Education: 

• Ph.D. in English (1999), Stanford University
• B.A. in English (1988), University of California-Los Angeles

Current Project:

Dr. Rourke’s current project is a study of the films of David Lynch.

Professional Statement:

I joined the faculty in 2000 as an Assistant Professor of Twentieth-Century British and Post-Colonial Literature. As a teacher I am primarily to be a resource for students working to know the material and develop their skills. As someone who has always found studying hard, I hope to work with students in demystifying material and tasks that are often coded as difficult or even inaccessible, such as modern literary and cinematic texts, theory, or writing. In my research I try to combine socio-historical and formal methods to texts and films, which I view as human cultural products — made things — distinct from but related to the ideas we may have about them. I tend to focus on changes in how, during the period from 1900 until now, people struggle to record or represent what evades direct perception or understanding: the past, global social processes, technology, or even much of what is happening in our own bodies. 

Contact: brourke@nmsu.edu or 575-646-1628