Francois-Xavier P. Gleyzon

Department of English

Associate Professor

Francois-Xavier.Gleyzon@ucf.edu

Campus Location

Trevor Colbourn Hall 255A

Website

View Personal Website

Biography

As an Associate Professor of English at the University of Central Florida (since 2017; Assistant Professor, 2011–2017), I hold a PhD in Early Modern Literature and Visual/Cultural Theory from Lancaster University, United Kingdom (2008). At UCF I serve as Director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Minor and, since 2018, as Series Editor of the Anthem Press Series in Renaissance Literature and Culture.

My research situates Shakespeare and Milton within a comparative Abrahamic political theology, in sustained dialogue with Qur’anic revelation and Islamic thought, alongside a second line of inquiry in visual culture, cinema, and geo-philosophy. My publications include two monographs: Shakespeare’s Spiral (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010) and Untimely Islam: Conversing Worlds from Early Modernity to Our Contemporaneity (Brill, under contract); five edited collections, among them Shakespeare and the Future of Theory (Routledge, 2015), Reading Milton through Islam (Routledge, 2018), and David Lynch in Theory (Litteraria Pragensia | Charles University, 2010); and twenty-nine essays and chapters, among them “What Is Political Theology? Unhinging the Sovereign Body” (The Routledge Companion to Shakespeare and Religion, 2025), “Practices of Power: Unfolding Political Theology in Richard II” (The Comparatist, 2025), “Critical Gesture: A Poetics of Images in Shakespeare, at Last” (Picturing Shakespeare, Anthem Press, 2024), “A New Cartographer: Rabih Alameddine and An Unnecessary Woman” and “Autoscopia or la Femme-O-mirroir” (Literary Spaces of Resistance, Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), “Minoring Shakespeare – Deleuze’s Tempest” (Minor Shakespeares, Routledge, 2018), and “The Voice of the Eye: Critical Gesture and Poetic Gestation in Giovanni Bellini’s Allegory of Prudence,” forthcoming in Saying the Unsayable (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026). I have delivered forty-six papers, eight of them as keynote addresses, in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

Before joining UCF, I held positions at the University of Liverpool, Qatar University, and the American University of Beirut, with visiting professorships at UCLA’s Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (2010) and at the American University of Beirut and the University of Balamand (2018–19); in Spring 2024 I was a guest professor at Aix-Marseille University’s Center for Anglophone Studies and Research (LERMA).

My publications are indexed on ORCID (orcid.org/0000-0002-6831-8838) and Google Scholar (scholar.google.com/citations?user=GDWHsKoAAAAJ).

Education

Ph.D. in Early Modern British Literature & Visual/Cultural Theory from University of Lancaster, United Kingdom (2008)

Research Interests

Early Modern Literature, Drama and Culture
Shakespeare and his contemporaries
Milton and his contemporaries
Aesthetics and Representation
Geo-philosophy and Cartography
East ∞ West Relations
Inter-Religious Dialogue
Theology of Alterity
Comparative Literature
Cinematography

Recent Research Activities

Untimely Islam: Conversing Worlds from Early Modernity to Our Contemporaneity is under contract with Brill. Two further monographs are under review with publishers in Paris (Éditions Orizons; P.O.L.). Co-organizer of Face au Visage, international symposium at the Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence (April 2025); organizer and curator of the Zahi Zalloua guest event, Department of English 2026 Annual Symposium.

Professional Activities

Series Editor, Anthem Press Series in Renaissance Literature and Culture (2018–present)
Peer reviewer for Journal for Cultural Research, Shakespeare Quarterly, Journal of the Northern Renaissance, Prose Studies, Fordham University Press, and Deleuze and Guattari Studies
Editorial board, Bethlehem University Journal
Member: Modern Language Association, Renaissance Society of America, International Comparative Literature Association, British Shakespeare Association, International Association of Word and Image Studies

Publications

Books

Reading Milton through Islam. Co-edited with David Currell. London and New York: Routledge, 2018
Shakespeare and the Future of Theory. Co-edited with Johann Gregory. London: Routledge, 2015
David Lynch in Theory. Prague: Litteraria Pragensia | Charles University, 2010
Shakespeare’s Spiral. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2010.

Edited Collections

“Deleuze: Spaces of Change and Challenge." (with Christian Beck) Special Issue of Journal for Cultural Research

Articles/Essays

“Practices of Power: Unfolding Political Theology in Richard II.” The Comparatist 49 (2025): 177–193
“Critical Gesture: A Poetics of Images in Shakespeare, at Last.” Introductory essay to Picturing Shakespeare by Jean-Louis Claret. New York: Anthem Press, 2024
“Minoring Shakespeare – Deleuze’s Tempest.” In Minor Shakespeares, edited by Simon Ryle. London: Routledge, 2018
Deleuze and the Event(s)” (with Christian Beck). Spec. issue of Journal for Cultural Research 19 (Fall 2016).
“Deleuze and the Grandeur of Palestine: Song of Earth and Resistance.” In Deleuze: Spaces of Change and Challenge, special issue of Journal for Cultural Research 20, no. 4 (2016)
“Milton and Islam: Bridging Cultures” (with David Currell) English Studies 96.1 (2015): 1-5.
Holistic Typology: ‘Uniting the Dissevered Pieces’: Quranic Retention and Protension in Milton’s Areopagitica and Nativity Ode.” English Studies 96.1 (2015): 21-43.
“Thinking through Shakespeare and Theory.” (with Johann Gregory) English Studies 94.3 (2013): 251-258.
Christine Buci-Glucksmann or the Archaeology of Shadows: Shakespeare and Mannerism", Critical Reader in Visual Theory, Saint, Nigel (Dir.) & Stafford, Andy (Dir.), Critical Reader in Visual Theory. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2013.
“Lynch, Bacon, and the Formless.” In David Lynch in Theory. Prague: Litteraria Pragensia | Charles University, 2010
“David Lynch’s Seismograph.” In David Lynch in Theory. Prague: Litteraria Pragensia | Charles University, 2010

Book Sections/Chapters

“What is Political Theology? Unhinging the Sovereign Body.” In The Routledge Companion to Shakespeare and Religion, edited by Will Stockton. London and New York: Routledge, 2025
“A New Cartographer: Rabih Alameddine and An Unnecessary Woman.” In Literary Spaces of Resistance, edited by Christian Beck. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021
“Autoscopia or la Femme-O-mirroir.” In Literary Spaces of Resistance, edited by Christian Beck. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021

Courses

Course #	Course	Title	Mode	Days/Times	Syllabus
93238	ENL4333	Shakespeare Studies	Web-Based (W)	12:00 AM - 12:00 AM	Unavailable
In this course, students will read plays from Shakespeare's tenure as chief dramatist for The Lord Chamberlain's Men and, later, The King's Men. Our discussions will involve close analysis of Shakespeare’s language, cultural context, and the various moral, political, and aesthetic issues raised in his plays and poetry. Rather than following a strict chronological order, we will take a thematic approach, allowing for a deeper exploration of key motifs such as kingship and kinship, gender, love, friendship, and reciprocal obligation. We will also examine domestic and political tyranny, revenge, and moral redemption. The course will incorporate interdisciplinary perspectives, connecting Shakespeare’s works to Renaissance-era visual art and cinema. Additionally, we will engage with contemporary critical theories to explore Shakespeare’s enduring relevance in today’s world. Plays will be supplemented by readings in Shakespearean criticism and contemporary theory. The course is structured into weekly modules, each dedicated to a single author and primary text(s). These primary readings will be supported by two scholarly articles per module, each offering unique perspectives. Through synthesis and analysis of these sources, students will engage with critical scholarship and contribute to broader discussions in Early Modern literature and contemporary theory. By undertaking close readings of Shakespeare’s texts, alongside visual artifacts such as Renaissance paintings, this course will provide insight into Early Modern culture and explore broader themes of cultural identity, nationhood, and individuality.
83359	LIT3933	Literature and Law	Mixed Mode (M)	M,W 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM	Unavailable
This course explores the intricate relationship between Renaissance/Early Modern literature and legal discourse. Writers such as Machiavelli, More, Shakespeare, and Milton engage with legal subject matters to articulate nuanced concepts of personhood, nationhood, and political identity. Throughout the semester, we will examine literary texts from the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries—both fiction and non-fiction—through the lens of "legal narratives." These works offer incisive critiques of the intersections between law and morality, sovereignty and rights. The course provides an innovative, interdisciplinary analysis of legal themes in Renaissance literature while also incorporating contemporary philosophical perspectives. We will consider how these "legal" plays and texts remain relevant today, revealing the ongoing dialogue between historical legal thought and modern legal concerns. The course is organized into weekly modules, each featuring a foundational literary text accompanied by two scholarly articles. These articles will approach the text’s themes from distinct perspectives, enabling students to engage in deeper analysis. Through synthesizing these materials, students will refine their critical thinking skills and actively participate in scholarly discourse on legal themes in Early Modern literature. By closely examining legal and literary texts, this course will offer valuable insights into Early Modern legal imagination and its lasting impact on contemporary legal and philosophical debates.

Course #	Course	Title	Mode	Days/Times	Syllabus
19826	ENL3220	English Renais Poetry Prose	Web-Based (W)	12:00 AM - 12:00 AM	Unavailable
PRE-1865. This course is designed to immerse you in the realm of early modern English literatures and cultures, through the lens of contemporary cultural and visual theories. Its overarching objective is to acquaint you with the authors, forms, and pivotal themes that animate English Renaissance poetry and prose. Our selection of readings is strategically tailored to delve into themes that offer profound insights into the poetry and prose, culture, and historical dynamics of this era. Through an array of works by diverse authors such as Thomas More, Thomas Wyatt, Edmund Spenser, and John Milton, we seek to explore these themes from multifaceted perspectives. Throughout the course, we will dissect cross-sections from the works of various authors, which will allow us to engage with these themes from a multitude of angles. A significant portion of the curriculum will be devoted to examining the re-construction and re-presentation of the human body, which includes a critical investigation into the visual conception of anatomy. Additionally, we will probe how acts of creation and writing serve as mechanisms for shaping both the body and identity (as exemplified by Wyatt), positioning the self within social and religious constructs, and delineating the distinctiveness of gender (as seen in Milton's works).
12924	ENL3222	Renaissance Women in Lit	Web-Based (W)	12:00 AM - 12:00 AM	Unavailable
PRE-1865 and DIVERSITY. "Did Women Have a Renaissance?" (J. Kelly-Gadol). Renaissance women were often stereotypically portrayed—or objectified—as silent, chaste, pious, and obedient. Faced with many challenges, if not outright barriers, they struggled in their pursuit of knowledge and basic artistic literacy. This course, through selected texts, seeks to explore two key aspects: first, how Renaissance women were portrayed by the male writing class, and second, how some women of the period actively and vocally engaged in writing and publishing to re-fashion, interpret, and comment on the world around them. The course offers an innovative, interdisciplinary analysis of Renaissance women writers, while also providing an overview of current feminist approaches. It argues for the critical importance of reconsidering Renaissance writers in today’s context, inviting reflection on what these historical voices have to offer now and, in the future, and how our past continues to inform the present, and vice versa. Focusing on literature by and about women in the Renaissance, the course is structured into biweekly modules, each featuring a single author and their primary text(s). These readings are supported by two scholarly articles per module, each offering unique perspectives on the text and its themes. By synthesizing these articles in their analysis of the primary readings, students engage with critical scholarship, practice analytical skills, and participate in the broader scholarly conversation surrounding both Early Modern Women’s literature and contemporary feminist theory

Course #	Course	Title	Session	Mode	Days/Times	Syllabus
61478	ENL4333	Shakespeare Studies	A	Web-Based (W)	12:00 AM - 12:00 AM	Unavailable
PRE-1865 or MAJOR AUTHOR. In this course, students will read plays from Shakespeare's tenure as chief dramatist for The Lord Chamberlain's Men and, later, The King's Men. Our discussions will involve close analysis of Shakespeare’s language, cultural context, and the various moral, political, and aesthetic issues raised in his plays and poetry. Rather than following a strict chronological order, we will take a thematic approach, allowing for a deeper exploration of key motifs such as kingship and kinship, gender, love, friendship, and reciprocal obligation. We will also examine domestic and political tyranny, revenge, and moral redemption. The course will incorporate interdisciplinary perspectives, connecting Shakespeare’s works to Renaissance-era visual art and cinema. Additionally, we will engage with contemporary critical theories to explore Shakespeare’s enduring relevance in today’s world. Plays will be supplemented by readings in Shakespearean criticism and contemporary theory. The course is structured into weekly modules, each dedicated to a single author and primary text(s). These primary readings will be supported by two scholarly articles per module, each offering unique perspectives. Through synthesis and analysis of these sources, students will engage with critical scholarship and contribute to broader discussions in Early Modern literature and contemporary theory. By undertaking close readings of Shakespeare’s texts, alongside visual artifacts such as Renaissance paintings, this course will provide insight into Early Modern culture and explore broader themes of cultural identity, nationhood, and individuality.