C. Wylie Lenz

Dr. C. Wylie Lenz is the chair of the arts, humanities, and social sciences department at Florida Polytechnic University, having joined the faculty in 2014. Since 2005, he has taught courses in composition, technical communication, creative writing, American literature, and European literature. Most recently, he has developed a writing-intensive interdisciplinary humanities course that examines the intersections of technology, literature, and culture. His scholarly and creative activities include multiple publications and presentations at regional, national, and international conferences. His scholarship addresses a broad range of literary and cultural topics, including American literature, from the 19th century to the contemporary era; early modern British literature; film and media studies; utopian studies; popular culture; apocalyptic narratives; and zombie narratives.

Lenz was born in Houston but has lived in Copenhagen, San Francisco, Austin, New York City, Seattle, Gainesville, and elsewhere, before arriving in Lakeland in 2013. Aside from his career in academia, Lenz has had a long and varied employment history, having worked as a puller, packer, and stocker in a warehouse; a substitute teacher in a public high school; a clerk at an independent record store; a freelance writer; a receptionist at a small accounting firm; a dishwasher at a health food restaurant; a fundraiser for a non-profit organization; a technician at a plumbing repair company; and a hobo riding the rails. He also once spent an afternoon washing yurts.