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Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Faculty and Staff

Current Faculty Members

Below is a list of the current faculty members in the English Department. Follow the links on their names to find out more about each faculty member and their scholarly interests.

Department Chair

  • Gail Ivy Berlin, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, 1985, Professor.
    Old and Middle English Language and Literature, Medieval Women, Holocaust Literature.

Permanent Faculty

  • Lynne Alvine, Ed.D. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990, Professor.
    Adolescent Literature, Teaching Composition, Literacy, and Gender.

  • Laurel Johnson Black, Ph.D. Miami University of Ohio, 1996, Associate Professor.
    Composition, Sociolinguistics, Pedagogy, Assessment, Creative Writing.

  • James M. Cahalan, Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, 1982, Professor.
    Modern Irish, American and British Literatures, Theory and Pedagogy.

  • Carolyn Camp, Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1997, Assistant Professor.
    American and British Literatures, Novel, Poetry, Critical Theory, Composition.

  • Wendy Carse, Ph.D. Tulane University, 1991, Associate Professor.
    19th-century British literature, Gothic fiction, Cultural Studies including film.

  • Sung-Gay Chow, Ph.D. University of Alabama, 1989, Associate Professor.
    Southern Literature, Asian-American Studies.

  • Susan M. Comfort, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, 1994, Associate Professor.
    Postcolonial Literature, Feminist Theory & Pedagogy, Gender Studies.

  • Chauna Craig, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 1999, Associate Professor.
    Creative Writing (Fiction and Nonfiction), Western Literature, Contemporary Fiction, Pedagogy.

  • Karen Dandurand, Ph.D. University of Massachusetts, 1984, Associate Professor.
    19th Century American Literature in Cultural Contexts, Women's Literature, Autobiography, Letters.

  • David B. Downing, Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo, 1980, Professor.
    Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Pedagogy, American Literature.

  • Sharon Deckert, Ph.D., Assistant Professor.
  • Reena Dube, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 2001, Assistant Professor.
    Film, Film and Literature, Postcolonial Theory and Literature, Marxist, Feminist Studies.

  • Ronald Emerick, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 1975, Professor.
    American Fiction, Southern Writers, Technical Writing.

  • Anthony Farrington, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2003, Assistant Professor.
    Creative Writing, Modern and Contemporary American Literature, Aesthetic Theory.

  • Jeannine M. Fontaine, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, 1981, Associate Professor.
    Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Cognition, TESOL, Language and Literature.

  • Susan I. Gatti, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 1989, Professor.
    19th and 20th Century American novel, British novel 1918-1945.

  • Jerry G. Gebhard, Ed.D. Teachers College-Columbia University, 1985, Professor.
    English as a Foreign Language, Cross-Cultural Communication, Teacher Education.

  • Janet Goebel, Ph.D. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1986, Professor.
    Medieval, 18th-Century Novel, Bronze Age, 19th-Century Continental, Myth.

  • David Hanauer, Ph.D. Bar Ilan University, 1994, Associate Professor.
    First and Second Language Literacy, Literature, Second Language Teaching.

  • Nancy Hayward, Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1991, Associate Professor.
    Composition, TESOL, Sociolinguistics, Language/Gender, Discourse Analysis.

  • Audra Himes, Assistant Professor.

  • Claude Mark Hurlbert, D.A., State University of New York at Albany, 1985, Professor.
    Composition Theory and Practice, Rhetorical Traditions, Theories of Literacy.

  • Sue Johnson, Ph.D. Michigan State University, 1995, Assistant Professor.
    Literacy Learning, Language and Gender Studies, Pedagogy, Reading Theory.

  • Jo-Anne Kerr, Ph.D., Assistant Professor.

  • Barbara Kraszewski, M.A. Carnegie Mellon University, 1967, Associate Professor.
    Short Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Theory, Classical Literature in Translation.

  • Chris Kuipers, Ph.D. University of California-Irvine.
    Comparative Literature, Myth, Classical Lit., Pastoral Lit., Ecocriticism, Anthologies. 

  • John L. Marsden, Ph.D. Ohio University, 1996, Assistant Professor.
    Contemporary British Novel, Modernist, Postmodernist, and Postcolonial Literatures.

  • Lea Masiello, Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, 1983, Professor.
    Oral Literature, Writing, American Literature, National Parks and Nature Writing.

  • Donald McAndrew, Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo, 1982, Professor.
    Composition Theory and Practice, Writing Conferencing, Qualitative Research.

  • Catherine McClenahan, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1979, Assistant Professor.
    18th and 19th Century British Literature, Women's Studies, Speculative Fiction.

  • sj Miller, Ph.D., University of New Mexico, 2005, Assistant Professor.
    Secondary English Education, Critical Pedagogy, Spacetime/Hybridity Theory and Teacher Identity, Social Justice Issues.

  • Jean Nienkamp, Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, 1994, Associate Professor.
    Rhetorical History and Theory, Argumentation, Composition, and Literacy Studies.

  • Linda Norris, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 1992, Associate Professor.
    Secondary English Education, Media Literacy, Professional Development.

  • Christopher Orchard, D.Phil. University of Oxford, 1994, Associate Professor.
    Shakespeare, Early Modern British Literature, Transatlantic Studies, Theory.

  • Gian S. Pagnucci, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, 1995, Professor.
    Narrative Theory & Research, Technical Writing, Technology and Literacy, Composition Pedagogy.

  • Tina Perdue, D.A. University of Michigan, 1984, Associate Professor.
    Humor Writing, Basic Writing, Popular Literature, Pedagogy.

  • Heather Powers, Ph.D. University of California-Irving, 1999, Associate Professor.
    18th and 19th Century British Literature, Critical Theory, Popular Culture.

  • Ben Rafoth, Ed.D. University of Georgia, 1984, Professor.
    Composition Theory and Pedagogy, Writing Centers, Research Methods.

  • Lilia Savova, Ph.D. Sofia University (Bulgaria), 1988, Professor.
    Teacher Education, Second Language Teaching, Linguistics, Instructional Design, Technology.

  • Mike Sell, Ph.D. University of Michigan, 1997, Associate Professor.
    Modern Drama, Avant-Garde, Performance Studies, Black Arts Movement.

  • Ronald G. Shafer, Ph.D. Duquesne University, 1975, Professor.
    16th and 17th Century British Literature.

  • Kenneth Sherwood, Ph. D. State University of New York at Buffalo, 2001, Assistant Professor.
    20th Century American Poetry, Ethnopoetics, Theory and Writing.

  • Helen Sitler, Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1997, Associate Professor.
    Composition and Reading Pedagogy, Teacher Development.

  • Thomas J. Slater, Ph.D. Oklahoma State University, 1985, Associate Professor.
    American Silent Film, Film and Literature, Film Theory and Language.

  • Ronald F. Smits, Ph.D. Ball State University, 1978, Professor.
    Poetry, Composition, Teaching of Composition, Literature.

  • Rosalee Stilwell, Ph.D. Bowling Green State University, 1998, Associate Professor.
    Rhetoric: the Study of Power and Persuasion in Human Discourse.

  • Dan J. Tannacito, Ph.D. University of Oregon, 1972, Professor.
    Second Language Acquisition and Literacy, Intensive English Programs

  • Judith Haqan Villa, Ph.D. University of New Mexico, 1996, Associate Professor.
    Popular Culture and Film, Multicultural and Women's Literature, Writing Pedagogy.

  • Elaine Ware, Ph.D. Bowling Green State University, 1982, Associate Professor.
    Student Literacy and Technology, Popular Culture.

  • Veronica Watson, Ph.D. Rice University, 1997, Associate Professor.
    African American Literature/Culture, Slave Narratives, Social Construction of Race.

  • Susan Welsh, Ph.D. Drew University, 1986, Associate Professor.
    Composition and Rhetoric, American, The Essay.

  • Michael M. Williamson, Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo, 1984, Professor.
    Writing Assessment, Technology and Literacy, Research Methodology, Historical Research.

  • Michael T. Williamson, Ph.D. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 1996, Associate Professor.
    19th Century British Literature, Poetry, Composition, and Travel Writing.

  • Cheryl Wilson, Ph.D. University of Delaware.
    19th Century British Literature, Women's Literature. 

  • Lingyan Yang, Ph.D. University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 2000, Associate Professor.
    Asian American/Diasporic Cultural Criticism/Literature, Critical Theories, Minority Literature.