibliographic work: Zimmerberg, Helen et al, compilers, Cyclic AMP Bibliography, Squibb and Princeton, 1978-9.

Staff of Alicorn, undergraduate literary magazine, University of Nebraska, 1978.

Staff of Runes, literary magazine, 1974.

Library Assistant: Microforms and Audio. Love Memorial Library, University of Nebraska, 1974-78.

 

REFERENCES

David Lindberg

Past President of History of Science Society

Professor of History of Science

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706

(608) 262-3971

dclindbe@facstaff.wisc.edu

James Bono

Past President, Society for Literature and Science

Professor of History

SUNY-Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260

(716) 834-7880

hischaos@acsu.buffalo.edu

Mary Jo Nye
Past President of History of Science Society
Professor of History
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-5104

(541) 737-3421
nyem@ucs.orst.edu