Alice Rutkowski received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and became a member of the Geneseo faculty in 2003. She often teaches the courses Literature and the Civil War, the Queer Nineteenth Century, Safe Zone Train-the-Trainer, Feminism and Pornography, and Major Authors: Melville, among others. Her research centers on the Civil War and Reconstruction as well as queer theory and trans politics. She received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2012 and the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service in 2022. Recent articles include the articles "Bad Sex Ed" and "Trans Feeling in the Nineteenth Century." She has also published in Radical Teacher, the volume Mothers and Sons: Centering Mother Knowledge, Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers and Studies in the Literary Imagination.
Rutkowski has been Chair of the Department of English since 2021, and is the chair of the Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society selection committee. In 2013, she founded the LGBTQ Issues Working Group. Rutkowski is the coordinator of the Geneseo Safe Zone Network. To request a Safe Zone training for your group, please click here.
Classes
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AMST 201: Topic: Legacies of Slavery
This course will be an interdisciplinary investigation of major influences on and developments in American culture. Each semester there will be a focus on one chronological period, but a variety of topics will be covered. Such topics could include gender, religion, race, social movements and conditions, and artistic and literary developments. The course will emphasize student use and study of period writings and cultural materials. Integrative learning will enhance the interdisciplinary nature of the course.
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EXPL 101: Geneseo First-Year Seminar
This course is intended for first-year students who are exploring the college and academic majors. Student work will focus on four areas: understanding the Geneseo curriculum; identifying a major based on skills and interests; cultivating academic success by embracing good study habits, formulating strategies for engagement, learning to navigate a diverse and inclusive campus, and practicing healthy responses to stressors; and gaining familiarity with Geneseo's curricular and co-curricular resources and high-impact learning opportunities. Coursework will include self-reflective writing, seminar readings on success strategies, and hands-on work with enhanced advisement, career exploration, and goal-setting.