Dr. Clay Motley
Email: clay.motley@wku.edu
Title
Associate Director for Academics
My Role in the Honors College
I help develop the Honors College curriculum, work with faculty and administrators on Honors course offerings, and oversee Honors-related grants for students and faculty. I can occasionally be found actually teaching an Honors course.
Educational Background
I received a Ph.D. in English from the University of South Carolina in 2002., an M.A. in English from Eastern Kentucky University in 1997 and a B.A. in English from the University of Kentucky in 1996.
Hometown
Richmond, Kentucky
Academic Interests
I primarily research issues related to the literature, music, and religion of the American South. Currently, I am looking at the “Southern Renaissance” period in terms of music, rather than just literature.
Publications
Book Chapters
“Sin City: Gram Parsons and the ‘Christ-haunted South.’” Country Lyricists and Their Contribution to the American Literary Canon. Eds. Michael Cody and Thomas Alan Holmes. (Forthcoming)
“Fighting for Manhood: Rocky and Turn-of-the-Century Antimodernism.” All Stars and Movie Stars: Sports in Film, Television, and History. Eds. Ron Briley, et. al. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2008. 199-218.
"Making Over Body and Soul: In His Steps and the Roots of Evangelical Popular Culture.” The Great American Makeover: Television, History, and Nation. Ed. Dana Heller. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. 85-105.
"'It's a Hell of a Thing to Kill a Man': Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven and the Challenge and Affirmation of Manhood." Americana: Readings in American Popular Culture. Ed. Leslie Wilson. Los Angeles: Press Americana, 2006. 72-76.
Journal Articles
“Dot’ sh a’ Kin’ a man I am!”: Abraham Cahan, Masculinity, and Jewish Assimilation in Nineteenth-Century America. Studies in American Jewish Literature 30 (2011). Forthcoming
“Fighting for Manhood: Rocky and Turn-of-the-Century Antimodernism.” Film and History. 35.2 (2005). 60-66.
“Turn-of-the Century Perceptions of Manliness and Religion: Frederic’s Jeremiad in Theron Ware.” Nineteenth-Century Prose. 31 (2004) 191-220.
"'It's a Hell of a Thing to Kill a Man': Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven and the Challenge and Affirmation of Manhood." Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture. 3 (2004): http://www.americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/spring_2004/motley.htm
Book Reviews
Barney, William L., The Making of a Confederate: Walter Lenoir’s Civil War. Oxford UP, 2008. Reviewed in The South Atlantic Review (Spring 2009) 186-189.
Mary Balkun, The American Counterfeit: Authenticity and Identity in American Literature and Culture. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2006. Reviewed in The South Atlantic Review. (Fall 2006) 259-262
Reference Entries
“Rod Brasfield.” The Grove Dictionary of American Music, Second Edition. Ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett. New York: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.
“Benjamin Ford.” The Grove Dictionary of American Music, Second Edition. Ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett. New York: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.
“Hee Haw.” The Grove Dictionary of American Music, Second Edition. Ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett. New York: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.
“Grandpa Jones.” The Grove Dictionary of American Music, Second Edition. Ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett. New York: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.
“Minnie Pearl.” The Grove Dictionary of American Music, Second Edition. Ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett. New York: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.
“Theron Ware.” Students’ Companion to American Literary Characters. New York: Facts on File, 2006.
Book Introductions
“Introduction.” McTeague. By Frank Norris. New York: The Barnes and Noble Library of Essential Reading, 2006.
“Introduction.” The Damnation of Theron Ware. By Harold Frederic. New York: The Barnes and Noble Library of Essential Reading, 2006.
Hobbies and Interests
Mainly being with my family, but I try to sharpen my culinary and guitar skills when I have a few extra minutes.
What Brought Me to the HC
It is a tremendous and rare opportunity to be a formative part of Kentucky’s first Honors College. Working with Honors College students and faculty is the most academically satisfying job I could have.
A Little About Myself
My wife, Christie, and daughter, Mia, are the greatest. I think the more Aretha Franklin you listen to the better off you are. I miss oyster season in South Carolina. French cuisine is my favorite. Cask ale is sublime.
