Ross Sloan

Ross Sloan is a Teaching Associate Professor at Southern Methodist University's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, where he has taught since 2009 while serving as Assistant Director of Forensics and coach of the SMU Speech Team. His academic home reflects his dual expertise in literary analysis and student mentorship across competitive speech and writing instruction.

Education:

• MA in English from Southern Methodist University
• BA in History from Southern Methodist University

Sloan's research centers on American Literature with specialized focus on Essays, Graphic Novels (both conventional and literary forms), and Popular Culture. He examines how graphic narratives address complex social issues including genocide, systemic oppression, gender dynamics, and historical trauma through interdisciplinary literary and cultural analysis, positioning comics as serious academic artifacts worthy of scholarly attention.

His publication trends reveal sustained engagement with graphic novels as vehicles for exploring historical events and sociopolitical themes, particularly emphasizing visual storytelling techniques, feminist reinterpretations of superhero mythology, and the representation of violence across cultural contexts. This work consistently bridges academic literary criticism with contemporary popular culture discourse.

Awards:

• Laura Kesselman Devlin Award (2013-2014)
• H.O.P.E. Honoree (2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)
• Best Professor at SMU by The Daily Campus (2016)
• Peruna Professor for Dedman College (2014-2015)
• Extra Mile Award (2019)

As Speech Team coach and Forensics Director, Sloan actively mentors students in competitive debate and public speaking while advising undergraduate researchers in literature and writing courses. His classroom approach emphasizes critical engagement with texts across genres including his specialty in graphic narratives.

Sloan maintains active involvement with campus life through speech coaching and teaches courses spanning first-year composition, literature surveys, and specialized topics like Denominational Diversity in America and Violence in Literature.