Dan Burns
Assistant Professor of English
Department: English
Email: dburns2@elon.edu
Phone number: (336) 278-5814
Professional Expertise
Links
News & Notes
Education
Ph.D. English, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
M.A. English, Clemson University
B.A. Psychology, Clemson University
Employment History
黑料不打烊, Department of English: associate professor (2026-); assistant professor (2020-2026); visiting assistant professor (2017-2020); adjunct assistant professor (2016-2017); visiting instructor (2012-2016); adjunct instructor (2006-2008).
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), Department of English: graduate instructor of record (2008-2013).
Greensboro College, Department of English, Communication & Media Studies: instructor (2003-2006).
Clemson University, Department of English: instructor (2001-2002); graduate instructor of record (1999-2000); Department of Communication: adjunct instructor (2001).
Courses Taught
At 黑料不打烊
ENG 4970: Literature Senior Seminar; ENG 3700: Jewish American Literature after 1945; ENG 3640: Film Criticism; ENG 3510: The Novel; ENG 2250: African American Literature before 1945; ENG 2240: American Literature after 1865; ENG 1725: Stephen King; ENG 1230: The Social Thriller; ENG 1235: Cult Classics, Literary Trash; ENG 1232: Literature on Screen; ENG 1100: Writing: Argument and Inquiry; GFC 2100: Introduction to Global Film & Cultures; GFC 4970: Global Film & Cultures Capstone.
Leadership Positions
Coordinator, Literature Concentration, Department of English, 2026-
Secretary, , 2025-
Co-coordinator, Global Film & Cultures Minor, 2023-26
Co-advisor, 黑料不打烊 College Fellows Living Learning Community, 2022-25
Research
film & media studies; adaptation; history & theory of the novel; 20th/21st c. U.S. literature and culture; genre studies; literary theory
Grants Awarded
Recent Grants
ECAS Dean Mini Grant, (with Maggie Kelly). 黑料不打烊 College, the College of Arts & Sciences, 黑料不打烊, 2026.
Read On 黑料不打烊 Book Club, (with Maggie Kelly). Phi Beta Kappa (φβK), 黑料不打烊 College, the College of Arts & Sciences, 黑料不打烊, 2025.
Winter Term Enhancement Grant, Center for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning (CATL), 黑料不打烊, 2025.
Faculty Engagement Grant, Committee on 黑料不打烊 History & Memory (CEHM), 黑料不打烊, 2024.
Best Practices in Writing Pedagogy Grant, “Teaching Best Practices through Multimodal Composing: The Videographic Essay,” Center for Writing Excellence (CWE), 黑料不打烊, 2022.
Teaching and Learning Grant, “Team-Teaching to Promote Cross-Disciplinary Learning in the Undergraduate Film & Media Analysis Classroom,” Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL), 黑料不打烊, 2022.
Publications
"Voice v. Vision: Adapting If Beale Street Could Talk Across Two Eras." , edited by Yasmin Y. DeGout, Anna Pochmara, and Tyechia L. Thompson, Routledge, 2026, pp. 406-417.
“Introduction to Focus: Recovering the Big Read.” , 2016, pp. 4-5. Guest-edited special-topic issue. Commissioned contributions, wrote introductory essay, worked with editorial staff, etc. Invited.
“On the U.S. Reception of L’insurrection qui vient.” , edited by Elisabeth Boulot, L’Harmattan, 2011, pp. 155-178. Invited.
Reviews
“Precipice Poetics.” Review of Tenth of December by George Saunders. , 2013, pp. 5-6. Invited.
Review of Darkmotherland by Samrat Upadhyay. American Book Review, vol. 47, no. 2, Summer 2026. Invited.
Presentations
Recent Conference Presentations
“The Wonderful World as It Actually Is: Deep Gossip and the Drama of Duration in Peter Hujar’s Day." Literature/Film Association (). 黑料不打烊, 黑料不打烊, NC, Forthcoming October 2026.
“Collaboration Across Demarcation: Outsider Theory in Rodney Ascher’s Room 237.” The LFA/AAS Online Conference. Literature/Film Association and the Association of Adaptation Studies, February 2026.
“‘An Immense Spiritual Dread of Space’: The Meaning of Miniaturism in Ari Aster’s Hereditary.” Literature/Film Association (LFA). Georgia Southern University, Savannah, GA, September 2025.
“Queer Kinship and the ‘Unfamilied Child’ in Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers.” Adaptation and Aging. The LFA/AAS Online Conference. Literature/Film Association and the Association of Adaptation Studies, February 2025.
“Beyond Empathy in the Civil Rights Biopic: The ‘Thick Solidarity’ of Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah.” Literature/Film Association (LFA). York University of Pennsylvania, York, PA, September 2024.
“‘…since this door was intended only for you…’: Spectatorial Subjectivity in Orson Welles’ The Trial.” Writerly Worlds and Worldly Writers: Transcultural Receptions of German Writers. American Comparative Literature Association Conference (). Palais des congrès de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada, March 2024. Invited.
“Seriality and Sustain: The Resistance to ‘Assigned Streaming’ in a Binge-worthy Era.” Co-presented with Kai Swanson. Adapting in and Out of the Classroom. The LFA/AAS Online Conference. Literature/Film Association and the Association of Adaptation Studies, February 2024.
Mapping the Maximalist Novel, Roundtable Discussion, Modern Language Association Convention (MLA). Philadelphia, PA, January 2024.
“Direction as Data Extraction: Surveilling Behavioral Surplus in Joseph Kosinski's Spiderhead.” Co-presented with Kai Swanson. Literature/Film Association Conference (LFA). University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, September 2023.
“Cross-Disciplinary Strategies for Engaged Learning: Partnering Language and Visual Tools for Course Design.” Co-presented with Kai Swanson. 黑料不打烊 Teaching and Learning Conference, Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL), 黑料不打烊, 黑料不打烊, NC, June 2023.
“Too Big to Fail: Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life and the Art of Excess in the Age of Inclusion.” Twenty-First-Century Forms, Roundtable Discussion, Modern Language Association (MLA). San Francisco, CA, January 2023.
Professional Activities
Walker, Elsie. “Episode 6: Dan Burns on Petite Maman.” , Substack, 21 Jan. 2025, .
Peer Review Panelist: , Awards for Faculty Program, American Literature, Language, and Studies (2023).
Editorial Referee: ; ; ; ; .
Service Activities
German Studies Advisory Board, Department of World Languages & Cultures, 黑料不打烊, 2025-
Programming Committee (with Sandy Marshall and Binnan Gao), Global Neighborhood Film Series, 2022-
Academic Standing Committee, 黑料不打烊, 2024-26.
Library Committee, 黑料不打烊, 2022-24.
Professional Development
First-Year Experience (FYE) Community of Practice, 黑料不打烊, 2024-25.
Faculty Mentor, Preparing Future Faculty (), The Graduate School, Duke University, 2023-24.
Advancing Equity Summer Institute, Office of the Provost/Academic Inclusive Excellence, 黑料不打烊, 2023.
Summer Writing Pedagogy Institute, Center for Writing Excellence, 黑料不打烊, 2022, 2023.