The Pioneer Times

Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Vignettes

Media Credit: Nicole D'Arminio Dr. Andrew Barnes

Five years ago, Dr. Andrew Barnes left the business world after a decade as an accountant and property manager in South Baltimore to join the William Paterson University faculty. He's been sharing his literary interests with students and academic peers ever since.

An English professor and director of Graduate Studies, Barnes has taught high school math in Italy, enjoys 16th and 17th century literature and has a book coming out focusing on how men and women's identities are constructed by society.

So how does a businessman become a college English professor and scholar?

"I really like the area of 16th and 17th century literature," says Barnes. "I also like Shakespeare and when I was getting my doctorate, I had to do journal articles that analyzed literature. I also had to do a dissertation, which was a big part in receiving my doctorate."

Barnes has been the director of Graduate Studies for two years. He received his degree in accounting at the University of Illinois, his master's in English at NYU and his doctorate in English at SUNY Stony Brook University.

In his scholarly work, Barnes looks at texts from the 16th and 17th century and digs around to see how the history of these time periods influenced writers and how writers influenced the history.

"One of my professors who helped me with my dissertation influenced me to study these kinds of texts, specifically masculine studies," explains Barnes.

Along with his scholar work, Barnes has his first book coming out that relates to his field of studies. He says that his dissertation is what started the process of writing his book.

"When you write a dissertation, it is expected to be book length, about 230-240 pages," explains Barnes. "Then I started revising it and sending it out to be published."

Barnes's book, entitled Post-Closet Masculinities in Early Modern England, discusses a theory he developed (post-closet identity), which states that cultural forces inform the erotic desires of men and women in the 16th and 17th century.

"Rather than look at how people express their erotic desires; i.e., gay/straight/bi etc., my theory is interested in how cultural forces inform those desires," explains Barnes. "In other words, I'm less interested in why people desire other people than what in a specific culture tells people how and what they should desire."

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