Mark McBeth teaches undergraduates in the English Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and PhD candidates at The Graduate Center, CUNY. McBeth specializes in composition and rhetoric at the intersections of literacy studies and Queer theory. His recent book Queer Literacies: Discourses & Discontents examines the homophobic discourses of the 20th century and celebrates the advanced literacy labors –reading, writing, research, and critical response– that Queer literates undertook to upend heteronormative constructions and worldviews. McBeth's former work has looked at Victorian teacher training at Cambridge, UK. In addition, he has published on writing program administration, pedagogy, and similar issues. Mark will be joined by Liz Kimball, PhD, Drexel Assistant Professor of English.

Rachel Reynolds is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Drexel, where she directs the Minor in Linguistics and also serves as graduate faculty in Communication, Culture & Media graduate programs.  Lately, she has been conducting research on television and social movements, especially around the portrayal of gendered violence.  In 2024, she will be conducting research in the UK on masculinity in British television. Rachel will be joined by Maria Volynsky, Drexel Associate Teaching Professor of English.

Barbara Jones is an agent with the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, where she represents writers of upmarket fiction and nonfiction, with an emphasis on voices from previously underrepresented communities and on durable talents and stories. Jones' clients include Kate Axelrod, Charles Bock, Rafael Frumkin, Danielle Lazarin, Isaac Oliver, and The Swans of Harlem. Previously, she spent several decades as an editor. First, at magazines, including Harper’s Magazine, Vogue and Real Simple, then in book publishing, where she edited award winning and bestselling novels and nonfiction by writers such as Paul Auster, Susan Choi, Sebastian Faulks, Lauren Groff, Katherine Howe, Rachel Khong, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, Coretta Scott King, Lillian Li, Julie Lythcott-Haims, Jacqueline Novogratz, Christa Parravani and Carl Safina.

Join us for the final event in the Dean's Lecture Series when  Megan Phifer-Rixey, PhD ,  presents “House Mice and Changing Environments” on May 29. Dr. Phifer-Rixey is an assistant professor of Biology at Drexel University. An evolutionary biologist, her research is motivated by the challenge of making connections between genotype, phenotype, and fitness, especially for complex traits and in the context of changing environments.