Dean, The School of the Humanities; Professor
Dr. Roessner is a professor of English and dean of the School of Humanities at Mercyhurst. He teaches classes in contemporary literature, popular music and literature, cultural studies, and creative writing.
His research focuses on popular music, contemporary literature, and interdisciplinary studies, with a special interest in creativity theory. He is co-editor of Write in Tune: Contemporary Music in Fiction (Bloomsbury), and his publications include multiple essays on The Beatles, along with articles on The Velvet Underground, rock mockumentaries, the post-confessional lyricism of R.E.M., protest music in the wake of 9/11, and satellite radio and the re-conception of musical genres. His literary scholarship includes studies of post-postmodernism in the works of Roddy Doyle and historiographic writing by Angela Carter, Jeanette Winterson, and Alison Bechdel, among others. A longtime musician, he has also published a book on songwriting, Creative Guitar: Writing Rock Songs with Originality (Mel Bay).
- Ph.D., English, University of Notre Dame, 1998
- MFA, Creative Writing, University of Notre Dame, 1998
- M.A., English, University of Notre Dame, 1993
- B.A., English, Mercyhurst University, 1989
- Twentieth and twenty-first century British literature
- Literature and music
- Popular music
- Creative writing
- Contemporary world literature
- Film studies
- Research and writing
- The British New Wave
- Contemporary Literature and Music
- Modern English and Irish Literature
- Senior English Project
- Reading the Beatles
- Bob Dylan
- Postmodern Literature
- Creative Writing Poetry
- Research and Writing
- Music and literature
- Popular music
- Twentieth and twenty-first century literature
- Postmodernism and after
- Cultural studies
- Genre studies
- Write in Tune: Contemporary Music in Fiction. Ed. Erich Hertz and Jeffrey Roessner. Bloomsbury (2014).
- “Madcap Laughs: The Evolution of John Lennon’s Humor.” The Beatles and Humour: Mockers, Funny Papers, and Other Play. Ed. Katie Kapurch, Heyman Matthias, and Richard Mills. Bloomsbury (2023).
- “Saved by Rock and Roll: The Velvet Underground In and Out of History.” What Goes On: The Velvet Underground and After. Ed. Sean Albiez and David Pattie. Bloomsbury (2022).
- “The Three Ages of Fan: Identity, Irony, and Post-postmodernism in Roddy Doyle’s Popular Music Narratives.” Popular Music and the Poetics of Self in Fiction. Ed. Norbert Bachleitner and Juliane Werner. Brill (2022).
- “Down at the Devil’s Crossroads: Romanticizing Robert Johnson.” AMP: American Musical Perspectives 1.1 (2020).
- “The Rise of Celebrity Culture and Fanship with the Beatles in the 1960s.” The Beatles in Context. Ed. Ken Womack. Cambridge UP (2020).
- “Revolution 2.0: Beatles Fan Scholarship in the Digital Age.” New Critical Perspectives on the Beatles: Things We Said Today. Ed. Ken Womack and Katie Kapurch. Palgrave (2016).
- “Radio in Transit: Satellite, Cars, and Commodified Nostalgia.” Listening Spaces: 21st Century Perspectives on Music, Technology, and Culture. Ed. Richard Purcell and Richard Randall. Palgrave (2016).
- “From Mach Shau to Mock Show: The Beatles, Shea Stadium and Rock Spectacle.” The Arena Concert: Music, Media and Mass Entertainment. Ed. Robert Edgar, Kristy Fairclough-Isaacs, Ben Halligan and Nicola Spelman. Bloomsbury (2015).
- “Old Father, New Artificer: Teaching Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home as Postmodern Literature.” Co-authored with student Eithne Amos. Class, Please Open Your Comics: Essays on Teaching with Graphic Narratives. Ed. Matthew Miller. McFarland (2015).
- “Everything and the Kitchen Sink: British Social Realist Drama and Paul McCartney’s Lyric Imagination.” Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture Since 1900. Louisville, KY; February 23-25, 2023.
- “The Three Ages of Fan: Identity, Irony, and Metamodernism in Roddy Doyle’s Popular Music Narratives.” Popular Music and the Self in Contemporary Fiction. University of Vienna; May 30-31, 2019. (Invited Presentation)
- “‘Genius is Pain’”: John Lennon’s Confessional Turn on The White Album.” The Beatles’ The White Album: An International Symposium. Monmouth University; Monmouth, NJ: November 8–11, 2018.
- “Some Notes on the Guitar Styles of The White Album.” The Beatles’ The White Album: An International Symposium. Monmouth University; Monmouth, NJ: November 8–11, 2018.
- “Collage à Trois: Sgt. Pepper and The Beatles’ Artistic Persona.” Summit of Creativity: A Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI: June 1-4, 2017.
- “Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments and After: Postmodern Style in History.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference; Durham, NC: November 13-15, 2015.
Edited Collection
Essays
Conference Presentations