George Potter

BIOGRAPHY

Professor George Potter joined the English department at Valparaiso University in 2014 after having previously taught for the Study Abroad programs of Earlham College and the Council on International Educational Exchange in Amman, Jordan. In addition to his time in Jordan, he was a Fulbright scholar in Cairo, Egypt and taught in Erbil, Iraq.

Professor Potter teaches courses in modern and contemporary drama, playwriting, global literature, and middle eastern film, literature, and culture. In addition to teaching in the English department, he has taught in the first-year program (Core), directed for the theatre department, and is an affiliated faculty member in the international service department.

Professor Potter’s research focuses on Arabic drama, film, and contemporary music, where he is interested in issues of national identity, political expression, and historical representation. He has previously examined representations of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in English and Arabic theater. Currently, his research is focused on social geography and cinema in Jordan. His work has also included playwriting, directing, and translating.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Forthcoming. “Home before History: American Domestic Drama in a Post-9/11 World.” New Essays on 9/11. Ed. Victoria Bryan, Ann Keeble, and Heather Pope. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, P.

Forthcoming Translation. A Theatre Company Found a Theatre and Theatred Hamlet. With Mike V. Derderian. From the Arabic play فرقة مسرحية وجدت مسرحا فمسرحت هملت by Nader Omran. Five ArabHamlet Plays. Ed. Marvin Carlson and Margaret Litvin. 2015.

“(De)constructing the Neoliberal State: Jordanian Cinema in Times of Crisis.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 20.10 (2015): 1-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2015.1060152

“Alternative Transnationals: Naomi Wallace and Cross-Cultural Performances.” The Journal of American Drama and Theatre. 26.2 (Spring 2014). Online. http://jadtjournal.org/2014/05/29/alternative-transnationals-naomi-wallace-and-cross-cultural-performances/

“The Tramp and the Culture Industry: Adorno, Chaplin, and the Possibilities of Political Comedy.” Arizona Quarterly 9.1 (Spring 2013): 73-90.

“Foreign Texts and Domestic Politics: Torture in Contemporary Egyptian Drama.” Public Theatres and Theatre Publics. Ed. Robert B. Shimko and Sara Freeman. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars P, 2012. 131-41.

AWARDS

2015 CAORC Senior Fellowship for research at the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman, Jordan.

EDUCATION

B.A. – Indiana State University
M.A. – Indiana State University
Ph.D. – University of Cincinnati