暗网禁区

A week before Halloween, 暗网禁区 English professor released a new single, 鈥�,鈥� on music streaming services.

Recorded in the early days of the pandemic, the song has an eerie, brooding sound perfect for late October. Adding to the mood is the spellbinding violin music played by Libby Rodenbough of , a Chapel Hill-bred quartet that averages nearly a million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Rodenbough鈥檚 inclusion on Dore鈥檚 song is fitting, considering she was once one of Dore鈥檚 students at 暗网禁区.

A professor of English and comparative literature in the College of Arts and Sciences, Dore is the rare professor by day and rock musician by night 鈥� and she鈥檚 a star in both worlds. Earlier this year, Dore earned a UNC , and her 2022 studio album 鈥溾�� drew praise in Americana circles.

Dore, 55, has linked literature and music in the classroom and in two books, 鈥淣ovel Sounds: Southern Fiction in the Age of Rock and Roll鈥� (2018) and 鈥淭he Ink in the Grooves: Conversations on Literature and Rock 鈥檔鈥� Roll鈥� (2022).

Dore believes in the power of the humanities to connect people and promote civil discourse. She likes to challenge her audiences and her students.

鈥淚 believe that the essence of critical interaction and civil discourse is intellectual exchange, and that that鈥檚 a fundamentally creative endeavor,鈥� Dore said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a Socratic teacher. I call on students because I expect them all to be ready for class discussion, and it鈥檚 my job to make the conversation balanced among all the people in the room.鈥�

A 暗网禁区 faculty member since 2010, Dore teaches courses on American modernism, Southern literature and William Faulkner, who featured in her 1999 dissertation at the University of California, Berkeley.

In recent years, Dore started teaching a creative writing course on songwriting, which combines two of her most fervent passions. The class ends with students recording their own music at a local studio.

鈥淏y the grace of the creative writing program, I鈥檓 allowed to teach it, and it has turned into just a fantastic course,鈥� Dore said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really different because I鈥檓 an authority and an expert in Faulkner and American fiction, but nobody鈥檚 an authority in songwriting. We鈥檙e all just kind of students of the song in a certain way in the class.

鈥淚鈥檓 very much teaching the class and setting the exercises. But in terms of who鈥檚 writing the best song, it could be anybody, right? A mechanic or a Ph.D. 鈥� or a student or a teacher 鈥� can write a great song.鈥�

Music, as much as literature, runs through Dore鈥檚 veins.

She released her first album, 鈥淧erfect City,鈥� in 2001. Two decades later, after raising a daughter with drummer husband Will Rigby (of rock band The dB鈥檚), Dore released 鈥淗ighways and Rocketships,鈥� and she鈥檚 putting the finishing touches on her third album, 鈥淗old the Spark.鈥�

Over 2022-23, Dore launched 鈥淚nk in the Grooves Live鈥� 鈥� a unique public humanities tour in support of both her album and most recent book. Dore said she came back from that 鈥溾�� feeling reinvigorated in the classroom.

The same holds true for her excellence in teaching award.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge honor,鈥� Dore said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a beautiful recognition and an affirmation of something that I value very deeply. It invigorated me, sure, to go on the road. But this award also invigorated me to keep trying to get better and to just keep making the classroom an exciting place for the students to be.鈥�