Ray Horton
Assistant Professor of English
"In overlooking, denying, evading [this] complexity--which is nothing more than the disquieting complexity of ourselves--we are diminished and we perish; only within this web of ambiguity, paradox, this hunger, danger, darkness, can we find at once ourselves and the power that will free us from ourselves. It is this power of revelation which is the business of the novelist, this journey toward a more vast reality which must take precedence over all other claims." - James Baldwin
Education
Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University
M.A. Case Western Reserve University
B.A. Mercyhurst University
Highlighted Publications
"'Rituals of the ordinary': Marilynne Robinson's Aesthetics of Belief and Finitude." PMLA, vol. 132, no. 1, 2017, pp. 119-34.
"Robinson, Marilynne." Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and the Arts. Ed. Timothy Beal. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2016. Oxford Reference.
American Fiction's Secular Faith. Book manuscript in progress.
Courses Taught
ENG 105 Critical Reading, Writing, and Inquiry
ENG 312 American Literature, 1865-1945
ENG 636, American Novel
HON 251 Honors Seminar in Literature and Philosophy I
HUM 211 Western Humanities Tradition
Areas of Specialization
American Literature
Literature and Religion
Secularization Theory
Contemporary Fiction
Awards and Distinctions
Graduate Dean's Instructional Excellence Award, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), 2017
Adrian-Salomon Dissertation Fellowship, CWRU, 2016-17
College of Arts & Sciences Dissertation Fellowship, CWRU, 2016
Dean's Fellowship, CWRU English Department, 2014-17
Leadership and Service
President, American Religion and Literature Society, 2016-present
Coordinator, Undergraduate Literature, 2018-present
Faculty Advisor, English Student Organization, 2018-present
Professional Memberships and Affiliations
Modern Language Association
American Literature Association
American Religion and Literature Society
Mark Twain Circle of America
International Society for the Study of Religion, Literature, and Culture