Thaden, Barbara Z. 1955–

(Barbara Zembachs Thaen)

PERSONAL: Born July 3, 1955, in New York, NY; daughter of Arnold and Dace (Ozola) Zembachs; married David J. Thaden (a high school principal), August 15, 1981; children: Michael Tālis, Matthew Arne. Ethnicity: "Latvian." Education: Florida State University, B.S., M.S.; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ph.D. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Lutheran. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening.

ADDRESSES: Home—106 Saratoga Trail, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. Office—Department of English, St. Augustine's College, 1315 Oakwood Ave., Raleigh, NC 27610. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: High school English teacher, 1978–85; technical writer, 1990–91, 1994; University of North Carolina at Greensboro, lecturer in English, 1994–96; St. Augustine's College, Raleigh, NC, associate professor of English, 1997–.

MEMBER: Modern Language Association of America.

AWARDS, HONORS: Ford Foundation fellow, 1989; Henry C. McBay research fellow, United Negro College Fund, 1999.

WRITINGS:

(Editor and contributor) New Essays on the Maternal Voice in the Nineteenth Century, Contemporary Research Press (Dallas, TX), 1995.

The Maternal Voice in Victorian Fiction: Rewriting the Patriarchal Family, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1997.

A Student Companion to Charlotte and Emily Brönte, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 2001.

Contributor to books, including The Encyclopedia of Ethnic American Literature, and Women in Literature. Contributor to periodicals, including Dream International Quarterly, Apalachee Quarterly, College English, South Atlantic Review, Writing Instructor, and Dostoevsky Studies.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Research on feminism, gnosticism, and Toni Morrison's Paradise.

SIDELIGHTS: Barbara Z. Thaden told CA: "As an associate professor of English at a historically black college, I am always looking for those works of fiction which are both supremely literary and wonderfully teachable. Jamaica Kincaid and Toni Morrison top my list of authors who grab students' attention and yet merit complex analysis. I am particularly interested in exploring the intersections of motherhood, patriarchy, colonialism, and religion. Kincaid's Autobiography of My Mother and Morrison's Paradise are novels perfect for analyzing these intersections."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

School Library Journal, January, 2002, Pat Bender, review of A Student Companion to Charlotte and Emily Brönte, p. 168.

Victorian Studies, autumn, 1998, Carolyn Dever, review of The Maternal Voice in Victorian Fiction: Rewriting the Patriarchal Family, p. 176.