Stephen Sicari

Professor

St. John's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Ph.D., 1986, Cornell University, English Literature and LanguagesM.A., 1983, Cornell University, English Literature and LanguagesB.A., 1979, Manhattan College, summa cum laude

Stephen Sicari received his PhD from Cornell University in 1986 and came to St John's after ten years at Adelphi University in Long Island. He has been Chair of the English Department since 1997. His research has focused on the ways certain canonical modernist texts look to ancient and medieval models for inspiration. His first book, Pound's Epic Ambition (SUNY Press, 1991), examined how Pound's Cantos reenacted the epic trajectories of Homer, Virgil, and especially Dante. In Joyce's Modernist Allegory (U of South Carolina Press, 2001), he demonstrated how Joyce used the Biblical and Dantesque versions of allegory in writing Ulysses. His most recent book, Modernist Humanism: The Men of 1914 (U of South Carolina Press, 2011), describes how certain high modernist writers (Pound, Joyce, Eliot, and Wyndham Lewis, the “Men of 1914”) work to renew a humanist tradition after the devastation of the First World War.

His current book project is called “Modernist Theologies: A Re-formation of Religion in Modernist Poetry.” Bits of this new project are being published: An essay by that name has appeared in CrossCurrents, and an essay called “’We keep coming back and coming back to the real’”: The Theology of Wallace Stevens,” will appear in the spring 2015issue of the Wallace Stevens Journal.

Undergraduate
Introduction to English Studies
Introduction to Literary Criticism and
Theory
Modern Poetry
Modern Novel
Modern World Literature

Graduate
Modern Critical Theories
Modern Poetry
Modern British Novel
Major Author courses in Pound, Stevens,
Eliot, Joyce
Literary Modernism
Christian Imagination
Epic and Allegory

"Pound as Archaeologist: Reconstructing Nature," a paper delivered at the National Poetry Foundations Conference on the Literature of the 1950's, held June 18-21, 1996 at the University of Maine, Orono, Maine.

"In Dante's Memory: The Medievalism of Pound, Eliot and Joyce," an invited paper given at the Biblioteca Classense, International Seminar on Pound and Dante, September 8-10, 1995, Ravenna, Italy.

Chair and respondent, Literature Session, World War II conference, held at Siena College, May 31-June 2, 1994.

"Let's Mock the Mockers," an invited lecture delivered as the keynote address at the induction ceremony for Phi Beta Kappa, Manhattan College, April, 1994.

"The Poet and Propaganda: Pound's Radio Broadcasts," a paper delivered at the American Literature Association Conference held May 28-30, 1993 in Baltimore, Maryland.

"The Theme of Nostalgia in Homer and Virgil," an invited lecture given at Manhattan College, December 2, 1992.

"The Dark Dove with Flickering Tongue: T.S. Eliot's Meditations on War in Four Quartets, a paper delivered at the World War II Conference, held June 4-5, 1992 at Siena College.

"The Tower as Symbol of Exile in the Poetry of W.B. Yeats," a paper delivered as the Central New York MLA, held October 20-22, 1991 at SUNY Cortland.

"Writing Paradise: Pound's late Cantos and Dante's Paradiso," a lecture delivered at the 14th International Ezra Pound conference, held July 1991 at Brunnenburg, Tirolo di Merano, Italy.

"Poetry and Politics in Pound and Yeats," a paper delivered at the 13th International Ezra Pound Conference ("A Pound-Yeats Celebration Conference"), held August 9-12, 1990, University of Maine, Orono, Maine.

"Ezra Pound in 1940: The Poet, Propaganda, and the Radio," a paper delivered at the World War II Conference, May 31-June 1, 1990, at Siena College.

"Pound's Epic hero: Homer, Virgil and Dante in The Pisan Cantos," a paper delivered at the Mid-Hudson MLA conference, held November 27,28, 1989, at Marist College.

"Importing Fascism: Ezra Pound in 1939," a paper delivered at the World War II Conference, held June 1989 at Siena College.

Chair, "Comparative Literature" session of the Adelphi University Conference on "The Image," held February 25, 1989, at Adelphi University.

Chair and respondent, "The Exile in Literature," a session of the Mid-Hudson MLA Conference, held December 1-2, 1988 at Marist College.

"Memory and Desire in Four Quartets," a paper delivered at "T.S. Eliot: A Literary Symposium," held April 18-19, 1988, at the University of New Hampshire.

"The Wanderer as Prophet: Aeneas' Role in The Pisan Cantos," an invited lecture delivered at Manhattan College's "Dante Seminar," March 21, 1988.

"Pound and Dante: Ulysses' Return Home," a paper delivered at the Mid-Hudson MLA Conference, December 1, 1987, at Marist College.

"Pound's Politics: Ulysses as Fascist Hero," a lecture delivered at Adelphi University, March 19, 1987.

"Pound and Dante: A Lyrical History, a paper delivered at the "Twentieth-Century Literature Conference," September 20-21, 1986, Cornell University.

Books
Pound's Epic Ambition: Dante and the Modern World. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991. (in paper and hard cover).

Joyce's Modernist Allegory: Ulysses and the History of the Novel. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2001.

Chapters
"Pound's Modernist Allegory," in Dante e Pound, a collection of essays published by the Opera di Dante, Ravenna, Italy, 1998.

Articles
"The Fifth Decad of Cantos," a solicited article-length entry to be published in The Ezra Pound Encyclopedia, Greenwood Press, Spring 2002

"Reconstructing Nature: Pound as Archaeologist," Paideuma 29.3 (Winter 2000): 133-147.

"Rereading Ulysses: 'Ithaca' and Modernist Allegory," Twentieth Century Literature, Fall 1997.

"Poetry and Politics in Pound and Yeats" Paideuma 19.3 (Winter 1990): 65-78.

"'Sirens' and Purgatorio II: Bloom in Purgatory," Twentieth-Century Literature 36.4 (Winter 1990): 477-88.

"The Epic Ambition: Reading Dante," Paideuma 19.3 (Winter 1990): 65-78.

"History and Vision in Pound and Dante: A Purgatorial Poetics," Paideuma 19.1 & 2 (Spring and Fall 1989): 9-35.

"In Dante's Wake: T.S. Eliot's 'Art of Memory,'" CrossCurrents 38.4 (Winter 1988-89): 413-34.

"Reading Pound's Politics: Ulysses as a Fascist Hero," Paideuma 17.2 & 3, (Fall and Winter 1988): 145-68.

"The Secret of Eleusis, or How Pound Grounds his Epic of Judgment,''' Paideuma 14.2 & 3 (Fall and Winter 1985), 303-321.

Reviews
Review of Pound in Purgatory by Leon Surette, in American Jewish Studies, Winter 2001.

Review of Joyce's Comic Portrait by Roy Gottfried, forthcoming in The James Joyce Quarterly.

Review of Joyce, Dante, and the Poetics of Literary Relations, by Lucia Boldrini, forthcoming in The James Joyce Quarterly.

EDUCATION:
1986 Doctor of Philosophy (English Literature and Languages), Cornell University
1983 Master of Arts (English Literature and Languages), Cornell University
1979 Bachelor of Arts, Manhattan College, Summa cum laude.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
July 1997-Present, Chair, Department of English, St. John’s University
September 2002-Present, Professor, Department of English, St. John’s University
September 1996- 2002, Associate Professor, Department of English, St. John’s University
September 1996-2006, Director, Doctor of Arts Program in English
September 1992-August 1996-Associate Professor, Department of English, Adelphi University
September 1986-August 1992- Assistant Professor, Department of English, Adelphi University

AWARDS:
Faculty Recognition Award, St John’s University, Summer 2013
Outstanding Faculty Medal, St John’s University, June 2009
Merit Award, St. John’s University, 2011
Merit Award, St. John’s University, 2004
Professor of the Year, Student Government, Inc., April 2002.
Merit Award, St. John’s University, Summer 2001
Summer Research Grant, St. John’s University, Summer 1999 (full award).
Summer Research Grant, St. John’s University, Summer 1997 (1/2 award).
English Professor of the Year, awarded by Sigma Tau Delta, 1997.
Nominated as Teacher of the year by the Student Government Association, May, 1996.
Merit Award for scholarship, Adelphi University, granted in Summer 1989.
Three-year Continuing Fellowship, Cornell University, Summer and Fall 1985.
The Martin Sampson Teaching fellowship, awarded in recognition of excellence in teaching, Cornell University, 1984.
Sage Graduate Fellowship, Cornell University, 1980-81.
Medals for highest achievement in the Liberal Arts, in Literature, and in Philosophy, awarded by Manhattan College, 1979.
Member, Phi Beta Kappa, Manhattan College, 1979.

PUBLICATIONS:

Critical Books:

Modernist Humanism and the Men of 1914: Joyce, Lewis, Pound, and Eliot. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, S.C., 2011.

Joyce’s Modernist Allegory: Ulysses and the History of the Novel. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, S.C., 2001.

Pound’s Epic Ambition: Dante and the Modern World. State University of New York Press, Albany, N.Y., 1991 (in paper and hard cover).

Chapters in Books:

“Repetition in Modern Fiction: From Paralysis to Hope,” in Reading Texts, Reading Lives: Essays in the Tradition of Humanistic Cultural Criticism of Daniel R. Schwarz, edited by Daniel Morris and Helen Maxson. Newark, Delaware: University of Delaware Press, 2012.

“Pound After Pisa,” in Pound in Context, edited by Ira Nadel. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

“Pound’s Modernist Allegory,” in Dante e Pound, a collection of essays published by the Opera di Dante, Ravenna, Italy, 1998.

Articles:

“Modernist Theologies,” CrossCurrents Volume 62, issue 4 (Winter 2012), pp 396-423.

“The Fifth Decad of Cantos,” in The Ezra Pound Encyclopedia, edited by Demetres Tryphonopoulos and Stephen Adams. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

“Reconstructing Nature: Pound as Archaeologist,” Paideuma, Winter, 2001

“Rereading Ulysses: ‘Ithaca’ and Modernist Allegory,” Twentieth Century Literature, Fall 1997.

“Poetry and Politics in Pound and Yeats” Paideuma, Volume 19, number 3 (Winter 1990), 65-78.

“ ‘Sirens’ and Purgatorio II: Bloom in Purgatory,” Twentieth-Century Literature, Volume 36, number 4 (Winter 1990), 477-88.

“The Epic Ambition: Reading Dante,” Paideuma, Volume 19, number 3 (Winter 1990), 65-78.

“History and Vision in Pound and Dante: A Purgatorial Poetics,” Paideuma, Volume 19, numbers 1 & 2 (Spring and Fall 1989), 9-35.

“In Dante’s Wake: T.S. Eliot’s ‘Art of Memory,’” CrossCurrents, Volume xxxviii,, number 4, (Winter 1988-89), 413-34.

“Reading Pound’s Politics: Ulysses as a Fascist Hero,” Paideuma, volume 17, numbers 2 & 3, (Fall and Winter 1988), 145-68.

“The Secret of Eleusis, or How Pound Grounds his ‘Epic of Judgment,’’’ Paideuma, volume 14, numbers 2 & 3, (Fall and Winter 1985), 303-321.

Reviews:

Review of Pound in Purgatory by Leon Surette, in American Jewish Studies, Winter 2001.

Review of Joyce, Dante, and the Poetics of Literary Relations by Lucia Boldrini, in James Joyce Quarterly.

Presentations at Professional Meetings:

“Never Such Innocence Again: The Persistence of Hope in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road,” a paper delivered at the Northeast Conference on Religion and Literature, held at Brooklyn College, November 8 & 9, 2013.

“The Need for a Modernist Humanism,” an invited lecture at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC, June 29, 2011.

“The Christian Imagination: Bloom and the Vulgar Body” a paper delivered at the International Joyce Conference, “Return to Ithaca,” held at Cornell University, June 15 – 18, 2005.

“Pound as Archaeologist: Reconstructing Nature,” a paper delivered at the National Poetry Foundation’s Conference on the Literature of the 1950’s, held June 18-21, 1996 at the University of Maine, Orono, Maine.

“In Dante’s Memory: The Medievalism of Pound, Eliot and Joyce,” an invited paper given at the Biblioteca Classense, International Seminar on Pound and Dante, September 8-10, 1995, Ravenna, Italy.

Chair and respondent, Literature Session, World War II conference, held at Siena College, May 31-June 2, 1994.

“Let’s Mock the Mockers,” an invited lecture delivered as the keynote address at the induction ceremony for Phi Beta Kappa, Manhattan College, April, 1994.

“The Poet and Propaganda: Pound’s Radio Broadcasts,” a paper delivered at the American Literature Association Conference held May 28-30, 1993 in Baltimore, Maryland.

“The Theme of Nostalgia in Homer and Virgil,” an invited lecture given at Manhattan College, December 2, 1992.

“The Dark Dove with Flickering Tongue: T.S. Eliot’s Meditations on War in Four Quartets, a paper delivered at the World War II Conference, held June 4-5, 1992 at Siena College.

“The Tower as Symbol of Exile in the Poetry of W.B. Yeats,” a paper delivered as the Central New York MLA, held October 20-22, 1991 at SUNY Cortland.

“Writing Paradise: Pound’s late Cantos and Dante’s Paradiso,” a lecture delivered at the 14th International Ezra Pound conference, held July 1991 at Brunnenburg, Tirolo di Merano, Italy.

“Poetry and Politics in Pound and Yeats,” a paper delivered at the 13th International Ezra Pound Conference (“A Pound-Yeats Celebration Conference”), held August 9-12, 1990, University of Maine, Orono, Maine.

“Ezra Pound in 1940: The Poet, Propaganda, and the Radio,” a paper delivered at the World War II Conference, May 31-June 1, 1990, at Siena College.

Pound’s Epic hero: Homer, Virgil and Dante in The Pisan Cantos,” a paper delivered at the Mid-Hudson MLA conference, held November 27,28, 1989, at Marist College.

“Importing Fascism: Ezra Pound in 1939,” a paper delivered at the World War II Conference, held June 1989 at Siena College.

Chair, “Comparative Literature” session of the Adelphi University Conference on “The Image,” held February 25, 1989, at Adelphi University.

Chair and respondent, “The Exile in Literature,” a session of the Mid-Hudson MLA Conference, held December 1-2, 1988 at Marist College.

“Memory and Desire in Four Quartets,” a paper delivered at “T.S. Eliot: A Literary Symposium,” held April 18-19, 1988, at the University of New Hampshire.

“The Wanderer as Prophet: Aeneas’ Role in The Pisan Cantos,” an invited lecture delivered at Manhattan College’s “Dante Seminar,” March 21, 1988.

“Pound and Dante: Ulysses’ Return Home,” a paper delivered at the Mid-Hudson MLA Conference, December 1, 1987, at Marist College.

“Pound’s Politics: Ulysses as Fascist Hero,” a lecture delivered at Adelphi University, March 19, 1987.

“Pound and Dante: A Lyrical History,” a paper delivered at the “Twentieth-Century Literature Conference,” September 20-21, 1986, Cornell University.

MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:

Modern Language Association
Ezra Pound Society
James Joyce Society

COURSES TAUGHT IN PAST FIVE YEARS:

Graduate Program

Major Author: Ezra Pound
Major Author: T. S. Eliot
Major Author: Wallace Stevens
Major Author: James Joyce
The Christian Imagination
Literary Modernism
Allegory and Epic
Critical Theory

Undergraduate Program:

Modern World Literature
Modern Poetry
Modern Fiction
Introduction to English Studies
Introduction to Literary Theory
Literature in a Global Context (University Core)