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| English Department Faculty |
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| Full-time Faculty |
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| Adjunct Faculty |
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| Full-time Faculty |
P: (616) 632-2068
brookdan@aquinas.edu |
Daniel J. Brooks, Ph.D. is currently Director of both the Humanities and the Inquiry & Expression Programs and Professor of English at Aquinas College. In addition to Humanities, he has taught in the freshman year Inquiry and Expression program and a variety of English courses, including 20th century British, Irish, and American literature, the Grammar of Modern English, and several introductory survey and genre courses. Brooks earned his PhD in Comparative Literature from Binghamton University (NY) in 1988 and joined the faculty at Aquinas in 1989. His most recent publications are concerned with globalizing the study of culture. He is also the faculty advisor for The Saint. |
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P: (616) 632-2830
cheslbre@aquinas.edu |
Brent Chesley earned his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. He joined the faculty of Aquinas College in 1987. Dr. Chesley teaches 17th- and 18th-Century British Literature, Creative Nonfiction, and Business Writing. He is known around campus for his belief that Pride and Prejudice is the best novel ever written in English. He also has a special interest in helping students to prepare their creative nonfiction for publication. When he is not busy writing his own creative nonfiction, Dr. Chesley follows the fortunes of his favorite automotive racing team, Ferrari. |
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P: (616) 632-2833
coogareb@aquinas.edu |
Rebecca J. Coogan, Ph.D.. As member of the English Department, she teaches courses in her specialty areas of medieval literature and women's writing, as well as courses in fiction and composition. Her primary research interests are the Paston letters and Chaucer. A lover of travel, Dr. Coogan has studied in England and Austria and has enjoyed a semester as faculty director of the Ireland Program. Before coming to Michigan in 1989, she lived and studied in upstate New York. She has taught at Grand Valley State University and joined the Aquinas faculty in 1991. |
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P: (616) 632-2827
dailwpam@aquinas.edu |
Pamela Dail Whiting, MA in English, Michigan State University; MFA, Vermont College, teaches Humanities, writing and literature courses for preservice English teachers, and writing courses for continuing education students. She began teaching at Aquinas in 1989 and taught cross-listed English and Education courses as well as Creative Writing at the Emeritus Center. Before teaching at Aquinas, she taught as an adjunct for Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University and as a high school English teacher in Michigan and Massachusetts. Her areas of interests include writing and English courses for prospective teachers. As College Chair for Michigan Council of Teachers of English, she is actively involved in professional development programs for English teachers. Her writing has been published in the Language Arts Journal of Michigan, and she edited the children's literature textbook, An Invitation: Children's Literature published 2001. |
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P: (616) 632-2828
dawsojen@aquinas.edu |
Jennifer Dawson, Ph.D. Jennifer Dawson earned her BA in English from the University of Michigan, and her MA from Michigan State University where she recently obtained her Ph.D. Her doctoral dissertation was on 19th century American women writers. She taught at Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University before joining Aquinas College's faculty in 2001. Her main area of scholarly interest is American literature and culture with a special emphasis on women writers, conduct manuals, periodical literature, letter writing and nineteenth century history. She applies this knowledge to teaching American literature courses and various writing courses. When she is not teaching or writing, Dawson stays busy playing with her children, gardening, skiing and hiking. |
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P: (616) 632-2826
derosmic@aquinas.edu |
Michelle DeRose, Ph.D., joined the English Department full-time in August 1999 to use her specialty in post-colonial literature and theory to teach the world and African-American literature courses. She is also the director of the Insignis Program for Honors Students, advisor for the Novel Experience, and an active poet. Her publications include both original poetry and scholarly work on poetry. She earned her Ph.D. with a focus on Caribbean epic poetry from the University of Iowa in 1996, where she learned to imagine ocean waves in the undulations of the cornfields and to love bicycling alongside those cornfields. Besides teaching, writing, and bicycling, Michelle loves any outdoor activity that requires neither motor nor ball and spends most of her free time hiking, canoeing, backpacking, camping, or cross-country skiing with her husband Myron, son Parker and their two dogs. |
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P: (616) 632-2829
eberlgar@aquinas.edu |
Gary Eberle, MA, professor
of English and chairman of the English department, is the author
of several books, including The Geography of Nowhere: Finding
One's Self in the Postmodern World (Sheed & Ward, 1994); Angel Strings, a novel (Coffee House, 1995); A
City Full of Rain, short stories (Xlibris, 2001), and Sacred
Time and the Search for Meaning (Shambhala, 2003). Since
1994, Eberle has twice been selected by the Student Senate as
Outstanding faculty member of the year, and in 1994 he received
an award from the Aquinas College faculty for outstanding scholarship.
He developed the Insignis Program for Honors Students in 1985
and directed it for 12 years. His journalism and fiction
have won awards locally and nationally, and his novel Angel
Strings was named a “best book” by the New York
Public Library in 1997. Active professionally, he has been president
of the Mid-East Honors Association, the Michigan Honors Association,
and is currently an officer of the Michigan Association of Departments
of English. A more extensive biography and critical notes may
be found in the on-line version of Contemporary Authors.
His newest book is Dangerous Words: Talking About God in the Age of Fundamentalism (Boston: Shambhala/Trumpter, 2007).
>>Link to Amazon.com page of Eberle's books
>>Link to Gary Eberle's entry in Contemporary Authors |
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P: (616) 632-2832
mcmilvic@aquinas.edu |
Vicki McMillan, MA, MFA is an Assistant Professor of English at Aquinas. She received her M.F.A. in Creative Writing, as well as her M.A. in English, from Western Michigan University. Her creative work has appeared in Sky, Controlled Burn, Voices, The Kalamazoo Reader, Fourth Genre and Grand Rapids Cosmopolitan Home. She lives in East Grand Rapids with her husband Duncan and their son Chase. |
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P: (616) 632-2831
pedermir@aquinas.edu |
Miriam Pederson, MFA, is an Associate Professor of English and teaches courses in creative writing, literature. She also teaches in the Humanities program. Ms. Pederson began her career as a secondary teacher of English, and after receiving her Master of Fine Arts degree, has, for the past 21 years, taught in the Aquinas College English Department. She serves as advisor to Lambda Iota Tau, and as co-manager of the student literary and art magazine, Sampler. Ms. Pederson presents poetry workshops in area elementary schools, offers memoir writing presentations to local groups, and writing courses for the Aquinas Emeritus College. Her own poetry has been published in many journals and anthologies, and in collaboration with her husband, Ron, her poems are exhibited in area galleries. Her chapbook of poems, This Brief Light, was published in 2003. She loves Ireland and has served as faculty for the Semester-in-Ireland Program four times. She is very proud of her grown children, Ben and Madeline who are also crazy about writing and visual art. |
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| Adjunct Faculty |
| Patricia Mathews earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and M.Ed/TESOL from Grand Valley State University. Her teaching experience includes first year composition, professional writing, English as a second language, linguistics, and liberal studies. Between earning degrees she traveled extensively, living and/or working in West Africa, South Africa, India, England, France and China. Her interest in language and writing focuses on promoting understanding between different discourses. |
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