Professor of English
English Department Chair
Office: 506-L Leonard Hall
Email: pagnucci@iup.edu
Education
PhD, Curriculum and Instruction, English Education, University of Wisconsin, 1995
BA, English and Journalism, University of Wisconsin, 1989
Academic Interests
Academic Leadership, Comics Studies, Narrative Inquiry and Narrative Writing, Time and Task Management, Technology and Literacy, Technical Writing, and Composition Theory and Pedagogy
Profile
Gian has served for 11 years as chair of IUP's Department of English. This has led him to research the scholarship on academic leadership as well as the literature on time and task management. Gian has presented many times at the national Academic Chairpersons Conference, including giving an invited plenary session for new chairs. He has also published on these topics in the Department Chair.
Gian has been collecting comic books since he was in first grade, and this has led to his interest in Comics Studies. He is the co-author of Enter the Superheroes: American Values, Culture, and The Canon of Superhero Literature. His favorite superheroes are Captain America, Daredevil, and Moon Knight.
Gian also has a long-standing interest in narrative inquiry and narrative writing. Gian's chief interest in narrative focuses on using story forms for reporting research. He is also interested in using stories as tools for teaching and learning. Gian has written about these ideas in various articles and book chapters. He has also published a book on the topic titled Living the Narrative Life: Stories as a Tool for Meaning Making.
Gian's interest in technology developed during the five years he worked as a professional technical writer. Gian has co-edited one book on this topic, Re-mapping Narrative: Technology's Impact on the Way We Write. He is also has always been an Apple computer user, even in the old days before anyone else knew how cool that was.
All of this scholarly work has taught Gian the power of writing, both for personal discovery and for helping students get jobs, something he regularly devotes time to when he teaches technical writing.
When he's not chairing or reading graphic novels, Gian is out catching Pokemon. He is a level 40 Pokemon Go player.
Course Specialties