Paul Formisano

I regularly teach undergraduate, honors, and graduate courses in composition and Western American and environmental literatures. As the Director of Writing I teach the fall and spring teaching practicum course for all new graduate teaching assistants assigned as instructors of record of English 101: Composition and English 210: Introduction to Literature.

American Literature; Western American Literature; Environmental Literature and Rhetoric; Indigenous Literatures; River Literature; Dams; Wilderness; Western Water Management;

Citations listed below are presented in a standardized, modified format for display purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect the preferred style and conventions of the faculty member or discipline.

Formisano, Paul. Tributary Voices: Literary and Rhetorical Explorations of the Colorado River. University of Nevada Press, 2022.
Formisano, Paul. "First in Time, First in Right: Indigenous Self-Determination in the Colorado River Basin". In Rivers of the Americas Special Issue, 153-175. Vol. 14, Iss. 1 Review of International American Studies, 2021. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.31261/rias.10049 )
Richard, Holly H., and Formisano, Paul. "'It was the river': Indigenous Anti-Dam Literature of the Great American Desert.". In Reading Aridity in Western American Literature, editors Jada Ach and Gary Reger., 141-168. Lexington Press, 2020.
Formisano, Paul. Review of The End of Eden: Agrarian Spaces and the Rise of the California Social Novel , 171-173. Vol. 52, Iss. 2 (Winter 2020) American Literary Realism, 2020.
Formisano, Paul. "Shifting Tides: A Literary Exploration of the Colorado River Delta". In Make Waves: Water in Contemporary Literature and Film, editors Paula Anca Farca, 155-72. University of Nevada Press, 2019.
Jarchow, Meghann, Formisano, Paul, Nordyke, Shane, and Sayre, Matthew. "Measuring Longitudinal Student Performance on Student Learning Outcomes in Sustainability Education", 547-565. Vol. 19, Iss. 3 International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 2017. (DOI: 10.1108/ijshe-11-2016-0200)
Formisano, Paul. "Navigating Unsettled Waters: Old West Meets New West In Women's Colorado River Boating Narratives"., Editors Stefano Rosso, 44-56. Vol. 7, Iss. Summer 2016 Iperstoria, 2016.
Formisano, Paul. "'It had all become a natural condition': California's Garden Movement, Land Eugenics, and Naturalization in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland", 71-100. Vol. 51, Iss. 1 Western American Literature, 2016. (DOI: 10.1353/wal.2016.0027)
Formisano, Paul. "The Paradox of Desert Writing: Bridging Epistemological and Discursive Gaps in Craig Childs' The Secret Knowledge of Water". Landscapes: The Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language, 2016.
Formisano, Paul. "Presley's Pauses: Unearthing Force in California's Land and Water Regimes and Frank Norris's The Octopus", 1-18. Vol. 7, Iss. 1 The Journal of Ecocriticism, 2015.
Formisano, Paul. Review of The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Environment, 685-87. Vol. 22, Iss. 3 Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature and Environment (ISLE), 2015. (DOI: 10.1093/isle/ISV063)
Formisano, Paul. Review of Home Waters: A Year of Recompenses on the Provo River, 209-210. Vol. 19, Iss. 1/Winter 2012 Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (ISLE), 2012. (DOI: 10.1093/isle/isr114)
Formisano, Paul. "The Geography of Hope in an Age of Uncertainty". In Wallace Stegner's Unsettled Country: Ruin, Realism, and Possibility in the American West, editors Leisl Carr Childers, Mark Fiege, and Michael Lansing. University of Nebraska Press.

Formisano, Paul, "Reclaiming Reclamation: Tributary Voices, the Environmental Humanities, and Utah's Water Future" . Presented at the BYU Comparative Arts and Letters Invited Lecture, Brigham Young University. (February 03, 2023)
Formisano, Paul, "It was the river": Indigenous Anti-Dam Literature of the Great American Desert. Presented at the Western Literature Association, Santa Fe, NM. (October 20, 2022)
Formisano, Paul, Watershed Thinking and a Discourse Ecology of Water Literacy in Western Water Management. Presented at the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment Symposium, Newark, DE (University of Delaware). (June 25, 2022)
Formisano, Paul, "'Humanists at the Headgates': Rivers, Rhetoric, and a 21st-Century Water Ethic" . Presented at the Idaho State University English Department Lecture, Pocatello, ID. (March 31, 2022)
Formisano, Paul, "Navajo Dam and the 'Literature of the Lost'". Presented at the Center for Southwest Research, Zoom. (December 08, 2021)
Formisano, Paul, A Case for the Hydro Humanities. Presented at the John R. Milton Conference, Online. (September 17, 2021)
Formisano, Paul, Tapping the Source: A Preliminary Mapping of the Hydro Humanities. Presented at the Association for Literature and Environment Biennial Conference, Online. (August 03, 2021)
Formisano, Paul, Solidarity and Self Determination: Indigenous Waters in the Anthropocene. Presented at the Western Literature Association (September 19, 2019)
Formisano, Paul, Reclaiming Reclamation: Stewarding Western Water Resources in the 21st Century. Presented at the Mormon Scholars in the Humanities, Cedar City, UT. (May 16, 2019)
Formisano, Paul, Exploring Stegner's Geography of Hope in an Age of Uncertainty. Presented at the Wallace Stegner and the Changing American West: Reimagining Place, Region, Nation, and Globe in an Era of Instability, Bozeman, MT. (May 09, 2019)
Formisano, Paul, The 'Slumbering Monstro of the Southwest': Indian Water Rights in Percival Everett's Watershed and Paolo Bacigalupi's The Water Knife. Presented at the Western Literature Association, St. Louis, MO. (October 25, 2018)
Formisano, Paul, Defending Nuestro Rio: The Latino/a Voice in the Battle Over Western Rivers. Presented at the Rhetoric Society of America, Minneapolis, MN. (May 31, 2018)
Formisano, Paul, Humanists at the Headgates: Reimagining Western Water Management in the 21st Century. Presented at the Rhetoric Society of America, Minneapolis, MN. (May 31, 2018)
Formisano, Paul, Dammed Indians: Reclamation and Displacement in the Novels of Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Linda Hogan, and Leslie Marmon Silko. Presented at the Western Literature Association, Minneapolis, MN. (October 27, 2017)
Formisano, Paul, Haunted by Waters: Recovering the Literature of the Lost along America's Dammed Rivers. Presented at the Humanities Research Forum (October 11, 2017)
Formisano, Paul, Recovering Voices of Resistance: Literature, Archives, and the Legacy of Dams. Presented at the Association for Literature and Environment Biennial Conference, Detroit, MI. (June 22, 2017)
Formisano, Paul, "'Humanists at the Headgates': Tributary Voices, Watershed Aesthetics, and the Case for Navajo Dam". Presented at the Brigham Young University Department of English, Provo, UT. (January 31, 2017)
Formisano, Paul, "The (Im)Possibilities of Restoration in the Colorado River Delta". Presented at the John R. Milton Conference, Vermillion. (October 29, 2016)
Formisano, Paul, "Navajo Dam and the San Juan River: A Study of Conflict and Endurance". Presented at the Under Western Skies, Calgary, AB, Canada. (September 27, 2016)
Jarchow, Meghann, Sayre, Matthew, Nordyke, Shane, and Formisano, Paul, Assessing student learning outcomes of sustainability. Presented at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education annual conference, Minneapolis, MN. (October 26, 2015)
Formisano, Paul, "Charting Unsettled Waters: Old West Meets New West in Women's Colorado River Rafting Narratives". Presented at the Western Literature Association, Reno, NV. (October 17, 2015)
Formisano, Paul, "Voices from the Deep: Literature of the Lost, Environmental Justice, and Navajo Dam". Presented at the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment Biennial Conference, Moscow, ID. (June 25, 2015)
Jarchow, Meghann, Sayre, Matthew, Nordyke, Shane, and Formisano, Paul, Assessing student learning outcomes for sustainability: Curriculum mapping. Presented at the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability biannual conference, Bemidji, MN. (June 18, 2015)
Formisano, Paul, "Sons of Ditches: Changing Water Regimes in Frank Norris's The Octopus". Presented at the Western Literature Association, Victoria, BC. (November 07, 2014)
Formisano, Paul, "Imperial Dreams: California Agriculture and The Winning of Barbara Worth". Presented at the Western Literature Association, Berkeley, CA. (October 12, 2013)
Formisano, Paul, "Toward a New Western Rhetoric: Seeking Sustainability through Divergent Discourse". Presented at the Environmental Ethics Initiative, Provo, UT. (November 09, 2012)

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