James Zeigler

James Zeigler is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Oklahoma, affiliated with the Literary & Cultural Studies (LCS) and Rhetoric & Writing Studies (RWS) programs. He is also part of OU’s Environmental Studies program. Zeigler joined OU in 2007 and serves as Coeditor of the academic journal Genre, partnered with Duke University Press. His research focuses on Twentieth-century American literature, literary theory, rhetoric, graphic novels, and environmental narratives.

• Education: Ph.D. in English with an Emphasis in Critical Theory (UC Irvine), M.A. in English (University of Illinois, Chicago).

Zeigler teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, including American literature surveys, Anthropocene Stories, and seminars on Cold War Sexualities & Queer Theory. His current monograph project, Doorstop Comics: Knowing Graphic Novels, explores how graphic novels reshape historical narratives to critique institutional ignorance. He has published in Genre and contributed a chapter to the Eisner Award-winning anthology The Blacker the Ink.

Zeigler advises numerous Honors College thesis projects, frequently mentoring students on topics ranging from feminist dystopia to Cold War literature. He co-edited two special issues of Genre on ambitious novels and maintains a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA)/Assistant Editor position for OU students.

• Awards: Eisner Award for contributions to The Blacker the Ink (2021).