Professor of English
At USU since 1999
305 Ray B. West
Education
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Ph.D., English (with distinction) [Specializations: 20th-C American Literature; Folklore]
Teaching
Dr. Gantt focuses on diversity literature, especially writers of color and women. She teaches courses in English education (pedagogy of literature) and multicultural American literature. Dr. Gantt also teaches in the Women and Gender Studies Program, which she co-directed from 2002-2005. Since coming to USU, she has won two Mortar Board "Top Prof" awards, the President's Diversity Award (2002), Outstanding Faculty Employee (2004), and been a nominee for Carnegie Professor of the Year (2004, 2005). In 2005-2006 she was named an Inaugural Professor. She has been selected as Teacher of the Year for the department for 2007-2008, as well as 2007 Humanities Teacher of the Year and 2007 HASS Teacher of the Year. In 2007 she was a finalist for the Robins Award and was chosen to give the 32nd Last Lecture, the only USU honor determined solely by students.
Administration
Professor Gantt is the chair of the English Education Committee, as well as a board member of the Women & Gender Research Institute. She also serves as an ombudsman for HASS and as a HASS Representative for the Professional Responsibilities and Procedures Committee.
Selected Publications
“Body My House”: May Swenson’s Work and Life. With Paul Crumbley. Utah State UP 2006.
"Casting a Long Shadow: The Tall Woman." (Invited). An American Vein: Critical Readings in Appalachian Literature. Eds.
Danny L. Miller, Sharon Hatfield, and Gurney Norman. Ohio UP, 2005. 91-103.
Teaching Ideas for 7-12 English Language Arts: What Really Works. With Lynn Langer Meeks. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon, 2004.
Teaching Ideas for University English: What Really Works. With Lynn Langer Meeks. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon, 2004.
“Stokely Was Right: Writing August Wilson into the High School Curriculum.” Teaching Ideas for 7-12 English Language Arts: What Really Works. Eds. Patricia M. Gantt and Lynn Langer Meeks. Christopher-Gordon, 2004.
“Beowulf’s Boast and the Résumé.” Classroom Notes Plus. National Council of Teachers of English. (April 2003): 9-10.
Professional Activities
Dr. Gantt is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English; the Utah Council of Teachers of English; the Modern Language Association; the American Folklore Society; the Society for the Study of American Women Writers; the Society for the Study of MultiEthnic Literature of the United States; and the Society for the Study of Southern Literature.