Professional Organization: modern language association

Patricia E. O'Connor
Patricia E. O'Connor, Ph.D., holds her doctorate in sociolinguistics. At Georgetown University she is an Associate Professor in the Department of English. O'Connor was a member of the Visible Knowledge Project from 2000-2005. She is a former Senior Research Fellow of the Center for Social Justice, and former Associate Director of the Georgetown University Writing Program. For over 20 years she directed GU Prison Outreach Programs. She also has served as faculty advisor for GU students' Demeter Educational Project for Women in Substance Abuse Recovery from 1995-2006. In December 2004 O’Connor was named a Mitsubishi Unsung Heroine for her work in substance abuse treatment centers and prisons.Currently, Dr. O’Connor is researching life stories of those in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse, interviewing those in treatment centers about their experiences of addiction and about their hopes for recovery. O’Connor has been Co-Director of the Georgetown University Service Learning Institute and founding member and chair of the national service faculty Educators for Community Engagement (formerly the Invisible College). Her research on narratives of prisoners explores the language of violence and speakers' claims about those acts. This research directly stems from her 20+ years of teaching and service in the District of Columbia's area prisons and jails. Her publications appear in the Journal of African American Men, Pragmatics, Tex , Discourse &Society, Pre/Text and in several edited volumes. Her book on prison discourse, Speaking of Crime: Narratives of Prisoners (2000), is available from University of Nebraska Press. O'Connor is also co-author of Literacy Behind Prison Walls (1992). On Georgetown’s campus, O'Connor teaches courses in "Theory and Practice of Writing," "Prison Literature," "Narrative Discourse," “Narratives of Violence,” “Working Class Literature,” “Appalachian literature,” “Persuasive Writing,” and first-year English courses in “Critical Methods: Narratology.” She has also taught for Georgetown at its new School of Foreign Service in Qatar (2005-06, 2008).
Diane K. Lofstrom Miniel
Diane K. Lofstrom Miniel is currently concluding work on her MFA in Creative Writing, Creative Nonfiction, at CSU Fresno. She is the current Co-Coordinator of Students of English Studies Association. She was the editor for the San Joaquin Review and former President of the San Joaquin Literary Association. Her essay "Mystery Spot" will be aired on local Fresno radio station KVPR's Valley Writers Read, 89.3 FM, on Jan. 7, 2009 at 7 p.m.
Aaron Prevots
Aaron Prevots is Assistant Professor of French at Southwestern University. In addition to French through Songs and Singing, his current projects include studies of contemporary French poetry and numerous translations, in particular the full-length bilingual poetry volume Retour au calme / Return to Calm (Jacques Réa, trans. Aaron Prevots, Austin: Host Publications, September 2007).
Taimi Olsen
Dr. Taimi Olsen is an Associate Professor of English at Tusculum College. She obtained her doctorate from UNC-CH and is the author of Transcending Space: Architectural Place in E. E. Cummings, Thoreau and John Barth. She is also author of several articles on E. E. Cummings as well as on teaching issues, and she conducts faculty development workshops yearly at the Appalachian College Association summit.
ryan m moeller
ryan moeller is an assistant professor of rhetoric and technology in the english department at utah state university. his research interests include the role of agency within systems dominated by technique and technology.
Scott Windham
Scott Windham is Assistant Professor of German and Director of the Language Media Center at Elon University.