University Experience

 UNIVERSITY POSITIONS

Professor of English. University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME. 2007-2014.

Professor of English and Director and Faculty, Stonecoast Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing.

University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME. 2007-2013.

 Director and Faculty, Stonecoast Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing. University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME. 2004-2007.

Associate Professor of English. Miami University, Oxford, OH. 1999-2004.

Assistant Professor of English.  Miami University, Oxford, OH. 1995-1999.

Assistant Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing. University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA. 1992-1995.

Adjunct Faculty Member, Graduate Poetics Program. New College of California, San Francisco, CA. 1992.

Teaching Assistant. Stanford University, Stanford, CA. 1986-1990.

Teaching Assistant. University of Houston, Houston, TX. 1983-1986.

 

TEACHING AND UNIVERSITY SERVICE: COURSES TAUGHT

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE

Versification
Intermediate Poetry Writing
Introduction to Creative Writing
Advanced Poetry Workshop

STONECOAST MFA PROGRAM, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE

Residency Workshops

  • Structure and Rhythm of Poetry
  • Rhythms of Poetry
  • Meter Lab
  • Poetry Workshop
  • Blank Verse
  • Elective Workshop in the Sonnet
  • Elective Poetry Workshops in Formal Poetry

Residency Presentations

  • The Poetic Line in the 1950s
  • Teaching Form and Meter
  • The Villanelle
  • The Self-Publishing Poet
  • Ear-Training Made Simple
  • Diversity in Formalism
  • Poetry in Translation
  • The Place of Poetry
  • Louise Bogan and the Torment of Perfection
  • Yeats and His Rhythms
  • Thinking Inside the Box: Constraint and Creativity
  • Lyric to Lyrics: On Poetry to Music
  • Poetry and Prose of Edgar Allen Poe
  • Poetry in the Community

Third-Semester Project Supervision

  • Writing Poetry for Children
  • Poetry and Yoga
  • Poetic Theater Production
  • Medieval Women’s Writing
  • Memoir Writing
  • Nature Writing
  • 19th Century African American Poetry
  • Renaissance Poetry and Postmodern Theory

MIAMI UNIVERSITY

Graduate Poetry Workshop
Versification: History, Theory, Politics, Practice
Contemporary American Poetry: A Survey
Advanced Poetry Workshop
Environmental Literature
Intermediate Poetry Workshop
Introduction to Creative Writing: Fiction and Poetry
Modern Poetry
Poetry and Architecture (Collaborative Course)
Reading and Writing Epic (Independent Study)
Poetic Structure (Independent Study)
Romanticism and Sentiment in American Poetry (Independent Study)
Women’s Poetry (Independent Study)
Major Poets of the Twentieth Century (Independent Study)

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA

Major American Poets to 1900
Women’s Poetry and Poetics
Introduction to Literature
Introduction to Creative Writing
Studies in the Craft of Poetry
Advanced Poetry Workshop
Beginning Poetry Workshop
Poetic Form: Presidential Scholars Seminar
Intermediate Poetry Workshop
Literary Theory
Composition

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Women, Language, and Literature (Course Developer and Instructor).
Women and Difference: Marginality, Art, and Politics (Teaching Assistant and Section Instructor for Professor Adrienne Rich
Junior Honors Tutorial: Plath, Sexton, and Rich (Teaching Assistant for Professor Diane Middlebrook)
History of the English Language (Teaching Assistant and Section Instructor for Professor George Brown).

NEW COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO

The Politics of Poetic Form

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

Poetry and Poetics. Teaching Assistant for Professor Peter Stitt.

YALE UNIVERSITY—ONLINE TEACHING

Yale University Alumni Association, Alliance for Lifelong Learning, 2001-2002.
Designed course “A New Birth of Freedom: Antebellum Literature” with Professor Richard Brodhead.

Yale University Alumni Association, Alliance for Lifelong Learning, 2000-2001.
Moderated course “To Hear Their Voices: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Frost” with Professor Marie Borroff.

GUEST LECTURES

Renaissance Poetry, Professor Ben Bertram, U. of Southern Maine, 2010.
Introduction to Literature, Professor Kathleen Ashley, U. of Southern Maine, 2005.
Spanish Poetry, Professor Patricia Klingenberg, Miami University, 1999.
Children’s Literature, Professor Mark Bernheim, Miami University, 1998.
Senior Seminar, Thomas Hardy, Professor Jack Butler, Hendrix College, Arkansas, 1992.
Graduate Seminar in Poetics, Professor Diane Middlebrook, Stanford University, 1990. Introduction to Poetry and Poetics, Professor Adrienne Rich, Stanford University, 1989. Advanced Fiction Workshop, Professor Ntozake Shange, University of Houston, 1986.

THESIS ADVISING: GRADUATE THESIS COMMITTEES

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE, STONECOAST MFA

Thesis Advisor for seven Creative Writing MFA theses, 2005-2012.

MIAMI UNIVERSITY

Thesis Advisor for 26 Creative Writing Masters theses, 1995-2003.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA

Thesis Advisor, eight Creative Writing Masters theses, 1992-1995.
Reader for four Creative Writing Masters theses, 1992-1995.

UNDERGRADUATE HONORS THESIS COMMITTEES

MIAMI UNIVERSITY

“Women of the Old Testament,” Spring 2002.
“Oral Literature,” Spring 1998.
”Creative Writing in Multimedia,” Summer 1997.

 

UNIVERSITY SERVICE

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE

Chair, Stonecoast Advisory Board, 2004-2013. Chair, MFA Advisory Board, 2004-2013.
Advisor, O’Brien Collection, Glickman Library, 2005-2013.
Graduate Advisory Committee, Arts and Sciences, 2004-2013.
Strategic Goal Planning Committee for Graduate Education, 2010.
Stone House Task Force, 2009-2013.
Creative Writing Coordinating Committee, 2007-2011.
Representative, Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, 2005-2007.
Creative Writing Committee, English Department, 2004-2007.
Interim Chair, Publications Task Force, 2005.

MIAMI UNIVERSITY

Publicity, Publications, Programs Committee, 2003-2004.
Promotion and Tenure Committee, 2003-2004.
Diversity in African American Poetry Conference, 2002. Coordinator, Graduate Creative Writing Task Force, 2002. Coordinator, Sprint Annual Visiting Poet in Residence, 2000. Undergraduate Committee Creative Writing Liaison, 1998-2004
Coordinator, Sprint Annual Visiting Poet in Residence, 1998. Committee to Oversee Changes to Literature Major, 1997.
Faculty Coordinator, Introduction to Graduate Study, 1997. Coordinator, Sprint Annual Visiting Poet in Residence, 1996.
Ad Hoc Committee to Review Literature Major, 1996-1997.
Creative Writing Committee, 1995-present.
Graduate Committee, 1995-1998.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA

Director of Creative Writing, 1992-95.
Curriculum Committee, 1992-1995.
Student Concerns Committee, 1993-1995.
Coordinator, Visiting Writers Series, 1992-1995.
Founder and Coordinator, Student Reading Series, 1992-1995.
Graduate American Literature Exam Committee, 1994
Faculty Advisor, Inner Weather, student literary magazine, 1992-1995.
Supervising Editor, Underfoot, creative writing newsletter, 1992-1995.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Graduate Representative, Graduate Admissions Committee, 1989 -1991.
Judge, Booth Prize for Best Freshman Essay, 1989.
Graduate Representative, Curriculum Committee, 1989-1992.
Editor, Sequoia, Stanford University Literary Magazine,1988-1991.
Associate Poetry Editor, Sequoia, Stanford University Literary Magazine, 1987-1988.
Workshop organizer, “Feminists on Video Project,” Graduate Woman’s Network Conference, 1987.
Founder/Coordinator, Stanford Review Club Graduate Student and Visiting Writer Reading Series, 1987-1991.