Dr. Robert Bray
Professor

Member, Graduate Faculty

Office: PH 363; Phone/Voice Mail: 898-5959

Dr. Bray earned the Ph.D. at the University of Mississippi and has taught at Memphis State University and East Tennessee State (where he directed the International Studies Program). He now teaches courses in modern American literature, modern drama, and Tennessee Williams. The author/editor of two published books and one upcoming book, several essays on Williams, he edits The Tennessee Williams Annual Review published at MTSU and directs the Tennessee Williams Scholars' Conference held in New Orleans. 

See PUBLICATIONS

JOURNALS

• Founding editor, The Tennessee Williams Annual Review (1998-2002).

PARTICIPATION ON PUBLISHED PANELS

• “Medical Men on Tennessee.”  Journal of Louisiana State Medical Society (August 2000).

• “Teaching Tennessee.”  Tennessee Williams Annual Review 4 (2001): 71-81.

• “Looking at the Late Plays of Tennessee Williams.” Tennessee Williams Annual Review 5 (upcoming--Fall 2002).

• “The Unpublished Tennessee Williams.” Tennessee Williams Annual Review 6 (2003).
• “When Tom Became Tennessee: The Early Plays of Tennessee Williams.” Tennessee Williams Annual Review 7 (2004).

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

• “The One-Act Plays.” Hartford Stage, Fall, 2003.
• Vieux Carre'. Trade City Productions, Los Angeles, June, 2003
• “Williams and Kazan.” Tennessee Williams Tribute, Columbus, Ms., September, 2004.
• “Tennessee Williams's Delta and Baby Doll .” Invited presentation at The Natchez Film and Literary Celebration, March, 2002.
• Invited Moderator, Tennessee Williams section at the Conference on Southern Literature (with Romulus Linney and Beth Henley, (Chattanooga, Tn., April, 2003).
• Invited to interview film critic Rex Reed for the main presentation at the Natchez Film and Literary Celebration, February, 2003.
• “Suddenly Last Summer.” Invited keynote speaker at Triad Stage, Greensboro, N.C., January, 2002.
• “The Earliest Menagerie.” Invited presentation, Washington University, Feb 2004.
• “The Uncelebrated Tennessee Williams.” Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, March, 2003
• “To the Wingfields—Happy Anniversary.” Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, March, 2004.
• “The Letters of Tennessee Williams.” Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, March, 2002.
• “Tennessee's Women.” Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, March, 2002.
• “Tennessee and Acapulco.” Invited keynote speaker at the Dallas Theatre Center, January, 2001.
• “Journal Editing.” Invited panelist at the Textbook and Academic Authors Conference, New Orleans, June 2000.
• Keynote speaker, “ The Night of the Iguana ,” at The Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, the Milwaukee School for the Arts, and Marquette University, February, 1999.
• “Tennessee Williams: The Apprentice Plays.” Invited presentation at University of Illinois, November, 2000.

OTHER PRESENTATIONS

• “Sports Metaphors in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ,” at The Tennessee Philological Association, February, 1996.
• “The Athletic Williams” at the Sports Literature Association, Chapel Hill, N.C., March, 1994.
• “Peter Taylor's Fiction” at the Kentucky/Tennessee Popular Culture Association (March, 1993).
• “Williams' Later Works Reconsidered,” at Tennessee Williams Literary Festival (Scholar's Panel, March, 1993).
• “Establishing Study Abroad Programs at a Regional University,” at the NAFSA conference, Greensboro, N.C., November, 1992.
• “Marxist Approaches to A Streetcar Named Desire ,” at the Tennessee Philological Association, March, 1991.
• “The Universality of Tennessee Williams,” at Tennessee Williams Literary Festival (Scholar's Panel, March, 1991).
• “Trendy Cuisine: If It's ‘In,' Eat It,” at the Popular Culture Meeting, October, 1988.
• “The Solipsistic Sore: An Analysis of Endgame ,” at the Tennessee Philological Association, February, 1987.
• “The Old Order in ‘The Old Forest',” at the Popular Culture Association International Meeting, Montreal, March, 1987.
• “The Universality of Tennessee Williams,” at University Federal Fluminense, Niteroi, Brazil, 1985.
• “Jay Gatsby and the American Dream”; “William Faulkner, Oxfordian”; “What's Southern about Southern Literature?” (all delivered at my host institution, UERJ, while on my Fulbright grant in 1985).
• “Tennessee Williams and the Burden of the Past,” at Pontificio Universadade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, July, 1985.
• “Literature of the American South,” at Instituto Brasileiro Estado Unidos, May, 1985.
• “The Universality of Tennessee Williams,” at Universadade Federal do Fluminense, Niteroi, Brazil, June, 1985.
• “What's Southern about Southern Literature?,” at Instituto Brasileiro Estado Unidos, Porto Allegre, Brazil, August, 1985.
• “Faculty Involvement in Writing Workshops,” at Universadade Federal do Maranhao, Maranhao, Brazil, September, 1985.
• Invited panelist, "Medical Men on Tennessee," at the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, March, 1999.
• "Moise at the Millennium," at the Florida State University Film and Literature Conference, January, 2000.
• "The Delta Cycle" at the SCMLA, New Orleans, November, 1998.
• Moderator at the "I Remember Tennessee" panel for the last two years, Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival (with Rex Reed and Kim Hunter).
• Moderator for "Tennessee's Men," at the same Festival, March, 1998.
• "William's Southern Demons," at the Florida State University Film and Literature conference, January, 1999.
• "Vieux Carre' Reconsidered: What Went Wrong," at SCMLA, San Antonio, Texas, November, 2000.

PROFESSIONAL

• Member, Board of Directors, Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival

• Director of Tennessee Williams Scholars' Conference  (New Orleans, La.) 1996-present.

• Member, Program Committee, Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, summer, 2000.

• Editor and publisher, two previously unpublished works by Tennessee Williams, "The Negative," a short story which appeared in the 1999 issue of the Tennessee Williams Annual Review, and The One Exception, William's last one-act play written before his death, in the 2000 TWAR.

• Consulting manuscript specialist for The Historic New Orleans Collection.

• Advisory Board member for PBS’s “Character Studies” television series.

• Fulbright Scholar, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1985.