Writers Workshop
People
Writers Workshop Staff
Elizabeth Morley, Director
Directing the Writers Workshop has brought me to Illinois from the
University of Kentucky where I taught writing courses at various levels
and managed the Writing Center. Although my experience has been in
writing, my Ph.D. is from the Educational Policy Studies department
with an emphasis in Higher Education. My dissertation research was a
study of the academic lives of five college sophomores, and I am
following the same students as they graduate and move into jobs and
professional schools. The Writers Workshop provides me the perfect
opportunity to combine my interests in writing and in serving college
students.
Kathy, Office Manager
My name is Kathy Schnepper. I live in Mahomet and am married to my terrific husband Carney. I began working at the Writers’ Workshop on August 24, 2009. I transferred here after working 8 years in the OMSA office on campus. I have 2 sons and 2 grandchildren. I have to also mention our 5-year-old Border Collie, Xena. I was born and raised in a suburb of Chicago, River Grove. My husband and I moved to this area in 2001. Working at the Writers Workshop is great. All the Grads, Undergrads and Director are wonderful people. I enjoy meeting the many students that come through our door.
Writers Workshop Consultants
Alyssa
Amy
As a PhD student in the Center for Writing Studies and department of English, my research interests lie at the intersection of library and information science (subject analysis, category formation, and bibliographic instruction), composition, rhetoric, and anthropological linguistics. In previous semesters, I have taught Rhetoric 100, 101, 102, 105, and 233. I have also been a consultant at the University of Louisville?s Writing Center and taught English as an International Language in Le Puy-en-Velay, France. Currently, my Rhetoric 233 course explores writing processes from a Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) perspective, teaching students to analyze their own writing practices from this theoretical approach.
Andrea
I'm a first-year PhD student in English/Writing Studies, and I just
finished a master's in Applied Linguistics and TESL at UCLA, where I
taught ESL. I also worked for UCLA's Graduate Writing Center, where I
consulted with writers and gave workshops on grammar, style, course
papers in the social sciences, formal emails (for ESL students), and
online tools that can help you improve word choice (also for ESL
students). Before my master's, I worked for the American Institutes for
Research on literacy studies and high school reform projects.
Charles
I am a second year graduate student in EPS with a focus on the History of Education. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois in History. I am a second year consultant at the Writer's Workshop.
Danelle
I am a first year Ph.D. student in Curriculum & Instruction:
Language and Literacy. I have a master's in Education, and will
soon finish a master's in English. I also taught English Language
Arts for 7 years at the middle and high school levels; last year, I
taught first year composition to undergrads. My research
interests at this point in my academic "zone" are the ways in which
people develop technological literacy, particularly in
cyber-environments, and the impact that this has on teachers and
students in education.
Dumi
I am Ph.D. student in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. My area of specialization includes bilingualism and biliteracy as well as teacher education in the primary grades. I have taught English as a second language in high schools and at a college of education in South Africa. In addition, I have taught African literature and linguistics to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degrees respectively at the University of South Africa. Furthermore, I have been involved in a number of language and literacy activities in different capacities including working as a research assistant, instructor, advisor, writing consultant, and tutor. I am currently (Fall 2009) working as a writing consultant in the writers' workshop, a division in the Center for Writing Studies. Also, I am a research assistant in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Eric
I am a PhD candidate in the Program of Comparative and World Literatures. My dissertation looks at the intersections of literature and environmental issues—specifically contemporary Chinese literature and film. As a comparativist, I am also interested in cultural and literary relations, particularly between the French and Chinese traditions. I have been a TA for many different survey courses including Western Literature from the Enlightenment to the Contemporary, East-Asian literature, non-Western literature of the pre-modern and modern periods, and French film. This is my seventh semester at the Writers’ Workshop, and I really enjoy working with writers at all levels and stages. When I am not reading, writing, teaching, or watching film, I am probably cooking, especially if it involves a grill.
Jessica
Joe
John
I'm pursuing a doctorate degree at the Center for Writing Studies, specializing in web mediated political discourse. I study how people use the web, as both an information distribution venue and as an archive, to engage in political communication and persuasion. I have a master's degree in applied linguistics, teaching English as a second language. I have taught multi media and video classes as well as more traditional Rhetoric and BTW classes at the University of Illinois. I have also taught various writing courses at the University of Illinois' Intensive English Institute
Kaitlin
I am a second year MA student in Speech- Language Pathology. My interests include childhood communication disabilities, particularly children with specific language impairment. In previous semesters, I worked as a TA for SHS 120: Children, Communication, & Language Ability. Currently, I am one of the TAs for the peer consultant class (WRIT 203: Issues in Tutoring Writing).
Karoliina
I'm a Ph.D. candidate at the English Department, and my dissertation
focuses on the interconnections of higher education and African
American fiction from 1865 to the 1930s. Before coming to U of I, I
worked as a translator and a business English teacher. Here I've taught
Rhetoric 105, Intro to Fiction, Intro to American Literature, and The
American Novel Since 1914. I've also worked as a TA for the African
American literature survey courses, and a grader for Intro to Fiction
and Literatures of Global Culture courses. I've been at the Writers
Workshop since 2005. Aside from my dissertation, my interests include
dermatology and immigration. My special skills are knitting very fast,
speaking Finnish, and making scrumptious cupcakes.
Kevin
As a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Communications Research, my
research interests focus on critical whiteness studies and critical
journalism studies. I returned to graduate school after working almost
20 years as a reporter, editor and designer at daily newspapers. At
UIUC, I have taught news editing, social aspects of media and
journalism history.
Lavern
I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
My research interest is language and literacy studies with an emphasis
on linguistic diversity. Prior to starting graduate studies here at
Illinois, I was a classroom teacher for five years in Jamaica.
Currently, I am in my third year as an instructor in my department for
two language arts courses, C&I 475 & 476. The main objective of
these courses is helping preservice teachers understand and implement
reading and writing strategies that will make them effective language
arts teachers (K-8).
Lihy
Linda
I defended my dissertation, "Intersectional Reading of Gender & Technology" in October 2009, in the Department of Educational Psychology. I have completed a minor in Gender & Women's Studies and a Certificate from the Unit for Interpretive Theory and Criticism. I have interests in art, technology, feminist technoscience, philosophy, and qualitative methodologies. On occasion, I facilitate graduate writing groups.
Madeline
Mandy
I am an undergraduate senior majoring in Sociology with a minor in
Russian. My interests include family law and the the affects of living
in a multigenerational household. I am a second year peer consultant at
the Writers Workshop.
Monica
Nathan
After earning my Honors B.A. at Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire, I moved to Champaign-Urbana in order to study at the University of Illinois. I recently earned a M.A. in classics, and now I am pursuing a M.S. in the field of library and information science. Reading and writing are two of my favorite activities, so I am pleased to be a consultant in the Writers Workshop.
Samantha
Shawn
I am a masters student in DEIL (Division of
English an International Language). My interests include
materials development, computer-assisted language learning, English for
specific purposes, and second language acquisition. At present, I
am interested in synthesizing an instructional technique known as
Processing Instruction (PI) with ideas from transfer of learning
research. Since 2001 I have taught English to speakers of other
languages. The majority of my teaching experience was in Osaka,
Japan, where lived for almost 6 years. More recently, I have
taught LOC (Listening and Oral Communication) at the IEI (Intensive
English Institute) and ESL 115 (Principles of Academic Writing for ESL
students). In my spare time, I father a small (increasingly
mobile) boy by the name of Rick whose current research investigates the
extent to which loosening screws on household furniture correlates with
increased saliency of blood vessels on his father’s forehead.
Steve
I'm a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Organization
and Leadership, which is currently (spring 2010) in the process of
merging with the Department of Educational Policy Studies and the
Department of Human Resource Education in the College of Education. I
am studying the work lives of faculty members at comprehensive
universities, specifically with respect to how they balance and
navigate between the scholarly and non-scholarly aspects of their jobs.
My indulgence, however, is reading about food. I recommend the
food-related writings of Laurie Colwin, Elizabeth David, Alan Davidson,
M. F. K. Fisher, Jeffrey Steingarten, John Thorne, Calvin Trillin, and,
well, many others.
Vanessa
I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of English. My research interests include the teaching of writing, discourse/conversation analysis, oral histories, and African American literacies. I am currently studying a local community and its contributions to the Lyceum Movement in the US. I have been a grammar instructor; and an ESL writing and rhetoric instructor at UIUC for the past 4 years. My educational background includes Economics, and Teaching English as a Second Language.
Xun
I am a doctoral student in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. I received my BA and MA in English Language and Literature in China. My research interest in the doctoral study is to examine the writing practices for English language learners in elementary schools. I am also volunteering in an Urbana public school helping ESL teachers in various writing activities.
Yolanda
Yu-Kyung
yuki is a doctoral student in Writing Studies and has been with
the Writers Workshop since Fall 2005. Her research interests include,
but not limited to, Second Language composition, multilingual literacy
practice, Asian American Rhetoric, and ethnography. She has a BA in
Fashion Design (major) and English (minor), MA in International Studies
(International Business Management), and another MA in Teaching English
as a Second Language. She has work experience in marketing,
interpretation & translation, and teaching - ESL writing (ESL
103/104) and College Composition (Rhet 101/102/103).