Michael Mason
© Michael Mason

Michael A. Mason, M.A.
Lecturer, PhD Candidate

Michael A. Mason is currently a doctoral candidate at WWU Münster and an instructor in the English seminar. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology and his master’s degree in literature from the University of South Alabama––his thesis discussed waste and ecology in contemporary American novels, and his current dissertation meditates upon cognitive science, cybernetics, and their relationship to American identities at the turn of the millennium. Michael has taught literature and writing in the USA, China, and Germany and is currently the Academic Writing Coordinator for an educational firm in Berlin which specializes in educational counseling and pedagogical support. Focusing on the intersection between language, literature, and psychology, Michael’s research delves into the complex interactions between science and politics.

Contact

Office: Robert-Koch-Straße 29, Room 302, 48149 Münster
Virtual office hours (via Zoom): Tuesdays 11:30-13:00
Register for Virtual office hours here (or by email)
Phone: +49.151.5151 9250
Email: mmason@wwu.de
Zoom meeting ID: 768-535-0626
Zoom meeting URL
GSPoL Profile

  • Research interest

    • history of psychology and cognitive science
    • disability studies and medical humanities
    • writing pedagogy
    • creative writing education
    • non-linearity and hypertexts
    • 20th-century and contemporary literature

  • CV

    2019 - Present
    Lecturer, PhD Candidate
    WWU Münster, Graduate School Practices of Literature, Department of American Studies

    2016 - Present
    Academic Writing Coordinator
    Linden Global Learning Support Services UG, Berlin, DE

    2014 - 2016
    English Instructor
    Fuzhou University Zhicheng College, Department of Foreign Languages
    *Courses: British Literature, American Literature, Academic Writing, Business English, Academic Research, Debate Club (*a complete list of courses taught is available upon request)

    2010 - 2014
    English Instructor
    Courses: English Composition I & II, British Literature 1800-present
    University of South Alabama, Department of English

    2009 - 2012
    MA in English (American Literature)
    University of South Alabama, Department of English, Faculty Supervisor: Justin M. St. Clair, PhD

    2004 - 2009
    BA (double major) in Psychology (primary) and English (secondary)
    University of South Alabama, Department of Psychology

  • Talks

    Summer 2020 (forthcoming)
    “‘The Land of Free Choice’: Mental Functioning from the Margins of Steve Tomasula’s VAS: An Opera in Flatland.” Revisiting the Margins: Contemporary Perspectives in North American Studies. Graduate School of North American Studies, Freie Universität Berlin. Berlin, DE.

    September 2019
    “Atypical Readers & Consenting Adults.” Symposium: Current Trajectories in Narrative Research. Bergische Universität Wuppertal. Wuppertal, DE.

    March 2012
    “‘Specimines of Urban Spoor’: Systems Hierarchies and the Wasteful Self in Don DeLillo’s Underworld.” Waste: An Interdisciplinary Conference. The University at Albany English Graduate Student Organization. Albany, NY, USA.

    “‘Landfills and Schmeck’: The ‘Ordinary Thing’ in the Systems Novel.” English Graduate Forum. University of South Alabama Graduate School, Department of English. Mobile, AL, USA.

  • Teaching

    Seminar: Introduction to the Literature of Social Change [090762]

    Seminar: Introduction to Psychological Fiction [090763]

    Projektgruppe: Hypertextual Fiction [098436]

    Seminar: Introduction to Cognitive Fiction [098681]