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ADDRESS
608 Antler Drive
Lewisberry, PA 17339
W: (717) 361-1381 downindc@etown.edu
H: (717) 932-1241 DCDown2@aol.com
EDUCATION
B. A. Westmont
College, 1973 Summa
cum laude, Valedictorian
M. A. University of California at Los Angeles, 1975 (English)
Ph.D. University of California at Los Angeles, 1977 (English)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
1974-1977
Teaching Fellow, Freshman Composition, UCLA
1977-1983 Assistant
Professor of English, Westmont College
1983-1989 Associate
Professor of English, Westmont College
1989-1994 Professor of
English, Westmont College
1994-1997 Visiting Asst.
Professor of English, Elizabethtown College
1997-2001 Associate Professor of
English, Elizabethtown College
2001-2003 R. W. Schlosser
Associate Professor of English
2003-
R. W. Schlosser Professor of English
Courses taught:
Writing: First-year
Composition (all levels), Intro to Creative Writing, Newswriting, Technical
Writing, Writing about Film, Writing for Publication, Writing for the
Health Professions, Creative Writing, Writing in the Social Sciences,
Advanced Composition and Editing
Literature: Introduction,
American Literature (all periods), Modern Novel, Modern Poetry, The Short
Story, Arthurian Literature, Classic Russian Fiction, Christian Fantasy
Literature, Introduction to Drama, Introduction to Fiction, Forms of the
Quest, American Symbolists, History of Hollywood
PUBLICATIONS AND
PRESENTATIONS
Plenary speaker: “Journey to Joy: C. S. Lewis and The Pilgrim’s Regress.” F. W. Ewbank
Colloquium, Taylor University, June 2012.
Book chapter: “Dantean Echoes in A Grief Observed,” in The
Inklings: Questions of Identity (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2012).
Article: “C. S. Lewis’s Easley Fragment and his Unfinished
Journey,” Seven: An Anglo-American
Review, October 2011.
Presentation: “A Grief Obscured:
Understanding C. S. Lewis’s
Experiences of Bereavement and Hope.”
University of Lille, France. June 2011.
Seminar leader: “C. S. Lewis as Fiction Writer.” Weeklong
seminar. Regent College, Vancouver, B. C. July 2011.
Book: Looking
for the King: An Inklings Novel (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, November 2010).
Sample chapter: “Tuesday morning at
the ‘Bird & Baby’”
Booksigning: A South Divided: Portraits of Dissent in the Confederacy.
Gettysburg National
Park Battlefield Museum, June 27, 2009.
Stories: “A Feast of Reason and a Flow of
Soul: A Cycle of Inklings
Stories.’ CSL: The Bulletin of the C. S. Lewis Society (March
2009-December 2009).
Blog: C. S. Lewis.com, a Website
sponsored by Harper Collins.
Invited speaker and book-signing:
"Dissidents in the Confederacy”
- High Library,
Elizabethtown College, October 17, 2007
- The National Civil
War Museum, January 16, 2008
- Elizabethtown
Masonic Lodge, March 15, 2008
- Harrisburg Civil
War Round Table, April 25, 2008
- Phi Alpha Theta
Annual Banquet, May 2, 2008
- Gettysburg
Battlefield Museum, June 27, 2009
Book: A South Divided: Portraits of Dissent in the
Confederacy (Nashville:
Cumberland
House, 2007).
·
Nominated for
the Lincoln Prize, sponsored by the Civil War Institute, Gettysburg College
·
“A fascinating and
long-overdue book.” Tyler Tichelaar (Civil War novelist) in Reader Views
·
“A thoroughly
engrossing ‘must-read’ contribution to Civil War history shelves.” Midwest
Book Review
Book chapters:
“Rehabilitating H. G. Wells: Out of the Silent Planet”; “Perelandra:
A Tale of Paradise Retained”; “That Hideous Strength: Spiritual
Wickedness in High Places.” In C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy. Ed. by Bruce L. Edwards. Westport, CT: Praeger
Publishing, 2007.
Essay: “Bedtime Stories and Lifetime Stories.”
In The Lion and the Land of Narnia. Ed. by Robert Cording (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2008).
Article: “C. S. Lewis and the Region of
Awe,” Conversations: A Forum for Authentic Transformation. Vol. 6:1
(Summer 2008), 64-68.
Invited speaker and booksigning: "The
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: The Book and the Film,"
- “2007 Wildwood
Writers Festival,” Harrisburg, PA, April 13, 2007.
- “Conference on
Faith and Imagination,” Vancouver, B. C., October 12, 2007
- “C. S. Lewis in the
21st Century,” University of Wisconsin, Madison, January
26, 2008.
Interview/podcasts:
"The Spiritual Journey of C. S. Lewis" and "C. S. Lewis and
the Narnia Chronicles."
Two half-hour radio
interview/podcasts with Brent Siddall of Trans World Radio in London. April
2007.
Book: Into the Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis and the Narnia
Chronicles. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2005.
- Recommended as one
of the Top Ten Books of the Year on C. S. Lewis in Christianity
Today.
- Reviews or author
interviews in U. S. News & World Report, Christian Century,
Chicago Tribune, Washington Times, San Antonio Express-News, Baltimore
Sun, Orlando Sentinel, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Calgary
Herald, Toronto Globe & Mail, and dozens of local and regional
newspapers and journals.
- Interviewed on
National Public Radio (Philadelphia), as well as radio stations in
Chicago, Seattle, Phoenix, Omaha, Detroit, Orlando, Milwaukee,
Washington D. C., and St. Louis.
- Lectures and book signings
at conferences or bookstores in Oxford, England; Chicago, Illinois;
Philadelphia, Harrisburg, York, Camp Hill, Elizabethtown,
Pennsylvania.
- Translated into
Korean, Japanese, Polish.
Book: Into the Region of Awe: Mysticism in C. S. Lewis. Chicago, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005.
- Recommended as one
of the Top Ten Books of the Year on C. S. Lewis in Christianity
Today.
- Reviews or author
interviews in Books & Culture, Mythprint, Reformation
Journal, Library Journal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Modesto
Bee, and many other regional newspapers and journals.
- Interviewed on
radio stations in Washington D. C., Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and
Detroit.
- Released as an
audiobook by Blackstone Audio and an mp3 on Audiobooks.
Book: The Most Reluctant Convert: C. S. Lewis's Journey
to Faith.
Chicago, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002.
- Awarded a Clyde S.
Kilby Research Grant, Wade Special Collections Center, Wheaton,
Illinois.
- Named one of the
Top Ten Books of the 2002 in the category of Religion by the American Library
Association.
- 2002 Gold Medal
Finalist, Christian Publishers Association.
- Featured author at
book-signing party at the Christian Booksellers Association,
Indianapolis, January 31, 2002.
- Television
interview in Indianapolis; radio interviews with stations KFUO
(Kansas), WWJC (Minnesota), KNEO (Missouri), KIXL (Texas), KSIV (St.
Louis), WWIB (Wisconsin), WPTT
(Pittsburgh), Uninews (syndicated), WDEO (Detroit), KDOV (Oregon), and
TWR (London)
- Included in
Amazon.com’s Top 50 Bestsellers, April 2002.
- Translated into
Italian, Korean, and Portuguese.
- Released as an
audiobook by Blackstone Audio.
Book chapter: "Science
Fiction," C. S. Lewis as Reader, ed. by Thomas L. Martin. Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Book, 2000.
Article: "From Ogre to Buffoon:
Uncle Andrew in Magician's Nephew
as a Portrait of Robert Capron," CSL: The
Bulletin of the New York C. S.
Lewis Society. December 2000, 1-7.
Article: "'The Torch of
Civilization': C. S. Lewis on War and Peace."
The Canadian C. S. Lewis Journal, Spring
1999, 18-26.
Article: "'The Dungeon of His Soul': Lewis's Unfinished 'Quest of
Bleheris,'" Seven: An Anglo-American Review, Volume 17 (1998).
Article: "The Discarded Mage: Lewis the Scholar-Novelist on
Merlin's Moral Taint." Christian Scholars Review. 27:4 (Summer
1998), 406-415.
Article: "From Pillar to Post-modernism: C. S. Lewis and Current
Critical Discourse," Christianity and Literature Vol 46 (Winter
1997), 169-178. Rpt. Books and Culture, November 1998
Article: "Salem
Revisited: Demons, Deceit, or Disorder?" Books and Culture,
January 1997, pp. 17-20. Broadcast in part on "Breakpoint"
(Charles Colson's radio program), October 31, 1997.
Essays: "The Way We Word." (Column on curious names and
word origins in Elizabethtown
magazine). Rpt. in The Harrisburg
Patriot-News, Lancaster
Intelligencer and the Mifflinburg County Register.
Article: "Subcreation or Smuggled Theology?: Tolkien contra Lewis
on Writing Fantasy," The Canadian C. S. Lewis Journal, Spring
1996, pp. 24-34.
Book: Planets in Peril: A Critical Study of C. S. Lewis's
Ransom Trilogy. The University
of Massachusetts
Press, September 1992.
•Named one of the
Academic Books of the Year, American Library Association
•Selected as 1993 Scholarly
Book of the Year Award, The Mythopoeic Society
•Honored by Science
Fiction Studies as "a major contribution to Lewis studies which should
be the standard work on the trilogy for many years."
•Described in Christian
Scholars Review as "the best critical overview of C. S Lewis
published to date."
Book: What You Know Might Not Be So: 220
Misinterpretations of Bible Texts Explained. Grand Rapids: Baker Book,
1987. Spanish translation: Tal Vez No Sea Como Usted Piensa. Deerfield, FL:
Vida Press, 1990. Portuguese translation: O Que Você Sabe
Pode Não Estar Certo. Deerfield,
FL: Vida Press, 1990.
Book: Picture Yourself a Perfect Speller. Chicago:
National Textbook Company, 1989.
Article: "Waiting for Godoz: Deconstructing The Wizard of
Oz". Christianity and Literature, Winter 1984, pp. 28-30.
Article: "Theology in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the
Rings." Radix, Nov 1981.
Article: "'Streams of Scripture Comfort': Typology in Mary
Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative." Early American Literature,
15 (1981), 252-59.
Story: "His Father's Business." Eternity,
August 1980, pp. 17-18.
Story: "Good
News Gardens."
La Paz,
February 1980, pp. 10-11; rpt. Buzz (British), August 1980, pp.
30-33; presented as BBC radio play, September 1980; rpt. On Being
(Australian), February 1981, pp. 18-20; rpt. Southwest Lutheran
Quarterly, Summer 1981; rpt. One, April 1982, pp. 12-13.
Story: "Pilgrim's Digress." Eternity, August 1978,
pp. 26-27; rpt. Svenska Journalen (Swedish), May 1979, pp. 34-35, 42.
Story: "Life After Life." Wittenburg Door,
September 1977, pp. 16-17.
Book reviews in Christianity and Literature, Books and Culture,
The Anglo-American Review, and Christianity Today.
PRESENTATIONS
Invited Speaker, "C. S. Lewis's Unpublished Juvenilia,"
Conference on the Fantastic Imagination, Wheaton College,
September 24, 1998
Invited Session Chair, "C. S. Lewis as Science Fiction
Writer," Annual Conference of the Mythopoeic Society, Chicago, July 18,
1998.
Invited Speaker: "On Writing a Book: From Idea to ISBN
Number": Annual Conference of the Mythopoeic Society, Chicago, July 19,
1998.
Paper: "'Otherworlds of the Spirit': Symbolic Landscapes in the
Ransom Trilogy," Annual Conference of the Mythopoeic Society, University of Colorado
at Boulder,
July 22, 1997
Invited Speaker: "C. S. Lewis and Current Critical Discourse,"
Modern Language Association, Chicago,
Dec 30, 1995.
Invited Speaker: "Learning in Wartime," World War II: Crusade
and Legacy, Marshall College, Huntingdon, W. Va.,
May 24, 1995.
Invited Speaker: "Logos and Logres in Arthurian Literature,"
Conference on the Fantastic Imagination, Wheaton College,
September 1994.
Invited Seminar Leader: "Chance or the Dance?" Queens'
College, Cambridge, England, July 9-23, 1994.
Paper: "The 'Poor' Perplex: 13 Ways of Looking at a
Beatitude." Conference on Christianity and Literature, Calvin College, October 15, 1987.
Paper: "Hawthorne's
Unpardonable Sinners," Conference on Christianity and
Literature, Point
Loma College,
April 1983.
HONORS AND AWARDS
See Planets in Peril in PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
Teacher of the Year, Westmont College, 1990
Teacher of the Year, Westmont College, 1980
Chancellor's Fellow, UCLA, 1973-1977 (full 4-year scholarship)
Semi-Finalist, Danforth Fellowship, 1973
Valedictorian, Westmont College, Santa
Barbara, 1973
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
President, Deer Run Homeowners Association, 1996-
Chair, Faculty Committee for Centennial Celebration, Elizabethtown College,
1998-
Advisor, Fine Print (campus literary magazine), Elizabethtown College,
1996-
Advisor, Elizabethtown College Pre-Law Club, 1995-96
Faculty Mentor, Elizabethtown College Writing Center, 1995-
Chair, Department of English, Westmont College, 1986-1991
Member, Faculty Senate, Westmont College, 1984-88
Advisor, campus film series, Westmont College,1985-1988
Advisor to student newspaper, Westmont College, 1985-1993
Advisor to campus literary magazine, Westmont College, 1979-1985
Director, Britain Study Tour, Fall 1980, Fall 1982
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