Michael Parrish

Graduate Teaching Assistant and PhD student in Literary Studies at Georgia State University

Curriculum Vitae

Michael Parrish

Georgia State University
Department of English
mparrish14@student.gsu.edu
407.456.0252 (Cell)

Research Interest

Hermeneutics, Medieval Christianity, Medieval English Literature

Education Background

PhD in English (Literary Studies), Present - Georgia State UniversityMA in English (Literary, Cultural and Textual Studies), 2021 - University of Central FloridaBA in Humanities (Classical) with Minor in Cinema Studies, 2015 - University of Central Florida

Teaching Experience

Graduate Teaching Assistant: Georgia State University, 2023 - Present.

Professional Experience

Tutor: GSU Writing Center, 2023 - Present.Manager: Hawks Design & Consulting, 2016 - 2023.Captioning Assistant: CapTel Service Specialists, 2019 - 2022.Video Producer: BC Films, 2012 - 2016.

Courses Taught

ENGL 1101: English Composition, Fall 2023

Courses Taken

Research Adjacent

ENGL 8290: Nation, Race, and the Middle Ages
ENGL 8090: History of the English Language
LIT 6936: Studies in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Theory: Biblical Hermeneutics.
LIT 6936: Studies in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Theory: Legend and Literature of King Arthur.
HUM 3552: Christian Thought.
REL 3403: Christianity.
REL 3363: Islam.
REL 3115: Religion, Spirituality, and Popular Music.
PHI 3200: Medieval Philosophy.

Graduate and Upper-Level

ENGL 8195: Composition Pedagogy
LIT 6936: Studies in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Theory: Queer Theory.
LIT 6936: Studies in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Theory: Sound and the Materiality of Romantic Poetry.
LIT 6276: Teaching College Literature.
LIT 6216: Issues in Literary Studies: The Lost Generation.
LIT 6076: Studies in Contemporary Nonfiction.
ENG 6950: Capstone Course.
ENG 6078: Contemporary Movements in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Theory.
ENG 5009: Methods of Bibliography and Research.
LIN 5137: Linguistics.
HUM 4933: Senior Research Seminar.
HUM 4301: The Classical Ideal

Research

Conference Presentations

"Creating Christendom: How Sir Walter Scott Created a Hermeneutical Jew as Opposition to a Christian Nation in Ivanhoe." SAMLA 95, 10 Nov. 2023."From Jesus to Martin Luther: A History of Christian Anti-Judaism." English Graduate Symposium, University of Central Florida, 6 Apr. 2020. (Link to Conference Abstract, Link to Conference Paper)"Religion in Hip-Hop: The Five-Percent Nation and the Nation of Islam." Conference on Arts and the Humanities, University of Central Florida, 22 Apr. 2015. (Link to Conference Paper)

Thesis

"Hermeneutics of Hate: How Martin Luther's Rhetorical Manipulation of the Greek Bible Led to His Anti-Judaic Treatise On the Jews and Their Lies." English MA Thesis, University of Central Florida. (Link to Master's Thesis)

Awards and Honors

University of Central Florida, President's Honor Roll, 2015.University of Central Florida, UCF 50th Anniversary Video Contest Scholarship (2nd Place), 2013.
(Link to Video Entry)

Service Activity

Educational Video Production (UCF)

"The Mogao Caves: The Thousand Buddha Grottoes." College of Arts and Humanities, University of Central Florida, 2016."Hong Kong: The Cultural Hub of the East." College of Arts and Humanities, University of Central Florida, 2014.

About ME

I have been interested in religion—primarily Christianity—my entire life. While I’m sure many make the same claim, I attended the same Christian school, Faith Christian Academy, from kindergarten to high school graduation. However, it was not until college that I decided to pursue an academic interest in Christianity. While pursuing my undergraduate degree in Humanities, I enrolled in every religion class offered for my major from Christianity to Medieval Philosophy to Religion, Spirituality, and Popular Music.While it may seem peculiar to pursue a master’s degree in English with an interest Christianity, the Christian Bible—primarily the King James Version of the Bible—has had a profound impact on English literature (to put it lightly). Not only has Christianity and the Christian Bible impacted English literature, but the way we have interpreted the Bible has impacted secular theory as well. Even still, classes like the Legend and Literature of King Arthur and Studies in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Theory: Biblical Hermeneutics allowed me to continue my academic pursuit of religious studies in an interdisciplinary environment.Combining my research in Christianity and my pursuit of a master’s degree in English, I decided to write my thesis on how Martin Luther, the hero reformer, using rhetorical manipulation, created his anti-Judaic treatise On the Jews and Their Lies. Though Luther nor the Greek Bible are written in English, I theorized that Luther’s hermeneutical process is universal and applicable outside of Christian hermeneutics.

As any good scholar knows, research takes time, but I have several interests outside of academics as well. My wife and I got married on March 19, 2021, and, though we dated for several years prior to our marriage, we are still learning about each other. I enjoy making music as both a collaborative effort and solo artistic pursuit. I play several instruments, and I have collaborated on several projects across almost every genre of music. I have also taken it upon myself to learn to code in several programming languages (mostly with Python, JavaScript, and PHP). I have several smaller interests as well: watching sports with my friends and family, reading for pleasure, and cooking. Thank you for your interest!

Contact

Please contact me with any questions.
My email address is embedded below.