Darren Dyck

Biography

I am an Assistant Professor of English at Ambrose University. Before coming to Ambrose, I taught in the Foundation Year Program at the University of King’s College, Halifax, and in the English Departments of Dalhousie University and the University of Saskatchewan. I am an Early Modernist by training but a generalist by disposition (and in practice). My doctoral work focused on Shakespeare’s ‘participation’ in the medieval tradition of theological romance and, more specifically, on the Renaissance playwright’s use of Augustinian psychology in his depiction of dramatic action. In part, my work thus far has been an attempt to reintroduce the metaphysical into the literary-critical conversation—a conversation which currently tends towards emphases on material culture. I am convinced that the careful reading and appreciation of literature is essential if people are to live fully human lives, and I strive in my teaching to lead students “to reverence truth, desire goodness, and rejoice in beauty,” which is, of course, what the best literature prompts us all to do. My students will attest to the fact that I am also a fierce advocate of precision and clarity of both thought and prose. At Ambrose, I teach a wide variety of courses, including Medieval World Literature, Popular Fiction, Children’s Literature, The Nineteenth-Century Novel, The Bible in Literature, and C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Inklings.

Research Interest

English