Alissa Burger

Dr. Alissa Burger joined the faculty at Culver-Stockton in September 2016. She develops and teaches general education and English major courses, including an experiential learning course on Literature and Food. She is the chair of the English department and director of writing across the curriculum. She provides research and student management to assist in the College's retention efforts. Burger was the recipient of the President's Award for Exemplary Service in May 2020 and the Walter S. Reuling Prize for Innovation in Student Learning in May 2023.

She is an expert on her dissertation topic, "Trajectory of the American Myth: Race, Gender, Home and Magic from The Wizard of Oz to Wicked," and she wrote a book, "The Wizard of Oz as American Myth: A Critical Study of Six Versions of the Story, 1900-2007," which was published in 2012.

Burger also is a well-known expert on the work of author Stephen King, with books including "IT Chapters One and Two" (2023), "The Quest for the Dark Tower: Genre and Interconnection in the Stephen King Series" (2021), and "Teaching Stephen King: Horror, the Supernatural and New Approaches in Literature" (2016). She also is the editor of the collections "Pushing Daisies: Critical Perspectives on the Bryan Fuller Series" (2011) and "Teaching Graphic Novels in the English Classroom: Pedagogical Possibilities of Multimodal Literacy Engagement" (2017), and the book reviews editor for Queer Studies in Media and Popular Culture.

Burger previously taught at Kaplan University in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and the State University of New York at Delhi.