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Faculty Profile
Q: What new instructor has 4-year-old twins and a penchant for Southern literature?
A: Diane Chiriani Russo, lecturer in English Composition, and Composition and Literature.
A Love of Literature, a Respect for Learning
Moves New Instructor to Share Knowledge
On the University’s campus this year, Southern literature has found a voice.
It is the voice of Diane Chiriani Russo, UNH’s newest full-time lecturer in English Composition, and Composition and Literature. A long-time adjunct who was promoted to practitioner-in-residence a few years ago at the University, Russo brings a fascination with Southern writers (her doctoral dissertation focused on the writer Ernest J. Gaines, the critically acclaimed Louisiana author who wrote “A Lesson Before Dying”) and a dedication to the art of the essay to her classes.
Russo sat in her office on the third floor of Harugari Hall recently, talking about her 4-year-old twins, the teaching of college students, and the promise of the Internet in regard to literature. Although she has just started full time at the University, her mind is moving rapidly toward the future, weighing possibilities and gauging student interests in particular topics.
“I’m interested in the visualization of literature through hypertext, to draw upon student interest in technology and new literary forms,” she said. Another hope: to teach a course where students explore cultural identity in Southern literature.
“I had two great classes this morning,” she said. “The students were challenging the ideas, and trying to apply the information and have it resonate with their experiences. The students are so motivated and really willing to put themselves out there.”
A graduate of Manhattan College with a Master’s degree in English from Indiana State University and a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina, where she focused on 20th Century American Literature, Russo has taught at colleges from New York to Indiana to the Carolinas. Although her focus has long been on reading American writers and then writing about them, she has also been a literacy volunteer, helped students taking English as a Second Language courses and taught business writing.
An intellectual with a down-to-earth approach, she is not hiding her enthusiasm for her work. “I’m thrilled to be here,” she said.
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