Tom is an Associate Professor of English and Ethnic Studies, who specializes in Native American literatures, critical/eco-theory, and the representation of birds and other non-human animals in human discourse. His fascination with the latter resulted in his book Skylark Meets Meadowlark: Reimagining the Bird in British Romantic and Contemporary Native American Literature (UNP, 2009). His current book project, tentatively titled Feathers of Time: Confessions of a Crossblood Birder, is part “birding memoir,” part cultural critique of the ongoing Christo-Custer colonialism of the Great Plains.
Tom teaches courses in Native American literature and critical theory. Among his favorite courses is his “specialty” course in Native Women Writers (ENGL/ETHN/WMNS 345N), in which he gets to teach some of his all-time favorite authors such as Leslie Marmon Silko, Linda Hogan, and Joy Harjo. (“He has noticed that they sometimes write about birds.”)