James Seitz
Associate Professor of English
412-624-6521
seitz@pitt.edu
CL 517-H
James Seitz teaches courses that explore the relationship between literature, literacy, and education. He is particularly interested in helping future K-12 and college teachers prepare to confront the complexities of teaching diverse populations and designing curricula that challenge and stimulate all students, whatever their prior schooling. An avid reader of memoir, he follows a broad array of contemporary music, film, television, and athletics, all of which find frequent place in his courses.
Research and Publications: His publications include Motives for Metaphor: Literacy, Curriculum Reform, and the Teaching of English (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1999) and essays in College English, College Composition and Communication, ADE Bulletin, and many other publications. He recently completed a memoir entitled Jimmy Goes to School that explores his unusual K-12 education in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Honors and Awards: In 2001, Seitz was among 30 faculty members from across the country that were named Carnegie Scholars by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. During the next two years, he met with fellow scholars at the Carnegie Foundation in Menlo Park, California and completed a research project on how to engage undergraduates in substantive inquiry. In 2003, Seitz received the David and Tina Bellet Teaching Excellence Award from the College of Arts and Sciences, and in 2005 he received the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Pittsburgh.
Graduate Courses
- Narratives of Teaching
- Metaphor and Critical Theory
- Writing and the Agitations of Power
- Seminar in Rhetoric and Literacy
- Practices and Texts
- Seminar in Teaching Composition
- Seminar in Pedagogy
Undergraduate Courses
- Memoir and Fiction
- Song as Literature
- Seminar in Composition
- Introduction to the English Language
- The Literature of Sports
- Reading and Writing Family History
- The Uses of Literacy
- Literature for Adolescents
University Service
- Director of Composition (2002-2005)
- Director, Committee for the Evaluation and Advancement of Teaching (2000-2002)
- Chair, College Writing Board (2002–04)
- College of Arts & Sciences Curriculum Implementation Committee
- University Senate Committee on Commonwealth Relations
