Dr. Tom Nurmi

Assistant Professor, English, CLASS

Tom NurmiSpecializing in American Literature, Dr. Tom Nurmi is an accomplished literary scholar and teacher. His career at MSU Billings began in 2014, and he is currently an Assistant Professor of English.

Nurmi’s teaching, research, and other scholarly pursuits center on the relevance and real-world value of literature in today’s technology-driven society. His teaching philosophy can be summarized as “engagement with diversity (of peoples, traditions, and methods) and technology (as both mode and subject of critical inquiry).”

Nurmi connects students with the Billings community through ventures like the NEA Big Read and field trips to the Yellowstone Art Museum, and his teaching also brings the local community into MSUB classrooms. Nurmi encourages students, community members, and colleagues alike to examine the stories around them in order to understand how concepts like nature, freedom, or even humankind develop at the historical intersections of narrative, society, and science.

His research is centered on nineteenth-century environmental humanities, particularly the writings of Herman Melville, which has led to two books and a number of articles. Nurmi’s research has opened doors for service to his profession, including being a reader and book reviewer for three prominent journals, presenting his work at international conferences, and contributing to faculty seminars nationwide.

Nurmi has also conducted public lectures on and off campus and has served on a number of advisory boards, most notably the Montana Center for the Book, a statewide nonprofit affiliate of the NEA.

The service that Nurmi provides on local, state, national, and international levels is impressive, raising the profile of the English department and MSU Billings as a whole. While the early American literary texts he studies may seem “old” or “dusty,” Nurmi’s teaching, research, and service show how literary history continues to teach us important lessons as we face the planetary challenges of the 21st century.