Instructor: Greg Lyons

Biography: Greg Lyons earned his Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Texas at Austin. For twenty years, he served as Professor of English at COCC. In that time, he designed and taught a 4-credit Creative Nonfiction course several times, as well as technical writing, newswriting and six Humanities courses in popular culture: Detective Stories, American Western, Science Fiction, Spy Thriller, Travel Literature and Film Noir. For six years, he coordinated a college study-abroad program with sites in Mexico, Costa Rica, London, Barcelona and Florence, where he taught for two quarters. In addition, he studied for a month at the British Film Institute in London and presented conference papers on such topics as "Mildred Pierce: From Novel to Film," "Production Process in The Third Man," "Desert Noir" and "The Moral Women in Film Noir." His publications include Literature of the American West and Body and Culture (both with Longman) and the creative nonfiction story "Roughneck Holiday." Finally, he has completed a memoir, Shape Up or Ship Out: An Army Childhood, partly based on his father's letters home.

Classes by this instructor

Hitchcock Film Series #2

Alfred Hitchcock is a director of suspenseful thrillers, but his films can also include comedy, romance, melodrama and psychological complexity. With some typical samples from his British and American periods, the course will explore his preoccupations with guilt and innocence, murder and justice, a naive hero and a beguiling heroine who is both icy and passionate. Beginning with a train mystery, we will survey a variety of other Hitchcock plots: an unlikely murderer, an analysis of madness, a romantic obsession, and an action-packed spy thriller. We will consider both the variety and the consistency of Hitchcock's film techniques. The course will meet once weekly for five weeks, viewing a feature film during each class. A short lecture will usually precede the viewing to highlight themes and connections among the works. Class discussion will follow the screening.
October 5, 2026 to November 2, 2026 | 4:00pm-6:30pm PDT | Bend