As Assistant Director of Graduate Education, Program Coordinator for Technical Communication, and academic adviser to English majors in the Rhetorical Studies emphasis, I work with both graduate and undergraduate students on degree planning. I also teach graduate and undergraduate courses in medieval literature, especially early drama and Arthurian legend; Honors seminars in literature and film; computers in the study of English; and business and technical communication.

My research specialties in early British drama and medieval literature emphasize the intersections of culture, history, iconography, and text. This research complements my daily work with technology and digital media, which requires an understanding and appreciation of the way in which text, image, and computer interfaces work together to transmit meaning.

Office/Office Hours

• office: Ross 419
• undergrad advising office hours: TR 2-3:30; W 10:30-12, 2-3:30; F 10-11; and by appointment

• grad advising and class office hours: By email consultation or scheduled on an individual basis by appointment.
• teaching hours: TR 12:40-1:55 and R 7-8:50 Soring 2008 
• office phone: (515) 294-3026
• email: gbetcher@iastate.edu
• home page: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbetcher/

Interests

• Early British drama
• Cornish drama, art, and culture
• Arthurian legend
• Medieval and Renaissance British literature and culture
• Humanities computing and digital media

Selected Publications

• “Teaching Robert Herrick's Hesperides with the Aid of REED Documents,” in Teaching with the Records of Early English Drama, ed. Elza C. Tiner (Toronto: U of Toronto, 2006), pp. 97-113.
• “Performance, Politics, and Culture in the Southwest of Britain, 1350-1642,” guest editor, Early Theatre 6.1 and 6.2 (June and December 2003). Nominated for 2004 CELJ Award for Scholarly Achievement: Best Special Issue Category.
• “Minstrels, Morris Dancers, and Players: Tracing the Routes of Travelling Performers in Early Modern Cornwall,” in Early Theatre 6.2 (December 2003): 33-56.
• “Redemptive Iconography in the Decorative Arts and Drama of Cornwall,” Early Drama, Art, and Music (EDAM) Review 24.2 (spring 2002): 71-105.
• “Translating a Labour Dispute in the Cornish Ordinalia within a Legal Context,” in Fourteenth Century England 1, ed. Nigel Saul (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2000), pp. 89-102. Winner of the Martin Stevens Award for Best New Essay in Early Drama Studies, 2001.

Photo Publication

• Photos of The York Plays in Toronto 1998, featured in Claire Sponsler, Ritual Imports: Medieval Drama in America (Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 2004), Chapter 6: “Medieval Plays and Medievalist Players.”

Affiliations

• Early Theatre, Associate Editor
• New Chaucer Society, Member
• Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society (MRDS), Member
• Modern Language Association (MLA), Member
• Southeastern Medieval Association (SEMA), Member
• Medieval Academy of America, Member
• Société Internationale pour l'Étude du Théâtre Médiéval (SITM), Member
• Society of the White Hart, Member

Awards and Recognition

• Online drama forum discussion prompts selected for posting on the Folger Shakespeare Library Web site, fall 2007
• Excellence in Teaching Award, Southeastern Medieval Association, 2007
• ISU Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) Most Memorable Faculty Recognition, 2007
• Regents' Award for Staff Excellence, 2004
• Martin Stevens Award for Best New Essay in Early Drama Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society, 2001
• Award for Excellence in Teaching Writing, Department of English, ISU, 1997, 2001
• Fulbright Grant to the United Kingdom, 1989

Degrees

• Ph.D. in English, University of Minnesota, 1994
• M.A. in English, University of Minnesota, 1991