Education and Academic Interests

Dr. Roessner earned his M.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame, and B.A. from Mercyhurst University. He teaches classes in contemporary literature, popular music and literature, and cultural studies, and also leads workshops in creative writing.

His research focuses on cultural studies and historiographic writing. He is co-editor of Write in Tune: Contemporary Music in Fiction (Bloomsbury), and his publications include multiple essays on the Beatles, along with articles on The Velvet Underground, rock mockumentaries, the post-confessional lyricism of R.E.M., protest music in the wake of 9/11, and satellite radio and the re-conception of musical genres. His literary scholarship examines the construction of historical narratives in the work of Peter Ackroyd, Angela Carter, Jeanette Winterson, and Alison Bechdel, among others.