Patricia Oman has been teaching at Hastings College since 2012 and is currently the chair of the Department of Languages and Literatures (DLL). She teaches courses in literature, film, publishing, and writing. Whether teaching U.S. literature or courses on narrowly focused topics (such as the Muppets), she delights in challenging academia’s assumptions about literary and cultural value.
Dr. Oman’s research specialty is twentieth-century American regional literature and culture, focusing particularly on the Midwest, forgotten writers, and popular culture. In 2024 she became the Journals Editor for the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature, publishing the peer-reviewed journals MidAmerica and Midwestern Miscellany.
As the director of Hastings College Press, Dr. Oman works one-on-one with students in courses and internships. Students who are interested in learning about the process of publishing should consider taking WRIT 234 Book Production, WRIT 235 Copy Editing, or WRIT 281 Literary Magazines. Students in WRIT 234 lay out and proofread most of HC Press’s titles for the year!
Dr. Oman is the faculty sponsor for several organizations on campus, including the student literary magazine Spectrum, and supervises the DLL’s annual publications, such as our Spring Newsletter and the anthology Best Nebraska Teen Writing.
Education
- PhD English (University of Oregon, 2010)
- MA Modern Literature (University of Leicester, 2004)
- BA Classics (University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, 2000)
- BA Comparative Literature (University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, 2000)
