Meet Our Staff

Education

Ph.D., Philosophy and Ph.D. English, Purdue University, 1984
M.A., Philosophy, Purdue University, 1981
B.A., Philosophy and English, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1976

Other Background

• Previously taught at Purdue University, University of Maryland, Kyorin University (Tokyo), and served as Chair of English and Assistant Dean for the University of Maryland Asian Division.
• Previously served as Chair of English and Humanities and Honors Program Chair at Heritage University.
• President of the Faculty Senate, Heritage University, for 14 years.

Frequently-Taught Courses

• Philosophy Courses: Logic and Critical Thinking. Philosophy and Culture. Advanced Logic. Advanced Ethics. Native American Philosophy.
• Writing Courses: English Composition I/II. Poetry. Advanced Poetry. Editing and Desktop Publishing Workshop. Teaching Composition. Practicum in Teaching Composition.
• Literature Courses: Literary Theory/Teaching Literature. American Literature I/II. World Literature I/II. Native American Literature. J.R.R. Tolkien. Modern Science Fiction. Practicum in Teaching Literature.
• Linguistics Courses: Introduction to Linguistics. Applied Linguistics. Syntax. History of English. Sociolinguistics. Language Acquisition. Teaching Linguistics. Practicum in Teaching Linguistics.
• Research Courses: Research Methods. Quantitative Methods. Qualitative Methods. Senior Thesis. Master’s Thesis I/II.

Research and Publication Interests:

• Phenomenology, especially Phenomenology of Human Skills.
• Literature (Poe, Wallace Stevens, Swift, Stern, Kafka, Camus, Tolkien, Le Guin, Borges, George R.R. Martin, Kawabata, Nabokov, and Trickster stories, among others)
• Language Acquisition/Pedagogy, including Generation 1.5 and Communicative Approaches.

Creative Work

• Poetry: Many readings, publications, and awards. I have had the pleasure of team-teaching workshops with writers such as Seamus Heaney, James Dickey, and Jim Barnes.
• Music: Performer (vocalist) and composer in multiple genres
• Editor: Pahto’s Shadow, Heritage’s webzine of the arts and literature.
• Chess Master: International Chess Federation Master and International Correspondence Chess Federation Master, member of Japan National Team. Accomplishments include U.S Collegiate Champion, Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Champion, Japan National Champion, and Africa Asia Zonal Champion.
• Chess Writer: Articles for multiple state, regional, and national magazines.