Biography
After receiving his B.A. in English from King College (now King University) in 2005 and his M.A. from the University of Tennessee in 2008, Professor Hicks spent ten years teaching at the secondary and university levels before enrolling in Baylor University鈥檚 Ph.D. program in English. Upon completion of this program in 2024, he joined 17c起草社区鈥檚 English department as a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow through the De Vries Institute. He now serves as a Lecturer for 17c起草社区鈥檚 English Department and School of Education.
Education
Ph.D.鈥擝aylor University (Waco, TX)
M.A.鈥擴niversity of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN)
B.A.鈥擪ing University (Bristol, TN)
Academic Interests
Modern and contemporary U.S. fiction and poetry
Literature and religion
Ecocriticism and ecotheology
Contemplative pedagogies
Metacognition and writing instruction
Research
鈥溾楾he Zany Paraclete鈥: Seeking the Pentecostal Community in The Crying of Lot 49.鈥&苍产蝉辫;Christianity & Literature, vol. 73, no. 2, 2024, pp. 260-276.
鈥淩eading 鈥楢 Still Moment鈥 in Everyman鈥檚 Stories of Trees, Woods, and the Forest.鈥&苍产蝉辫;Eudora Welty Review, vol. 14, no. 1, 2022, pp. 111-115.
鈥淕etting Hold of a Face: The Tactile and the Visual in Eudora Welty鈥檚 鈥楥lytie.鈥欌 Eudora Welty Review, vol. 13, no. 1, 2021, pp. 217-228.
Academic Presentations
鈥淩efusing Extraction: Embodied and Contemplative Pedagogies in the Age of AI.鈥 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture: Technology and Human Personhood in the Age of AI, Waco, Texas, February 26-28, 2026.
鈥淪ilent Sobs of Healing: Frank X Walker鈥檚 鈥楢mazin鈥 Grace鈥 and the Prophetic Imagination.鈥 Conference on Christianity and Literature Southeastern Regional Conference, Anderson, South Carolina, October 23-25, 2025.
Book review panel member for Deep Reading: Practices to Subvert the Vices of Our Distracted, Hostile, and Consumeristic Age by Rachel B. Griffis et al. The Kuyers Institute/INCHE/De Vries Institute 2024 Conference, Grand Rapids, Michigan, October 10-12, 2024.
鈥溾楢 Compass and a Keel鈥: Ecotheological Re-Homing in Marilynne Robinson鈥檚 Housekeeping.鈥 Conference on Christianity and Literature Southwestern Regional Conference, Waco, Texas, September 21-23, 2023.
鈥淢aking Space in the Waste: Kenotic Hospitality in Cormac McCarthy鈥檚 The Road.鈥 Conference on Christianity and Literature Western Regional Conference, La Mirada, California, April 7-9, 2022.
