Faculty Profiles

Ruane, Matthew

Assistant Professor of Humanities Director of Academic Program Assessment Honors Faculty Fellow, School of Arts and Communication

Educational Background

PhD (Higher Education and Policy Studies) University of Central Florida 2014

PhD (ABD) (British History) University of Delaware 1997

M.A. (History) University of Delaware 1991

B.A. (History and Political Science) McGill University 1988

Recognition & Awards

East West Center, "Infusing Korean Studies into the undergraduate curriculum," Hawaii, Summer, 2019

Winner, The Kerry Bruce Clark Award for Excellence in Teaching (University-wide award), 2018

Inducted into the national honor society, Phi Kappa Phi, 2016

Applied for NEH Grant, Dialogues on the Experience of War, ($93,452 requested), 2015

Graduate Student Travel Grant ($1000), University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 2014

Freeman Foundation/East West Center, "Instituting East Asian Studies into the undergraduate curriculum," Hawaii, Summer 2012

NEH Foundations Workshop, "Legacies of the Pacific War," Hawaii, Summer 2010

Freeman Foundation/East West Center, "Instituting South Asian Studies into the undergraduate curriculum," Hawaii, Summer 2010

Current Courses

US History 1, 1492-1865

US History 2, 1865 to the present

History of Science 2

Introduction to Mythology

World War II in Film: Europe & World War II in Film: Pacific (alternating summers)

World War I

Previous Courses Taught:

Junior Seminar in the Humanities (Alternate History); Introduction to Western Civilization 1; Introduction to Western Civilization 2; History of Science 1: Antiquity to the Renaissance

Special Topics Courses:

History of Canada; History of Modern Britain, 1875-Present; History of British India; 19th century British Literature (team taught w/ Dr. Lisa Perdigao); The American West through Film; The Austro-Hungarian Empire: History, Society & Culture (travel course); London: History, Society & Culture (travel course)

Independent Study Courses:

Nazi Germany as Portrayed in Film & Literature; America's Vietnam Experience; Military History of Ancient Rome; The 100 Years War: A Comprehensive Overview; Science Fiction Literature; America's War in Vietnam; Britain and World War Two; Samurai in Film, History and Literature

Professional Experience

Director of Academic Program Assessment, Florida Institute of Technology, August 2016 to present

Assistant Professor, Florida Institute of Technology, January 2015 to present

Instructor, Florida Institute of Technology, Aug 2000 - Dec 2014

Instructor, Asian Studies Institute, Florida Institute of Technology, 2011 to present

Instructor and Assistant Program Coordinator, Florida Institute of Technology Summer Abroad Program, Jesus College (Oxford University), Summer 2007 and Summer 2008

Visiting Teaching Associate, Florida Institute of Technology, Aug 1999 to July 2000

Senior Loan Officer, MBNA America, 1997-1998

Adjunct Faculty, Department of History, University of Delaware, 1992-1997

Additional Duties

National Secretary, Asian Studies Development Program (ASDP) Alumni Association, Honolulu, HI, 2016-2020

Chair, Academic Program Assessment Committee (APAC), 2016-present

Chair, General Education Assessment Divisional Review Committee (GEDRC), 2011-present (Co-Chair, 2014-2016)

Member, APAC Committee, 2010-2016

Chair, Humanities Assessment Committee, 2011-2017

Assessment Coordinator (AC) , School of Arts and Communication, 2010-2017

Divisional Review Committee (DRC) Co-Chair, College of Psychology and Liberal Arts, 2010-present

Chair, Humanities Textbook Committee, 2007-2014, 2016 to present

Secretary, Florida Tech Asian Studies Team (FITAST), 2015-present

Faculty Advisor, FITSFF, 2011-present

Lab Administrator, School of Arts and Communication, 2005-2017

Member, University Retention Committee, 2012-2013

Current Research

Current Research Interests:

Philanthropic Foundations and Higher Education (Doctoral research)

Florida Military History (Current book research)

British Military Recruitment of Physicians and Surgeons, 1914-1919 (ongoing, original dissertation work)

Pirates and Florida History (ongoing)

Conferences:

ASDP Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, March 2020: Paper Presented, “Burning Horrors: Chinese Censorship,
Roleplaying and The Sassoon Files”

Assessment Institute, IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN, October 2019: Presentation Presented, “Transforming STEM to
STEAM: Developing Coherent General Education Outcomes”

ASDP Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, March 2019: Paper Presented, “‘Sword and mind must be united:’
Approaches to teaching about samurai through film, literature and culture.”

PCAS/ACAS Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, October 2018: Paper Presented, “Consuming D&D: How
Online Streaming Has Transformed Dungeons & Dragons.”

Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting, Sarasota, FL, May 2018: Paper Presented, “Transforming a
University? A History of the Relationship between the Florida Institute of Technology and the F. W. Olin
Foundation.”

ASDP Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, March 2018: Paper Presented, “There and Back Again: Using “Journey to the West” in an Introduction to Mythology Course”

PCAS/ACAS Annual Conference, Savannah, GA, October 2017: Paper Presented, “Sleepy Hollow: Creating a new American Myth”

ASDP Annual Meeting, Portland OR, March 2017: Paper Presented, “Adapting the Infusing Experience: Lessons Learned from Teaching “HUM 3085: The British Empire and South Asia””

Shell Shock: A Case Study of Military Justice during the Battle of the Somme, Presented at the Southern Conference on British Studies Annual Meeting, St. Petersburg, FL, November 2016

Transforming STEM to STEAM: Infusing Asian content into courses at a technological university, Presented at the ASDP Annual Conference, Washington, DC, March 2016

Sleepy Hollow: The Intertexuality between Legends, Quasi-History and Entertainment, PCAS/ACAS Annual Conference, Wilmington NC, October 2015

Let’s Go a Viking! Romping & Pillaging through "Vikings" Intertextuality, PCAS/ACAS Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, October 2014

Pedagogical Issues with Infusing South Asian Studies into the College Curriculum, Presented at the ASDP Annual Conference, Houston, TX, March 2014

Foundations and Higher Education: A Brief Overview of a Contentious Relationship, Presented at the IPAC Conference, Orlando, FL 2013

Realism and Escapism: The Emergence of the Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction Genres in Film and TV, 1950-2012, Presented at the SAMLA Conference, Raleigh, NC, Fall 2012

Realism and Escapism: The Emergence of the Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction Genres in Film and TV, 1950-2012, Presented at the IAFA National Conference, Orlando, FL, Spring 2012

Metal Love: Robots, Cyborgs, Androids and Love in the Worlds of Sci-Fi, Presented at the biennial Slayage Conference, St. Augustine, FL, June 2010

Galaticanautica: Comparing BSG to Themes in the Argonautica, PCA/ACA Annual Conference, Boston, MA, April 2008

Shades of Athena: General Mythological Themes in BSG, PCA/ACA Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, April 2007

Selected Publications

Co-Author (w/ Dr. Robert Taylor), Florida: A Military History, forthcoming

Author, Dark Legacies Campaign Guide, Red Spire Press, 2005

Contributing Author, Transactions of the Royal Martian Geographical Society, Vol 2 , Heliograph Press, 1999

Contributing Author and Editor, Transactions of the Royal Martian Geographical Society, Vol 1, Heliograph Press, 1999

Contributing Researcher, American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists 75th Anniversary Project (1997)

The First World War in British History, Albion (Fall 1996)

Undergraduate Research Advising

2017     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Karlyn Prisco- Hemmingway’s Paris: A Moveable Feast as a Symbol of Paris in the Wake of the 2015 Terror Attacks)

2016     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Michael Sanchez- Portrayals of Adolf Hitler in Modern Popular Culture)

2015     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Ashley Philbeck- From Pyramids to Cathedrals: Spanish Establishment of New Spain and the Development of Catholicism in Central Mexico)

2013     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Julie Fainberg- Redemption and Prison Films)

2012     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Brooke Fisher- The FBI and the Barker-Karpis Gang in the 1930s)

2009     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Stephanie Joy- Angels in Khaki: Literary and Film Depictions of Nursing in World War II)

2008     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Shatondra Cobbs- Norse Mythology through the Lens of Thor as Depicted in Marvel Comics)

2007     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Ashley Foster- History of Oil and Houston, TX)

2007     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Rebecca Werner- Food and Culture in Tudor England)

2006     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Vincent Bisson- Examining the Film “Alexander” as a Historical Document)

2005     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Daniel Renzedes- Depictions of Joan of Arc in Film, TV and Literature)

2005     Director/Advisor, Florida Institute of Technology, Senior Capstone Project (Kelly Deaton- Haiti and State Building under the United Nations, 1992 to the Present)