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Gretchen
Rumohr-Voskuil, M.Ed., Ph.D.
Phone: (616) 632-2872
E-mail: gretchen.rumohrvoskuil@aquinas.edu
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| Gretchen Rumohr-Voskuil is an Assistant Professor of English and serves as director of the Inquiry and Expression program. She earned her B.A. from Hope College and her M.Ed. from Aquinas College. She recently completed her doctoral studies at Western Michigan University; her dissertation, titled Adoption and Integration of Best Practice Methods in Secondary English Teaching, is a critical examination of the history, rhetorical force, and application of the term "best practice." One of her main research interests is the teaching of writing, and she has explored concepts such as peer review, audience, teacher development and technology within this context. Her scholarly work has appeared in Language Arts Journal of Michigan, Grammar to Enrich and Enhance Writing (Weaver and Bush 2007) and The Doctoral Degree in English Education (Webb 2009). Gretchen is married and has two little girls, Nola and Marcelle. She enjoys running, canning, and visiting antique shops in her spare time. |
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| Steve Beauclair earned a B.A. in philosophy at Marquette University and holds Master's degrees in Spanish, international management, and education. He has conducted action research on journal writing in the ESL high school classroom. In addition to twelve years teaching at the secondary level, Beauclair has taught at the University of Toledo, Ohio, and at the Inter-American University in Ponce, Puerto Rico. In 2009, he completed doctoral studies in Anglophone literature of the Caribbean at the University of Puerto Rico. |
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| Dr. 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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| As a member of the English Department, Dr. Coogan 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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| Jennifer Dawson, Associate Professor of English, earned her B.A. in English from the University of Michigan, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Michigan State University with an emphasis on Early American Literature and Victorian Studies. She taught at Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University before joining Aquinas College's faculty in 2001. While her main area of scholarly interest is American Literature and culture before 1900, her academic passions include studying women writers, conduct manuals, periodical literature, captivity narratives, letter writing and all aspects of cultural history. In 2008, she applied her background in Irish Literature and History to co-directing the AQ Ireland program where she hopes to return with future groups. When she is not teaching or writing, Dawson stays busy playing with her children, and digging in her garden. |
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| Amy Dunham Strand comes to Aquinas from Wittenberg University, where she received her BA, and from the University of Washington in Seattle, where she received her MA and PhD and taught courses in American literature, composition and rhetoric, and service learning. More recently, she has taught in the University of Cincinnati’s Honors Scholars Program. Dunham Strand has published articles on topics ranging from Catharine Sedgwick’s novel Hope Leslie to the study of American dialect, and her recent book, Language, Gender, and Citizenship in American Literature, 1789-1919 (Routledge 2008), uses a historical approach to explore how American discussions of language and gender have often intersected with concerns about national citizenship – mirroring her interest in linking the study of language, literature, and culture in the classroom. Beyond teaching and scholarship, Dunham Strand enjoys swimming, hiking, and spending time with her husband Christian, daughters Meg and Abby, and dog Zuzu. |
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| Jeanne Elders DeWaard received her B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1990 and worked in the book publishing industry before earning her Ph.D. from the University of Miami in 2003. Her research focuses on the patterns of influence between sentimental fiction and legal discourse in antebellum American culture, and she is especially interested in connections between domestic relations and national identity. Her work has been published in American Literature and Arizona Quarterly. She lives with her husband and three children and enjoys running, cycling, and hiking in the woods with her beagle. |
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| Gary Eberle, 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). His newest book is Dangerous Words: Talking About God in the Age of Fundamentalism (Boston: Shambhala/Trumpter, 2007). 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. |
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| Kristin Graef, M.A., is an adjunct assistant professor at Aquinas, and has taught I & E and Humanities since 2004. She earned her M.A. at Ball State University in Indiana, and her B.A. at Wittenberg University in Ohio. Her interests include Romantic and Victorian literature, and art and music history. Kristin has enjoyed lifetime European travel, and hopes to return one day with her two sons, Eliot and Jay. Her poetry has been published in The Wittenberg Review, America Sings, and Wordriver, and has won national poetry contests. |
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| Brian Matzke is a two-time graduate of Aquinas College, having received his B.S.B.A. in 1997 and his Masters of Management in 2002. Brian’s career at Aquinas began in January 1997 when he was hired by the Admissions Office. In May 2000, Brian left his position as Associate Director of Admissions to join the Provost’s Office as Director of Instructional Services. In August of 2009 he was promoted to Dirctor of Academic Operations. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, he teaches as an adjunct faculty member in the communication department as well as in the College’s Inquiry and Expression program. Brian is also currently serving as chair of the Aquinas College Staff Assembly. |
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| In addition to Inquiry and Expression at Aquinas, Nora teaches composition, Lesbian and Gay Literature and Women’s Studies at area colleges. Her research interests include gender and sexuality studies as well as nineteenth and early twentieth century women’s literature. As, perhaps, expected, Nora thrives on reading and writing, and prefers to engage with written words outdoors. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Western Michigan University, and a Master of Arts in literary studies from Georgia State University. |
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| Molly Patterson joined the Aquinas faculty in fall of 2005. She is completing her graduate work in political science at the University of California, Irvine. Her political science interests include participatory forms of democracy, citizen education and development, and issues of power and social justice. She uses feminist theory in her work on democracy because it provides some of the most interesting insights for thinking about how power operates and how identities and ideologies are formed and maintained. |
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| Beth Shelley teaches I & E at Aquinas. She earned her Bachelor's degree in English from Albion College, where Shakespeare became a passion. After a few years in Washington State and South Korea, she returned to Michigan and earned her Master's degree in English from Grand Valley State University. She will be presenting a section from her book for the AQ Lecture Series during the 2009-2010 school year. The presentation is entitled, "Shakespeare's Medieval Influences in The Tragedy of Richard the Third." |
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| Dr. Wickering is a cultural anthropologist. Her research among Bedouin women in the Sinai desert of Egypt led to her interests in gender, indigenous peoples, oral culture and tourism. Dr. Wickering joined the faculty of Aquinas College in 1999 and joined the Sociology department in 2005. Along with cultural anthropology, Dr. Wickering teaches writing and courses in Women's Studies. |
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| Bradford Winkler has been at Aquinas since 1979. He is a graduate of Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1996. He also holds degrees from Bowling Green State University and MIchigan State University in student affairs administration. He served in student affairs positions at Aquinas as Director of Residence Life from 1979-87, Associate Dean of Students from 1987-90, and Dean of Students from 1990-2008. This past fall, Brad moved full-time to the faculty as Associate Professor In-the-College. He is a licensed attorney in the Michigan and federal courts. He teaches a variety of law classes in Political Science, Business Administration, Graduate Management, Education, and Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. He also teaches a section of I&E and cooredinates the Moot Court class in which students compete against other undergraduate students in appellate argument. He serves as an advisor to students preparing for legal careers and serves as advisor to the Pre-Law Club. |
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