College of Communication - Writing Arts
Writing Arts Faculty
Jeffrey Maxson, Department Chair
maxson@rowan.edu
856-256-4106
B.A. Yale University
M.A. University of California at Berkeley
Ph.D. University of California at Berkeley
Dr. Maxson teaches Integrated College Composition I and II, Writing for Electronic Communities, and Writing Difference.
His research interests include computer-mediated composition, writing of linguistic minorities, and alternative discourses.
Kelly Adams
M.A. Montclair University
Kelly Adams is finishing her Ph.D. from Arizona State University in Rhetoric, Composition and Linguistics.
Her current research focuses on the literate practices of women writers of the civil rights movement. She holds an M.A. from Montclair University in Writing Studies with particular emphasis on basic writers and writing. Kelly teaches Improving Personal Writing Skills and Integrated College Composition I.
Linda Bateman
Linda C. Bateman has taught in the College of Communication for more than 25 years, most recently in the Writing Arts Department. She teaches Sophomore Engineering Clinic and has taught first year writing (iCCI, Comp. I, and CC II), Writing for the Workplace, and The Writer’s Mind. In addition, she piloted the first Intro. to American Studies course and enjoyed teaching it for several years. Previously, she taught advertising and layout and design courses and served as advisor to the Ad Club for many years.
She especially enjoys working with the University’s freshmen, helping them to improve their writing and to navigate life as a new student on Rowan’s campus. Additional areas of interest include helping students to succeed by knowing how to learn with intention, incorporating Let Me Learn ideas and teaching methods.
Ron Block
B.A. University of Nebraska-Lincoln
M.A. Syracuse University
M.S. Syracuse University
Ron Block teaches undergraduate and graduate-level creative writing, focusing on poetry and the short story. His books include The Dirty Shame Hotel and Other Stories and a collection of poetry Dismal River. His work has also been published in numerous anthologies and journals, including Epoch, Prairie Schooner, Iowa Review, and Ploughshares.
In addition to being a two-time winner in the Minnesota Voices Project, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Nebraska Arts Council in 2000. In 2002, he was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fiction Fellowship. He has an MA in Creative Writing and an MS in Television-Radio-Film, both from Syracuse University. Currently, he's at work on a second collection of poetry as well as a novel.
Julia MacDonnell Chang
B.A. Stonehill College
M.S. Columbia University
M.A. Temple
Julia MacDonnell Chang is a novelist, short story writer, journalist, essayist and book reviewer with graduate degrees in journalism from Columbia University, and one in creative writing from Temple University. She has had five short stories published this year in literary journals, among them: "Red Stain on Yellow Dress in Mangrove", spring 2004; "Weapons of War", Briar Cliff Review, spring 2004; "The Topography of Hidden Stories", Paper Street, fall 2004, and "Nativity", North Dakota Quarterly, Winter 2004. Her short story Whistle Stop is scheduled for publication in the Spring '05 edition of the journal Happy. She has recently completed her first story collection, Going South and Other Sorrows, which includes the titular novella.
The poet Molly Peacock has said of MacDonnell's work, "She writes with a psychological savvy and family wisdom few other have. Her words vibrate to the thought waves between sisters, mothers and daughters, parents and children, wives and husbands. MacDonnell's stories tug at a single thread until a whole fabric unravels, and then they work the miracle of reweaving."
A tenured associate professor, she teaches in both the undergraduate and graduate creative writing programs, specializing in fiction and creative nonfiction. She also teaches Writing Children's Stories, and serves as advisor to the undergraduate literary magazine, Avant. During her sabbatical this year, MacDonnell Chang is completing her second novel, Mimi Molloy By Herself, and beginning work on a third.
Her first novel, A Year of Favor, published by William Morrow & Co. in 1994, was called a "compelling debut" by Publisher's Weekly. Kirkus Reviews said it was "powerful first fiction...A convincing evocation of life in a Central American country and a compelling portrait of a gutsy, post feminist heroine."
A former newspaper reporter and editor, MacDonnell is the recipient of two fiction fellowships from the N. J. State Council on the Arts, two Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation fellowships for residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a Pulitzer Traveling fellowship, and numerous other awards for her journalism and fiction. A passionate reader with an abiding love of story, she lives in southern New Jersey with her three children.
Lindsay Chudzik
BA Temple University
MA Virginia Commonwealth University
MFA Virginia Commonwealth University
Professor Chudzik teaches Composition I and Writing for the Workplace.
Her current creative projects include playwrighting, screenwriting, fiction, and memoir. Her plays have appeared in a number of festivals. Her current research interests include community literacy and activist rhetoric.
Jennifer Courtney
B.A. Duquesne University
M.A. Western Michigan University
Ph.D. Purdue University
Jennifer Courtney joined the department in 2004. She is the Graduate Coordinator for the Master of Arts in Writing program. In addition to teaching Seminar I and II at the graduate level, she regularly teaches Introduction to Writing Arts, Evaluating Writing, and Sophomore Engineering Clinic I.
Her research interests are curriculum development in stand-alone writing majors, writing program administration and cultural studies; her work has been published in several books and journals including Rhetoric Review, Design Principles and Practices, and Composition Forum.
Loriann Fell
Loriann Fell teaches College Composition I and II. She earned an M.A. in English-Creative Writing from Rutgers University in Camden, and a B.A. in Journalism from Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
She works as a writer and editor; The Newark Star Ledger and The New York Times are among the publications in which her work has appeared. She writes plays, essays, and fiction and is currently at work on a screenplay.
Manda Frederick
B.A. Northern Michigan University
M.A. Western Washington University
M.F.A. Eastern Washington University, Inland Northwest Center for Writers
Manda teaches Intensive College Composition 1 and Rowan Seminar.
Her research interests include creative genre theory, rhetoric, editing and publishing, and philosophy.
Joseph Giampalmi
B.A. Widener University
M.Ed. Widener University
Ed.D. Temple University
Dr. Joseph Giampalmi, Assistant Professor at Rowan University's Department of Writing Arts, has been teaching writing for forty-two years. He has taught grades six through graduate school. He has been teaching in higher education since 1985. His public school experience includes thirty-four years as an English teacher and English Supervisor. He earned his B.A. in English and his M.Ed. from Widener University, and his Ed.D. from Temple University. His master's focus was reading and his doctorate concentration was curriculum and development.
On the college level, he taught at Widener University, Neumann College, Delaware County Community College, and Immaculata University. He has been teaching at Rowan University for the past eight years with a concentration of courses in College Composition I and College Composition II. He also teaches a business-writing course titled Writing for the Workplace.
Dr. Giampalmi has written three sports books (Parker Publishing Company and MacGregor Sports Education) and dozens of articles for national publications such as Essence, The Star, Living with Children, Instructor, English Journal, Scholastic Coach, and Young Athlete. Since 1985, he has been writing a semi-monthly education column ("Conversations in Education") for Town Talk Newspapers (Media, PA) and has published more than 500 columns.
In addition to consulting with K-12 schools on writing topics, he has presented over a hundred workshops to teachers, professional writers, and business people. He has presented seminars at regional writing conferences and to national audiences at the Philadelphia Writers' Conference and the National Council of Teachers of English.
He currently serves as co-director of Rowan's WAC (Writing Across the Campus) Program. His recent presentations to Rowan faculty include Short Assignments for Writing to Learn, Commenting on Student Writing, Designing Better Writing Assignments, Journaling and Letter Writing, Evaluating Writing in the Disciplines, Write-to-Learn Strategies, Developing Inquiry-Based Assignments, Integrating Writing into Course Objectives, Peer Editing and Group Revision, and Creating A Positive Classroom Climate.
Dr. Giampalmi and his wife Carole have traveled worldwide and searched for the perfect beach. They think they have found it in the Seychelles Islands. He completes much of his thinking and prewriting while walking the beaches in Cape May.
Ai Guo Han
B.A. Xian Foreign Language University
M.A. Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Han teaches College Composition I and II, English as a Second Language I and II, and Elementary Chinese.
His research interests are teaching and learning in the classroom and Daoism and its applications.
Roberta Harvey
B.A. University of North Dakota
B.S. University of North Dakota
M.A. University of North Dakota
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Roberta Harvey has been a member of the department since 1998. She teaches courses in the First-year Writing Program, including specialized versions of College Composition II for engineering and biology students, and technical writing. Her research interests also include assessment, information literacy, feminism, and how people learn.
She received her Ph.D. in English with a specialization in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2001. She also holds an M.A. in English Language and Literature, a B.A. in Anthropology, and a B.S. in Biology from the University of North Dakota.
Erin Herberg
B.S. Western Carolina University
M.A. Western Carolina University
Ph.D. Georgia State University
Dr. Herberg teaches College Composition I and II, Writing for the Workplace, Writing, Research and Technology, Contemporary Rhetoric, and Managerial Communication.
Her research interests are the history of rhetoric, women and rhetoric, and assessment.
Martin Itzkowitz
B.A. Brooklyn College
M.A. New York University
Ph.D. New York University
Dr. Itzkowitz teaches College Composition, Writing with Style, Assessment of Writing, Semantics, Humanities, Creative Writing, and Special Topics Honors. He is the editor of Glassworks and the non-fiction editor for Asphodel. He is also Associate Editor of New Jersey Journal of Communication.
His research interests are general composition, stylistics, and creative writing.
Lisa Jahn-Clough
M.F.A. Emerson College
Lisa Jahn-Clough received an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Emerson College. She is the author of two Young Adult novels, Me, Penelope and Country Girl, City Girl and the author/illustrator of ten picture books, including, Alicia Has a Bad Day, My Friend and I, and Little Dog. She speaks extensively to schools and libraries on books for children, and has taught creative writing, writing for children, and narrative illustration. Her next picture book is due out in February 2011 and a new novel in 2012.
Drew Kopp
Ph.D. University of Arizona
Drew Kopp (kopp@rowan.edu) received his Ph.D in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English from the University of Arizona in 2009. His research interests include sophistic approaches to writing instruction, such as writing with new media (especially digital video), and using writing situations to examine and challenge everyday practices and values. Currently he teaches College Composition II, Writer’s Mind, and Evaluating Writing.
Dr. Kopp has recently published an article in the online journal Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy (fall 2010) entitled “Re-articulating the Mission and Work of Writing Programs with Digital Video.” As the lead writer, Dr. Kopp examines how using digital video to help students identify themselves as college writers may also serve to effectively represent the work of writing programs to the university community.
Sabatino Mangini
B.A. Rowan University
M.A. Rowan University
Sabatino Mangini is finishing his Ph.D. in Composition and TESOL from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His dissertation explores the home and academic literacies of basic writing students. Sabatino’s research interests include narrative theory, composition pedagogy, multimodal writing, and technology and literacy. He teaches Improving Personal Writing Skills and The Writer’s Mind.
Susan Mannion
B.A. The College of New Jersey
M.A. Rowan University
Professor Mannion teaches College Composition I and II and Public Speaking. Her research interests include portfolio use, writing across the curriculum and collaborative learning.
Deb Martin
B.S. Western Michigan University
M.A. Texas Woman's University
Ph.D. Texas Woman's University
Deb Martin joined the department in 2003. She received her PhD in Rhetoric from Texas Woman’s University. She currently teaches courses in the undergraduate major; The Writer’s Mind, Tutoring Writing, Evaluating Writing, and occasionally Assessment in the graduate program. Her research areas include writing assessment, writing pedagogy, critical thinking, and disability studies. Her work has been published in various books and journals including Middle School Journal, Writing Program Administration, Disability Studies Quarterly, and Assessing Writing. Deb presents, consults, and leads workshops on literacy and is most interested in developing new, sustainable, and integrated models for teacher professional development. Her professional ethos comes from twelve years of teaching in the middle and high school English/Language Arts classroom.
Kim Peters
Roberta Reavey
B.A. Westfield State College
M.A.T. Westfield State College
Professor Reavey teaches Improving Personal Writing Skills, Integrated College Composition I, College Composition I and II.
Her research interests include left brain/right brain theory and learning theory.
Laura Reynolds
B.A. Indiana University of Pennsylvania
M.A. West Virginia University
Laura Reynolds has been teaching first-year writing courses since 2005, and has taught a variety of composition and rhetoric courses at West Virginia University, Kent State University, and Westmoreland County Community College. She is A.B.D, and is finishing her Ph.D. in Composition and TESOL from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her dissertation examines the dynamics of collaboration at the dissertation level, while studying resistance to collaborative dissertations within the field of composition. Laura’s research interests include rhetoric, collaboration, feminist/critical theory, multimodal composition, and writing in the disciplines. She teaches College Composition II and Sophomore Engineering Clinic I.
Francis Rubio
Kate Selfridge
B.A. La Salle University
M.A. Temple University
Kate Selfridge earned an M.A. in English/Creative Writing from Temple University and is currently working on her first novel of literary fiction. She has been a member of the Rowan University community for four years and teaches Integrated College Composition I and Improving Personal Writing Skills.
Sanford Tweedie, Coordinator of Undergraduate Programs
B.A. University of Michigan
M.A. Eastern Michigan University
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Tweedie (tweedie@rowan.edu) teaches in the first-year writing program, undergraduate major, and M.A. in Writing. He has taught at the University of Erfurt in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar and received Rowan's Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award. His research interests include students in transition, classroom-based research, genre-stretching writing, and pedagogy that matters.
His writing has appeared in College Composition and Communication, English Journal, Exquisite Corpse, and Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, among others.
Bill Wolff
B.A. Union College
M.A. University of Cincinnati
Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin
Bill Wolff is an assistant professor of Writing Arts where he teaches undergraduate and graduate classes that consider the intersections of new media communication technologies and writing. These classes include Writing, Research, and Technology; Technologies and the Future of Writing; Visual Rhetoric and Multimodal Composition; and Research Methods for Writers. His assignments ask students to compose video essays, engage in video oral history research, and leverage social networking spaces to enhance qualitative research. He has been the recipient of two Rowan University grants: an Innovations in Teaching using Technology grant, which provided funds for 20 Flip Video cameras, and a Non-Salary Financial Support Grant to investigate new literacies that are emerging as a result of the proliferation of Web 2.0 applications. He is currently working on designing the first usability study of Web 2.0 applications, with a special on cognitive transfer of information across domains.
His work with the Flip Video cameras has been profiled in ELearn Magazine and his use of new media technologies in the classroom has been featured on Rowan's Techcast. His work has appeared in Technical Communication Quarterly, Computers & Education, and Currents in Electronic Literacy (co-authored with two Writing Arts undergraduates). He is the technical editor of Sams Teach Yourself HTML and CSS in 24 Hours (8th edition). He is regular presenter on new media and writing at national conferences, including the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Computers & Writing, the Thomas R. Watson Conference.
You can see his courses, assignments, and blogs by going to his web site at http://williamwolff.org.
Amy Woodworth
B.A. New York University
M.A. Rutgers University at Newark
Ph.D. Candidate Temple University
Professor Woodworth teaches Composition II and Fiction to Film.
Her research interests include gender studies, cinema studies, film adaptation, and women's writing.
Roberta Zehner
A.B. Rosemont College
M.A. Rowan University
Professor Zehner teaches College Composition I and II. Her research interest is the articulation of English/Writing courses between high school and college.
