Dr. Leonardo Flores named chair of Appalachian’s Department of English

BOONE, N.C. — In July, Dr. Leonardo Flores will assume the position of chair for the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at Appalachian State University.

Flores joins Appalachian from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM), where he has been interim director of English since 2017. Prior to this appointment, Flores served as associate dean of assessment and educational technologies at UPRM, a position he held for four years before accepting a yearlong Fulbright at the University of Bergen in Norway to focus on his work in digital culture.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome Dr. Flores to his new role as the department chair of English. His administrative experience as well as his scholarly background will serve the department well,” said Dr. Neva J. Specht, dean of Appalachian’s College of Arts and Sciences.

A leading voice in digital humanities, Flores has earned accolades for his scholarly and creative achievements in the burgeoning fields of electronic literature and digital media criticism, including editing “Electronic Literature Collection, Vol. 3,” the world’s largest repository of literature written expressly for digital presentation and consumption.

Flores’ articles have appeared in such journals as Metaphor, the Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, Cultural Studies Review and others, as well as in edited collections such as The Johns Hopkins Guide to Digital Media and “Electronic Literature: Contexts, Forms, and Practices.”

In July, Flores will begin his three-year term as president of the Electronic Literature Organization while continuing to serve on the steering committee for the Red de Literatura Electrónica Latinoamerica.

In addition to his substantial administrative experience and cutting-edge scholarly profile, Flores — who earned his Ph.D. in English at the University of Maryland, College Park — brings to Appalachian a commitment to pedagogical innovation and interdisciplinary studies, having developed courses such as his Digital Humanities Internship at the intersection of literature, writing technologies and media.

For more information, please visit http://leonardoflores.net.

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About the Department of English

The Department of English at Appalachian State University is committed to outstanding work in the classroom, the support and mentorship of students, and a dynamic engagement with culture, history, language, theory and literature. The department offers master’s degrees in English and rhetoric and composition, as well as undergraduate degrees in literary studies, film studies, creative writing, professional writing and English education. Learn more at https://english.appstate.edu.

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences is home to 16 academic departments, one stand-alone academic program, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. The College of Arts and Sciences aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and unique location. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. There are approximately 6,100 student majors in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing Appalachian's general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the state of North Carolina, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls more than 19,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.