Full-time Faculty

Justus Ballard
English Instructor
M.F.A, Creative Writing, Antioch University Los Angeles
B.A., English, UCLA.

This guy teaches composition and creative writing (fiction). 

Donna Bernhisel
English Instructor
Ph.D., Education, Oregon State University
M.A., English, Utah State University
B.S., Social Work, Brigham Young University

Professor Bernhisel teaches writing and literature but mostly how good communication is the heart of a happy life.

Alexis Butzner
English Instructor
Ph.D., English, Fordham University
M.A., English, Portland State University
B.A., Liberal Arts/Philosophy, Eugene Lang College
A.A., South Puget Sound Community College

Professor Butzner's teaching and scholarly interests are academic research and composition, and literature–especially poetry, drama, and (early) British Literature.

Kim Colantino
English Instructor
M.A., Rhetoric and Composition, Washington State University 
B.A., Writing and Literature, George Fox University

Kim teaches unsexy, but practical, technical writing courses with gusto and relishes teaching any sort of  literature when she gets the chance (approximately every year of jubilee). 

Daniel E. Couch
English Instructor
M.A., English, Portland State University
B.A., English, University of Texas at Austin

Professor Couch's teaching and scholarly interests include academic research and composition, creative nonfiction, and popular culture studies.

LeAnna R. Crawford
English Instructor
M.F.A, Creative Writing, Antioch University Los Angeles
B.A., English and Sociology, University of Northern Colorado

Professor Crawford's areas include creative and academic writing with a focus on fiction and poetry writing, literary analysis, academic research and argumentative writing.

Sydney Darby
English Instructor
ABD, English, University of Kentucky
M.A. English, Boston College
B.A. English, Portland State University

Professor Darby’s interests include 19th and 20th-century American Literature (especially African-American and women’s literature) 19th-century British Literature, academic research and composition.

Lani Davidson
English Instructor
M.A. English, Oregon State University
B.S. American Studies, Utah State University

Professor Davidson is in love with essays of all kinds—academic, creative, argumentative, narrative, whatever you’ve got! Her scholarly interests are composition and creative nonfiction.

Moises E. Duarte
English Instructor
M.A., English/Film Studies, California State University, Long Beach 
B.A., English, California State University, Long Beach 
B.A., Creative Writing, California State University, Long Beach 

Professor Duarte's areas of specialty are 19th & early 20th century American literature, film studies, academic research and multimodal composition.

Kevin Dye
English Instructor
Ph.D., English, American Literature, University of New Mexico
M.A., English, Western Washington University
B.A., English, New York University
A.A., Liberal Arts, Nassau Community College

Kevin teaches writing and literature courses and thoroughly enjoys helping Chemeketa’s remarkable students achieve their goals.

Alissa Hattman
English Instructor
M.A., English Literature, Portland State University
M.F.A., Fiction, Pacific University
B.A., Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Writing and Literature, The Evergreen State College

Alissa teaches writing and literature. She specializes in writing across the curriculum, equity-minded pedagogy, and environmental literature.

Matthew James Hodgson
English and Film Arts Instructor
M.A., English and Film Studies, Portland State University
B.A., Art History and the Visual Arts, Occidental College
B.A., English & Comparative Literary Studies, Occidental College

Matthew teaches composition, literature, and film arts, and their research interests include multimodal composition, ungrading, anti-racist pedagogy, intersectionality and classroom community-building, contemporary American and British literature, 2SLGBTQIA+ literature and queer theory, and film genre studies. 

Tammy Jabin
English Instructor
M.A., English, Portland State University
B.A., English/Spanish, Willamette University
A.A., Chemeketa Community College

Professor Jabin’s teaching and scholarly interests are academic research and composition, fiction writing, and literature—especially world literature and literature from underrepresented populations. 

Karl Meiner
English Instructor
M.A.T., Teaching Composition and Literature, Lewis and Clark College
M.A., English, Portland State University
B.A., English, University of Arizona

Professor Meiner's pedagogical and scholarly interests include researching classroom dynamics, teaching graphic narratives, and helping students become confident writers.

Jill Rupert
English Instructor
Ph.D., English, Tulane University
M.A., English, Tulane University
B.A., English, Whitman College

Professor Rupert’s teaching and scholarly interests are English literature (especially Romantic and Victorian literature), postcolonial literature, fiction, poetry, and academic research and composition. 

Laura Scott
English Instructor
M.A., Anglo-Irish Literature, Trinity College - Dublin, Ireland
TEFL Certification, TEFL College of Ireland - Dublin, Ireland 
B.A., English, Pacific University 
B.A. Spanish, Pacific University

Laura's teaching and scholarly interests are composition, literature (modernist especially), and academic research.

Kevin Smith
English and Film Arts Instructor
Ph.D., Film Studies 
M.A., Language, Literacy, and Rhetoric 
B.A., History 
B.A., English 
A.A., Humanities  

Professor Smith’s areas of specialty are film, rhetoric, multimedia, multimodal composition, journalism, and Associated Press style.

Allison Tobey
English Instructor
M.F.A., Poetry, Antioch University, Los Angeles
B.A., Psychology, Grinnell College 

Allison mostly teaches college composition and poetry and enjoys keeping her students awake with dramatic readings of assignment sheets.

Jeremy Trabue
English Instructor
M.A., English, University of West Georgia. 
M.A., Psychology, University of West Georgia. 
B.A., Intercultural Humanities, New College of California. 

Jeremy mostly teaches college composition, developmental writing, and poetry and has a strong interest in the fantastic, from myths to modern speculative fiction.

Jan VanStavern
English Instructor
Ph.D., English, University of California at Davis
M.A., Poetry and Composition Studies, University of California at Davis
B.A., Creative Writing, Oberlin College

Professor VanStavern's areas of specialty are writing, rhetoric, poetry, and the use of technology for writing and revision.

Affiliated Faculty

Joey Amdahl
Adjunct English Instructor
M.F.A. Creative Writing/Screenwriting, Minnesota State University
B.A., Visual Arts, University Northern Colorado

Professor Amdahl’s teaching and scholarly interests include screenwriting, visual art, composition, and literature.

Mary Bentson
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., English, University of California, Berkeley
B.A., English, University of Oregon

Mary Bentson teaches composition, research, and literature, with a focus on fiction.

Greg Berry
Adjunct English Instructor
Ed.D., Educational Leadership: Curriculum and Instruction, Portland State University
M.S., Education, Eastern Oregon University
B.A., English, Eastern Oregon University
B.S., Secondary Education, Eastern Oregon University

Dr. Berry has expertise in literacy leadership in secondary schools, learning theories, composition instruction, and writing assessment. 

Jess E. Burden
English Instructor
M.A., English, with specialization in TESOL, San Francisco State University
B.A., Journalism, San Diego State University

Jess has traveled the world as an academic ESOL and composition instructor, teaching abroad in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Japan, and the Czech Republic and in the U.S. in California, Oregon, Delaware, and Illinois. 

Adam Karnes
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., English, Portland State University
M.Ed., Portland State University
B.S., English, Corban University
A.A.S., Chemeketa Community College

Adam Karnes teaches composition classes ranging from WR089 to WR227Z with a steady reliance on cooking analogies, video game references, and a plethora of dad jokes. 

Shannon Kelley
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, DePaul University
Master's Certificate in TESOL, DePaul University
B.S., English Education, Trine University

Professor Kelley's areas of interest and expertise include technical and professional writing, composition, and intersectional rhetoric. 

Hilda Kleiman
Adjunct Writing Instructor
D.Min., Graduate Theological Foundation
M.A.,Theology, Mount Angel Seminary
M.A., English, Oregon State University
B.S., English, Western Oregon University

Professor Kleiman's interests include rhetoric and composition, American literature, and Orthodox iconography.

Jacob Knight
Adjunct Writing Instructor
M.A., English, Humboldt State University
B.A., English, Humboldt State University

Professor Knight’s teaching and scholarly interests are composition, argumentative writing, creative writing, academic research, literary fiction, and poetry.

Amanda Knopf Rauhauser
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., English, University of Colorado
B.A., English, Macalester College

Professor Rauhauser's teaching, writing, and scholarship focus on first year college composition, creative nonfiction and narrative essays, and writing about the American West. 

Katie Kulla
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., Creative Writing, Western Washington University
B.A., English Literature & Art (Photography), Western Washington University

Everything Katie does when teaching or writing is informed by her prior 15-year career as a vegetable farmer.

Katie Jo LaRiviere
Adjunct English Instructor
Ph.D, English, University of Oregon
M.A., English, Montana State University
Certificate in College Teaching, Montana State University
B.A., English, Seattle University

Professor LaRiviere teaches composition and literature, and her scholarly work is on medieval literature, poetics, pedagogy, and disability studies.

Antonia "Annie" Massa-MacLeod
Adjunct English Instructor
Ph.D., English (Composition and Rhetoric), University of Wisconsin (Madison)
M.A., English, University of Wisconsin (Madison)
B.A., English, Mt. Holyoke College

Annie's research and teaching interests include college composition, Aristotelianism, ecocomposition, sustainability studies, and Oregon history.

Jean Mittelstaedt
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., English, Portland State University
M.A.T., English, Portland State University
B.S.Ed, English, Western Oregon University

Ms. Mittelstaedt's professional interests include community in 19th and 20th century American literature, the teaching of writing, the use of technology in teaching, and active learning. 

Jean Moynahan
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., English, Arizona State University
B.A.E., English Education, Arizona State University

Professor Moynahan's academic interests include 19th c. British literature, a teaching focus on composition and research, and personal interest in fiction writing.

Rebecca Owen
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., Johns Hopkins University, Science Writing
MFA, Minnesota State University, Creative Writing
B.A., Portland State University,  Music

Professor Owen's areas of specialty are science journalism, nonfiction writing, academic research, composition, and literature.

Katherine Ryan
Adjunct English Instructor
Ph.D., English Literature, University of California, Irvine
M.A., English Literature, University of California, Irvine
B.S., Psychology and English Literature, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Professor Ryan’s scholarly interests are late 19th and early 20th century British, Irish, and American literature in addition to theories of trauma & affect.

Matthew J. Schmidgall
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., English, Oregon State University
B.A., Mathematics, Western Oregon University

Matt's interests lie in the intersection of language, logic, and the symbols we use to order and communicate meaning; as a teacher, he focuses on academic composition, research, and the often-misunderstood freedom of the essay.

Chris Semansky
Adjunct English Instructor
Ph.D., English. Stony Brook University
M.A., English/Folklore, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.A., Philosophy, Queens College of the City University of New York

Professor Semansky's teaching and scholarly interests include rhetoric and composition, poetry, and popular culture.

Cathy Shride
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., English, Portland State University
B.S., Southern Illinois University

Ms. Shride's areas of specialization and interest include rhetoric and composition, Victorian literature, 19th century American literature, and technical writing.

Suzanne Spencer
Adjunct English Instructor
M.F.A., Creative Nonfiction. Southern New Hampshire University
M.A.T., Secondary Education. George Fox University
B.A., English, Portland State University
A.A.O.T., Clackamas Community College

Professor Spencer started her career in technical writing at Intel before transitioning into education where her areas of specialty include technical writing and creative nonfiction. 

Peter Starr
Adjunct English Instructor
M.F.A., Creative Writing, Oregon State University
B.A., English and American Studies, Hobart College

Peter Starr's areas of academic interest include creative writing, technical writing, and the study and craft of comic books and graphic literature. 

Jiesha Stephens
Adjunct English Instructor
Ph.D., English, University of Oregon
M.A., English, University of Oregon
B.A., English, University of South Florida
A.A., Florida Southwestern State College

Professor Stephens specializes in composition writing, Afro-diasporic literature, and visual culture. Her scholarly and creative work spans African American, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx perspectives, and she enjoys inspiring students to approach writing as a form of self-expression and cultural critique.

Tammy Lynne Stoner
Adjunct English Instructor
M.F.A., Creative Writing, Antioch University Los Angeles
B.A., Literature, Temple University

Professor Tammy (because we can't say Professor Stoner with a straight face) teaches composition and the art of argument, using film, humor, and magical realism whenever possible.

Ernie D. Sturzinger
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., English, Education, Computer Science in Education, Western Oregon University
B.A., English Literature / Writing, George Fox University

Professor Sturzinger’s interests lie in relating and showing how applicable scholarly writing and literature is to all educational classes and especially to the business world.

Chrys Tobey
Adjunct English Instructor
M.F.A., Creative Writing, Antioch University Los Angeles
B.A., Liberal Studies, Antioch University Los Angeles

Professor Tobey's teaching interests are in creative writing, composition, compassion, and community.

Travis Willmore
Adjunct English Instructor
M.A., Writing/Book Publishing, Portland State University
B.A., English, Portland State University

Travis teaches and tutors writing, with a focus on rhetorical strategies in composition, and has contributed to Chemeketa's writing handbook.