Francisco joins Oxford Round Table

Is there a dramatic split in education between arts and humanities and science and mathematics?

Ed Francisco, associate professor and writer in residence at Pellissippi State, will address this and other issues as part of the Oxford Round Table at Harris Manchester College in Oxford, England.

Francisco, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in both fiction (“The Dealmaker”) and poetry (“Child, Death, and Love”), is one of 40 scholars from around the world invited to the Round Table starting July 9 to address the rising dispute on a possible split in education occurring on both sides of the Atlantic. He will present a paper entitled “Semiotic Theory and the Limits of Computer Mediated Learning.”

“I will offer a theoretical formulation that recognizes human beings not as mere organisms in an environment but as sign makers in a world of signs,” said Francisco. “I hope this idea will encourage a different approach to teaching subjects in both the humanities and sciences.”

During his career, Francisco has written hundreds of essays, short stories and poems that have been published in journals and anthologies and has several ongoing writing projects, including a historical novel about Knoxville in the 20th century.

Francisco developed Pellissippi State’s creative writing program and teaches creative writing, screenwriting and playwriting. He’s also the principal organizer of the school’s Writers’ Series.