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Faculty & Staff

The main office and faculty mailboxes are in Reid 136. The phone number is 509.359.6039.

The administrative assistant is Diane Weber.

The Composition Program Office is in Reid. The phone number is 509.359.7064.

The administrative assistant is Mina Simonsen. 

  • Matthew Binney, PhD
    Matthew Binney, PhD
    Assistant Professor
    Phone: 509.359.7061
    Specialization
    My Specializations and interests include long 18th century British literature, cosmopolitanism, travel literature, critical theory, moral and political philosophy.
    Biography

    Auburn University, PhD, 2004

    I am interested particularly in early modern notions of and responses to the foreign in British and European travel accounts and how these inform philosophical and cultural discourse. I am also a Contributing Editor for The Scriblerian: http://www.scriblerian.net/.

    Recent Publications

    "The "New" Nature in the Language of Travel: Domingo Navarrete's and John Locke's Natural Law Rhetoric," 1650-1850. Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era (forthcoming)

    "Travel Experience and the 'New' Nature in early English Eighteenth-Century Travel Collections," Revue LISA / LISA e-journal (April 2011).

    "Milton, Locke, and the Early Modern Framework of Cosmopolitan Right," Modern Language Review 105.1 (2010).

    "The Justice of Tom Jones: A Reevaluation of Henry Fielding's Moral Theory," 1650-1850. Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era 14 (2007).

    "Late Seventeenth-Century, North American Travel Narratives: Nation-ness and Self-Reflectivity," The Seventeenth Century 21.2 (Autumn 2006): 383-403.

    Courses Taught

    Survey of British Literature I, II, & III
    17th -Century Literature and Culture
    18th -Century Literature and Culture
    Critical Methodologies

  • Polly Buckingham
    Polly Buckingham
    Senior Lecturer
    Phone: 509.359.6022
    Specialization

    Fiction writing, Composition, Poetry writing. Areas of interest include: modern, contemporary and international fiction and poetry; speculative fiction; Southern fiction.

    Biography

    Polly Buckingham is the editor of StringTown, a Northwest magazine of creative writing, and of StringTown Press, publishing new Northwest authors. Polly has been teaching at Eastern since 1999. In addition to teaching, she has worked as an editor, independent bookseller, transcriptionist, ghost writer, abridger, fisher person and deckhand. Her fiction and poetry appear in national literary magazines.

    Recent Publications

    Literary Review
    New Orleans Review
    North American Review
    Tampa Review

    Courses Taught

    Fundamentals of English Composition
    College Composition: Exposition and Argumentation
    College Composition: Analysis, Research and Documentation
    Introduction to Fiction
    Introduction to Literature
    Introduction to Creative Writing
    Advanced Creative Writing-Poetry
    Advanced Creative Writing-Short Story

  • Teena A. M. Carnegie, PhD
    Teena A. M. Carnegie, PhD
    Associate Professor, Chair
    Phone: 509.359.2400
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    Technical Communication and Rhetoric

    Biography

    University of British Columbia, BA
    University of Waterloo, MA and PhD
    Purdue University Postdoctoral Fellow

    Dr. Carnegie has been teaching at Eastern Washington University since 2003. As director of the technical communication program from 2006 to 2009, she revised the program, transforming it from an option into a BA. She is presently chair of the Department of English. Her research interests include program administration, service learning, problem-based pedagogy, information design, and technical communication's role in the information society. She has published in various journals including TCQ, Computers and Composition, Technical Communication, Kairos and Business Communication Quarterly. She is a member of the Association of Teachers in Technical Writing and of the Council of Programs in Scientific and Technical Communication.

    Recent Publications

    (Forthcoming 2011). Nardone, C.F., Johnson, M.K. & Carnegie, T.A.M., Technical Communication as Problem Solving. (online textbook) Kendall Hunt.
    (2010). Providing RefWorks Training for the University Library. In M.A. Cooksey and K.T. Olivares (Eds.), Quick Hits on Service Learning. (pp. 147-148). Bloomington IN: Indiana UP.
    (2009). Interface as Exordium: The Rhetoric of Interactivity. Computers and Composition (28)2 164-173.
    (2007). Integrating Multiple Contexts into Assessment of U.S. Technical Communication Programs. Technical Communication 54(4) 447-458.

    Courses Taught

    Introduction to Technical Communication
    Professional Writing
    Software Documentation
    Information Design
    Technical Editing
    Proposal Writing
    Writing in Organizations
    Professional Development in Rhetoric and Technical Communication
    Canadian Literature

  • Jimmy Coy
    Jimmy Coy
    Senior Lecturer
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    Undergraduate classes in composition, technical writing and literature

    Biography

    Eastern Washington University, BA in Teaching English in Secondary Institutions (1998)
    Eastern Washington University, MA in Rhetoric & Composition (2000)

    While achieving my MA, I have taught in the Applied Education Department of Spokane Community College as well as working as a classroom technician in developing writing and reading classes where I developed my interest in literacy and critical thinking. I have been a full-time instructor at EWU since 2000-2001, and in that time, it has been my pleasure to participate in several professional presentations, including the CCCC conference of 2003 and a few PNW conferences for the TETYC organization. I continue to work in post-secondary assessment of composition, teaching critical thinking through composition and developing literacy.

    Courses Taught

    Fundamentals of English Composition
    College Composition, Exposition and Argumentation
    Introduction to Literature
    College Composition, Research, Analysis, and Documentation
    Introduction to Technical Communications

  • Dana C. Elder, PhD
    Dana C. Elder, PhD
    Professor and Director of University Honors
    Hargreaves Hall 217
    Phone: 509/359-6305
    Biography

    Washington State University: Rhetoric, Composition, and English Literature, PhD (August 1985)
    University of Washington: Comparative Literature, MA (1975)
    University of Washington: Spanish Language and Literature, BA (1973)

    Dr. Dana C. Elder is proud to serve his talented students and colleagues at EWU. With the insightful and energetic Mary Benham, he manages the University Honors program. He teaches and is professionally active in classical ethics and rhetoric and in writing pedagogy. A seasoned educator, he has published articles, personal essays, poems, and textbooks. His "Expanding the Role of Personal Writing in the Composition Classroom" received the National Council of Teachers of English TET-YC Best Article of the Year Award for the year 2000. He believes that teachers and writers serve the greater good, and he is especially fond of esoteric Hellenic Greek terms.

    Recent Publications

    "Writing Classical Rhetoric." Rhetoric Review 30.1 (2011): 104-107.
    "Return to the Western Highlands." Teaching English in the Two-Year College 38.1 (Sept. 2010): 62.
    "Father's Photos." Teaching English in the Two-Year College 37.1 (Sept. 2009): 66.
    "Worth Fighting For." Teaching English in the Two-Year College 36.4 (May 2009): 356.
    "The Members of Rhetoric." Rhetoric Review 27.3 (2008): 327-330.

  • Anthony Flinn, PhD
    Anthony Flinn, PhD
    Professor of English
    Phone: 509.359.4659
    Vita: Download
    Biography

    Grinnell College BA
    University of Washington MA and PhD

    I have been teaching at EWU since 1991. I leave winter quarter to serve as Eastern's faculty legislative liaison in Olympia.

    Recent Publications

    Approaching Authority: Transpersonal Gestures in the Poetry of Yeats, Eliot and Williams. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1997.
    "'Laughing at the Names': The Blunting of Male Incursion in Williams' Paterson." The William Carlos Williams Review, Spring 1997.

    Courses Taught

    British and American literature surveys
    Introduction to Poetry
    20th Century Major Authors
    Masterpieces of the Western World

  • Logan Greene, PhD
    Logan Greene, PhD
    Assistant Professor
    Phone: 509.359.7053
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    Medieval literature, rhetoric, mythology

    Biography

    University of New Mexico, PhD in English: Rhetoric and Writing (2004)
    University of Oregon, MA English: Medieval Studies (1974)
    University of California, Berkeley, BA English Literature (1972)


    I taught for many years at community colleges before entering the doctoral program at the University of New Mexico. After defending my dissertation, I joined the faculty at Eastern Washington University, where I work in the literature, composition and humanities programs.
    My dissertation analyzes the rhetorical strategies of five women from different historical periods, finding commonalities that constitute a discourse strategy characteristic of women's rhetoric. These women - Hildegard of Bingen, Margery Kempe, Aphra Behn, Sojourner Truth and Helene Cixous - created rhetorical strategies that made productive use of their positions at the margins of institutionalized power.

    Recent Publications

    "'My Masculine part the Poet in Me: Sex as Rhetoric in the Work of Aphra Behn." In-between. In press.
    The Discourse of Hysteria: The Topoi of Humility, Physicality, and Authority in Women's Rhetoric. The Edwin Mellen Press, 2009.
    "'What Does a Woman Want?' Embracing the Goddess in Medieval Romance." Literatura em Debate 2.3 (Dec. 2008), online at www.fw.uri.br/publicacoes/literaturaemdebate.

    Courses Taught

    Introduction to Old English
    Chaucer
    Survey of Medieval Literature
    Introduction to Religion
    Mythology

  • Christopher Howell
    Christopher Howell
    Professor
    Phone: 509.359.4966
    Specialization

    English and Creative Writing

    Biography

    Pacific Lutheran University, 1963-66
    Oregon State University, 1966-68, BA
    Portland State University, 1970-71, MA
    University of Massachusetts, 1971-73, MFA

    I was a military journalist during the Vietnam War, after which I attended graduate school. I worked odd jobs, and was a private investigator for awhile before embarking on a teaching career during which I taught at colleges and universities in Massachusetts, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Kansas. I have published eight full-length collections of poems and have two more forthcoming, plus a collection of essays and an anthology. I have been awarded two National Endowment Creative Writing fellowships, and fellowships from the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, the Oregon arts Commission, the King County Arts Commission and the Washington Artist Trust. I have also been awarded the Washington State Governor's Award, the Washington State Book Award, and a number of other prizes and distinctions. I founded Lynx House Press in the mid-'70s and was its director and principal editor for 30 years. I have also been director and senior editor of Eastern Washington University Press, and editor of the journal Willow Springs and several other literary publications.

    Recent Publications

    Light's Ladder (U. of Washington Press), 2004
    Just Waking (Lost Horse Press, Sandpoint, ID) 2003
    Memory and Heaven (Eastern Washington U. Press), 1996
    Though Silence: the Ling Wei Texts (True Directions, San Francisco, CA), 1991

    Courses Taught

    Graduate Poetry Workshop
    The Moderns and Modernism
    Internship in Literary Publishing
    Special Topics in Creative Writing, Surrealism
    Special Topics in Creative Writing, The Spy in Literature and Film
    Contemporary World Poetry and Poetics

  • Jonathan Johnson, PhD
    Jonathan Johnson, PhD
    Associate Professor
    Phone: 509.359.4969
    Specialization

    Creative Writing (Poetry and Nonfiction)

    Biography

    Northern Michigan University, BA (1990)
    Northern Michigan University, MA (1992)
    Western Michigan University, PhD (1997)

    Jonathan Johnson is the author of the poetry books Mastodon, 80% Complete (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2001) and In the Land We Imagined Ourselves (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2010), and the memoir Hannah and the Mountain: Notes Toward a Wilderness Fatherhood (University of Nebraska Press, 2005). His poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, American Poetry: The Next Generation, and numerous other anthologies, as well as Southern Review, Ploughshares, North American Review, and Prairie Schooner. Johnson migrates between a cabin in Idaho; the Lake Superior coastal town of Marquette, Mich.; Scotland and eastern Washington.

    Recent Publications

    In the Land We Imagined Ourselves (Poetry Book)
    Hannah and the Mountain: Notes Toward a Wilderness Fatherhood (Nonfiction Book)
    Mastodon, 80% Complete (Poetry Book)

    Courses Taught

    Poetry workshops (Master of Fine Arts Program and undergraduate)
    Nonfiction workshop (MFA Program)
    Poetry I: Form and Theory (MFA Program)
    Imagination and Wilderness (MFA Program)
    Literature of the Northwest (MFA Program / undergraduate cross-listed)
    Researching and Writing in the Field: Yellowstone (MFA Program / undergraduate cross-listed)

  • Molly K. Johnson, PhD
    Molly K. Johnson, PhD
    Assistant Professor Director of Rhetoric & Technical Communication
    Phone: 509.359.6037
    Specialization

    Scientific and technical communication, discourse studies, usability, writing in the disciplines

    Biography

    Texas A&M University, MA and PhD
    University of St. Thomas, BA

    Teaching: 2008-present: Eastern Washington University, Rhetoric and Technical Communication
    2001-2008: University of Houston-Downtown, Professional Writing

    Recent Publications

    Johnson, M.K., Carnegie, T.A.M., and Nardone, C.F. (2011). Technical Communication as Problem Solving. (eBook). Kendall-Hunt: Dubuque, IA.

    Johnson, M.K., Symes, L., Bernard, L., Landson, M.J., and Carroll, T.L. (July/August 2007). "Mentoring disadvantaged nursing students through technical writing workshops." Nurse Educator.

    Courses Taught

    Technical Editing
    Information Design
    Proposal Writing
    Introduction to Technical Communication
    Issues in Technical Communication: Senior Capstone
    Seminar in Professional Preparation
    Technical Communication: Practice, Theory, and Pedagogy
    Independent Studies: Environmental Discourse, Teaching Technical Communication

  • Garrett Kenney, PhD
    Garrett Kenney, PhD
    Associate Professor of English/Religious Studies
    Phone: 509.359.6032
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    New Testament Studies and Religious Leadership

    Biography

    Dr. Kenney holds a BA in religious studies from Whitworth College, an MA in religious studies from Gonzaga University and a PhD in leadership studies from Gonzaga University. He has published several books in the field of the New Testament and/or leadership studies. He has taught several honors, humanities and English courses for EWU since 1986.

    Recent Publications

    Mark's Gospel: Lectures and Lessons (University Press of America, 2007)
    Translating H/holy S/spirit (University Press of America, 2007)
    Leadership in John: An Analysis of the Situation and Strategy of the Gospel and Epistles of John (University Press of America, 2000).

    Courses Taught

    Classics in Literature
    Introduction to Religion
    Great World Views
    East-West Philosophies and Religions
    Literature of the Bible

  • Natalie Kusz
    Natalie Kusz
    Associate Professor
    Phone: 509.359.4955
    Specialization

    Creative Writing and Nonfiction

    Biography

    University of Alaska Fairbanks, BA in English
    University of Alaska Fairbanks, MFA in Creative Writing

    Natalie Kusz is the author of the memoir Road Song, and has published essays in Harper's, Threepenny Review, O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, and other periodicals. Her work has earned, among other honors, a Whiting Writer's Award, a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the NEA, the Bush Foundation and the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College. A former faculty member of Bethel College and of Harvard University, she has been at Eastern since 2001.

    Recent Publications

    Ascent: "The Fat Lady's Mirror," Spring 2009
    Scoot Over, Skinny: "On Being Invisible," ©Harcourt Brace, 2005
    Real Simple: "Ready, Set, Go," December/January 2003
    Organic Style: "Homestead Act," July 2003.

    Courses Taught

    Undergraduate Writer's Workshop
    Form and Theory of Literary Nonfiction
    Nonfiction I: Ancient Roots through 19th-century
    Graduate Writer's Workshop

  • Samuel Ligon
    Samuel Ligon
    Assistant Professor of English/Creative Writing
    Phone: 509.359.4967
    Biography
    University of Illinois, BA
    University of New Hampshire, MA
    The New School, MFA

    I've taught at EWU since 2004. Before that I taught at Suffolk Community College, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Oakland University. I'm the editor of Willow Springs: http://willowsprings.ewu.edu/

    Recent Publications

    Drift and Swerve, stories (Autumn House, 2009);
    Safe in Heaven Dead, a novel (HarperCollins, 2003).
    Stories published in a number of journals, including The Quarterly, New England Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Post Road, Gulf Coast, New Orleans Review, and elsewhere.

    Courses Taught

    Graduate and undergraduate fiction workshops
    Form and theory of fiction
    Literary editing and design

  • Paul Lindholdt, PhD
    Paul Lindholdt, PhD
    Professor of English
    Phone: 509.359.2812
    Fax: 509.359.4269
    Vita: Download

    Specializations

    American literature, environmental studies, online learning

    Biography

    Penn State University, PhD, 1985
    Western Washington University, MA and BA, 1980 and 1978
    EWU Professor of English, 2007; Associate, 2003; Assistant, 2000; Visiting Assistant, 1997; Lecturer, 1994-1997
    Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Idaho, 1990-1994

    Worked through college as a homebuilder, industrial waste recycler, Teamster, longshoreman, and forklift operator. Have won awards from the Academy of American Poets and Society of Professional Journalists; published some 170 books, book chapters, articles, essays, columns, reviews, and poems; given more than 100 public presentations, including a 2010 Hilliard Endowment in the Humanities address; and serve on editorial advisory boards for the Journal of Ecocriticism (University of British Columbia) and European Journal of American Culture (University of Kent, UK). 

    Books: John Josselyn, Colonial Traveler: A Critical Edition of Two Voyages to New-England (Univ. Press of New England, 1988); Cascadia Wild: Protecting an International Ecosystem; History and Folklore of the Cowichan Indians; Holding Common Ground: The Individual and Public Lands in the American West; The Canoe and the Saddle: A Critical Edition; and In Earshot of Water: Notes from the Columbia Plateau (literary nonfiction, University of Iowa Press, 2011).

    Recent Publications

    "The Blacksmith." Portland Monthly Jan. 2012: 68-9.

    "From Sublimity to Ecopornography: Assessing the Bureau of Reclamation Art Collection" (environmental history). 
    Journal of Ecocriticism 1.1 (January 2009): 1-25.

    "Giving Voices," "Mary Dyer," "American Triptych," "Sarah Hawkridge," and "The Great Awakening" (poems). 
    Common-place (online journal sponsored by American Antiquarian Society).

    Courses Taught

    Graduate Research in Literature (English 521)
    Environmental Literature (498/598)
    Faulkner and Frost (436/553)
    Whitman and Dickinson (436/553)
    American Literature I (343)
    American Literature II (344)
    The Graphic Novel (315) 


  • Judith K. Logan, PhD
    Judith K. Logan, PhD
    Associate Professor of English
    Phone: 509.359.6035
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    American Literature, Renaissance Literature, Melville, Hawthorne, Twain, Dickinson

    Biography

    Whitworth University, BA
    Eastern Washington University, MA
    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, PhD

    I have taught at EWU since 1996 and have directed the undergraduate and graduate programs in literature since 1998. Other research interests are Anne Tyler, Doug Marlette and Spenser.

    Recent Publications

    "The Catnip and the Amaranth: Melville's Struggle with the Ever-Encroaching Appetite for God." Christianity and Literature, Spring 2002, Volume 51, Number 3.
    "Melville's Last, Grave Joke?" Melville Society Extracts, February 2002.
    "Christianity, Inc.: The God of the Machine and the Church of the Almighty Dollar in Sinclair Lewis's Babbitt." This is Just to Say: NCTE Assembly on American Literature, Summer 2001.

    Courses Taught

    Shakespeare
    Masterpieces of the Western World
    Seventeenth Century Seminar
    Introduction to Literature
    Introduction to Poetry
    Introduction to Fiction
    Milton
    British Survey I
    British Survey II
    Literary Studies Capstone
    Graduate Research and Methodology
    Melville Seminar
    Major Figures courses in Melville, Hawthorne, Twain, James, and Wharton

  • Tracey McHenry, PhD
    Tracey McHenry, PhD
    Associate Professor of English
    Phone: 509.359.2829
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    Grammar, Linguistics, English as Second Language, World Englishes

    Biography

    University of Portland, BA in English Literature
    Purdue University, MA and PhD English linguistics with specialization in ESL and cultural studies

    Before coming to Eastern in 2000, Dr. McHenry taught at Purdue University and the University of Portland. While she often works with graduate students in Rhetoric & Technical Communication and TESL, her passion is introducing undergraduates to the joys of language study in her linguistics, grammar, and history of English courses. Her research interests are the politics of grammar education, Native American language issues, World Englishes, and non-native speakers as ESL teachers.

    Recent Publications

    2009: Review of English in the World:Global Rules, Global Roles. World Englishes. 28 (1), 138-140.
    2005: "Non-Native Speakers of English as ESL Professionals: An Update on the Issues." WAESOL Newsletter 30 (3),10-11.
    2002: "World Englishes and Teaching English as a Second Language." World Englishes 21, 449-455.
    2002: "Technology and Native American Language Renewal." Language Learning and Technology 6 (2), 102-115. Online at http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num2/mchenry/default.html. 

    Courses Taught

    Language Structure and Use
    Grammar for Teachers
    Modern Grammar
    History of the English Language
    Research Methods 

  • John Mason, PhD
    John Mason, PhD
    Professor of English
    Reid 159 F
    Specialization

    American literature and English education

    Biography

    University of Northern Colorado, BA
    University of Oregon, MA and PhD

    Began career as a secondary teacher of English. Over 20 years teaching experience at Youngstown State University (Ohio), Western Washington University, California State University Northridge, and University of Wisconsin La Crosse. Numerous administrative roles, including chair, associate vice president, dean, and provost at universities in the West, Northwest, and Midwest. Served as Associate director of two regional accrediting bodies: the Higher Learning Commission (NCA) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
    Recent Publications

    Three essays in the Walt Whitman Encyclopedia. "Catalogues," "Oratory," "Passage to India." Ed. Donald Kummings. Greenwood Press, 1998.
    "Heeding Our Strokes: Curriculum Revision at Western Washington University." Association of Departments of English Bulletin. Fall, 1994, pp. 16-18.
    "The Poet-Reader Relationship in 'Song of Myself." Approaches to Teaching Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Ed. Donald Kummings. New York: Modern Language Association, 1990, pp. 41-48.
    "Walt Whitman's Catalogues: Rhetorical Means for Two Journeys in 'Song of Myself.'" Rpt. in On Whitman: The Best From American Literature. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1989, pp. 187-202.

    Courses Taught

    EWU:

    Intro to Poetry
    College Composition
    Classics in Literature

    Elsewhere:

    Specialty courses in American Lit., Gay & Lesbian Lit., and English Education

  • Jamie Tobias Neely
    Jamie Tobias Neely
    Assistant Professor of Journalism
    Phone: 509.359.7056
    Specialization

    News commentary, editorial writing, feature writing, editing and column writing

    Biography

    University of Wyoming, BA,
    Eastern Washington University, MFA,
    Gonzaga, MA

    Jamie Tobias Neely joined the EWU Journalism Program faculty as an assistant professor in 2008. She is a long-time Spokane journalist and worked for the Spokesman-Review for 21 years, as a features editor, feature writer, columnist, associate editor and member of the newspaper's editorial board. She has won numerous awards for her writing and editing. She writes a monthly op-ed column for the newspaper's opinion pages, and in 2010 that column won a first place award in the editorial and commentary category of the 2009 Northwest Excellence in Journalism competition.

    Recent Publications

    "Families Need More Support," op-ed column, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash., Dec. 5, 2010
    The Moderns and Modernism
    "Even Here, It Gets Better," op-ed column, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash., Nov. 7, 2010
    "Another Vet, A New Struggle," op-ed column, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash., Oct. 10, 2010
    "Finally, Army Offers to Help Colonel," op-ed column, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash., Sept. 19, 2010

    Courses Taught

    Mass News Media
    Editing
    Magazine Article Writing
    Critical Writing

  • LaVona L. Reeves, PhD
    LaVona L. Reeves, PhD
    Professor of English and Women's & Gender Studies; MATESL Program Director
    Phone: 509.359.7060
    Specialization

    Linguistics, Women's Literature, Composition, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

    Biography

    University of Nebraska, BA: French (History and English emphases)
    Columbia University, MA: Languages & Literature (TESOL)
    Indiana University of Pennsylvania, PhD: English/Linguistics and Rhetoric

    MATESL founder, LaVona Reeves, has taught in New York Cityand Boise Public Schools, Boise State University, the University of Wyoming, Osaka University and Harvard University. As President of TESOL affiliate, Washington Association for the Education of Speakers of Other Languages, she initiated a teaching award to honor deceased co-founder of the undergraduate TESL Program, Sally Wellman. Dr. Reeves works closely with graduate students conducting original research in her writing classes and has published in composition, TESOL, literature and gender studies. Awarded EWU Professor of the Year in 2007, she has also been widely recognized for university and community service.

    Recent Publications

    "Action Research, Community, and Hope: Thich Nhat Hanh, bell hooks, and Post-modernity." WAESOL World. 2011. http://waesol.org/quarterly/
    "'Buckled Up Inside': Teaching ELLs About Disabilities." WAESOL World. Spring 2010. https://docs.google.com/View? id=dhdsbdqf_8crp4n9hc
    "Self-Doubt and an Ethic of Care Inspire Women Leaders." Women in Higher Education (Sarah Gibbard Cook). http://www.wihe.com/viewArticle.jsp?id=18643
    "Minimizing Writing Apprehension in the Learner-Centered Classroom." The English Journal 86,6. http://www.jstore.org/stable/820368

    Courses Taught

    Composition for Multi-lingual Writers
    Women, Literature, and Social Change
    Grammar for Teachers
    Second Language Acquisition
    Second Language Curriculum Design and Assessment
    Modern Language Methodology

  • Tim Roe
    Tim Roe
    Lecturer
    Reid 153-F
    Phone: 509.359.6017

    Specialization

    Technical and Professional Writing, Composition, and Developmental Writing

    Biography

    I graduated from Washington State University with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in geology, professional writing, and digital technology and culture. I graduated from New Mexico State University with a master's degree in English, a focus in rhetoric and professional communication, and an emphasis in composition. I taught English composition, technical writing, and business writing, along with serving as the assistant to the writing program administrator. In this capacity I co-led a committee that evaluated and re-designed the curriculum for our freshman composition program, among many other responsibilities. I completed and internship with a developmental writing class at Dona Ana Community College, and I taught part-time for two quarters at Spokane Community College. I began teaching as a lecturer at Eastern Washington University in the fall of 2009.

    Recent Publications

    Editor of Paideia 12, New Mexico State University's Freshman Composition course book

    Courses Taught

    Fundamentals of English Composition
    College Composition: Exposition and Argumentation
    College Composition: Analysis, Research and Documentation
    Introduction to Technical Communication

  • Grant Smith, PhD
    Grant Smith, PhD
    Professor of English / Humanities Coordinator
    Phone: 509.359.6023
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    Shakespeare, Comparative Literature and Onomastics

    Biography

    Reed College, BA in Literature
    University of Nevada, MA in English Language
    University of Delaware, PhD in Renaissance Literature

    Dr. Smith came to Eastern in 1968, served as chair of the English Department from 1978-1984, coordinator of humanities since 1979, and interim vice provost 1987-1988. He has initiated 13 different courses of his own as well as numerous programs, e.g., religious studies, MFA in creative writing, rhetoric and technical writing. While vice provost he initiated the Spokane Consortium for Minority Outreach and has been the recipient of major grants. In the early '80s he was the local TV host and scriptwriter for Here's Shakespeare, introducing the BBC productions. He has served on numerous boards, e.g., Spokane Symphony, has an international reputation in onomastics and is frequently interviewed by national media.

    Recent Publications

    Smith, G. "A Semiotic Theory of Names." Onoma 41 (forthcoming 2009).
    Smith, G. "Ethnic, Class, and Occupational Identities in Shakespeare's Names." Proceedings, 23rd International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, Names in Contact: Names in a Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural, Multi-Ethnic World. York University, Toronto, forthcoming 2009.
    Smith, G. "Sea Names and the Preservation of Ecosystems." Proceedings, The Fifthteenth International Seminar on Sea Names. The 32nd International Geographical Congress Special Session. Sung Ji Mun Hwa Sa [Publishing Co.] (2009): 73-81.
    Smith, G. "Names as Art: An Introduction." Onoma 40 (2005 [printed 2008]): 7-26.

    Courses Taught

    Shakespeare
    Introduction to Poetry
    Classics in Literature
    Masterpieces of the Western World
    Arts and Ideas
    Western Tradition

  • Gregory Spatz
    Gregory Spatz
    Associate Professor, Program Director
    Phone: 509.359.4972
    Specialization

    Creative Writing - Fiction

    Biography

    Haverford College, BA
    University of New Hampshire, MA
    University of Iowa Writers Workshop, MFA

    Gregory Spatz is the author of the novels Fiddler's Dream and No One But Us, and of a story collection, Wonderful Tricks. His stories have appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, Iowa Review, Epoch, Santa Monica Review, Kenyon Review, Shenandoah, and New England Review. He is the recipient of a Michener Fellowship, an Iowa Arts Fellowship, and a Washington State Book Award and three Washington State Artist Trust grants; he also plays the fiddle in the JUNO-nominated bluegrass band John Reischman and the Jaybirds. He teaches semi-regularly on the faculty at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers as well as at EWU.

    Recent Publications

    Short stories: "String," Epoch; "The Bowmaker's Cats," Kenyon Review; "Stay Away," The New England Review. Novella: "Time Trials," Santa Monica Review. Novel: Fiddler's Dream (SMU)

    Courses Taught

    Form and Theory of Fiction
    Creative Writing Workshop, Undergraduate
    Graduate Writing Workshop, Fiction
    Fiction II-The Short Form
    Fiction III-Selected Topics in Craft

  • Henry-York Steiner, PhD
    Henry-York Steiner, PhD
    Professor of English
    Phone: 509.359.2896
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    English literature Generalist, Religious Studies, Humanities, Classical literature, Mythology, Folklore

    Biography

    Grinnell College, BA, 1956
    Yale University, MA, 1957
    University of Oregon, PhD, 1963
    Instructor, Grinnell College, 1957-59
    Instructor, University of Oregon, 1959-63
    Assistant Professor, Yankton College, 1962-64
    Assistant Professor, Grinnell College, 1964-68
    Associate Professor, Eastern Washington University, 1968-77
    Professor, Eastern Washington University, 1977-
    Adminstration:
    Head, Department of English, Yankton College, 1963-64
    Associate Dean of the Faculty, Grinnell College, 1965-68
    Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Eastern Washington University, 1968-77
    Interim Dean of Honors-1993-94

    Recent Publications

    "The Decline of Logger Poetry," Proceedings of the Western States Folklore Association, 2010.
    "Fantasy and Myth in Cross-Cultural Education", Proceedings of Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, October, l998.
    "Folklore and Superstition in Contemporary America. Courtship and Wedding Rituals." Mukagawa English Review(Japan), Spring, 1999.
    Hellenism, Inhumanism, and Wilderness in the Poetry of Robinson Jeffers." Robinson Jeffers Association, April, 2001.

    Courses Taught

    The Intellectual Tradition of the Ancient World
    Perspectives on Death
    The Human Prospect
    Studies in Epic Fantasy/Mythology
    Introduction to Poetry
    History of Criticism and Literary Theory

  • Rachel Toor
    Rachel Toor
    Assistant Professor
    Phone: 509.359.4963
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    Creative Nonfiction

    Biography

    Yale University, AB (1984)
    University of Montana, MFA (2006)

    Formerly acquisitions editor at Oxford and Duke University Presses and admissions officer at Duke.

    Recent Publications

    Personal Record: A Love Affair with Running, University of Nebraska Press, 2008.
    The Pig and I, Penguin/Plume/University of Nebraska Press 2009.
    Admissions Confidential, St. Martin's Press, 2001.
    Columnist for The Chronicle of Higher Education and Running Times magazine.

    Courses Taught

    Creative Nonfiction workshop
    Form and Theory of Nonfiction
    Senior Creative Writing Capstone
    Graduate Electives in Nonfiction
    Form and Theory of Fiction

  • Beth E. Torgerson, PhD
    Beth E. Torgerson, PhD
    Assistant Professor of English; Co-Director of English Secondary Education
    Phone: 509.359.6038
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    The Brontës, Harriet Martineau, Thomas Hardy, and Victorian Literature, Women and Literature

    Biography

    Montana State University, BA in English, BA in French
    University of New Mexico, MA
    University of Nebraska-Lincoln, PhD

    Dr. Torgerson has taught at Eastern Washington University since 2006. Prior to that, she taught at Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL. Her book, Reading the Brontë Body: Disease, Desire, and the Constraints of Culture, analyzes the Brontës' novels, placing them within the larger historical context of Victorian medicine and culture.

    Recent Publications

    Reading the Brontë Body: Disease, Desire and the Constraints of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005; reissued in paperback edition, 2010)
    "Gift-Giving and Community in Cather's The Song of the Lark."Willa Cather's The Song of the Lark. Ed. Debra L. Cumberland. (Rodopi, 2010)
    Rev. of The Doctor in the Victorian Novel: Family Practices, by Tabitha Sparks. Victorian Review (Forthcoming, June 2011)
    Rev. of A Brontë Encyclopedia, by Robert Barnard and Louise Barnard. Nineteenth-Century Literature 63.3 (December 2008): 417-420.

    Courses Taught

    Senior Capstone: Literature
    Literary Eras: Victorian Literature
    Major Literary Figures: The Brontës
    Major Literary Figures: Thomas Hardy
    The Composition Process
    Literary London (Honors Spring Break Study Abroad Program)
    Women, Literature, and Social Change
    Survey of British Literature III, from Victorians to Present
    Introduction to Literature

  • Christina A. Valeo, PhD
    Christina A. Valeo, PhD
    Assistant Professor
    Phone: 509.359.6026
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    British Romantic Literature
    C19 British Literature
    English Education
    Children's Literature

    Biography

    Chris Valeo earned her BA from Brown University in 1992, and her MA in teaching English in 1992. She taught high school English in Montana for five years (Hays/LodgePole High School 1992-1994, Havre High School 1994-1997), leaving to pursue graduate-level work in literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (MA 1999, PhD 2003). She joined the faculty of Eastern in 2003. Her current research and teaching interests include British literature, English pedagogy, children's literature and popular romance.

    Recent Publications

    "Nora Roberts and Serial Magic." New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction. Sarah S.G. Frantz and Eric Murphy  Selinger, eds. McFarland Publishing, 2011. Forthcoming.
    "Charlotte Smith's American Indian Encounters." Engaged Romanticism: Romanticism as Praxis. Ed. Mark Lussier and Bruce Matsunaga. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008. 
    "Books That Will Help Us Ride Out the Testing Storm." InLand: A Journal for Teachers of English Language Arts. Fall 2008. Co-authored with Marilyn Carpenter.
    "Books that Talk Technology and More." InLand: A Journal for Teachers of English Language Arts. Spring 2008. Co- authored with Marilyn Carpenter.

    Courses Taught

    Introduction to Fiction
    Children's Literature
    A Global View Through Children's Literature
    Romantic Era Literature
    English Education Capstone

  • Philip Weller, PhD
    Philip Weller, PhD
    Professor
    Phone: 509.359.7057
    Specialization

    Shakespeare and Renaissance English Literature

    Biography

    University of Puget Sound - BA in English (1963)
    Washington State University - MA in English Literature (1965)
    Kent State University - PhD in English Literature (1969)

    I have spent my whole career here at Eastern Washington University. I have had primary responsibility for the Shakespeare class since about 1971, and have enjoyed every quarter and the vast majority of days and minutes; I hope many of my students have similar feelings. I have also taught and still teach the earlier English literature surveys - everything up to the Victorian period. I try to involve students in discussion, and I try to test fairly. I like students who show up on time and stay off the phone.

    Recent Publications

    I have annotated editions of popular Shakespeare plays on Shakespeare Navigators, my website.

    Courses Taught

    Shakespeare
    Survey of British Literature
    Masterpieces of the Western World

  • Nanette Wichman, PhD
    Nanette Wichman, PhD
    Senior Lecturer
    Phone: 509.359.2869
    Vita: Download
    Specialization

    Sociocognitive Linguistics; Developmental English

    Biography

    University of Oregon, BA
    University of Hawaii, MA and PhD

    While writing my dissertation, "Meaning in Legal Discourse: Beyond the Lexicon," I taught ESL at South Seattle Community College. Since then, beginning in fall 2001, I have taught composition courses and some linguistics courses in the English Department here at EWU. I have also taught in the Disability Studies Program through the School of Social Work.

    Recent Publications

    "Speaking of Sentences: Chunking." Teaching English in the Two-Year College. 281-90. March 2009.
    "Diversity and Curricular Content: Critical Thinking in a Composition Class." Conference Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations. 4:931-6. 2006.
    With Helen Bergland: "Critical Moments at Eastern Washington University." In The Critical Moments Project. Eds. Gillies Malnarish and Diane Gillespie. The Washington Center. 2004.

    Courses Taught

    Freshman Composition Series
    Language Structure and Use
    The Composition Process
    Language, Culture, and Disability
    Grammar for Teachers

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