Faculty memeber: Dr. Jennifer Phegley continues work on Victorian era books

Dr. Jennifer Phegley has been with UMKC since 1999 when she graduated from The Ohio State University with her English Ph.D. with a focus on Nineteenth-Century literature. Throughout her time here, she has served on the University General Education Curriculum Committee and the University Assessment Committee, been a FaCET Faculty Fellow for Online Teaching, directed the English undergraduate program and the graduate program, and served as Associate Chair of the English Department.

She has just completed a book on Victorian courtship and marriage.

“I examined, among other things, unconventional methods of courtship such as matrimonial advertising,” she said. “This form of courtship gave women a wider range of marital possibilities and afforded them greater rhetorical power to construct their identities and articulate their desires.”

Phegley is now working on another book, focusing on the development of niche market magazines by John Maxwell and Samuel Beeton, publishing entrepreneurs.

“The idea of subdividing readers into very specific target audiences is pervasive now, but it was a risky idea in 1850s England where periodicals were typically aimed broadly to appeal to the greatest number of people,” she said. “This book will explore what impact these magazine mavericks had on the Victorian periodical industry and our contemporary publishing practices.”

In her work with graduate students, Phegley has directed six dissertations, served on eight Ph.D. supervisory committees, and advised numerous students pursuing Masters of Arts and Masters of Fine Arts.

“As a mentor in each of these situations, my goal has been to ensure that my students understand and have experience in all aspects of academia, including research, teaching, and service,” she said. “As a teacher, a scholar, and an administrator, I believe in the importance of collaboration. Collaborative work makes the classroom a livelier and more productive place, scholarship richer and more complex, and administration more responsive and more representative.”

Phegley said she enjoys that UMKC has such a diverse group of students.

“I was a first-generation college student, so I appreciate that we have many who are the first in their families to go to college,” she said. “I find our students to be highly engaged and dedicated, and for that reason I love teaching here.”

Naturally drawn to the study of literature, Phegley said she has always loved reading and writing.

“As an undergraduate, I double-majored in English and history, and I had a hard time deciding which subject to pursue in graduate school,” she said. “My research and teaching are both very historically grounded, so I find it easy to work with interdisciplinary doctoral students who are incorporating the two disciplines in their dissertations.”

Among her awards earned while at UMKC, Phegley said the teaching awards mean the most to her, including the English Department Graduate Faculty Teaching Award in 2007 and the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Good Teaching Award in 2011. In the past few years, she has become interested in online pedagogies and wants to continue exploring the possibilities and benefits of online learning.

“For me, online courses are ideal for intensive student collaboration,” she said. “Online teaching also allows me to reach students who are, for whatever reason, bound to their homes or called out of the Kansas City area. … Indeed, they are often more appreciative of and excited about continuing their education than those who are in less limiting circumstances.”

Phegley started at UMKC as an Assistant Professor and has moved through the ranks to Associate and now Full Professor over the span of 13 years.

“I am not sure what is in store for me in the future,” she said, “but I hope it is good!”

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