Mr. Kevin Sanders
Interim Chair- English, Humanities, and Foreign Languages
Interim Director- The Viralene J. Coleman Writing Center
Email: sandersk@uapb.edu
Phone: 870-575-8617
Office: Dawson Hicks, suite 316, room 322
Mr. Kevin L. Sanders is currently moving into his seventh year as Interim Chair of the Department of English, Humanities, and Foreign Languages and into his thirtieth year on campus. Sanders also serves as Interim Director of the Viralene J. Coleman Writing Center. Sanders graduated from Gould High School in 1984, where he was the class salutatorian. After graduating from Gould High School, Sanders attended and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
Sanders furthered his education by attending Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, where he received his Master of Arts in English. While at ASU, Sanders taught English Composition courses in the Department of English, Languages, and Philosophy. Also, he served as a Conversational English instructor to Saudi Arabian students in the area of English as a Second Language at ASU.
After graduating from Arkansas State University in 1994, Sanders was hired at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff as an English instructor and later as an assistant professor in the Department of English, Humanities, and Foreign Languages. While at UAPB, he has served on various committees in his department and University-wide. Sanders has served as a Faculty Senate representative for the department, and he chaired the Chancellor’s Awards Committee. Also, Sanders currently serves on the Academic Affairs and Educational Policies-Sub-Policies Committee, Secretary of AAEP Committee, the Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture Series Committee, Lyceum Committee, Academic Appeals Committee, Search Committees across the campus, the School of Education’s Admission, Retention, and Exit Committee, US PREP Cohort-School of Education, and the Dean of Students’ Judicial Committee. Along with serving on committees, Sanders is currently the co-advisor for Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society, co-advisor to the John McLinn Players-Student Theatre Organization, advisor to English majors in the department, and University supervisor to English teacher candidates. Mr. Sanders recently served as a facilitator in the Reader’s Theatre Competition at the 87th Annual National Association of Speech and Dramatic Arts Competition at Jackson State University. Also, Professor Sanders serves as the Title III Theatre Activity Director, in which he is currently bringing “Theatre Back” to campus.
Furthermore, Sanders is affiliated with the Arkansas Philological Association. He has presented numerous papers at the conference and served as vice-president of the organization in 2011. In 2012, Sanders served as president of the organization. While as president, he coordinated the 39th Annual Conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas at the Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa in which the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s English Department was the host university.
Sanders has done a great deal of peer reviews for major textbook companies. One textbook, Strategies for Successful Writing by Pearson, is the best textbook that the department has used for several years, with Professor Sanders having input in the content. Also, he served as copy editor for Ed Bullins: Twelve Plays and Selected Writings by Mike Sell. In addition to peer editing, Sanders served as the Creative Writing judge for the Grand Prairie Festival of Arts at the Arts Center in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Most recently, Professor Sanders reviewed Thinking Through Writing by Kaag and Van Belle, Princeton University Press.
Sanders has done extensive graduate work at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He takes passion in teaching, studying, and researching slave narratives and the African Diaspora. His special interests are African American, Caribbean, and African Literature, and he loves teaching critical theories such as Postcolonialism, Reader Response, Psychoanalytic, and African American Criticism.
