Ellen Bayer, Ph.D.
About
Degrees
Introduction
My professional research and teaching interests center on Creative Nonfiction, Live Storytelling, Environmental Literature, and Pedagogy. I bring to that my personal passion, which is to help empower others to access and engage with the natural world. Broadly, my work approaches the arts and humanities through an ecocritical lens and examines the role of natural and built environments in the range of texts I study. With the aim of reaching a broader audience, I share my work in a variety of formats, from academic and literary journals, to interdisciplinary sustainability workshops, to podcasts and live storytelling events. In terms of teaching, helping students connect with the natural world on their own terms is the core of my pedagogy. From writing grants to fund excursions to Mount Rainier National Park, to developing a gear lending library and spending my free time out on the trails with students, I view empowering students to develop the skills and confidence to venture into the natural world as the cornerstone of my job. As my observations reveal, not only can this be a transformative experience for students personally, but having first-hand experience in the natural world also fosters new engagement with issues of sustainability and the global environmental crisis.
Current Research
I'm currently drafting book-length work of creative nonfiction. Life Near the Bone is a memoir-in-essays that explores a range of "wilderness lessons" I've learned through my personal experiences in the backcountry, and which have helped me to navigate life back in the "civilized" world. The essays in this project tackle a range of topics, from trauma to mental health concerns, to sexism and the global environmental crisis, taking a personal approach to examine more universal experiences through the lens of wilderness.
Scholarly Interests
Creative Nonfiction; Environmental Literature and Nature Writing; Ecocriticism and Environmental Criticism; Geocriticism; Place-Based Pedagogy and Literature; Human/Animal Studies; Narrative Studies and Ethics; Literature and the Arts; Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century American Literature, broadly
View Ellen Bayer's content in our Experts Gallery
Teaching
I was the 2023 recipient of the University of Washington's Distinguished Teaching Award
Selected Courses:
TWRT 389: Nature Writing
TLIT 101: Understanding Literature / Survey Course
TLIT 210: Studies in American Literature / Topic: “The Problem of American Identity”
TLIT 237: Introduction to Literature and Environment / Topic: "Culture, Identity, and the Natural World"
TLIT 305: American Literary Movements / Topic: “Realism, Naturalism, Regionalism”
TLIT 306: Studies in Selected American Writers / Topics: “Moby-Dick and the Arts” AND "Women Writing Wilderness"
TLIT 311: Themes in American Literature / Topic: “Space, Place, and Environment”
TLIT 437: Topics in Literature and Environment / Topic: “Wilderness Memoirs
Selected Recent Honors and Awards
- UWT School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences Course Release Award. Course release awarded for Spring 2024.
- University of Washing Royalty Research Fund. Awarded $24,544.00, July 2023.
- University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award Recipient, 2023.
- University of Washington University of Washington Tacoma COVID Relief Funds. Awarded November 2022.
- University of Washington University of Washington Tacoma School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Scholarship and Teaching Funding a technology update. Awarded December 2022.
- Interdisciplinary Teaching and Scholarship Collaboration Grant, Winter 2019. Awarded May 2019.
- Center for Leadership and Social Responsibility Curriculum Enhancement Award. Awarded May 2018.
Peer-Reviewed Creative Nonfiction
- “A Love Letter." Under review at River Teeth (2024).
- “Sitka Abecedarian.” Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place, and Nature 10 (November 2023).
- “Green Burial, Home Burial: A Return to Redbud Hill.” The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy 34.1 (2018): 167-175.
Peer-Reviewed Book: Edited Collection
- Ecopedagogies: Practical Approaches to Experiential Learning. Co-edited with Judson Finley. Routledge, 2022.
- In addition to editing the collection, I also wrote the introduction and a chapter:
- Introduction: “Out of the Classroom and into the Wild: Ecopedagogies in Action”
- Chapter: “Go Boldly!: Empowering Students to Find their Stories in the Wild”
Selected Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
- “‘Go to the Place that Hurts’: Confronting a History of Violence in Toni Morrison’s Margaret Garner.” Parlour: A Journal of Literary Criticism and Analysis 4 (Summer 2019).
- “‘The Strata of My History’: Reading the Ecological Chronotope in Wendell Berry’s That Distant Land.” Landscapes: The Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language9.1 (2019): 55-78.
- “The Ecocritical Implications of Downing’s Influence on Poe’s Landscape Aesthetic.” The Edgar Allan Poe Review 19.2 (2018): 250-73.
- “A More Complete Ahab: Into the Darkness of Moby-Dick.” Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture 17.2 (2017). Co-authored with Dr. Andrea Modarres; I am the lead author.
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapter
- “Fishbowl.” The Pocket Instructor: Literature. William Gleason and Diana Fuss, eds. Princeton UP, 2015: 5-8.
Competitive Writing Workshops and Residencies
- Monterey Bay Writing Workshop and Conference. Accepted to Pam Houston’s writing workshop. September 2024.
- Tomales Bay Writing Workshop and Conference. Participant in Toni Jensen’s writing workshop. Tomales Bay, CA. October 2023.
- Writing by Writers Mont Blanc Writing Workshop and Residency, France. June 2023.
- Sitka Nature Writing Workshop. Participant in Pam Houston’s writing workshop. Sitka, Alaska. July 2022.
Book-in-Progress: Memoir-in-Essays
- Life Near the Bone: A Journey of Discovery in the Wild (working title).
Selected Podcasts and Live Storytelling Events
- “The Flora and Fauna of Indiana.” Told at the April 2019 “Tacoma is for Dirtbags” Live Event in Tacoma, WA. Featured on episode 116 of Boldly Went.
- “The Wisdom of a Ten-Year-Old.” Featured on Episode 105 and told at the August 2018 Boldly Went Live Event in Poulsbo, WA. Selected for “Season 4 Highlights” (episode 112) for being one of the most downloaded and commented upon stories of the season.
- “Dismantling Imposter Syndrome in the Central Cascade Range.” Featured on Episode 50 and awarded Best Story at the November 2017 Boldly Went Live Event in Tacoma, WA.
- “Not as Planned.” Featured on Episode 34 and awarded Best Story at the July 2017 Boldly Went Live Event in Tacoma, WA.
- “Relentless Forward Progress.” Featured on Episodes 17 and 36 and awarded Best Story at the April 2017 Boldly Went Live Event in Tacoma, WA. Selected for “Season 1 Highlights” episode for being one of the most downloaded and commented upon stories of the season.
- Live Storytelling Semi-Finalist and Auditioned for KUOW’s podcast, The Wild
- “Dismantling Imposter in the Central Cascades.” Semi-finalist story and auditioned for KUOW’s live event and special episode of the podcase, The Wild. August 2019.
Documentary Film and Television Story Consultant
- 100 Foot Wave (2023). Dir. Chris Smith.
- The Invisible Extinction (2022). Dir. Steve Lawrence and Sarah Schenck.
- Forever Endeavor (2022). Dir. Jonathan Mann and Mary Anne Rothberg.
- Seau (2018). Dir. Kirby Bradley.
- Killer Bees (2017). Dir. Ben Cummings and Orson Cummings.
- Newtown (2016). Dir. Kim A. Snyder. Winner of a 2017 Peabody Award.
- The Witness (2015). Dir. James D. Solomon. Shortlisted for the 2017 Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.