Dr. Richard Black

Professor

Education

• Ph.D., English Language and Literature, University of Tulsa
• M.A., Texas State University at San Marcos
• B.A., St. Edward's University

Courses Taught

Academic Interests

• American Literature and Culture

Scholarly Activity

Publications:

• “Spring Training at the End of the World.” NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture. 29.1-2 (Fall-Spring 2020-2021): 59-80. 
• “‘A game of cheaters cheating cheaters:’ A Cinematic Close Reading of John Sayles’ Eight Men Out.” Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature 37.1 (Fall 2019-Winter 2020): 57-66.
• “‘Signs in the dust:’ Eric Rolfe Greenberg’s The Celebrant as Baseball Jeremiad.” Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature 35.1 (Fall 2017-Winter 2018): 11-20. 
• “‘The Same Old Mud:’ Mark Twain’s Transcendent Imagination and Jeff Nichols’ Mud.” Mark Twain Annual.  Vol. 15 (2017): 60-70.
• “‘The Infernal Machine:’ Imperial America and John Sayles’ A Moment in the Sun.” Studies in American Naturalism 9.1 (Summer 2014): 79-102. 
• “Real-Life Legends and Reluctant Revolutionaries: Stephen Harrigan’s The Gates of the Alamo."  Southwestern American Literature 36.1 (Fall 2010): 33-50. 
• “Love, as Summer Goes.”  New Texas: A Journal of Literature and Culture.  Vol. 14 (2007): 14-18. 

Book Reviews:

• Review of Interstate '85: The Royals, The Cardinals, and the Show-Me World Series, by Marshall Garvey. Forthcoming in NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture 2 (2026).
• Review of One Season in Rocket City: How the 1985 Huntsville Stars Brought Minor League Baseball Fever to Alabama, by Dale Tafoya.

• Review of Mark Twain’s America: Then and Now, by Laura DeMarco. The Mark Twain Annual.  Vol. 19 (2021): 204-06.

• Review of Kansas City vs. Oakland: The Bitter Sports Rivalry That Defined an Era, by Matthew C. Ehrlich, The Sport Literature Association (2020): https://tmorris.utasites.cloud/sla/br200111.html

Presentations:

• Numerous national and international conference presentations.

Other Professional Experiences

Consultation:

• Advisory Board Member, NINE Spring Training Conference (2025-)
• External Program Reviewer for BA and MA programs in English at the University of Texas-Permian Basin (2019)

Membership in Professional Organizations:

• Mark Twain Circle of America
• Sport Literature Association
• International Theodore Dreiser Society
• Sigma Tau Delta, National English Honor Society

Editorial Work:

• Advisory Reader: NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture