Meet Our Team

Geoffrey Reiter, PhD

Interim Department A&S Chair, Associate Professor, Coordinator of Literature

Department: Arts & Sciences

Office Location: Lancaster

Dr. Reiter is currently Interim Department Arts & Sciences Chair, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Literature at Lancaster Bible College. Prior to this, he was Associate Professor and English Program Coordinator at The Baptist College of Florida. Dr. Reiter is also a writer and associate editor at the website Christ and Pop Culture. He is the author of over a dozen academic articles on theology and genre fiction, and he has published several poems and short stories in the horror, fantasy, and science fiction genres. His love is discovering ways in which the Bible helps us “read” culture and the ways in which cultural products like literature, film, or television may help us “defamiliarize” Scripture to see old truths from new and surprising angles.

Education:

PhD, Baylor University, English
MA, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Church History
BA, Nyack College, English

Courses Taught:

LIT 101: Poetry, Fiction, and Drama
LIT 202: World Literature
LIT 230 Dramatic Literature
LIT 305 Science Fiction
LIT 327 Major British Writers
LIT 328 Shakespeare
HUM 422 Christian Perspective: Explorations of the Fairy Tale

Publications/Creative Works:

SELCT SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS
“‘A Dark Poem’: Lovecraft’s Puritan Aesthetics and the Vice of Curiosity.” 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡, edited by Austin Freeman, Lexington Books, 2022, pp. 62-77. (Forthcoming)
“’New Knowledge of Lost Worlds’?: Edward Hitchcock’s ‘Sandstone Bird’ and the Poetic Exploration of Science and Faith.” 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, vol. 73, no. 2, Spring 2021.
“Through the Ancient Wood: Envisioning Apophatic Mysticism in ‘A Fragment of Life.’” 𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝐴𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑛, edited by Antonio Sanna, Lexington Books, 2021, pp. 225-40.
“‘Desire of Many Things’: The Augustinian Matrix of Bram Stoker’s ‘The Censorship of Fiction.’” 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 vol. 21, 2019, pp. 56-81.“‘The Abyss of All Being’: ‘The Great God Pan’ and the Death of Metaphysics.” 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡 𝐶𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑠: 𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝐴𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑛, edited by Tim Jarvis and Mark Valentine, Hippocampus, 2019, pp. 221-38.
“Malcolm Malcolmson’s Bible: Rival Epistemologies in Bram Stoker’s ‘The Judge’s House.’” 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 vol. 66, no. 2, March 2017, pp. 230-43.
“‘Flawed, Weak, Organic’: Star Trek’s Borg and the Abolition of Man.” 𝑆𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑎𝑛: 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶. 𝑆. 𝐿𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑐𝑖-𝐹𝑖 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛, edited by Mark J. Boone and Kevin Neece, Pickwick, 2017, pp. 307-25.
“‘A Round Cipher’: Word-Building and World-Building in the Weird Works of Clark Ashton Smith.” 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝐿𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝐹𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟, 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, edited by Justin Everett and Jeffrey H. Shanks, Rowman and Littlefield, 2015, pp. 173-86.
“‘Remember the Signs’: Catechesis and the Education of Jill Pole in C. S. Lewis’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑟.” 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝐹𝑎𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑦 vol. 7, no. 1, Spring 2014, pp. 22-30.
“‘Down the Winding Stair’: Victorian Popular Science and Deep Time in ‘The Golden Key.’” 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑑: 𝐴 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑐𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠, vol. 30, 2011, pp. 2-12.
“‘An Age-Old Memory’: Arthur Machen’s Celtic Redaction of the Welsh Revival in ‘The Great Return.’” 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑠ℎ 𝑀𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝐶𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒: 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝐴𝑑𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑚, 𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎. Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy 33, edited by Audrey Becker and Kristin Noone, McFarland, 2011, pp. 61-80.
“‘Two Sides of the Same Magic’: The Dialectic of Mortality and Immortality in Peter S. Beagle’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛.” 𝑀𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒, vol. 27, no. 3/4 , Spring/Summer 2009, pp. 103-16.
“‘Travelling Beastward’: George MacDonald’s Princess Books and Late Victorian Supernatural Degeneration Fiction.” 𝐺𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑐𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑑: 𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑟𝑠, edited by Roderick McGillis, Zossima, 2008, pp. 217-26.SELECT SHORT STORIES
“The Lime Kiln.” 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑙ℎ𝑢 𝑉𝐼𝐼, PS Publishing, 2023. (Forthcoming)
“A Glint amid the Corn.” 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑎 vol. 3, 2022. (Forthcoming)
“A Green Shade.” 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑎 vol. 2, 2021.
“Two Souls on a Shore.” 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐 𝐶𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑙𝑒, vol. 43, 2021, pp. 49-51.
“Blood Sky.” 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝐾𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑒, issue 48, September 2007, pp. 25-33.
“Rhapsody Kinetic.” 𝑀𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐 𝐶𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑙𝑒, vol. 29, Summer 2007, pp. 44-51.

SELECT POEMS
“An Edwardian Quartet.” 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑎 vol. 3, 2022. (Forthcoming)
“Knowing the Dragon,” “The Lady in the Wood.” 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑠 vol. 17, Summer 2022. (Forthcoming)
“[Green of Galaxies].” 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟*𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑒 vol. 45, no. 1, Winter 2022. (Poem)
“Star Dust,” “Gilgamesh in Mourning.” 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑠 vol. 16, Winter 2022. (Poems)
“A Word,” “Permian/Triassic,” “Termination Shock.” 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑠 vol. 15, Summer 2021.
“The Absence.” 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑎 vol. 2, 2021.
“What If Atlantis…?,” “Igerna, Alone in Waning Moonlight,” “Eternal Night.” 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑠 vol. 14, Winter 2021.

Awards & Honors:

Associate Editor, Christ and Pop Culture website

Advice:

“Creation itself and human creative works are gifts from the Giver. We need know other justification than that for studying them.”

Verse:

Hebrews 10:23: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”