Mark Pleiss

Mark Pleiss is the Director of the Teaching and Learning Center at Simpson College. Dr. Pleiss previously served as the Lead Coordinator of the Graduate Teacher Program in the CTL at the University of Colorado Boulder and taught for more than ten years at locations including CU Boulder, St. Olaf College, and the University of Denver. He produces research on teacher observation processes and publishes regularly in his field of Contemporary Peninsular Spanish Literature. His 2019 collection of short stories, April Warnings, was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award.

PhD: Spanish Literature and Culture, University of Colorado Boulder (2015)
MA: Spanish, University of Colorado Boulder (2010)
BA: Journalism, Spanish; Simpson College (2007)

EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Pleiss, Mark W. And Krisztina Dearborn. “Discomfort and Other Factors that Influence the Effectiveness of Graduate Student Peer Teaching Consultations.” To Improve the
Academy. 40.2 (2021) https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/tia/article/id/466/

—. “The Art of the Campus Interview.” The Chronicle of Higher Education · 2017
The Chronicle of Higher Education · Feb 2, 2017

—. Defending the Unfashionable: How and Why We Use Learning Styles for Graduate Teacher Education. Professional and Organizational Development in Higher Education Newsletter. 2017

SPANISH LITERATURE

Pleiss, Mark. “Burning the Citadel: Javier Marías’ Todas las almas and the Retelling of an Oxbridge Novel.” Hispanic Studies Review. 8.2 (2024).

—. “Places Beyond Memory: The Affective Landscapes of Bernardo Atxaga’s Días de Nevada.” BOGA: Basque Studies Consortium Journal. Vol. 9 1.3 (2022).
https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/boga/vol9/iss1/3/

—. “Discerning the Impossible: Metaphysics, Absurdity, and Other Mysteries of
Javier Tomeo’s Crime Fiction.” Bulletin of Hispanic Studies. 95.8 (2018).

—. “Of Heroes, Gods, and Monsters: Parody and Popular Culture in the Final Novels of
Javier Tomeo.” Anales de la literatura española contemporánea. 42.1 (2017).

—. “Los géneros de un monstruo: Una última conversación con Javier Tomeo.” ALEC. 41.1 (2016)

—. Juicios ilógicos: Parodia y absurdo en El crimen del Cine Oriente de Javier Tomeo.
Calandria. 2012

CU Boulder Graduate Teaching Excellence Award, 2014