Photo by Eleanor Y. Stewart.

Dr. Robert T. Rhode

Professor of English

Northern Kentucky University

I earned my bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. With the exception of a B on my undergraduate transcript, my grades were all A’s through all degrees. My doctoral work was in early American literature and prose fiction. My minors were creative writing and American studies, an interdisciplinary field combining such areas as literature, history, and philosophy. I have taught thirty-four separate courses at NKU. Twenty-six of these courses have been in English. Ten have been honors seminars; three, graduate courses; and seventeen, American literature courses, ranging from colonial through modern. I am a new historicist. My research interests include William Dean Howells, Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, the cultures of small towns and rural areas, the literature and history of the steam power era, and traditional grammar. What unifies and distinguishes my record is that I am myself an active learner, curious about a full spectrum of subjects. For me, learning is an ongoing adventure. My students replicate my excitement for discovery.

Publications

I have published the award-nominated book The Harvest Story; four co-authored books (The Steam Tractor Encyclopedia: Glory Days of the Invention That Changed Farming Forever with John F. Spalding, Speak No Evil! with Patricia C. Borne, Your Personal Writing Workout [now in its third edition] with Nancy D. Kersell, and the award-winning Classic American Steamrollers with Judge Raymond L. Drake); an invited essay in Black Earth and Ivory Tower: New American Essays from Farm and Classroom, an anthology featuring "North America’s foremost contemporary writers on the present rural experience"; 111 articles in books and magazines covering the subject of agricultural history and literature; a chapter in the 175th Anniversary Edition of a book on the history of Warren County, Indiana; nineteen refereed articles (with "refereed" implying that expert readers served as a jury to decide whether or not my work should be published); twenty-one articles in journals having editors who decide to accept or to reject submissions; and over twenty poems in refereed journals. Sunrust devoted an entire issue to my poetry.

Presentations and Plays

I have presented my research, scholarly papers, and creative work at twenty-one national conferences. On twenty occasions, I have served as an invited speaker at academic gatherings. I have given twenty-five presentations at regional and state conferences.

I have acted original, one-person plays depicting the lives of Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman. I performed over thirty productions as Whitman and two hundred productions as Poe for a combined audience of over twenty thousand people. In the spring of 1988, I performed for the Baltimore Poe Society, which named my play the authorized stage version of Poe’s life. That society brought me back in 1990 for repeat performances.

Awards and Grants

A summary of career highlights in reverse chronological order follows. In 2002, I was named a Presidential Ambassadors Lamplighter "Flame" Honoree. In 1998, I received an award in recognition of my contributions to LaLink, the student organization within the Literature and Language Department. In 1997, I was promoted to the rank of full professor. In 1995, I received the Strongest Influence Award, an honor given by alumni. From 1990 through 1991, I served as the scholar for the National Endowment for the Humanities grant entitled "A Paradigm of the Integration of Scholarship and Classroom Practice through the Study of Edgar Allan Poe." From 1986 through 1992, I consulted in the formation of honors programs at other colleges. From 1986 through 1989, I served as Vice-President, then as President, then as Past-President of the Mid-East Honors Association. In 1985 and 1986, I served as President of the Kentucky Honors Roundtable. I received tenure and promotion to the rank of associate professor in 1987. I was appointed Director of NKU’s Honors Program in 1983. In 1981, I received the Indiana University Lieber Award for Distinguished Teaching by an Associate Instructor, presented to only four graduate students annually.

Interest in Art

I have served for many years as an illustrator and commercial artist and have contributed drawings for numerous publications at NKU and throughout the nation.

Interest in Music

I began my college experience by majoring in piano performance in the IU School of Music. I played clarinet in the famed Marching Hundred and in Summer Concert Band.

Scroll through my curriculum vitae.

Read about my interest in researching the age of steam.

Visit a Web site I designed for the Will County Threshers Association.

Learn how a steamroller functions.

Note my genealogical work on the Rhode family.

E-mail me at rhode@nku.edu.