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Profile

I serve as Director of the School for Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS), where I work with faculty and students across disciplines to build programs that are flexible, collaborative, and grounded in real-world questions. The School is designed as a hub—bringing together ideas, methods, and people who might not otherwise find themselves in the same room—and that sense of connection drives everything I do.

I am also a Professor of English, and my academic home remains rooted in American literature, young adult and children’s literature, popular culture, and literary theory. My work moves easily between the classroom, scholarship, and public-facing conversations about reading, storytelling, and education. I am particularly interested in how narratives—whether in novels, digital spaces, or emerging media—shape the way we understand identity, empathy, and community.

I have published and co-edited a wide range of scholarly collections, most recently volumes such as Critical Insights: Sidekicks in Literature & Popular Culture and Critical Insights: Madness in Literature, along with books on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses, and mythology and folklore. Earlier projects include The Encyclopedia of African American Writing and Digital Literacy: Skills & Strategies, which received a starred review in Library Journal. My work has been recognized by CHOICE, including an Outstanding Academic Title award, and is widely used in classrooms and libraries nationwide.

Alongside this work, I continue to publish articles and chapters on writers ranging from Sarah Orne Jewett and Gloria Naylor to Amy Sarig King and Jason Reynolds. My current research explores questions of monstrosity, narrative form, and the evolving relationship between literature and technology. I am also engaged in collaborative, interdisciplinary work on AI, media literacy, and the future of journalism, including a recent project supported by the Google News Initiative.

Beyond publications, I see my role as a connector—between students and ideas, between disciplines, and between the university and the communities it serves. I have long been involved in public scholarship and professional organizations, serving as New Jersey State Ambassador for the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) and as a Past President of the New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, where I was later named to the organization’s Hall of Fame.

At the center of all of this is teaching. My courses are designed to be intellectually demanding but also genuinely engaging—spaces where students can test ideas, take risks, and find their footing as readers, writers, and thinkers. I am especially committed to helping students see how the skills they develop in the humanities—close reading, careful thinking, and clear communication—translate directly into meaningful, adaptable careers.

If you are a student considering interdisciplinary study, or someone interested in the evolving role of the humanities in a rapidly changing world, this is exactly the kind of work we are building here.

Selected titles for some of my books and collections:
Critical Insights: Sidekicks in Literature
Critical Insights: Madness in Literature
Critical Insights: Frankenstein
Critical Insights: All the Pretty Horses
Digital Literacy: Skills & Strategies
Critical Insights: Virginia Woolf
Notable Writers of the American West & the Native American Experience
Critical Insights: Catch-22
Notable American Women Writers
Examining Images of Urban Life
Critical Insights: The Pearl
Through the Distorted Lens: Media as Curricula and Pedagogy
Educators Online: Preparing Today’s Teachers for Tomorrow’s Digital Literacies

Specialization

My areas of scholarly interest rest in Modern/Contemporary American fiction and poetry, young adult and children's literatures, diverse voices, science fiction, speculative fiction, and educational applications for social networking media. Some of my more recent publications examine the narrative constructs of Neil Gaiman, Louis Sachar, Philip Roth, John Dufresne, Willa Cather, and Gloria Naylor.

With my expertise in Modern and Contemporary American literature, I also serve as Volume Advisor/Curator for Gale Publishing's Short Story Criticism, Children's Literary Review, and Contemporary Literary Review. I have curated entries on numerous authors such as: A. A. Milne, Beatrix Potter, Frank Baum, Gloria Naylor, John Green, Laurie Halse Anderson, Louis Sachar, Suzanne Collins, Roald Dahl, Theodore Geisel, Roald Dahl, and Walter Dean Myers, among others.

Resume/CV

Office Hours

Fall

Monday

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Appointments are generally held via Zoom but may be face-to-face. Appointments made in advance via email: nicosiala@montclair.edu

Wednesday

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Graduate Advising hours, generally. Made via email. Face-to-face or Zoom

Thursday

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Appointments are generally held via Zoom but may be face-to-face. Appointments made in advance via email: nicosiala@montclair.edu

Links

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