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James A Schiff
Associate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies
English - Tenure-Track Faculty
229C McMicken Hall
513-556-0930
james.schiff@uc.edu
Professional Summary
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Jim Schiff received his B.A. from Duke University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. He is the author or editor of five books on contemporary American fiction, including "John Updike Revisited," "Understanding Reynolds Price," and "Updike in Cincinnati." His work has appeared in "The Southern Review," The Missouri Review," "Tin House," "American Literature," "Critique," "Boulevard," "Studies in American Fiction," "The South Atlantic Review," "Gulf Coast," and elsewhere. He is also a regular reviewer of books for newspapers, magazines and journals, and he serves as the editor of the newly established "John Updike Review" as well as a consulting editor of "Critique." Currently Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of English, he has served on various boards, including the Duke University Trinity Board of Visitors, the University of Cincinnati Foundation, The Seven Hills School, WCET-TV, and the Mercantile Library.
Education
Ph.D., 20th-Century American Literature, New York University, 1990.
M.A., English, Creative Writing, New York University, 1985.
B.A., English, cum laude, Duke University, 1981.
Positions & Work Experience
2006 to Present, Associate Professor, University of Cincinnati.
2000-2006, Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati.
1997-2000, Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati.
1991-1997, Adjunct Instructor, University of Cincinnati.
1989-1991, Visiting Instructor, University of Cincinnati.
1985-1988, Instructor, New York University.
Research Interests
American Literature, Contemporary Fiction, Creative Writing
Books
Updike in Cincinnati: A Literary Performance. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2007.
Critical Essays on Reynolds Price. New York: G. K. Hall, 1998.
John Updike Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1998.
Understanding Reynolds Price. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996.
Updike’s Version: Rewriting “The Scarlet Letter”. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1992.
Books reviewed in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, American Literature, Booklist, The Southern Review, Mississippi Review, Critique, American Literary Scholarship, Modern Fiction Studies, Duke Magazine, Spectator Magazine, Christianity & Literature, Choice, North Carolina Libraries, American Studies International, and elsewhere.
Book Chapters
"Updike, Film, and American Popular Culture." The Cambridge Companion to John Updike (2006): 134, 48.
"Rabbit at Rest: The Seed of Death Within." The Critical Responses to John Updike’s “Rabbit” Saga (2005): 208, 16.
"Rewriting Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway: Homage, Sexual Identity, and the Single-Day Novel by Cunningham, Lippincott, and Lanchester ." Critique 45.4 (2004): 363, 82.
"At the Writer's Desk." Southern Review 36.2 (2000): 429, 41.
"Updike’s Scarlet Letter Trilogy: Recasting an American Myth." The New Romanticism: A Collection of Critical Essays (2000): 159, 75.
"'The Pocket Nothing Else Will Fill': Updike's Domestic God." John Updike and Religion (1999): 50, 63.
"Contemporary Retellings: Smiley's A Thousand Acres as the Latest Lear." Critique 39.4 (1998): 367, 81.
"Fathers and Sons in the Fiction of Reynolds Price: ‘A Sense of Crucial Ambiguity'." Critical Essays on Reynolds Price (1998): 261, 78.
"Updike Ignored: The Contemporary Independent Critic." American Literature 67.3 (1995): 531, 552.
"Fathers and Sons in the Fiction of Reynolds Price: A Sense of Crucial Ambiguity." Southern Review 29:1 (1993): 16, 29.
"Updike's Roger’s Version: Re-Visualizing Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter." South Atlantic Review 57:4 (1992): 59, 76.
"Updike's Scarlet Letter Trilogy: Recasting an American Myth." Studies in American Fiction 20:1 (1992): 17, 31.
"Three Religious Comedies." On Christianity and Literature (1990): 46, 50.
Reviews
"Finn."Rev. of The Adventures of Huckleberry’s Father Raleigh News and Observer. (2007): 5G.
"The Echo Maker."Rev. of Prize-Winning Novel Depicts World Askew Raleigh News and Observer. (2006): 4G.
"The Spaces of Violence."Rev. of Criticism, Culture, and Gore American Book Review. (2006): 13, 14.
"Terrorist."Rev. of Updike Explores the Mind of a Terrorist Raleigh News and Observer. (2006): 5G.
"Specimen Days."Rev. of Author Plays with Time, Form and Lizards Raleigh News and Observer. (2005): 5G.
"Saturday."Rev. of A Day in the Life of a Londoner, Post 9/11 Raleigh News and Observer. (2005): 5G.
"Red House."Rev. of Living inside This Very Old House Raleigh News and Observer. (2004): 5G.
"Siegfried."Rev. of The Love Child of Hitler and Eva Braun Raleigh News and Observer. (2003): 5G.
"Elizabeth Costello." Book webpage. (2003).
"Double Vision." Book webpage. (2003).
"The Early Stories." Book. (2003): 84.
"The Night Country." Book. (2003): 94.
"The Fortress of Solitude."Rev. of Fantasy and Friendship vs. Mean Streets Raleigh News and Observer. (2003): 4G.
"John Updike’s Rabbit Tetralogy, by Marshall Boswell." Christianity & Literature 51.1 (2001): 139, 42.
"Bibliophilia." Book. (2003): 90.
"The Kite Runner." Book. (2003): 79, 80.
"The Photograph." Book webpage. (2003).
"The Last Days of Publishing."Rev. of Idealism Runs Smack into a New Age Raleigh News and Observer. (2003).
"The Music of Your Life." Book. (2003): 83.
"Hermit in Paris." Book. (2003): 83.
"The King in the Tree." Book webpage. (2003).
"Drop City." Book. (2003): 75.
"Pattern Recognition."Rev. of An Awe Inspiring Tale of Cyberspace Raleigh News and Observer. (2003): 5G.
"Something to Declare." Book webpage. (2003).
"The Spooky Art." Book. (2003): 74.
"The Time of Our Singing."Rev. of A Symphonic Novel about Race in America Raleigh News and Observer. (2003): 4G, 5G.
"Great Dream of Heaven." Book. (2002): 85.
"The Crazed." Book. (2002): 82.
"John Updike and the Cold War." Modern Fiction Studies. (2002): 508, 509.
"The Whore’s Child and Other Stories." Book. (2002): 76.
"City of Your Final Destination." Raleigh News and Observer. (2002): 5G.
"At the Jim Bridger." Book. (2002): 83.
"Oyster." Book. (2002): 81.
"Atonement."Rev. of A Masterpiece about Changing England Raleigh News and Observer. (2002): 5G.
"All My Mothers and Fathers." Book. (2002): 77.
"The Translator." Book. (2002): 79.
"The Last Summer of Reason." Book. (2002): 70.
"A Writer’s House in Wales." Book. (2002): 71.
Review of John Updike: A Bibliography of Primary & Secondary Materials 1948-2007, by Jack De Bellis and Michael Broomfield, Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada, forthcoming 2009.
“Price of Friendship,” review of Ardent Spirits, by Reynolds Price, Raleigh News and Observer, 26 April 2009, 8D-9D .
Other Publications
"Transforming Lives through Teaching and Learning." UC Magazine (2007): 14, 15.
Buck Niehoff. "Something Funny Happened at the Library." Afterword. Mercantile, 2004.
"A Conversation with Julian Barnes." Missouri Review 30.3 (2007): 60, 80.
"First Lines." American Book Review (2006).
"A Conversation with Jeffrey Eugenides." Missouri Review 29.3 (2006): 100, 119.
"A Conversation with Jonathan Lethem." Missouri Review 29.1 (2006): 116, 34.
"A Conversation with George Saunders." Tin House 6.1 (2004): 68, 84.
"An Interview with Michael Cunningham." Missouri Review 26.2 (2003): 111, 27.
"A Conversation with John Updike." Southern Review 38.2 (2002): 420, 42.
"The Short Fiction of John Updike." Boulevard 17.3 (2002): 22, 40.
“Famous Last Words,” American Book Review, January/February 2008: 9.
“A Conversation with Chang-rae Lee,” Gulf Coast 21.1 (Winter/Spring 2009): 321-37.
“A Conversation with Margot Livesey,” New Letters 74.2 (2008): 104-22.
“John Updike: Singing America,” Open Democracy, January 30, 2009
“Famous Last Words,” American Book Review, January/February 2008: 9.
“Updike’s America,” Newsday, February 1, 2009.
Additional Information
Student Theses, Dissertations, and Exams: Supervised Master’s Theses: Robyn Wenert, 2006;
Reader for Master’s Theses and Doctoral Dissertations: Marilyn Brock, 2007; Kelcey Parker, 2006; Alex DeBonis, 2006; Darrin Doyle, 2006; Jody Bates, 2006; Molly McCaffrey, 2005; Liesl Bauer, 2005;
Doctoral Field Examiner: Megan Fitzpatrick, 2009; Tara Scherner de la Fuente, 2009; Daniel Smith, 2007; Cindy King, 2007; Liz Tilton, 2006;
Academic and Community Service:
Director of Undergraduate Studies, 2006-07
Undergraduate Studies Committee, 2004-
Chair, Undergraduate Studies Committee, 2006-07, 2008-
Steering Committee, 1998-2002, 2003-04, 2006-07, 2008-
Headship Search Committee, 2006-2007
Short Story Festival, Conference Organizer & Co-Director, 2001 (Received a grant from the Ohio Arts Council)
Fiction Search Committee, 2001-2002
Visiting Poet/Fiction Search Committee, 2001
Fiction Search Committee, 2000-2001
Ropes Lecture Committee, 1999-
Taft Dept. Enhancement Grant Committee, 1999-2000
Boyce Teaching Award Committee, 1998
