CURRICULUM VITAE

BRIAN H. FINNEY

Author/Professor

  • Department of English

  • California State University, Long Beach
    1250 Bellflower Boulevard
    Long Beach, California

  • 90840-2403

  • brianfinneywriter@bhfinney.com

  • www.csulb.edu/~bhfinney

EDUCATION

  • 1973: PhD, English, Birkbeck College, University of London, England (Title of doctoral dissertation: “The artistic development of D. H. Lawrence as a writer of short stories.”).

  • 1953-1956: BA (Hon.s), English and Philosophy, University of Reading, England.

TEACHING COMPETENCE

  • Primary fields: Post-1900 British fiction; post-1900 British literature; post-1900 drama (in English); critical and literary theory; cultural studies.

  • Secondary fields: Introduction to literature, fiction, poetry and drama; English literature from Beowulf to the present; American literature since 1865; world drama from the Greeks to the present day; world literature; the humanities since the Renaissance.

GRANTS AND AWARDS

  • 2004-2009: Seven Assigned Time Awards, California State university, Long Beach

  • 1980: British Academy Research Fund Award.

  • 1979: The James Tait Black Memorial Book Prize for the best biography of 1979.

  • 1976: Arts Council of Great Britain Writer’s Award.

  • 1970-1971: Two annual University of London Research Fund traveling scholarships.

EMPLOYMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

  • 2010-Present: Professor Emeritus, California State University, Long Beach.

  • 2008-2010: Professor, California State University, Long Beach.

  • 2005-2008: Associate Professor, California State University, Long Beach.

  • 2003-2005: Assistant Professor, California State University, Long Beach.

  • 1990-2003: Part-time Lecturer, California State University, Long Beach.
  • Winter 2001: Adjunct Professor, University of California, Los Angeles.

  • Fall 1996: Adjunct Professor, University of Southern California.

  • Spring 1995: Adjunct Professor, University of California, Los Angeles.

  • 1989-1993: Adjunct Professor, University of Southern California.

  • 1989-1990: Adjunct Professor, University of California, Los Angeles.

  • 1989-1990: Visiting Distinguished Lecturer, California State University, Long Beach.

  • 1987-1989: Visiting Professor, University of California, Riverside.

  • Summer 1986: Visiting Professor, University of California, Los Angeles.
  • Summer 1985: Visiting Professor, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
  • Summer 1976: Visiting Professor, University of California, Los Angeles.

EMPLOYMENT IN BRITAIN

  • 1985-1987: Chairman, Adult Education, Department of Extra-Mural Studies, University of London.
  • 1984-1987: Senior Lecturer in Literature, Department of Extra-Mural Studies, University of London.
  • 1984-1985: Adjunct Professor, University of Notre Dame, London Center, London.
  • 1981-1984: Lecturer in Literature, Department of Extra-Mural Studies, University of London.

  • 1964-1981: Tutor-organizer in the Arts, Department of Extra-Mural Studies, University of London.

  • 1962-1964: Production Control Manager, Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd, Harlow, Essex.
  • 1959-1962: Internal Management Consultant, Joseph Lucas Electrical Ltd, Birmingham.
  • 1956-1959 : Signals/Education Officer, Royal Air Force, Abingdon, Berks.

LECTURES AND CONFERENCE PAPERS

  • 2008: “Martin Amis, Time’s Arrow, and the Holocaust.” The President’s Forum on International Human Rights: Modern Genocides and Global Responsibility. California State University, Long Beach.

  • 2007: “Images of Violence in the Work of Martin Amis.” Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery. Colorado State University-Pueblo.

  • 2006: “The Satanic Verses: Literature and Social Change Revisited.” OASIS, Long Beach/Lakewood.

  • 2006: “The Linguistic Self: Beckett’s Last Exploration of the Subject.” Beckett at 100: New Perspectives. International Colloquium. Florida State University, Tallahassee.

  • 2005: “Angela Carter’s Narrative on Narration: Nights at the Circus.” International Narrative Conference. University of Louisville, Kentucky.

  • 2004: “Derrida and the Literary Academy.” Derrida Colloquium, California State University, Long Beach.
  • 2000: “Publish or Perish: Adventures in the Print Trade.” Department of English, California State University, Long Beach.
  • 1996 : “Isherwood’s Berlin: From Dream to Nightmare (and Back).” Department of English, California State University, Long Beach.
  • 1991 : “Form Interrogating Itself. Postmodern Play in Peter Ackroyd’s Fiction and Biography.” Department of English, California State University, Long Beach.

  • 1990: “New Approaches to Biography: Challenges from Critical Theory. Roth’s Counterlife: Destabilizing The Facts.” Department of English, University of Southern California

  • 1988: “Race, Gender and Class in Life Writing: Critique of the Canon,” MLA, New Orleans.

  • 1987: “Autobiographies as Literary Texts,” Department of English, University of California, Riverside, California.
  • 1986: “Literature and the Reading Public,” College University and Professional Publishers’ Council, St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, England.
  • 1979: “Lives in Literature,” Camden Public Libraries, Swiss Cottage, London, England.
  • 1974: “Shakespeare and the European Renaissance,” The International School, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, England.
  • 1971: “Augustan Satire,” and “The Rise of the English Novel,” Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England.

OTHER ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES

  • Occasional consultant reader, Tulsa Women’s Literature: Papers on Language and Literature, and Twentieth Century Literature, 2005-8.

  • Consultant Reader, LIT: Literature, Interpretation, Theory, 1990-present.

  • Consultant Reader, Post Identity, 1997-present.

  • Consultant, Modern Language Quarterly, 1988-1994.

  • Organizer, platform lectures, National Theatre, London, England, 1978-1987.
  • Member, management committee, Consortium for Drama and Media in Higher Education, London, England, 1979-1987.
  • Organizer, public lectures, the Poetry Society, London, England, 1981-1987
  • Organizer, public lectures, the New Fiction Society, London, England. 1980-1981.
  • Organizer, public lectures, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, England, 1986-87.
  • Joint organizer, drama workshops, Royal Shakespeare Company (at the Pit and the Warehouse), London, England, 1978- 1983.

  • Secretary and member, editorial board, The London Review, 1967-1976.

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