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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;
- Ph D, English, University of New Mexico, 2012
- MA, English, University of Nevada, Reno, 2005
- BA, Humanities, Brigham Young University, 2002
- John Topham and Susan Reed Butler Award, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, (2016 - 2016)
- English 210 Common Read Visiting Scholar, Center for Teaching and Learning, (2019 - 2019)
- Sustainable Rivers: Integrating Earth Science & Sustainability Across the Curriculum, National Science Foundation, (2015 - 2016)
- Discussion Grant, South Dakota Humanities Council, (2015 - 2015)
- Discussion Grant, South Dakota Humanities Council, (2013 - 2013)
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.
- Monsignor Doyle Humanities Teaching Award, USD College of Arts & Sciences, 2022
- Faculty Sabbatical , University of South Dakota, 2020
- Visiting Fellow, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, 2020
- Faculty Travel Grant, College of Arts & Sciences, 2019
- Thielbar-Burgess Award, I.D. Weeks Library, 2019
- Faculty Travel Grant, College of Arts & Sciences, 2018
- Summer Scholar: Hoover Dam and the Shaping of the American West Summer Institute, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2018
- Nominated for Belbas-Larson Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of South Dakota, 2018
- Faculty Travel Grant, College of Arts & Sciences, 2017
- Faculty Travel Grant, College of Arts & Sciences, 2016
- John Topham and Susan Redd Butler Award, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, 2016
- Faculty Travel Grant, College of Arts & Sciences, 2015
- College of A&S Curriculum Transformation Grant, College of Arts & Sciences, 2014
- Faculty Travel Grant, College of Arts & Sciences, 2013
- Discussion Grant, South Dakota Humanities Council, 2013
- Mobile Computing Grant (declined), Center for Teaching and Learning, 2013
- Faculty Appreciation, USD Women's Soccer Team, 2012
- Faculty Travel Grant, College of Arts & Sciences, 2012
- 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)