Published June 14, 2023 by

The Rhetorical Situation: 2023 End-of-Year Wrap-Up

Spring Quarter 2023

Contents: 

  • End of the Year Letter 
  • Highlighting our Faculty: 
    • Accomplishments
    • Summer Dreaming
    • Loves of our Lives

End of the Year Letter

Dear Writing Program Faculty and Staff,

The PDC wanted to take the time to thank you all for a great year and for your participation in our professional-development and community-building events. A few highlights:

The 2nd-Annual WP Mini-Conference

This Spring Quarter, the PDC hosted our annual Writing Program “Recycled Writing” mini-conference. For the second iteration of this conference, the PDC wanted to open up the conference to celebrate and highlight all types of writing that we are doing—from pedagogy-focused to independent research to creative writing and journalism. We had the pleasure of having a special keynote speaker, our very own Farnaz Fatemi, the current Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate. (Link here to the schedule and description of presentations.) We look forward to the 2024 conference. 

Thank you to the nearly 30 of you who attended at least some part of the conference!

We especially want to thank all 12 participants for their insightful presentations:

·  Farnaz Fatemi
·  Kim Helmer
·  Lindsay Knisely
·  Madeline Lane-McKinley
·  Phil Longo
·  Brij Lunine
·  Kate McQueen
·  Roxi Power
·  Kae Yuan Roybal
·  Brenda Sanfilippo
·  Heather Shearer
·  Amy Vidali

Teaching Circles

The PDC additionally embarked on a “Teaching Circle” project this year to encourage and facilitate faculty learning from each other through low-time commitment, non-evaluative visits to each other’s classes (online or in-person), the exchange of syllabi and other teaching material, and informal chats on any aspect of teaching for the Writing Program. 

We sent out surveys in Fall, Winter, and Spring to assess interest and gather information to pair up faculty with others with similar schedules and teaching modalities. In the Fall, we had 36 responses with 61% interested in participating. We sent the survey out again in the Winter and received 22 responses with 6 faculty reporting successful meetings the previous quarter, but learned that many of the planned meetings were derailed due to the strike. In the Spring, our survey resulted in 9 responses with 6 faculty reporting successful meetings the previous quarter. In retrospect, although only a small proportion of faculty participated in the program, all of the survey responses on the success of the meetings were enthusiastically positive. 

We will send out another survey for teaching circles in the Fall. Thanks to all of those who helped make Teaching Circles a success this year! 

Open Pedagogy Workshop

The PDC also hosted an online “Open Pedagogy Workshop” at the end of Winter quarter to which we invited those who had participated in the Teaching Circles and anyone else interested in informally discussing our teaching practice. About 20 of our friendly WP colleagues appeared on the Zoom screen. We began with Teaching Circle participants sharing some of their experiences and then moved to two breakout rooms: one focused on ChatGPT, and a second focused on post-pandemic teaching. The discussion was lively, informative, and a great opportunity to talk about all of those things we just don’t have time to address in Writing Program faculty meetings.    

We are so grateful to work within such a wonderful community and look forward to continuing to support professional development and community in the Writing Program next year.


Sincerely,

The 2022-2023 PDC Committee

Lisa Schilz, Chair
Steve Coulter
Dina El Dessouky
Madeline Lane-McKinley
Kae Yuan Roybal

 

2. Highlighting Our Faculty

Accomplishments

Maggie Amis: 

  • Nearly three years ago, in August of 2020, lightning struck, and sparked the fires that burned over 86,000 acres and 1490 structures–including the house we’d lived in for 30 years. The loss was manifold and incalculable. But, now, luckily, I am happy to say we’ve found a permanent house and garden!

“Awesome Coworker”: 

  • Between January and April, my biggest achievement was preventing my life from getting washed downstream. What I’m most excited about is that my immediate family had no life-threatening medical crises during the academic year. (I might have lowered my expectations after the past few years.)

Gail Brenner: 

  • I’m pretty excited about completing the 2nd (& extensively revised) edition of my book, English for Dummies (Inglés para Dummies) — written in English & translated by other folks into Spanish & other languages. (1st ed. 2003). 2nd edition available in August. 

Steve Coulter: 

  • I will be going back to Ireland with 25 students for a 5-week Writing 2 course in Dingle, Co. Kerry. My wife, Rachel Goodman, will be teaching a 2-unit podcasting course.

Kim Helmer: 

  • I was proud to be an invited speaker at TESOL 2023 International Conference held in Portland, OR where I talked about Critical Language Awareness and my Writing 26 Linguistic Landscapes Project. I participated with a former PhD classmate, Estela Ene. We also presented at our FIRST academic conference together 20 years ago (also in Portland) and now in 2023, we were INVITED to speak! Kind of amazing! Also, I was super proud to give two presentations with two of my Writing 26 students: Melissa Hernandez and Adit Mandal.

Kristen Kennedy Terry: 

  • In March, I submitted a manuscript for a monograph on social network analysis and second language acquisition that I have been working on for the last two years. It was recently accepted by the series editors (phew!), so it is now in press. It feels great to have my life back! For family news, my older daughter, Katherine, spent a year studying abroad in France and my younger daughter, Ciara, is finishing her first year at UCLA this month.

Taylor Kirsch: 

  • Things I’m excited about accomplishing this year: Making some key innovations & improvements in my classes & teaching in community with others in the WP.  Taking care of my health better than I did last year. Helping out with my brother’s wedding and my grandma’s 100th birthday celebration!   

Lindsay Knisely: 

  • I won the 2022-23 Excellence in Teaching Award!

Madeline Lane-McKinley: 

  • My book came out in November, and I had a blast on a short book tour promoting it. I also finished a book I co-authored with my friend Max, which will be coming out next year. Lots of writing, gardening, swimming, and cooking too.

Brij Lunine: 

  • Nothing prestigious to note.  I’m happy to have had great classes of Writing students, despite the continued super challenging circumstances. Even though a disproportionate number of our students are having significant problems, I enjoyed supporting them as best I can, and we also had some great times in class. I also enjoyed co-chairing the C committee with Brenda and working with Joy, Mark, & Chris.

Kate McQueen: 

  • I’m excited to report that I am now the holder of the Cowell College Gary D. Licker Memorial Chair, from July 2022 to June 2025. I’m using the resources from this award to work on a book project. This spring I presented some early research at an international literary journalism conference in Poland. I’ll be doing archival work in Germany this summer and fall, and am slated to teach a future Cowell College class related to the project (likely on biographical writing). I hope to reveal a book title for you all soon 🙂

Ellen Newberry: 

  • On April 25 I became a great aunt to the absolutely cutest kid in the word: Camila Rose Balassone. I have already given her a San Francisco Giants onesie.

Tina Osborne: 

  • My 11-year-old daughter Skylar climbed both Yosemite Falls and Nevada-Vernal Falls over Memorial Day. The thunderous waterfalls were epic from all angles!

Sarah-Hope Parmeter: 

  • This year’s accomplishments have been of the avoiding-the-worst-case-scenario kind. We made it through four potential flooding evacuations this winter, along with all three cats. Our home and one of our two cars made it through intact, which is an excellent result given what many have been dealing with. In the fall, I took a fall, put my teeth through my upper lip and had fractures below both elbows, but I did not break glasses/teeth/nose, which strikes me as pretty darn felicitous overall.

Roxi Power:

  • Poetry book to be published August 2023:  The Songs That Objects Would Sing.
  • Panel accepted at Associated Writers and Writing Program Conference, Seattle, March 2023:  Rhizomatic Literary Communities: from the Local to the National. 
  • Invited to perform my Neo-Benshi show of A Streetcar Named Desire at New Orleans Poetry Conference, April, 2023

Heather Shearer: 

  • ​​I became a rider-of-bikes.

Tiffany Wong:

  • UCSC Global Engagement Collaborative Online International Learning/Virtual Exchange (COIL/VE) Travel Award
  • Humera Foundation Contemplative Award
  • Cultivating Compassion Daylong with another 8-week Cultivating Compassion Training (CCT) being offered Fall 2023, September 5 through October 24, Tuesdays from 6-8pm.
  • BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and Allies Mindfulness and Self-Care Group, Thursdays from 6-7:30pm.
  • “Listening to the Earth, Listening to Each Other,” Half Daylong for BIPOC and Allies, Sunday, June 4th from 9am-1pm (Free/Donation). For the Schedule and Registration visit https://www.watsonvilleinsight.org/
  • Young Rhetoricians Conference, Organizing Board Member and Facilitator, 2023 Conference Thursday and Friday, June 22-23. For Registration visit https://youngrhetoriciansconference.com/ 
  • Designing and Building a Kinetic Sculpture, https://kineticgrandchampionship.com/

Summer Dreaming 

Maggie Amis: 

  • Exploring, and settling into our house–and having my older daughter visit!

Gail Brenner: 

  • Endless days of lounging in a hammock with cool pitchers of ice tea and good books of poetry — mostly penned by my brilliant WP colleagues! Plus, a long-awaited visit to my son in L.A. & aimless meandering through Pasadena’s exquisite Huntington Botanical Gardens (ahhh, just doing nothing!) Wishing you all a happy summer!

Steve Coulter: 

  • I will be going back to Ireland with 25 students for a 5-week Writing 2 course in Dingle, Co. Kerry. My wife, Rachel Goodman, will be teaching a 2-unit podcasting course.

Joy Hagen: 

  • Sewing ribbon skirts

Kim Helmer: 

  • Going to Crete, Greece with an old friend with whom I did my UC EAP study abroad in Padova, Italy in 1986-87! I was at UCLA and she was at Berkeley.

Kristen Kennedy Terry: 

  • Sunshine and drinking coffee on my front porch!

Taylor Kirsch: 

  • Spending time in nature 🙂 

Madeline Lane-McKinley: 

  • Looking forward to doing some camping and berry-picking, and finding some new swimming holes!

Brij Lunine: 

  • Camping in the Sierras!  A trip to Lassen and then Bend, OR with old friends to stay with other longtime friends. Free time!  

Kate McQueen: 

  • Travel! Books! Hiking! Writing! 

Ellen Newberry: 

  • Going to as many Giants games as possible.

Tina Osborne: 

  • I’m most excited about our 10-year dream of taking my little boy Denali to see his 20,310-foot-tall namesake, Mount Denali.

Sarah-Hope Parmeter: 

  • Teaching Merrill 1A and getting a sense of the college’s entering class. Also cats, knitting, books.

Roxi Power: 

  • My sister’s museum art retrospective in Provincetown; writing; review prep (haha!).

Kae Roybal: 

  • Going to a couple meditation retreats.

Lisa Schilz: 

  • Reading, going to the beach, working in my garden.

Heather Shearer: 

  • Early morning bike rides and bird watching.

Terry Terhaar: 

  • Feeding dried bugs to my feather babies. 

Amy Vidali: 

  • Working in the yard! Camping in the trailer with Lyle! Reading fiction!

Tiffany Wong: 

  • Everything! =)

Loves of our Lives…

Maggie Amis: Two of the loves who live with me & George and our daughter Catherine–misbehaving on the drying rack. This is Jasper & Chessie. Maggie's cats Jasper and Chessie on the laundry
Gail Brenner: Thanks to my son, Josh Harris, who kept me sane through the year-long book revision project with his constant good cheer and encouragement. The cover of Gail's book, Ingles for dummies
Steve Coulter: My wife, Rachel, who also teaches College 1 and for Community Studies, has been finishing a recording of her original songs. I worked for many years as a recording engineer, so it’s been fun to be back in the studio playing bass and mixing the CD. Steve's wife, Rachel Anne Goodman, playing guitar
Joy Hagen: On Mother’s day weekend, I love to spend time at the annual Stanford powwow with my family. This 30+ year annual tradition of mine paused for the past four years, so this year it was especially exciting to spend time with my mom, kid, and niblings at the powwow throughout the weekend. The attached photo was taken at this year’s powwow in front of the banner of our Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits friends. In the photo are two of my loves: my kid, Star Hagen-Esquerra (UCSC ’22) and nibling Sequoyah Hagen (aspiring UCSC admit for class of 2030). The future is bright! (And totally adorable, IMHO.) Joy's kid, Star Hagen-Esquerra (UCSC '22) and nibling Sequoyah Hagen smiling outside in front of a sign that reads Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits
Kim Helmer: Ruby is the joy of my life, making me laugh everyday and bringing smiles to all the people we get to meet on our walks. Kim's small tan dog, Ruby, sleeping
Kristen Kennedy Terry: Here are the 3 loves of my life–my daughters Ciara (18) and Katherine (21) and my husband Mark (ageless) in Venice, 2022. The Terry family, Ciara, Katherine, Mark, and Kristen, on holiday in Venice
Taylor Kirsch: I can’t have fur babies of my own right now, but most of my friends do and that’s almost as awesome!  Meet Luna; believe it or not, this is her smile and it means she’s extremely happy to see you. Taylor's friend's dog, Luna, growling
Madeline Lane-McKinley: My kid Tuli is going to be starting middle school this fall, and I can’t believe it!
Brij Lunine:  Sounds like a holiday letter:  My wife, Michelle Morton, continues to enjoy being an instructional librarian at Cabrillo and VP of the faculty senate.  My son Oscar and his partner finally found a nice rental in Happy Valley and he continues to do arborary and landscaping work both for a company and on his own (if you need anyone…).  My daughter’s finishing a successful first-year at UCLA double majoring in public policy and Spanish.  She’s found community in the track club.  And our 13-year old (?) cat “Burger” is getting pretty mellow.  
Kate McQueen: Kate McQ’s cat Gizmo is generally not amused. But we love him anyway. Kate McQ's long-haired, white and grey cat Gizmo sprawled out in a chair
Ellen Newberry: Hank the cat continues to shred the couch and warm my heart. I love her far more than the couch, so all is good. Ellen's tortie cat Hank hiding behind pillows
Tina Osborne: My 11-year-old daughter Skylar climbed both Yosemite Falls and Nevada-Vernal Falls over Memorial Day.  The thunderous waterfalls were epic from all angles!  Tina and daughter Skylar. Yosemite is in the background. Tina wears a blue shirt, Skylar wears an orange shirt.
Sarah-Hope Parmeter: Our three cats. Darla rules the universe simply by staring at us and emitting vibrational energy. We pick up her signals and obey. Charlie is still the loudest cat we’ve ever shared our home with. Salty, who joined us during the worst of COVID, continues to be both independent and affectionate. A delight in every way. Also reading and knitting. (Pictured: Salty Petunia.) Sarah Hope's black and white cat Salty Petunia inspects some vegetables outside on a table
Roxi Power: My 16 year old daughter, Emma, won the Chemistry and Art award in her high school, and she’s so excited for summer!
Kae Roybal: This is my 14-year-old Bluepoint Siamese cat, Isis. She’s a plump beauty who’s afraid of the outdoors. Obsessed with food, chin scritches, and Star Trek. Before feeding time she likes to spend several minutes running around the kitchen island in a clockwise direction.  Close-up of Kae's bluepoint Siamese cat, Isis
Lisa Schilz: My 3 rescue pugs at their favorite place, Blacks Beach (from left-to-right): Henry is blind and deaf and  wearing a “halo” to help him navigate independently without bumping his head; Finneas loves fetching his ball and running in the waves; and Lola likes sitting next to random people at the beach to get petted.  Lisa's three rescue pugs on the beach
Heather Shearer: Me and my trusty Zizzo folding bike. Heather, wearing a helmet, poses with folding bike, Zizzo
Terry Terhaar: My 3 feather babies, Hughie, Dewie, and Louie! Terry's black and white ducks, Hughie, Dewie, and Louie
Amy Vidali: This is Calliope. She fetches like a dog, is fearless, and is a master cuddler.  Amy's tan cat Calliope spreads out on a grey couch
Tiffany Wong: My 9-year-old niece Kaylynn with our two dogs Oreo and Lola. Lola is sitting on Kaylynn’s lap, while Oreo’s snoot is featured below. Tiffany's 9-year-old niece Kaylynn with our two dogs Oreo and Lola. Lola is sitting on Kaylynn's lap, while Oreo's snoot is featured below.

Etc. Faculty Spotlight

Published December 1, 2022 by

PDC Blog Fall 2022: New Colleagues, WP Mini-Conference, and Teaching Circles

Introducing: Joseph Navarro and Fiona Weigant

Here’s an introduction to the two newest members of the Writing Program, who have been with us since the start of the 2022-03 academic year.

Joseph Navarro – Lecturer

I am excited to return to UCSC and continue my service to this community. I view teaching writing and literacy as an opportunity to change the world. This approach provides me with a strong sense of purpose in my labor. I am working on my dissertation for a PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. My research and pedagogy are rooted in anti-racism and critical pedagogy. I wish that I had more time to spend with my partner (Ryah), two cats (Ezekiel, Comrade) and two dogs (Haruki, Miercoles). I also wish I had more time to read and write for myself.

Fiona Weigant – Writing Program Manager

​​I grew up in Dublin, Ireland and spent a decade living in Paris, France. I have now lived longer in Santa Cruz than anywhere else. I was a junior transfer student from Cabrillo College where I took the required writing courses. I graduated from UCSC with a BA in History and a minor in Legal Studies. I have 21 years of experience across multiple units and roles at UCSC. I am excited to bring my expertise and institutional knowledge to the Writing Program. I am a fierce advocate for our campus communities and currently serve on the Undergraduate Academic Advising Council. I am looking forward to getting to know the writing program community and learning how best to serve the program and our students.

Fun Fact: I don’t speak Irish but I do speak French 🙂

Save the Date!

The Second-Annual Writing Program Mini-Conference: April 20 and 21, 2023 

Image of dark wood library shelves filled with books that curve around the second-floor of a rotundaLast spring, the PDC organized our first annual Writing Program mini-conference, in which some of our WP faculty shared “recycled” or upcoming writing-related talks or presentations. This was a wonderful opportunity for our colleagues to share and learn from each other!

We are looking forward to our second-annual Writing Program mini-conference this spring quarter. More information below:

WHAT: 

  • If you are presenting at an upcoming conference (CCC, Young Rhetoricians, NTCE, etc), have given a paper/presentation on campus or at a conference in the last few years, or if you have been or are working on a publication, we invite you to present at the conference!
  • This year, we look forward to expanding the mini-conference to multiple genre-based panels:
    • Writing Pedagogy/General Pedagogy
    • Creative Writing
    • Independent Research
    • Journalism
    • Other
  • As previously, there will be time for discussion at the end of each panel. For non-pedagogy presentations, we will be asking you to reflect on how your writing/work/research helps inform or impacts your teaching of writing.

WHEN: 

  • Thursday, April 20 and Friday, April 21, 2023
  • Times TBD

WHERE: 

WHO:

  • All Writing Program faculty, staff, and GSIs!
  • We encourage all of you to consider presenting a piece of your past (or upcoming) writing/talk in a low-pressure environment. Presenters do not need to edit their presentations; presenters can begin by providing context for the presentation’s original/intended audience if needed.

WHY: 

  • We all do a lot of great work, but sometimes, we don’t get to share it with each other. This is a chance to share what we’re doing in a very low effort (but Biobib-able) free event.

Teaching Circles: Staying Connected

One recurring theme in our discussions in the Pedagogical Development Committee has been how we often feel isolated from other faculty members in the program. Our offices are scattered throughout the campus, and many faculty members are now working from home. We have so few chances to “talk shop” and find out what is happening in the classrooms of other faculty.

A few years ago, a group of faculty came together to form an unofficial group called the Faculty Learning Community. We visited each other’s classrooms, chatted afterwards, and met occasionally as a full group for discussion and informal presentations from members on innovative pedagogical strategies they were developing.

The PDC has taken on the initiative this quarter to re-establish a similar program. We began by taking a survey among faculty to gauge interest in the process. Those who responded positively were paired up with other instructors at convenient times and locations. Online instructors were paired with others working in the same modality. Classroom visits, whether online or in-person, were intended to be non-evaluative and not involve critique or unsolicited suggestions. Faculty would have the opportunity to sit in the back of the class, check out what was going on, and then afterwards have a brief chat to ask questions and talk about any new ideas for teaching.

We have matched up four in-person pairs and six online pairs. We have not yet collected any data on who had a chance to meet or how it went. Some of the in-person class visits have undoubtedly been derailed by the strike, but we are excited to continue the process over next quarter. We will send out another survey to see who was able to meet and to match up new pairs based on our Winter teaching schedules.

We also plan to schedule an optional online meeting at the beginning of Winter quarter to informally discuss what was learned from classroom visits, questions we have about our own pedagogy, or any other issues we are facing in the Writing Program. We are hoping you will see this as a low-stress opportunity to “talk shop,” get to know each other a little better, and see what’s happening in the classroom down the hall (or online).
Clip art image of 6 people sitting around a circular table, drinking coffee, and working on computers and in notebooks

Announcements Faculty Spotlight

Published June 9, 2022 by

Faculty Accomplishments

The PDC wanted to highlight what our faculty was most excited about accomplishing this past year or this upcoming summer–conferences, publications, teaching awards, classes, hobbies, children’s or students’ achievements, etc. Thank you to those of you who responded!

“I consider it an accomplishment simply to have made it through this academic year.” 

— A common sentiment 

Small dog collapsed on what looks like a wood patio. Text says, "There's no tired like teacher tired."

Gail Brenner: Guiding/helping several of my W1E students who previously failed W1 or W1E to develop skills needed for passing-quality work this time around. Participating in a wider scope of WP involvement on WPPC, Leadership Committee and as Acting Chair of MLC. 

Steve Coulter: This summer I will be taking twenty UCSC students to Ireland for a 5-week Writing 2 course. I lived in Dingle, County Kerry, for about ten years, and on the occasion of returning, I have released a CD of Celtic harp music that I recorded in my studio there. You can listen to it here: https://stevecoulter.bandcamp.com/releases

​​Lara Galas: After this academic year, I am very much looking forward to getting back to the basics of mindfulness by practicing meditation, getting into nature, and creative writing. I also started a puzzle during spring break that I’d love to finish as a nice closing to this year. Finally, I am most excited about the collaborative work I did with the other members of the ELWR committee. I had such a lovely time getting to know and learning from faculty–who knew meetings could be so fun?! Happy summer everyone!

Joy Hagen: Star is graduating from UCSC with their degrees in Art: Games and Playable Media and Fine Arts! Spring 2022 marks my twentieth year working with the Writing Program. For myself this summer, I will make all the ribbon skirts I currently have planned (five!) and finally manage my first vacation break since the start of the pandemic (it’s remarkable how difficult it is to do these “for myself” things). 

Roxi Hamilton: My poetry book, The Songs that Objects Would Sing, was accepted for publication by Finishing Line Press for 2023.  I was awarded a Professional Development Fund grant for a trans-genre event I organized at the Philadelphia AWP.  My daughter, Emma, won an award in Biology at her high school.  And, for my family, just getting through the year feels like award enough.

Madeline Lane-McKinley: This year I published literary reviews and poetry in Boston Review and Protean Magazine, and in the fall my first book, Comedy Against Work, will come out from Common Notions Press. My kid started playing saxophone, and now reads an average of 2 cat fantasy novels per week. And this summer we’re going to Istanbul for a couple weeks to visit a friend. 

Phil Longo

Kate McQueen: This year I made strides in defining a new-ish area of specialization for me as a scholar: prison journalism. Three highlights: my book chapter on the Literary Journalism of the American Prison press coming out this summer in the anthology Literary Journalism and Social Justice, Journalism History published a short research essay of mine on the history of the American Penal Press Context, and  I was invited to introduce a new open-source digital archive of American Prison newspapers for JSTOR Daily.  I’m also excited to share that Prison Journalism Project launched a print digest of our online magazine this year, called PJP x Inside, with me as the managing editor. The purpose of this publication was to reach an incarcerated audience. The fall issue won an award of excellence from the Society of News design ! The spring issue was just published and the PDF is available online for free/ 

Brenda Sanfilippo: Teaching Excellence Award. Teach Access Faculty Grant. Completed Digital Instruction Project. Offered two trainings on working with student veterans. Continued working on accessibility, equity, and online teaching. I am looking forward to incorporating new digital tools into my pedagogy this summer.

Lisa Schilz: Not really an accomplishment, but my spouse and I adopted (aka “foster failed”) our long-term foster pup, Lola. She now joins our other 2 pugs (all adopted from TPPR) for a totally-unplanned grumble of 3. There can be a lot of snoring and snorting. 🙂 

Terry Terhaar: I’m trying to grow as many cherry tomatoes as possible as my pet ducks adore red tomatoes. (They’ll eat yellow tomatoes but reds are the favorite!)

Kristen Terry: I had two publications come out this past March that I wrote during the summer of 2020. It feels great to finally see them come out!

Amy Vidali: I gave a paper – a manifesto – on food access for those with food allergies at RSA (Rhetoric Society of America). It was nice to get fired up about it!

Tiffany Lynn Wong: In July, I am going on a month-long retreat at IMS (Insight Meditation Society) Forest Refuge in Barre, Massachusetts, and in August-September, I will visit in Mexico to work with my COIL/VE (Collaborative Online International Learning/Virtual Exchange) partner Dr. Maria De Lourdes Perez Cesari who is a Theater Arts Professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Hidalgo. 

Faculty Spotlight

Published December 3, 2021 by

Three New Faculty!

The Writing Program welcomed three new faculty members in the fall quarter of 2021. Read on to learn a bit about our new colleagues! 

This is a white man wearing a bandana "mask." He's wearing a black button-up shirt and a hat and is seated in front of a bright turquoise wall. Empty coke bottles are to the right, a straw hat up to the left.

Chris Garrecht-Williams

Campus affiliations… I’ve been teaching Oakes Core for the last few years and am in the middle of my first quarter teaching Writing 2.
Before coming to the Writing Program… I opened a bar in Monterey, taught writing at a handful of colleges, and lived the generally itinerant life of the aspirational. 
When I am not teaching… I’m in the ocean, working on something I don’t really know how to do yet, or, hopefully, reading.
And also… I’m hoping to spend part of the winter doing a casual Almodóvar film festival/survey at my house. If anyone is interested please reach out. 

This is headshot of a white woman with long, layered brown hair and dark eyes. She smiles slightly in front of a fountain and grass.

Taylor Kirsch

Campus affiliations… In addition to my work in the Writing Program, I have taught for the History Department and worked with the CITL as a Summer Graduate Pedagogy Mentor. Writing 2 is my only Writing Program course so far, but I’m looking forward to teaching Writing 1 next quarter!
Before coming to the Writing Program… I was a graduate student in the History Department, and enjoyed facilitating learning through outdoor adventures as a Recreation Leader with the UCSC Adventure Rec. 
When I am not teaching… I love to spend time outside, travel, cook good food with friends and family, and hang out with the many cats in my neighborhood.
And also… My favorite recent book is Swell by Liz Clark – I highly recommend reading it by the ocean!

This is a photo of a white woman with medium-brown hair and dark eyes. She is wearing a white top and smiles at the camera in front of wood paneling.

Kristen Kennedy Terry

Campus affiliations… I am affiliated with the Writing Program where I am currently teaching Writing 2. I will be teaching Writing 1 in the Winter.
Before coming to the Writing Program… I taught French and sociolinguistics at Santa Clara University. Before that, I taught in the writing program at UC Merced.
When I am not teaching… I am probably drinking coffee, reading, walking, or spending time with my husband and two daughters.
And also… I love to travel and I am looking forward to going to Europe next summer to see my husband’s family (he’s from Ireland). We have planned the same trip three years in a row now, so I am crossing my fingers that 2022 will be the year!

 

Faculty Spotlight