Basil A. Clark
Professor of English
Ph.D., The Ohio State University
M.A., University of Maine, Orono
A.B., Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME
Basil specializes in Old and Middle English, with recent research and teaching interests in chivalric romance and Arthurian Legend, as well as a developing interest in masculinity studies and psychoanalytic criticism. He gives regular presentations at New College (FL) Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Studies and Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters, and occasional presentations at the International Congress on Medieval Studies (Kalamazoo, MI) and Medieval Association of the Midwest. He is author of SVSU: The Early and Formative Years, and project lead for a continuation of this history to the present. He has received the House Family Award for Teacher Impact, the SVSU Professional Continuing Achievement Award (twice), the SVSU Faculty Association University Service Award, and is an SVSU Honorary Alumnus.
Basil is a transplanted New Englander facing retirement in six years. He enjoys travel, semi-recent trips including Malawi (East Central Africa) and Germany. He loves association with colleagues and students; this is what makes life great.
Favorite undergraduate moment: Climbing to the summit of Mt. Washington (NH) on a crisp autumn day; returning to campus and failing a French midterm which I had not studied for, having chosen the trip instead.
Favorite moment at SVSU: The day when I instructed a student to flick a light switch and by mistake plunged the classroom where Dr. Bill Hoffmann (History) was teaching into momentary but total darkness; Hoffmann, a celebrated University lecturer, did not miss a beat; I was mortified!
Five books Basil would want with him if marooned on a deserted island: Complete Works of Shakespeare, The Canterbury Tales, Gulliver's Travels, Thomas Malory's Works, The Lord of the Rings