Matthew J. Darling is an Assistant Professor and Chairperson of the English Department at Gannon University, where he teaches courses in American Literature, Literary Criticism, and Composition. He has been a member of the Gannon faculty since 2008. In 2025, he was chosen to serve on the board of the Northeast Modern Languages Association.
In addition to his faculty role, he is the Head Volleyball Coach at Gannon, where he has led the team to five NCAA Elite Eight and two Final Four appearances over a career that has seen him earn conference coach-of-the-year awards an unprecedented six times.
Darling enjoys cooking and running. He and his wife Elizabeth have two children.
Awards-Grants
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2009 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
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2012 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and Atlantic Region Coach of the Year
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2016 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and East Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
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2017 East Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
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2018 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
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2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and Atlantic Region Coach of the Year
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2024 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
Courses Taught
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ENGL 101: Foundations of Academic Writing
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ENGL 231: Literature and American Identity
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ENGL 274: Women Writers
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ENGL 332: American Literature 1865-1914
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ENGL 333: American Literature 1915-1945
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ENGL 334: American Literature after 1945
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ENGL 381: Literary Criticism
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GENGL 675: The American Novel Post-WWII
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GENGL 681: Contemporary Critical Problems
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GENGL 685: Major Continental Writers
Educational History
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Ph.D. in American Literature, Marquette Universty (2006)
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M.A. in Literature in English, Michigan State University (1997)
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B.A. in English, University of Kentucky (1994)
Publications
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Darling, Matthew J. "'American out of Conflict': World War II and the Elegies of Muriel Rukeyser." PostScriptum, vol. 7, no. 1, January 2022, pp. 65-81.
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Darling, Matthew J. “‘What Follows Is Substantially True and Accurate’: Autobiographical Subjectivity in David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King.” Auto/Fiction, vol. 2, no. 1, 2017, pp. 36-53.
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Darling, Matthew. "Review of The End of the Tour." Orbit: A Journal of American Literature, vol. 5, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16995/orbit.212.
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Darling, Matthew J. “David Foster Wallace and the Athlete’s War Against the Self.” American Sports Fiction. Edited by Michael Cocchiarale and Scott D. Emmert. Ipswich, MA: Salem Press, 2013, pp. 209-30.
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Darling, Matthew J. and Sherry Ziesenhiem. “Writing, Mothering, and Traumatic Subjectivity in Sapphire’s Push.” Disjointed Perspectives on Motherhood. Edited by Catalina Florina Florescu. New York: Lexington Books, 2013, pp. 171-83.