2002-2003
What's New in the English Department
A New Chair: In September, Phil Page will step down after four years as Department Chair. Selected to replace him is Ron Chen, a linguist with an outstanding record of teaching, scholarship, and service who joined the Department in 1992 after earning his Ph.D. at Ball State University. Ron has served as Associate Chair, Graduate Coordinator, and Faculty Senator, among many other roles in the Department and University, and received the College of Arts and Letters "Excellence in Teaching" award in 2001. Mouton de Gruyer has just published his book, English Inversion: A Ground-Before-Figure Construction, in the series Cognitive Linguistics Research. Please join us in wishing him the best as he takes on his new duties.
Awards and Honors: Once again, this academic year has seen our faculty and students winning some very impressive awards. First on the list is the much-honored Pete Fairchild, now winner of the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry for his most recent volume, Early Occult Memory Systems of the Lower Midwest. Anthony Hecht writes of this work "There is no more lyric celebration of America's grandeurs and desolations—not regarded here as separate facets of our lives and landscapes, but as completely fused in our hopes and despairs—than this superb collection of poems. Mr. Fairchild here surpasses himself in his unflinching vision and exaltation of spirit. These poems do honor to our country, and should rank with the best of our poetry." Our congratulations to Pete on this impressive honor.
Also receiving considerable recognition is Jim Brown's memoir, The Los Angeles Diaries, published in September by William Morrow & Co. Writing for the Baltimore Sun, Victoria Brownworth notes "The Los Angeles Diaries reads like the best—and darkest—fiction. It is uncompromisingly bleak yet surprisingly beautiful, a passionate testament not only to how one can survive what should shatter and sunder irreparably, but that one can survive and in surviving, begin anew." The memoir received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, an "A" review from Entertainment Weekly, the New York Times recently ran an excerpt from it, and Border's Books has chosen it for their "Original Voices" program. Jim will be busy this Fall with a book tour of Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle, and a 50-city radio satellite tour.
Next in line for our congratulations is Jackie Rhodes, awarded the first Elizabeth Flynn Award for the
outstanding feminist article in Rhetoric and Composition in 2002 by The Association of Teachers of Advanced Composition and JAC: Journal of Composition Theory for her article "'Substantive and Feminist Girlie Action': Women Online." The article was published in College Composition and Communication 54 (2002).
Martha Plender was selected the Outstanding Professor on our Palm Desert Campus, a honor bestowed by the PDC students. She has taught at the campus since 1987; for two years prior to that she taught English at the main campus in San Bernardino. She is currently co-director of the Inland Area Writing Project, a consortium of CSUSB and the University of California, Riverside, and she serves as a docent at the Palm Springs Desert Museum. "Teachers are only as good as their students," Plender said at an annual dinner announcing the award at the Esmeralda Resort in Indian Wells. "And I work with the best."
Two of the annual College of Arts and Letters awards went to our faculty: the award for "Outstanding Service" to Peter Schroeder, while prolific author Alexandria LaFaye took home the award for "Outstanding Professional Development."
For the third year in a row, the College's Outstanding Graduate Student is from our Master's Program in English Composition. Kathy Hansler, who has spent this year doing an outstanding job as a Teaching Assistant and completing her thesis on experiential writing in freshman-year composition courses, was honored at the June 14 commencement ceremony.
And for the second year in a row, the Arts and Letters division of CSUSB's Undergraduate Research Competition has been won by the same English major, Laura Westengard. This year, Laura's research explored "The Symbolism of 'Female Hunger' in Kate Chopin's The Awakening." Last year, Laura won with "East Touches West: The Influence of Eastern Philosophy on 19th- and 20th-Century American Literature." Bruce Golden served as her faculty sponsor for both competitions.
More New Work: The University of Arizona Press has published Juan Delgado's new book of poetry, A Rush of Hands. Ray Gonzalez, author of Turtle Pictures, writes of Juan's work that his "poems renew poetic landscapes and awaken the voices every poet uses to bring the past into focus. When his rich language arrives into its present moment of reward, it echoes with everything we expect from great poetry.” Visit the University of Arizona Press' web site for a sample poem from this new collection.
Well, another year has managed to slip by. Perhaps the most notable feature of 2002-2003 has been the budget crunch that has affected us along with the rest of California. We had to trim a few courses from our Winter and Spring offerings, more classes now tend to fill up, and we are resisting pressure to raise enrollment caps on other classes. But on the whole we're hanging in there, still doing all the wonderful things that faculty members do.
Despite the budget problems, we were able to hire two more assistant professors, which brings us to twelve in the past four years! Gabrielle Halko, a specialist in children's literature, earned her B.A. from the College of William and Mary, her MFA in creative writing from Bowling Green State University, and her Ph.D. in English from Western Michigan University. She specializes in children's poetry and has published a number of poems herself. Bret Johnston is a fiction writer who received his BA from Texas A & M University, his M.A. from Miami University of Ohio, and his M.F.A. from Iowa University. He comes to us with a two-book contract in hand, one for a volume of short stories and one for a novel.
At the other end of the spectrum, two more veterans of the Department are moving on. Elinore Partridge and Peter Schroeder are retiring, although Peter will take advantage of the early retirement program which means that we will be forced to let him teach up to half time for the next five years. I'm sure that many alums enjoyed courses with these two stalwarts, and we will miss them.
Speaking of Peter, he was recently honored by being named the outstanding faculty member in the College of Arts and Letters in the area of service. And at the same ceremony, Alexandria LaFaye was named the outstanding faculty member in the College in professional activity.
Alums may be interested in an event that we are planning for next fall to celebrate the recent publications of our creative writing faculty. We're thinking of a dinner or a reception in late Winter Quarter to which alumni, faculty, and students will be invited and which will feature short readings by Jim Brown, Juan Delgado, Pete Fairchild, Bret Johnston, and Alexandria LaFaye.
On a personal note, I am stepping down as Chair effective September 1. It's been a good gig, but enough is enough, and I want to get back to the classroom and my own research. And I feel very confident that I am leaving the Chair-ship in excellent hands, for Ron Chen is groomed to take over. Remember we're always happy to hear from you (909-537-5824).
Greetings
from the Chair
A big round of applause for Carol Petersen Haviland on her promotion to the rank of Professor.
Switching hats: In addition to the biggest administrative change, a new department chair, several other faculty members will trade roles in the coming year. Renée Pigeon, Jackie Rhodes and Sunny Hyon will now be guiding the M.A. Program, with Renée taking over from Elinore Partridge as Graduate Coordinator and overseeing the Literature Concentration, Jackie serving as Associate Coordinator of the Composition Concentration, and Sunny continuing in her current post as Associate Coordinator of the TESL Concentration. Mary Boland takes over from Renée as TA Coordinator, supervising our TESL, Composition and Literature TAs, while Kim Costino will complete the remaining year of Jackie Rhodes' term as Composition Coordinator. And at the final Graduate Committee meeting of the year, before committee members buckled down to review a fat stack of thesis proposals, Elinore was honored by faculty and graduate students for her long service to the MA program.
Nine graduate students were awarded Teaching Assistantships for next year. Our congratulations go to: Tim Johnson, Rebecca Marsh, and Andrea Hammock, who will teach English 170; Jackie Lepore, Nicole Khoury, Renee Gurley, Krista Dixon, and Judy Holliday, who will teach English 101, and Andréa Davis, who will be our first TESL TA, teaching English 86.
Jenny Andersen enjoyed a two-quarter sabbatical this academic year, the second of which she spent researching in Washington D.C. with the support of a Folger Library Short-Term Fellowship. At the Folger Library she worked on two books in progress: Andrew Marvell and the Invention of a Response to Polemical Print in Seventeenth-Century England (which derives from her dissertation) and Rhetorics of 'Reality': Pamphlet Genres and Truth Claims in Early Modern England, an essay collection she is editing with Peter Lake.
One of the highlights of her sojourn in Washington D.C. was attending a performance of Francis Beaumont's The Knight of the Burning Pestle at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton,Virginia. This was a big thrill since, as students know, she loves to teach this play, and since she is writing about it in an essay in progress, "The Theatrical Apprentice: Instances of a London Stereotype" for a volume entitled Playreading in Early Modern England, edited by Marta Straznicky.
Juan Delgado just completed his second year as chapter president of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society.
Ellen Gil-Gomez developed and taught a program through Extended Education for the Rialto School District, organized by Juan Delgado, that focused on educating teachers on Chicano/a Culture. She taught sessions on Chicano identity, history, literature, art, and major figures in Chicano/a culture.
Jenny Andersen, Kim Costino, Suzanne Lane & Luz Elena Ramirez have been awarded professional development awards for the coming year.
Luz Elena Ramirez was also awarded a Latin American Studies Faculty Travel Grant to Cuba for Summer 2002 and 2003. Last summer, she joined CSU Pomona colleagues in Havana and participated in a lecture series at Casa de las Americas. This year, she and Dr. Dhouti, of the Department of World Literatures and Languages, coordinated a CSUSB trip to Cuba in June 2003. In addition to organizing lectures on economics, history, U.S. and Cuban relations, Luz Elena notes that she'll be presenting her work on Graham Greene. And a Diversity Research Initiative Grant allowed her to develop the course "Contemporary Latino Fiction," a computer-assisted seminar offered in Spring 2003. The course web site is at the following URL: http://faculty.csusb.edu/ramirez/spring03/latino/syllabus.html.
It's been a stellar year for Jackie Rhodes: not only was she awarded the first Elizabeth Flynn award at this year's CCCC, she's signed a book contract with SUNY Press for From Manifesto to Modem: Feminism, Writing, and Resistance. The book should be in print by the end of the year. And as if that weren't enough excitement, Jackie reports that she and Aurora Wolfgang were wed on December 12, 2002, on the Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy. Aurora is Professor of French and Coordinator of the Women's Studies Program at CSUSB. Our very best wishes to them both, shown here in Glacier Park, and our congratulations to Aurora on her recent promotion to the rank of Professor.
Work in Progress: The Stories of May Stewart Doane
Margaret Doane has long been interested in the fiction of Willa Cather and Regional American Literature and has published extensively on these topics. But her initial interest in this scholarly area was sparked by fiction closer to home: the work of Margaret's grandmother.
May Stewart Doane (1878-1943), shown at the age of 32 in this 1910 photograph, was a prolific short story writer during the 1920s and 1930s and was widely published, particularly in children's magazines.
Mrs. Doane wrote fiction that was actually thinly veiled autobiography about her life as a Wyoming homesteader. In the stories, a seemingly unrelenting Wyoming landscape offers opportunities for epiphanies, and the land can be understood by loving it.
Over half the stories feature Mrs. Doane's two younger children, Mary Elizabeth and Leonard (Margaret's aunt and father) as central characters. The stories allowed Mrs. Doane to rewrite a difficult life: while her husband died when the children were toddlers and Mrs. Doane lived the harsh existence of a widowed country schoolteacher, in the stories her husband remains alive and the family intact and joyful.
Margaret has explored her grandmother's writing in her recent work: she gave a paper on the effect of the land, "Environment and Epiphany in the Short Stories of May Stewart Doane" at the Western Literature Association conference in October 2002 and will give a paper on the ways her grandmother rewrote her life in "Reality Rewritten and Romanticized in the Short Stories of May Stewart Doane" at the Western Literature Association conference in October 2003. She also wrote an introduction to her grandmother's stories for an anthology, The Writings of Wyoming Women Homesteaders, a forthcoming book that will reprint three short stories ("The Closed Trail," "The Sunshine Maker," and "The Christmas Woodpile") and a poem ("My Son").
As Phil Page notes above, two of our long-serving faculty members are changing their status,
and both were honored with gifts, encomia, and for some odd reason, ties, at a year-end party held on June 7th at the home of Phil Page. Peter Schroeder has decided to "FERP," and in typical Schroeder fashion, explains for us that curious term and coments on his plans:
"A FERPer (the attractive acronym stands for Faculty Early Retirement Program) is a kind of parasitical ghost. It continues to occupy its old office, to wander the corridors, to drone its way through classes, just like a real live faculty member. In certain slants of light you notice that it has become somewhat transparent, and it grows more transparent each year. But you can't get rid of it.
So I'll be FERPing away, droning through three or four classes a year, slowly increasing in transparency, and (perhaps) using my newly-available time to pick up and finish some of the uncompleted writings (scholarly and creative) that I've dropped along the path over the last thirty-six years. Or maybe I'll just pull weeds--I have a limitless supply of those, and it's an activity that doesn't require a lot of creative verve."
Elinore Partridge, shown here with her husband Ernest at the June party, has elected to retire without entering the ghostly limbo of FERP-hood, and shares with us her thoughts on this big step:
"'So, what exciting plans do you have for after you retire?' I'm asked. Most assume I'll travel because I've been studying and teaching travel writing. But I have had some wonderfully satisfying travels these past few years: to Russia several times, to Canada and Alaska twice, to England several times, and through Europe from Helsinki to Rome. Sometime I'd like to see Hawaii, and traveling to Australia and New Zealand are distant dreams.
To tell the truth, though, the most exciting thing about retirement is that I don't really have to make plans. For the past five decades, I've faithfully made daily To-Do lists, usually accomplishing only part of what I've set out to do. I look forward to plan-less days, in which I can garden, read, write, cook, and simply stop to enjoy the sun on the leaves of the trees I can see from my study windows, to marvel at the changing shadows on the mountains visible from the windows in our living room.
I'm joyfully anticipating trying some exotic recipes and, if they turn out all right, sharing them with friends and former colleagues through invitations to dinner. I'm eager to tackle the stacks and stacks of New York Reviews, Science, Atlantic, Harpers, and New Yorkers that have been piling up in various places in my house. I want to plant a real garden and touch up some worn patches on walls inside and out. I have a shelf full of books-new ones that I want to read for the first time, and old ones that I read many years ago but will re-read perhaps with new insights. Who knows, I might even finish my aborted book on travel writing and get it published just for my own satisfaction and not because I need it for a FAR.
Being at CSUSB has been both immensely rewarding and occasionally exhausting. I will miss teaching those classes whose students make me feel that nothing in the whole world could be more important or more satisfying. I will miss my colleagues, who have also become valued friends, although I'm hoping to keep in touch with them. Thank you all for filling this part of my life with many memorable experiences to take with me as I retire."
This year produced not only the usual crop of academic books, articles and essays, but three new honorary members of the Department. Lecturer Carmen Fye and Sam Stager welcomed their daughter Tana Jane on July 7, 2003 (7lbs, 12 oz, 19 inches). Lecturer Tim Melnarik and Kelly Duenckel greeted son Robert Oliver on May 12 (11 lbs, 12 oz, 22 inches). Administrative Support Assistant Marilyn Gareis and Bill Muha celebrated the birth of son Trent Gregory on December 25, 2002 (8 lbs, 11 oz, 20 1/2 inches).
Worth Reading
Recommendations from the English Department of noteworthy books & web resources. Alumni & friends, please send us your recommendations, too.
Books, etc.
Lani Guinier's Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice. Guinier turns the 1993 Attorney-General-nomination debacle into an exploration of race, politics, and grassroots activism. Inspiring. The Nation: I've subscribed for many years, but given the violence of the last year and the omnipresence of corporate media, my Nation was more valuable reading than ever. Finally, not a book, but music: the Charlie Hunter Quintet's Right Now Move is an excellent foray into loose, funky jazz. Hunter's invented an eight-string guitar that lets him do amazing musical things.
--Jackie RhodesFor mystery readers, Ian Rankin's series featuring Inspector John Rebus. Set in Edinburgh, Rankin's books offer complex plots, an intriguing protagonist, and a dark and cynical view of contemporary Scotland. Rebus has some of the qualities of Colin Dexter's late lamented Inspector Morse, though he listens to the Rolling Stones rather than to Mozart. The first in the series is Knots and Crosses; the most recent is Resurrection Men (Little, Brown, 2003). Television adapations of Rankin's novels featuring John Hannah ran on BBC America in September. --Renée Pigeon
Web Resources
Our new TA Coordinator, Mary Boland, has recently created a website for new TAs with pedagogical and scholarly resources. Juan Delgado has begun a website on poetry; he reports that "it has many wonderful resources for anyone interested in poetry and creative writing." Also check out Juan's own website, which features links for both students and teachers about poetry. And our new Department Chair recommends the official site for the LA Lakers, where among other info, one can find the scoop on the newest Lakers.
For interesting books at bargain prices online, try Daedalus Books which bills itself as offering "books for readers," and occasionally has some great buys and interesting finds for books and classical & jazz cd's. Also very popular with department faculty is the online site for Powell's Books in Oregon, offering both new and used books, interviews with writers, and many other features.
In Brief: Recent Professional Activities of Faculty & Graduate Students
Faculty & Graduate Student Publications
Suzanne Arakawa contributed an article, "Shades of Absence and Presence in Internment-Themed Literature: Dissent in the West Coast Narratives of John Okada and Toshio Mori" to Re(dis)coveries: Essays on Early Asian American Literature, which is currently under external review at Temple University Press.
Dave Carlson's article "Lawyer versus Farmer: Crevecouer's Letters and the Liberal Subject" has been accepted for publication and will appear in Early American Literature 38.3 (Fall 2003).
The Winter/Spring 2003 issue of the Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial Newsletter features Margaret Doane's "The Non-Interpretation of Dreams: Cather's Use of a Detail in Characterization."
Luz Elena Ramirez's entry on “The Latino Novel” will appear in the forthcoming volumeThe Companion to the American Novel, from Facts on File.
The editorial board of Arthuriana, official journal of the International Arthurian Society, now boasts Peter Schroeder as a member. HIs paper on "Lancelot and Casuistry" is to appear in a volume devoted to lying (the prevarication variety) in the Middle Ages.
Justin Scott Coe published an article ,"Haunting and Hunting: Bodily Resurrection and the Occupation of History in Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon" in the online e-journal Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture. Justin has been teaching for us as a part-time lecturer while completing his Ph.D. at Claremont Graduate University, with a specialization in Early American literature, having previously earned his M.A. in Anglo-American Literary Relations from University College London.
Faculty & Graduate Student Conference Presentations & Other Professional Activities
Jenny Andersen is now Treasurer of the Renaissance Conference of Southern California.
Suzanne Arakawa participated in a Claremont Graduate University Faculty Learning Communities - Using Technology to Enhance Teaching and Learning Community for 2002-2003 and also have received a CSUSB Intel ® Teach to the Future Pre-Service Grant for 2003. In March 2003, she presented on the subject of creating a student-centered learning classroom using digital video manipulation at the 15th Annual Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching - West: "The Arts and Crafts of Teaching and Learning." And earlier this year, a one-act play of Suzanne's was selected in a play festival competition sponsored by the Pomona College, Department of Theatre and Dance and was performed last month at the Allen Theatre.
Dave Carlson presented a paper, "The Alchemy of Character in Lord Dunsany's The Charwoman's Shadow," at the SW/Texas PCA/ACA Conference in Albuquerque in February.
CSUSB, the Writing Center, and the English Department were richly represented at this year's Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 19-22 in New York City. Current writing center tutors and graduate students Angela Asbell, Andrea Davis, Kathy Hansler, Judy Holliday, Annie Knight, and Joanne Maestre, along with English faculty Mary Boland and Carol Haviland, presented a panel, "The Cultures of Englishes: Coloring Our Coats Reciprocally." Their panel was part of a full-day writing center workshop, "The Writing Center as a Site of Transformation." Also, graduate student Charles Murillo presented a paper, "La Literaturea del Barrio Chicana/o y La Voz Asomada de la Chicana: Gender and Possibility in Chicana/o Print Culture," and Assistant Professor Kim Costino presented “Literacy and Immigration Narratives: The Production of the ‘Illiterate Other.'"
In addition to these current students and faculty members, former CSUSB graduate students and writing center tutors Richard Colby, Rebekah Shultz, Goli Mohammadi, and Ellen Cushman presented papers. Richard and Rebekah, now doctoral students at Bowling Green State University, presented "Computer Games and the Composition Classroom" and "Writing Identity in Everquest." Goli, who is finishing her thesis while living in Sonoma, presented "At the Intersection of Literacy, Identity Reclamation, and Technology: Iranian Women Creating Community Online." Ellen, now on the faculty at Michigan State University, presented "Multimedia Writing in the Community: An (Un)Satisfactory Model of Outreach" and "Multimedia in Service Learning: Bridging Digital Divides."
Juan Delgado and Ellen Gil-Gomez sponsored three CSUSB students who participated in the University of California, Riverside Undergraduate Research Conference. Manuel Caudillo, Jr., Jason Kleber, and German Loustaunau, (shown here with Professors Delgado and Gil-Gomez and an unidentified UCR student) presented their research on Chicano/a Literature.
Margaret Doane gave a paper on Cather's use of violence in her later novels at the Willa Cather International Conference in Breadloaf, Vermont in June 2003.
Holly Henry presented a paper on the topic of her recent book, Virginia Woolf and the Discourse of Science: The Aesthetics of Astronomy at the Hawa'ii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in January.
Sunny Hyon presented "Praise and Criticism in Faculty Peer Evaluations" at the American Association of Applied Linguistics conference in March 2003 in Arlington, Virginia.
Renée Pigeon gave a presentation on "Adapting Shakespeare" at the CSU Shakespeare Symposium at CSU Dominguez Hills in November, examining the recent modern-language adaptation of Othello by Andrew Davies, and chaired a session at the same meeting.
Jackie Rhodes presented "Guilty of Print? Pope, Montagu, and the Dangerous Association of Aesthetic and Legal Discourses" at the 2002 meeting of the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, Bellingham, WA, and "'Doctor No': Transforming Authority and (Im)Possibilities in Cyberspace" at the 2003 Conference on College Composition & Communication in New York.
Department Events in 2002-2003
The Friday Forum schedule for this year included presentations by Salaam Yousif on grading, Holly Henry discussing her newly published book on "Virginia Woolf and the Discourses of Science," and a special Graduate Student Research Forum featuring Kathy Hansler and Elizabeth Davis, shown here with Mary Boland, our Friday Forum organizer. The Forum year closed with Ron Chen's untitled but intriguing presentation, which was followed by the pop of a champagne cork thanks to Associate Dean Loren Filbeck, and congratulations and best wishes to the retiring Elinore Partridge, the FERPing Peter Schroeder, and the dechairing Phil Page. More Friday Forum Photos
Other Department-sponsored activities also flourished. The American Seminar hosted a series of stimulating events this year, including on its schedule presentations by Suzanne Lane, Dave Carlson, Phil Page, Justin Scott Coe, and history prof Brett Flehinger, as well as book discussions. The English Club once again sponsored its popular Film and Literature series, and the Amazing Part-timers series featured lectures on Peace Corps service, stockdogs, and travel in Japan from Justin Scott Coe, Anna Guthrie, and Liz Lagenfeld.
Alumni Spotlight: Chad DavidsonIt's been quite a year for Alumni Chad Davidson (BA '93), who has just completed his Ph.D. at SUNY-Binghampton. Chad and bride Gwen Smith were married on June 8, 2002 in the Adriondacks. Gwen is a librarian, and they met in graduate school in Texas, where Chad earned his M.A. at the University of North Texas. Chad's book, Consolation Miracle, the winner of the Crab Orchard manuscript competition for a first book of poetry, will be published by Southern Illinois Press in September. To round the year off, Chad accepted a tenure-track assistant professorship in Creative Writing at the State University of West Georgia. Chad's poems have been published in the Paris Review, DoubleTake, Pequod, Epoch, Notre Dame Review, Seneca Review, and the Colorado Review; among other publications. Our congratulations and best wishes to Chad and Gwen!
Alumni Updates: Our mailbag and e-mail box overflows this year with updates from our alumni. Thanks for writing--we really do want to hear from you. Send an e-mail with your news to rpigeon@csusb.edu, or write to : Prof. Renée Pigeon, Dept. of English, CSUSB, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407-2397. As Phil Page notes in his column, plans are in the works for our first alumni event this Winter featuring readings by our creative writing faculty. Please let us know if you're in the local area and would like to receive an invitation.
Three of our business-owning alumni sent us their URLs: Dell Richards' company, Dell Richards Publicity, can be found at dellrichards.com, while Charlotte (Elder) Gusay writes that we can check out her literary agency at mediastudio.com/gusay. And Melinda Herndon's scuba-diving business can be found at escuba.com and diversdiscount.com. (Yes, there's lots of things you can do with a degree in English!)
1960s
Lois Carson (BA '67) was awarded the Papal honor Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice on the nomination of Bishop Gerald Barnes of the Diocese of San Bernardino. Executive Director of Community Action/ Riverside County, she serves as President of the CSUSB Foundation Board of Directors.
1970s
Joan D. Clark (BA '72) is a librarian at Calimesa Elementary School. She has two children; Colin, 18, who enrolled as a freshman at CSUSB in Fall '02. Daughter Caitlin is 14. Her husband, Mike Clark, graduated from CSUSB in '71 and is the Associate Director of the San Bernardino Public Library.
Anna Slavick (BA '76, MA '80) is teaching at Maverick High School, a continuation school in Victorville.
1980s
Edward Barber (BA '83) has spent 17 years as a high school teacher at Victor Valley High in Victorville, CA.
Susan Fullerton (BA '82, MA '87) will complete her coursework and will begin comprehensive exams and her dissertation for a Ph.D. in Education (Reading and Literacy) at Capella University in Minneapolis, MN in May 2003, and will graduate in Dec. 2003
Melinda Herndon (BA '80) writes that she's spending time enjoying her family, scuba diving and working too much.
Dawn Michelle Killian (BA '80) is living in the Los Padres Forest. She operates a business, and is busy raising her 16-year-old son, Ruari Padraic Killian, and writing short stories and poems.
Jean (Whiteneck) Knight (BA '86) is a full-time administrator/ faculty member at Klamath Community College, in Klamath Falls, Oregon, where she is the Basic Writing Coordinator.
Ruth M. Nolan (BA '88) is a tenured Assistant Professor of English at the College of the Desert, Palm Desert. She is the editor of the book Bliss Now! (Select Books), and was coordinator for the Dialogue Thru Poetry Palm Springs/ UN Reading 2002. Her poetry was published in the 2002 Pacific Review.
Diana Ramseyer (BA '83, MA '00) is teaching English at RCC, CHC & MSJC. Diana reports that her son returned home safely from seven months in Afghanistan, and her daughter finished her first year as a Physics major at UCR.
LeJon Stewart (BA '89) is working in the entertainment industry as a casting director for "The Weakest Link", "The Other Half," and other game shows, and was featured in the film Auto Focus as Ivan Dixon. He's also at work on his Master's in Special Ed.
Lisa Stiefken (Bernard) (BA '85) is a Supervisor with the San Bernardino County Jobs and Employment services. She writes that she's "currently in the process of opening a Women's Resource ministry in Highland to help women who are experiencing unplanned pregnancies and other poor life choices. We are developing parenting classes and other life development classes."
1990s
Seana Brief, (BA '94) received her M.A. in Professional Writing from USC in 1996. She's been the owner of a small business since 1997, and is married to Gary Newcomb, a graphic artist.
Lloyd Campau (BA '97) is teaching Adult Education.
Khetam Dahi (BA '99, MA '01) has taught at CSULB in the Intensive English program and at LBCC in the ESL department for the last two years. Our congratulations to Khetam on the birth of her son, Jamal!
Amy Garrett (BA '96, MA '00) is teaching Honors English, TV production, and Student Council at Cajon High School. She writes that she "has a beautiful one-year-old son, Jacob, and a great marriage of five years."
Carol (Doucette) Hilbig (BA '91, MA '96) and her husband welcomed their first child, Grace Catherine, on August 22, 2002.
Helena Halmari (MA '90) has taken a job as an Assistant Professor at University of Florida, where she teaches in the Program in Linguistics and directs the Academic Spoken English Program.
Cristina Hanson, (BA English/Art '96) writes that "Since leaving Cal State I have lived in Ecuador, South America, for one year, taught ESL at UCR's International Education Programs (Extension), married and moved to Mooresville, North Carolina (the culture shock of living in the 'South' is a story in itself!) where I have started a business in photography. Oddly enough, the images that I have combined 'stories' with have been my most popular work!"
Mandana Khatibshahidi (BA '99) graduated from USC in 2001 with MPA degree, and is currently working as a Management Analyst for the city of Moreno Valley.
Denise Kruizenga-Muro (BA '92, MA '99) is currently teaching English at three local community colleges. She recently celebrated her first baby's first birthday.
William Lundquist (BA '93) has spent 4 ½ years as reporter for the Curry Coastal Pilot in Brookings, Oregon. He writes that he's starting to do more travel writing.
William (Bill) Meyer, Jr. (BA '92) writes that "I have been working in the field of Public Relations for the pat ten years. Currently, I am working for the management consultancy Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath, as the firm's Public Relations Manager. I have been working for the firm, based in their Costa Mesa office, since March of 2001." Bill, who lives in Claremont, has also been working as a volunteer for the last year with the Pomona Valley Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, as a member of their Public Relations Committee.
Henry Mollet (BA '98) was married on May 16, 2001 to Elizabeth Warren. Their son, Solomon Henry York Mollet, was born on June 28, 2002. Henry has been teaching at Canyon View High School since 1999.
Lydia Neel (BA '92) has spent ten years in public schools teaching RSP English. She writes "I have acquired empathy for English teachers universally an astute awareness of political correctness--and can still smile now and then."
Teri Owen (BA '91, MA '94) is teaching sophomore college prep and honors English at San Gorgonio High School and is teaching writing classes at SBVC.
Bunlam Phayrin (BA '94, MA '00) teaches at Cathedral City High School. He has been married for seven years to CSUSB alumna Brandy Colunga. They have two sons, Thomas and Peter.
Cynthea Preston (BA '91, MA '92) is the new Dean of Instruction at Lake Lalwe Community College. and the Dean of Science, Math, Computers, PE, Culinary Arts, Vocational Ed, and Business.
Sally Schroeder (BA '97) is busy teaching English on-line to high school students, which she describes as "challenging and fun."
Congratulations to Jim Van Norman (BA '90), who received his MA in English Literature from Cal Poly Pomona in 2001.
And congratulations to Tracy Vaughn (BA '95) who graduated with a Ph.D. in English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in May 2003. She's currently teaching African American Literature at Smith College, Northampton, MA.
Faye Vallone Visconti (BA '96) has been teaching for the past 6 years, and is currently teaching at Rancho Cucamonga High School. She passed the National Board for teachers.
Elisabeth Ann Wenzl (BA '98) is currently working as an account executive for CBS Television sales after returning to California from Miami, Florida. There, she was employed by Zenith Media, an advertising agency. In her free time she is "TA'ing" a TV-spot buying class at UCLA Extension. She writes that she's saving money to return to college for her M.A.
2000s
Shaylesa Borchard (BA '02) is working as a substitute teacher in Fontana and applying for substitute teaching positions in Lake Elsinore and Murrieta, and has applied to be on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ.
Nancy de Brown (BA '00) just completed a TAship at CSUSB, where she is working towards a Master's in English Composition with a concentration in TESL. Her active research interests concern teaching freshman composition and how students view themselves as literate citizens. A volunteer for the Riverside County Library Literacy Program, Nancy believes that she can make a difference in a person's life by teaching reading a few hours a month.
Kori K. Donahue (BA '00) is teaching 10th and 11th grades at Diamond Bar High School, and is currently attending the University of La Verne for her M.A. in education.
James Fusaro (BA '02) is nearing completion of his Multiple Subject Teaching Credential Program at CSUSB.
Brian Krause (BA '02) says he's "still looking for a decent job."
Ann Modzelewski (BA '01, MA '03) has accepted a four-year fellowship from UCR, where she will pursue her Ph.D. Congratulations, Ann!
Joseph Nieto (BA '00) reports that he was married July 15, 2000 and is working as a 6th grade teacher in Riverside. He traveled in Europe in Summer 2002.
Jacqulyn (Huston) Wagner (BA '01) was recently married, and is in her second year teaching High School English at Beaumont High School and is working on her M.A. at CSUSB.
Jennifer Varney (BA '01) reports that she's teaching at Norco High School, working on her M.A. at Chapman University, and is very, very busy!
Future Plans:
New graduate and commencement speaker Cassie Warta (BA '03) has accepted a job at Rancho Cucamonga High School in the Etiwanda School district.
Other alumni we heard from:
Cassaundra Andrews, Carolyn Buhl, Courniece Davis, Angela Dietrich, Larry Gallego, Joe Maderick , Penelope (Quibell) Smith, Judith Stillwell, and Gera Unmack
We love to hear from our alumni. Send an e-mail with your news & photos to rpigeon@csusb.edu, or write to : Professor Renée Pigeon, Dept. of English, CSUSB, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407-2397. And please remember that when you contribute to the University's Annual Fund, you can designate the English Department to receive your contribution.
Thanks for their assistance with this issue of English News to Dottie Cartwright, Margaret Doane, Alexandria LaFaye & Monica Orduna, and special thanks to Bruce Golden.
English News Editor: Renée Pigeon
© 2003 CSUSB Department of English