Cynthia Cox
Dr. Cynthia Cox is an Associate Professor of English and the
Director of Writing Programs at Belmont University. She teaches
courses in Composition and in Folklore at the introductory,
intermediate, advanced, and graduate levels.
Dr. Cox graduated
summa cum laude, with a B.A. in English, from Ohio Dominican
College (1982). She earned her master's degree in English
from Ohio State University (1985) and graduated with her Ph.D. from
Ohio State in June 2000.
Dr. Cox's scholarly interests are folklore and the teaching
of writing. Her dissertation, 'A Theory of Story as
Argument: Folklore, Narrative, and the Contemporary Writing
Classroom,' examines ways in which composition instructors
can employ folkloristics and narrative theory to teach expository
writing. Her master's thesis, 'The 'Folk
Biography': A Reconsideration of the
'Fakelore' Controversy,' is a study of
selected Wild West legends and post-war efforts at
'popularizing' stories of such figures as Wild Bill
Hickok and Judge Roy Bean.
In the field of folklore, Dr. Cox is also interested in fairy
tales, urban legends, and ethnography. Her recent work in the field
of writing now focuses on creative nonfiction, on blogging, and on
the analysis of popular culture. She teaches courses on
children's literature and on business writing, and she can
tell you anything you want to know about Bruce Springsteen.
