USC.edu

David Tomkins

Professor (Teaching) of Writing
David Tomkins
Pronouns He / Him / His Email dtomkins@usc.edu Office JEF 150 Office Phone (213) 740-7994

Biography

David Tomkins is Professor (Teaching) of Writing at the University of Southern California. His current book project, Practicing Assemblage, draws on Deleuzian philosophy and post-process composition scholarship to devise new approaches to teaching advanced writing. He has also written on power dynamics, empathy, and performativity in writing classrooms; science fiction; and early 20th-century American literature. In 2020 he co-organized the CCCC Regional Conference “Building Diverse Communities through Writing” held at USC.  

Education

  • Ph.D. English, University of Southern California, 5/2009
  • M.A. English, University of North Texas, 8/1999
  • B.A. English, University of North Texas, 7/1997

  • Research, Teaching, Practice, and Clinical Appointments

    • Professor (Teaching) of Writing , University of Southern California, 2021-07-19-
    • Associate Professor (Teaching) of Writing, University of Southern California, 2015-08-15-2021-07-19
    • Assitant Professor (Teaching) of Writing, University of Southern California, 2012-08-15-2015-08-15
    • Lecturer, USC, Writing Program, 2009-08-15-2012-08-15

    Visiting and Temporary Appointments

    • Professor, Cardinal English, South Central Scholars Summer Academy, 05/15/2013-08/15/2015

  • Conference Presentations

    • Assessment as Collaborative Exchange: Using Grading Contracts to Facilitate Dialogic Feedback , The Future of Writing: A Symposium for Teachers Pedagogy, Process, PotentialTalk/Oral Presentation, Los Angeles, CA, Spring 2023
    • Let’s Talk: Grading Contracts and Instructor Feedback , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Chicago, IL, Spring 2023
    • Unique Expression, Assembled Compositions: Cultivating Authorial Voice in Advanced Writing Workshops , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Spokane, WA (cancelled due to Covid-19), Spring 2021
    • Remake/Remodel: Assembling Voice in Advanced Composition Workshops , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Milwaukee, WI (cancelled due to Covid-19), Spring 2020
    • Playing to the Crowd: Writing Students and their Virtual Audiences , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Pittsburgh, PA, Spring 2019
    • Writing from Without: Embracing Post-Process Externalization in the Advanced Writing Classroom , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Portland, OR, Spring 2017
    • Risk Analysis: What Exactly Do We Mean by “Advanced Writing,” and Should We Fear the Answer? , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Tampa, FL, Spring 2015
    • Curriculum Design, Institutional Relevance, and the Non-Tenure Track Writing Professor , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Indianapolis, IN, Spring 2014
    • Civic Engagement and the Web-based College Essay , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Las Vegas, NV, Spring 2013
    • Castles, Cowboys, and the California Central Coast , Modern Language AssociationTalk/Oral Presentation, Los Angeles, CA, Spring 2011
    • “This Perennial Rebirth”: Reappraising Willa Cather’s Frontier Nostalgia , Modernist Studies AssociationTalk/Oral Presentation, Long Beach, CA, Fall 2007
    • Ernest Hemingway’s Materiality of Absence , American Literature AssociationTalk/Oral Presentation, San Francisco, CA, Spring 2006
    • “On the Solid Earth”: Myth, Materialism, and the Appropriation of Origins in Willa Cather’s _The Professor’s House_ , Northeast Modern Language AssociationTalk/Oral Presentation, Pittsburgh, PA, Spring 2004
    • Cool Heads Prevail: Narrative Structure and the Performance of the Western Hero , 5th Congress of the AmericasTalk/Oral Presentation, Puebla, Mexico, Fall 2001

  • Book Review

    • Tomkins, D. S. (2023). Review Essay on “In and Out of Sight: Modernist Writing and the Photographic Unseen” by Alix Beeston and “What Was Literary Impressionism?” by Michael Fried. American Literature.
    • Tomkins, D. S. (2013). Review essay on Christopher J. Lukasik’s “Discerning Characters: The Culture of Appearance in Early America” (Penn 2011), Nathalie op de Beeck’s “Suspended Animation: Children’s Picture Books and the Fairy Tale of Modernity” (Minnesota 2010), and Mark J. Noonan’s “Reading the Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine: American Literature and Culture, 1870-1893” (Kent State 2010). American Literature, Duke UP.
    • Tomkins, D. S. (2009). Review of Mark Wollaeger’s Moderism, Media, and Propaganda: British Narrative from 1900 to 1945. European Legacy.
    • Tomkins, D. S. (2008). Review essay on Jonathan Ellis’s Art and Memory in the Work of Elizabeth Bishop (Ashgate 2006), Brian M. Reed’s Hart Crane After His Lights (Alabama UP 2006), and Lytle Shaw’s Frank O’Hara: The Poetics of Coterie (Iowa UP 2006). American Literature. Vol. 80 No. 2, June 2008. American Literature.

    Encyclopedia Article

    • Tomkins, D. S. (2006). Introduction to John O’Hara’s Appointment in Samarra. (Abby H.P. Werlock, Ed.). New York: The Facts on File Companion to the American Novel.
    • Tomkins, D. S. (2006). Introduction to Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward Angel. (Abby H.P. Werlock, Ed.). New York: The Facts on File Companion to the American Novel.

    Journal Article

    • Tomkins, D. S. (2018). Assuming Control: Spielberg Rewires Ready Player One. B2O: The Online Community of the Boundary 2 Editorial Collective. PubMed Web Address Link to full text
    • Tomkins, D. S. (2008). The “Lost Generation” and the Generation of Loss: Ernest Hemingway’s Materiality of Absence and The Sun Also Rises. Modern Fiction Studies. Vol. 54 (4), pp. 744-765.
    • Writing 540: Writing for Economics Master’s Students, Writing Program/Economics, 2018-2019
    • RTCP (Faculty Development Grant ($1,500 for conference participation), 2022-2023
    • RTCP (Faculty Development Grant ($1,500 for conference participation), 2021-2022
    • Information Literacy Course Enhancement Grant, USC Libraries ($200 for assignment/curriculum development), 2020-2021
    • Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences (ASHSS) Sabbatical Grant for “Practicing Assemblage” book project, Spring 2021
    • CCCC/NCTE Conference Organization Grant ($7,000 for conference planning), 2019-2020
    • Dornsife Conference Organization Grant ($7,500 for CCCC/NCTE conference planning), 2019-2020
    • RTCP (Faculty Development Grant ($1,500 for conference participation), 2019-2020
    • Teaching Innovation Grant, USC Writing Program ($1,000 for assignment/curriculum development), 2019-2020
    • RTPC Faculty Development Grant ($1,000 for conference participation), 2018-2019
    • RTPC Faculty Development Grant ($1,500 for conference participation), 2017-2018
    • RTPC Faculty Development Grant ($1,500 for conference participation), 2016-2017
    • RTPC Faculty Devlopment Grant ($1,200 for conference participation), 2014-2015
    • USC Shoah Foundation 2014-15 Teaching Fellow ($2,500 for course development) , 2014-2015
    • RTPC Faculty Development Grant ($1,500 for conference participation), 2013-2014
    • Course Continuity in a Crisis (C3) Grant, USC Center for Scholarly Technology ($20,000 awarded to team of four Writing Program faculty), Spring 2012
    • Spring 2011 Learning Environments (LE) Incentive Grant , Spring 2011
    • College Merit Award, 2006-2007
    • Mellon Foundation Award for Excellence in Mentoring, 2006-2007
    • Marta Feuchtwanger Merit Award, 2003-2004

  • Office Hours

      TTH : 11:00-12:00, Jeff. Bldg. Rm. 123

  • Administrative Appointments

    • Writing Program Faculty Mentor, 2013 –
    • Dornsife Faculty Affairs Caucus, Appointed Member, 2016 – 2017
    • Dornsife Faculty Council, Elected Member, 2015 – 2017
    • Dornsife RTPC Faculty Caucus, Appointed Co-Chair

      , 2015 – 2016

    • Coordinator for Writing 150 (Health and Healing), Writing Program
      Worked collaboratively with Writing Program administrators and faculty to devise a curricular and logistical model for a newly proposed Writing 150 “Health and Healing” thematic ahead of a Fall 2013 deadline. Tasks included creating, Spring 2013
    • Lead Coordinator, Writing Program, USC
      Worked collaboratively with other Writing Program faculty and administrators to devise new logistical/curricular model for coordination between Social Issues courses and lower-division writing courses. Facilitating link between four social issues courses and s, 2011-2012
    • Program Coordinator, Writing Program.

      Position involves mentoring Incoming Assistant Lecturers (IALs), advising them on assignment, lesson, and professional development, and facilitating link between Assistant Lecturers and Social Issues Professors and Teaching Assistants., 2009 – 2011

    Committees

    • Co-Chair, Sub-Committee on Writing 340 Outreach (Writing Program, Upper-Division Curriculum Committee): Working with Dornsife Communications Team to produce a short film to heighten the profile of our upper-division curriculum, 2019 –
    • Member, Assessment Committee (Writing Program): Charged with updating the grading rubric for Writing 150 and developing new modes of student assessment based on insights gleaned from current research in the field, 2018 –
    • Member, Upper-Division Curriculum Committee (Writing Program): Conducting on-going review of teaching best practices within the upper-division context; making recommendations to faculty and administrators geared toward solidifying course learning objectives, 2018 –
    • Chair, Faculty Evaluation Committee (Writing Program): Oversaw the departmental evaluative process for Writing Program faculty seeking promotion to Assistant Professor, Fall 2019
    • Member, Internal Referee Committee (Writing Program): Referee for junior faculty seeking promotion to Associate Professor, Fall 2019
    • Member, Writing Program Lower-Division Curriculum Committee, 2017-2018
    • Chair, Writing Program Lower-Division Curriculum Committee, 2016 – 2017
    • Member, Writing Program Lower-Division Curriculum Committee, 2015 – 2016
    • Chair, Writing 340 Review & Development Committee, 2014 – 2015
    • Member, Curriculum and Pedagogy Committee, Writing Program, 2011 – 2012
    • Member, Professional Development Committee, Writing Program, 2011 – 2012

    Review Panels

    • USC Undergraduate Writer’s Conference, Creative, Spring 2015
    • USC Undergraduate Writer’s Conference, Research, Spring 2014
    • USC Undergraduate Writer’s Conference, Moral/Professional, Spring 2013
    • USC Undergraduate Writers’ Conference, Moral/Professional, Spring 2012

    Media, Alumni, and Community Relations

    • Curricular Research Committee, South Central Scholars Foundation (affiliated with USC), 2013 – 2015

  • Conferences Organized

    • Organizer, CCCC Summer Conference: Building Diverse Communities through Writing , University of Southern California, Spring 2021

    Professional Memberships

    • Conference on College Communication and Composition, 2010 –
    • National Council of Teachers orf English, 2010 –
    • Modern Language Association, 2001 –

    Reviewer for Publications

    • Studies in the Novel, University of North Texas, Reviewer of articles submitted for publication. , 2014-2015
    • JNT: Journal of Narrative Theory, Eastern Michigan University, Reviewer of articles submitted for publication., 2010-2011