Thomas Hawks is the Dean of Academic Advising and Support. His office is responsible for working with faculty advisors and Kenyon staff to help students make the most of the academic opportunities Kenyon offers. He came to Kenyon in 2007 to begin teaching poetry writing, American modernism and postcolonial literature in the English Department. In 2015, he became Kenyon's Director of National Fellowships and Scholarships, and helped continue Kenyon's reputation as one of the Chronicle of Higher Education's Fulbright Top-Producing Institutions. He has served as Dean of Academic Advising and Support since 2017. He lives in the village with his wife, Associate Professor of Psychology Irene López, and their two children, Spencer and Sabina.
Education
2006 — Doctor of Philosophy from University of Utah
1992 — Master of Fine Arts from University of Virginia
1990 — Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University
Courses Recently Taught
CWL 333
Reading World Literature
CWL 333
The course is team-taught by two faculty members from English and MLL. It explores what it means to read world literature by focusing on a single theme or problem common to many cultures that takes different forms in each local environment. For example, the course might focus on the problem of migrations to see how global literary forms have found different ways to represent what happens when people move from place to place. Or the course might focus on the different ways of representing coming of age. Yet another theme that the course might explore centers on the Anthropocene and how the environment is figured across cultures. Earlier iterations of the course have focused on travel, print cultures and book history, and global poetry; consequently, readings may include “Gilgamesh,” Laila Lalami’s “The Moor’s Account,” Aphra Behn’s “Oroonoko,” Marco Polo’s “The Travels” and Thomas Pynchon’s “The Crying of Lot 49.” This course paired with any CWL course counts towards the Humanities diversification requirement. These courses must be taken at Kenyon. Prerequisite: CWL 220 or permission of instructor. Offered every other spring.
INDS 191
ST: Pathways to Kenyon Success
INDS 191
Academic & Scholarly Achievements
2013
"The Tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi," Poet Lore 108. 1-2 (2013): 56
2013
"Junebug," South Dakota Quarterly 50 (2013): 192
2013
"Oysters for Breakfast," the minnesota review 814 (2013): 1
2012
"Sutra," Sou'wester 41.1 (2012): 114
2012
"Standard Time," Confrontation 110 (2012): 209 "Alma," Cimarron Review 178 (2012):57
2008
"Suspiria," Sonora Review 54 (2008):92-93