Department of English

Faculty & Staff

Main Office

Department of English

Administration Building, Room 222 Tacoma, WA 98447
253-535-7698

Faculty

James Albrecht

Associate Professor of English & Chair of English Department

Ph.D., Rutgers University, 1995

253-535-7698Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., Amherst College, 1985
  • M.A., Rutgers University, 1989
  • Ph.D., Rutgers University, 1995
Areas of Emphasis:
  • American Literature
  • Pragmatism

Rick Barot

Assistant Professor of English

M.F.A., Iowa Writers' Workshop, 1998

253-535-7318Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., Wesleyan University, 1992
  • M.F.A., Iowa Writers' Workshop, 1998
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Creative Writing
  • Poetry
  • Ethnic Literature
  • Gay/Lesbian Literature

Charles Bergman

Professor of English

Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1977

253-535-7490Personal Web site
Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., Economics, University of Washington, 1969
  • B.A., English, University of Washington, 1970
  • M.A., University of Minnesota, 1973
  • Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1977
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Environmental Writing
  • Environmental Literature
  • Freelance Writing
  • Shakespeare

Callista Brown

Associate Professor of English

Ph.D., Purdue University, 1991

253-535-7806Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., Mount Holyoke College, 1971
  • M.A., Butler University, 1982
  • Ph.D., Purdue University, 1991
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Composition
  • Rhetorical Theory
  • Literacy

Thomas Campbell

Professor of English

Ph.D., University of Oregon, 1981

253-535-7226Office Location
Education:
  • B.S., University of Oregon, 1968
  • M.A., Portland State University, 1976
  • Ph.D., University of Oregon, 1981
Areas of Emphasis:
  • British Literature
  • Bloomsbury Group and Literary Modernism
  • Personal Writing
  • Romanticism
  • AIDS Literature

Sharon Jansen

Professor of English

Ph.D., University of Washington, 1980

253-535-7227Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., California Lutheran University, 1972
  • M.A., University of Washington, 1973
  • Ph.D., University of Washington, 1980
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Medieval and Renaissance Literature
  • Women's Literature

Rona Kaufman

Associate Professor of English

Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2002

253-535-7295Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., Penn State University, 1992
  • M.A., University of Maine, 1994
  • Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2002
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Composition
  • Rhetoric and Writing
  • Literacy
  • Pedagogy
  • English Language

Matthew Levy

Assistant Professor of English, Director of Writing Center, Director of Faculty Development for First-Year Experience Program

Ph.D., Rhetoric, University of Texas at Arlington, 2005

253-535-7230Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., English, Guilford College, 1993
  • M.A., English, University of Texas at Arlington, 1997
  • Ph.D., Rhetoric, University of Texas at Arlington, 2005
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Rhetoric
  • Composition
  • Critical Theory

Alison Mandaville

Visiting Assistant Professor

Ph.D., Literature, University of Washington

538-5670Office Location
Biography:

Alison Mandaville's poems have appeared in journals including Knock, Seattle Review, and Jeopardy. She is currently completing a prestigious Fulbright scholarship in Azerbaijan, and returns to PLU (having taught for us in 2004-05).

Education:
  • Ph.D., Literature, University of Washington
  • M.F.A., Creative Writing, University of Washington
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Multi-ethnic and women's literatures.
  • Comics / Graphic novels

Lisa Marcus

Associate Professor of English

Ph.D., Rutgers University, 1995

253-535-7312Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1986
  • M.A., Rutgers University, 1989
  • Ph.D., Rutgers University, 1995
Areas of Emphasis:
  • American and Ethnic Literature
  • Women's Literature
  • Feminist Theory
  • Cultural Studies

Dennis Martin

Professor of English

Ph.D., University of California - Los Angeles, 1973

253-535-7217Office Location
Education:
  • B.S., Edinboro State College, 1964
  • M.A., Purdue University, 1966
  • Ph.D., University of California - Los Angeles, 1973
Areas of Emphasis:
  • American and Contemporary Literature

Nathalie op de Beeck

Associate Professor of English

Ph.D., Cultural and Critical Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 2003

253-535-8773Office Location
Education:
  • B.S., English/Art, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1990
  • M.A., Literature, University of Pittsburgh, 1998
  • Ph.D., Cultural and Critical Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 2003
Areas of Emphasis:
  • cultural and critical studies
  • children's literature and culture
  • graphic narrative and visual studies
  • gender issues
  • ecocriticism

Solveig Robinson

Associate Professor of English, DIrector of the Publishing & Printing Arts Program

Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1994

253-535-7241Personal Web site
Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., Gustavus Adolphus College, 1983
  • M.A., University of Chicago, 1987
  • Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1994
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Publishing Studies
  • Editing
  • Victorian Literature
  • Writing
  • Criticism

David Seal

Professor of English

Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1977

253-535-7316Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., St. Olaf College, 1968
  • A.M., University of Chicago, 1969
  • Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1977
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Psychological Criticism
  • Narrative Writing

Jason Skipper

Assistant Professor of English

Ph.D., Western Michigan University, 2005

253-535-7238Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., University of North Texas, 1999
  • M.A., Miami University at Oxford-Ohio, 2001
  • Ph.D., Western Michigan University, 2005
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Creative Writing
  • Fiction

Jessica Spring

English Instructor, Elliot Press Manager

M.F.A., Columbia College Center for Book & Paper Arts, 2002

253-535-5778Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., Macalester College, 1985
  • M.F.A., Columbia College Center for Book & Paper Arts, 2002
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Book Arts and History of the Book

Barbara Temple-Thurston

Professor of English

Ph.D., Southern Illinois University, 1985

253-535-8747Office Location
Education:
  • B.A., University of Witwatersrand-Johannesburg, 1971
  • MS.Ed., Southern Illinois University, 1979
  • Ph.D., Southern Illinois University, 1985
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Post-Colonial Literature
  • Caribbean Literature
  • African Literature

Jennifer Smith

Visiting Assistant Professor

Ph.D., English, Western Michigan University, 2006

253-538-5665Office Location
Education:
  • Ph.D., English, Western Michigan University, 2006
  • M.A., English, Miami University, 2001
  • B.A., English, Franklin College, 1998
Areas of Emphasis:
  • Modern & Contemporary British Literature
  • LGBTQ Studies
  • Women's Literature
  • Popular Culture