Eric Murphy Selinger earned his BA in English from Harvard University in 1986, and his PhD from UCLA in 1993. His research interests focus on issues of love, desire, and literary pleasure, which he explores in modern poetry and in popular romance fiction, with a burgeoning interest in international romantic film.
Selingers publications include What Is It Then Between Us? Traditions of Love in American Poetry (Cornell UP, 1998), and the co-edited collections Ronald Johnson: Life and Works (National Poetry Foundation, 2008), Jewish American Poetry: Poems, Commentary, and Reflections (UPNE/Brandeis, 2000), and New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction (Mcfarland, 2012). He has recently published essays on the contemporary Arab American poet Lawrence Joseph and on the English translations of Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim, and Taha Muhammad Ali.
With grant support from the National Endowment from the Humanities, Selinger has led four nationally-competitive NEH seminars for K-12 teachers (Say Something Wonderful: Teaching the Pleasures of Poetry) and a year-long local workshop for middle-school teachers on poetry pedagogy. He has spoken on poetry and Jewish literature at many area high schools, synagogues, libraries, and community organizations.
Executive Editor of the on-line Journal of Popular Romance Studies, Selinger is also founding member of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance, and has organized national and international conferences on the representation of romantic love in global popular culture.
When not working on poetry or popular culture, Selinger writes lyrics, plays guitar, and generally whoops it up as front man for a local Purim parody band, the Alte Rockers.
Courses Taught: Modern and Contemporary American Poetry; Jewish American Literature
Teaching Specialties: Modern and Contemporary American Poetry and Jewish American Literature