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Borough of Manhattan Community College
Welcome to Transitions and Transactions: Literature Pedagogy in Community Colleges
Conference at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York!
We are excited to offer the first community college conference focused exclusively on
the teaching of literature. We have carefully selected topically diverse panels that invite
teachers and students to enter into cultural conversations that seek to improve and
enrich the teaching and learning of literature. Over the next two days, speakers illuminate the literature classroom as an important space where students, teachers and texts
coexist, embodying ideas that converge and collide in an effort to create new understandings. We hope this experience will inform teaching practice, spark new research,
and create teaching collaborations.
Keynote Speaker: Sheridan Blau
Sheridan Blau, Ph.D. is the Distinguished Senior Lecturer in English Education and Coordinator of
the Program in the Teaching of English at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is Professor of
English and Education (Emeritus) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has been honored with awards by the university and by national professional associations for his teaching, for his
research, and for his contributions to the profession of English. For thirty years, until his retirement
from UCSB, he directed UCSB’s South Coast Writing Project and Literature Institute for Teachers. He
also served for many years as the director of the campus Composition Program and as program head
of the teacher-education program in English. Beyond the university, he has served as a member of the
Assessment Development Panel for National Certification in English for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, as a Senior Advisor to the California Test Development Committee for
statewide assessments in reading and writing, as a member of the English Academic Advisory Committee to the College Board, and Director of the National Literature Project Network. For twenty years
he was a member of the National Writing Project Advisory Board and Task Force. He is also a former
President of the National Council of Teachers of English. His publications have focused mainly on the
teaching of composition and literature, seventeenth century British literature, professional development
for teachers, and the ethics and politics of literacy. He has also written and edited textbooks in composition and literature for students in middle school, high school, and college classrooms. His widely
influential book, The Literature Workshop: Teaching Texts and Their Readers (Heinemann, 2003),
was named by the Conference on English Education as the winner of the 2004 Richard Meade Award
for outstanding research in English education.
Featured Speaker: Edward B. Fiske
Edward (Ted) B. Fiske is a former Education Editor of the New York Times and author of the country’s
best-selling and most respected college guide, The Fiske Guide to Colleges. He has written widely on
school reform issues in the U.S., including the book Smart Schools, Smart Kids (Simon and Schuster).
He has traveled extensively and written articles and reports on educational trends in developing countries for UNESCO, the World Bank, USAID, and other organizations. Fiske and his wife, Helen Ladd,
who teaches public policy and economics at Duke University, have co-authored books on school
reform in New Zealand and South Africa as well as papers on school finance in the Netherlands. In
addition to the Times, his articles, blogs and op eds have appeared in Education Week, Atlantic, Huffington Post and other leading newspapers. He and his wife reside in Durham, NC.
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Borough of Manhattan Community College
Conference Program
Friday, April 20, 2012
4:00 - 4:25
Registration, Richard Harris Terrace, Ground Floor
4:30 - 5:00 Welcome Remarks: Sadie Bragg, Vice President/Provost Academic
Affairs, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Professor Joyce
Harte, Chair, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Margaret Barrow, Deputy Chair and Assistant Professor,
Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, and
Manya Steinkoler, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Borough
of Manhattan Community College
5:00 - 6:00 Featured Speaker: Edward (Ted) B. Fiske, Education Editor and Writer
6:00 - 6:20 Discussion
6:30 - 7:00 Welcome Reception
Saturday, April 21, 2012
8:00 - 8:30 Continental Breakfast - Richard Harris Terrace, Ground Floor
8:30 - 9:30
Keynote Speaker: Professor Sheridan Blau, Teachers College,
Columbia University
Concurrent Sessions:
9:40 - 10:40
A Sessions
10:50 - 11:50 B Sessions
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch - Richard Harris Terrace
1:05 - 2:05 C Sessions
2:15 - 3:15
D Sessions
3:20 - 4:00 Publishers Exhibit – Supporting Literature Pedagogy in the
Community Colleges, Ground Floor
4:04 - 5:05 E Sessions
5:15 - 6:30 F Sessions
6:40 - 7:00 Closing Remarks: Conference Designers and Coordinators: Manya
Steinkoler and Margaret Barrow, Department of English, Borough of
Manhattan Community College, CUNY, Richard Harris Terrace Light food and beverages will be served
A Sessions – (Concurrent: 9:40 - 10:40am)
A.1 Literary Theory at the Community College [4th Floor -- N414]
Chair: Elizabeth Primamore, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY
Speakers: Mark Bates, Ph.D., Department of English, Quinsigamond Community College, MA,
“Not a Word and Not a Concept: Literary Theory in the Community College Literature Class”
Ken Tangvik, Ph.D., Department of English, Roxbury Community College, MA,
“Community College Students as Readers: A Study of Aesthetic Response to Literature”
Jerome Wynter, M.A., Adjunct Lecturer, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community
College, CUNY, “Literary Theory at the Community College: The Politics of Words and Linguistic
Disobedience” in the works of Ted Hughes, Mary Wilkins Freeman and Laura Fish”
A.2 Literary Reading for Literature and Other Complex Texts [4th Floor – N438]
Chair: Lisa Tucker, Assistant Professor of English, Raritan Valley Community College, NJ
Speakers: Nicole Callahan, Adjunct Instructor and Doctoral Student, Teachers College, Columbia
University, NY. “Like a Patient Etherized upon a Table: Reading Textual Bodies”
Cheryl Hogue Smith, Ph.D., Kingsborough Community College, CUNY
“Patience at the Table: Interrogating Non-Fiction Texts”
A.3 Roundtable: Student Experiences in the Community College Literature Classroom [4th Floor-N440]
Chairs: Margaret Barrow, Ed.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY; Rhonda Gray, MS.Ed., Department of English and Honors Committee Coordinator, Roxbury
Community College, MA
Speakers: Kat Stephens, Writing and Literature Student, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY, Dikun Elioba, Liberal Arts Student, Kingsborough Community College, CUNY, and Ricci Niles,
Writing and Literature Student, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, Theodore Edwards,
Bronx Community College, CUNY; Helga DaRosa, Writing and Literature Student, Roxbury Community
College, MA; Eduardo Goncalves, Writing and Literature Student, Roxbury Community College, MA.
Description: Community college students from New York and Massachusetts discuss their experiences, challenges and concerns learning literature in community college literature classrooms. Students
will also examine models of teaching literature that position their voices more centrally in the classroom
as they partner with instructors to inform the content and design of the course. The participants also
plan to use this forum to ask literature teachers to join them in discussing teaching practices that have
had the greatest impact on their learning.
A.4 Popular Culture and Literature [4th Floor – N443]
Chair: Christine Gentry, Ph.D. Candidate, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY
Speakers: Tara Thompson, Ph.D. Student, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY, “Comics:
Teaching Beyond the Panels”
Jennifer Chancellor, Ph.D. Student/CUNY Graduate Center, Adjunct Lecturer, Department of English,
Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, “Something to Ad(d): The Advertisement as
Teaching Tool in the Twenty-First Century Literature Classroom”
Jenn Diamond-Amorello, Ph.D., Department of Language and Literature, Bucks County Community
College, PA
“Do You Support Female Werewolf Rights?”: Teaching Gothic Theory in the Community College”
A.5 Pathways to Understanding Literature [Hudson Room – Ground Floor]
Chair: Mikki Shaw, Ed.D., Director of Jump Start and Special Initiatives, School of Education,
Manhattanville College, NY
Speakers: Elizabeth Berlinger, Lecturer, Ph.D. Student, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan
Community College, CUNY,
Catherine Cammilleri, M.A., Lecturer, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community
College, CUNY,
Aimee Record, M.A., Lecturer, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY,
Title: “Visual Literacy, Visual Thinking, Transforming the Verbal-Visual Relations: Trying to Understand
Practical Teaching and Knowledge Through Gods, Heroes, and Men”
A.6 Re-imagining Teaching Literature [3rd Floor – S370]
Chair: James Tolan, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Mary Ann Miller, Ph.D., Department of English, Caldwell College, NJ,
“Building an Audience for Poets: Service-Learning in the Poetry Classroom”
Dean Papas, Ph.D., Candidate, Adjunct Lecturer, Department of English, Pasadena City College, CA,
“Re-Imagining Teaching Literature: The Story of a Classroom Hour”
Robert Masterson, M.F.A., Lecturer, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community
College, CUNY,
“Teaching Talent: A Creative Class/Workshop at a New York Community College”
B Sessions (Concurrent: 10:50 - 11:50am)
B.1 Literature and Social Justice [4th Floor -- N414]
Chair: Kathryn Cullen-DuPont, M.F.A., Academic Coordinator, Freshman English Program Coordinator,
Writing Across the Curriculum, Pratt Institute
Speakers: Tali Noimann, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY,
“Speak Gently/Speak Harshly: Addressing Child Abuse Through Children’s Literature”
Robert Cowan, Ph.D., Department of English, Kingsborough Community College, CUNY,
“Out of Ignorance: Using Captivity Narratives to Combat Human Trafficking in New York City”
Lara Stapleton, M.F.A., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
“Practicing Social Justice Through Course Work”
B.2 Gender, Sexuality, and Power in the Study of Literature [4th Floor – N438]
Chair: Jan Stahl, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Stephanie Oppenheim, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community
College, CUNY,
“Already Twice Removed: Teaching Gender in British Literature”
Anwar Harper, Ph.D. Student, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY,
“Creating Voice for Sexual and Gender Minorities in the English Classroom: A Foucauldian Analysis
of Panopticism and Language”
Gregory Marks, Ph.D., Department of English, Hostos Community College, CUNY,
“Man Thinking: Dismantling the Composition-Industrial Complex in Literature Courses”
B.3 Expository Writing using Literature [4th Floor – N440]
Chair: Racquel Goodison, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY
Speakers: Olga Dugan, Ph.D., Department of English, Community College of Philadelphia, PA,
“Models of Writerly Behavior: Teaching Composition Using Literature”
Susan Arvay, Ph.D., Department of English, Raritan Valley Community College, NJ,
“The Role of Literature In the Composition Classroom”
Daniel Linker, Ph.D., Department of English, SUNY Suffolk, NY, “The Mini-Essay”
B.4 Gender Politics [4th Floor – N443]
Chair: Alicia Lerman, Ph.D. Student/Instructor, English Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY,
Speakers: Maura A. Henry, Ph.D., Critical Cultural Studies, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, MA
and Ismet Ozkilic, Ph.D., Department of English, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, MA,
Title: “EnGendering Women in the Modern Muslim World: Interpreting Gender Constructions
and Forging Community”
Amy Washburn, Ph.D., Department of English, Kingsborough Community College, CUNY,
“Literary Travels: Teaching Immigrant Women’s Literature in the Community College Classroom.”
B.5 Reading and the Study of Literature [Hudson Room – Ground Floor]
Chair: Laura Kates, Ed.D, Acting Assistant Director, Education Programs, Kingsborough Community
College, CUNY
Speakers: Christa Baiada, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY;
Rachel Ihara, Ph.D., Department of English, Kingsborough Community College, CUNY; Michelle Pacht,
Ph.D., Department of English, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY
Title: “Required Reading: A Discussion of the Concerns and Challenges Informing Reading
Assignments in Literature Courses at the Community College”
B.6 Engaging Readers, Engaging Texts [3rd Floor – S370]
Chair: Emmanuela Maurice, M.F.A., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community
College/Medgar Evers College, CUNY
Speakers: Alice Lacey, M.Phil., M.A., Adjunct Lecturer, Department of English, LaGuardia Community
College, CUNY and York College, CUNY,
“Being Moved (Literally!) by Literature”
Michael McGehee, Department of English, North Hennepin Community College, MN, “Interpreting
Sex: Challenges Teaching Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections in the Community College Classroom”
Erick Gordon, Director, New York City Writing Project, Lehman College, CUNY,
“Occupying Spaces: Dependent Authorship Fosters Empathy in Literary Response”
C Sessions (Concurrent: 1:05 - 2:05pm)
C.1 The Mechanics of Play: Making Games That Teach Literature [4th Floor -- N414]
Chair: Francesco Crocco, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY
Speakers: Joe Bisz, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
Carlos Hernandez, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
Julie Cassidy, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
Title: “The Mechanics Of Play: Making Games That Teach Literature”
C.2 The Geography of Literature [4th Floor – N438]
Chair: Andrew Levy, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Holly Messitt, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY and James Tolan, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY, “New America”
Page Delano, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
“Putting the World in World Literature”
C.3 Answering Deeper Voices in the Study of Literature [4th Floor – N440]
Chair: Joyce Harte, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Barnett J. Weiss, M.A., L.C.S.W., B.B.E., Social Worker, NY,
“Building Student’s Inner Wealth as a Source for Success: The Nurtured Heart Approach”
Ryna May, Ph.D., English/World Languages, Howard Community College, MD,
“Call and Response: Literature 2.0 for the Community College”
Adam Tramantano, Ed.M. Student/Teachers College English Education Columbia University,
and Teacher at The Bronx High School of Science, NY,
“The Meaning of Improvisation for Teacher Educators”
C.4 Connecting Students to Literary Texts [4th Floor – N443]
Chair: Heather Ostman, Ph.D., Department of English, Westchester Community College
Speakers: Margot M. DeSalvo, Ph.D. Student, Teachers College, Columbia University/ Adjunct
Lecturer, Department of English, Kingsborough Community College, CUNY;
Carol Telpha, Ph.D. Student, Teachers College, Columbia University/Lecturer, Department of English,
Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY;
Karen Pitt, Ph.D. Student, CUNY Graduate Center/ Instructor, Department of English, Medgar Evers
College, CUNY,
Title: “Relationship Building: How Three Instructors Close the Gaps Among Students and Literature”
C.5 Technology and Literature Pedagogy [Hudson Room – Ground Floor]
Chair: Elizabeth Berlinger, Ph.D. Student, Lecturer, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan
Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Suzanne Kaebnick, Ph.D. Department of English, Nassau Community College, NY,
“Staging the Online Literature Research Assignment”
Michelle Brazier, Ph.D., Department of English, Raritan Valley Community College, NJ,
“Reading, Thinking, Writing and the Online Download”
Kathryn Pokalo, Ed.M., Adjunct Instructor, Department of English, Community College of Philadelphia,
PA, “Web-based Literature Instruction”
C.6 Sex, Scandals, Politics and the Teaching of Literature [3rd Floor – S370]
Chair: Sheri Stein, M.A., TESOL, M.F.A., Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Developmental Skills,
Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Maureen Matarese, Ph.D., Department of Developmental Skills, Borough of Manhattan
Community College, CUNY and Geoff Klock, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan
Community College, CUNY,
“Orgy Sex and Free Love: Using Scandalous Poetry to Teach Inferencing in Developmental Skills
Reading Classes”
John Yi, Ph.D. Student, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY/Adjunct Lecturer, Department
of English, Kingsborough Community College, CUNY,
“Examining the Cultural Consciousness of ELL Students’ Writing”
D Sessions (Concurrent: 2:15 - 3:15pm)
D.1 Engagement in Literary Study [4th Floor -- N414]
Chair: Bil Wright, M.F.A., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Maya Sharma, Ed.D., Department of English, Eugenio María De Hostos Community College,
CUNY,
“Metacognition Through Journal Work: Trumping the Tropes: Increasing Student Investment in
Literary Analysis”
Claudia Moreno Pisano, Ph.D., Department of English, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY,
“The Politics of the Imagination”
D.2 Learning with and from Literature [4th Floor – N438]
Chair: Paulette Oke, M.F.A., Adjunct Lecturer, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan
Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Christine Gentry, Ph.D. Candidate, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY,
“Reality and Truth: Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried as an Act of Witness”
Sean O’Connell, M.A., Adjunct Lecturer, Humanities Department, Essex County College, NJ,
“A Way In: Establishing the Importance of Context in Literature in the Community College Setting”
Peter Eliopoulos, M.A., Adjunct, Department of English, North Shore Community College, MA,
“Coming Soon: Composition II: Intro to War Lit.”
D.3 Literature and History (Workshop) [4th Floor – N440]
Chair: John Short, Director, Basic Skills Writing Lab, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: David Leight, Professor of Humanities, Reading Area Community College, PA and John M.
Lawlor, Jr., Professor of History, Reading Area Community College, PA,
Title: “Energizing Literary Study Through History”
D.4 Artful Avenues to and from Literature [4th Floor – N443]
Chair: Debra Weiss, Ed.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Laurel Harris, English Department, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, “‘She
Shows a Lot of Movies’: Film as Text in the Community College Literature Classroom” Katherine
DiMarca, M.A., Department of English, Middlesex Community College, MA,
“A Performance-Based Approach to Teaching Shakespeare in Composition 102: An Introduction
to Literature”
Carlos Castillo, M.S., Reading and Writing Learning Specialist, MassBay Community College, MA,
“The Relationship Between Visual and Non-Visual Information: From Reading Assignments to
Reading The World”
D.5 Gaining Access to Classical Texts [Hudson Room – Ground Floor]
Chair: Joyce Zonana, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Kathleen Murphey, Ph.D., Department of English, Community College of Philadelphia, PA,
“Giving Students Context to Make Literature Accessible”
Susan Jacobowitz, Ph.D., Department of English, Queensborough Community College, CUNY,
“Teaching The Oresteia in the Community College Classroom”
Dexter Jeffries, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
“Teaching the Classics”
D.6 Literature and Transformational Thinking [3rd Floor – S370]
Chair: Sheridan Blau, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY
Speakers: Ronald Tyson, Ph.D., Department of English, Raritan Valley Community College, NJ,
“Transformative Teaching and the Literatures in English Classroom at the Community College: It Isn’t
about ‘Literature Lite’”
Laurence Berkley, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
“Anamorphosis in the Classroom”
Robert Savino Oventile, Ph.D., Department of English, Pasadena City College, CA,
“Calling the Muses Back: Milton’s ‘Lycidas’ Today”
E Sessions (Concurrent: 4:04 - 5:05pm)
E.1 Pathways to Literary Texts [4th Floor -- N414]
Chair: Cheryl Fish, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Carole Beaubien Gregory, Ed.M, Adjunct Lecturer, Department of English, Borough of
Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
“A Comedy about Llosa’s ‘Why Literature?’ and Snow’s ‘Two Cultures’”
Jennifer Militello, M.F.A., Director, Creative Writing Program, River Valley Community College, NH,
“One Way of Walking In: The Reading Journal as an Entranceway to Literature”
Debbie Hamilton, M.A., Adjunct Lecturer, Department of English, Medgar Evers College, CUNY,
“Labyrinth”
E.2 Writing Pathways Using Literature [4th Floor – N438]
Chair: Susan Saiter, Adjunct Lecturer, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community
College, CUNY
Speakers: Carolyn Steinhoff, M.A., Education, CLIP Program, Borough of Manhattan Community
College, CUNY,
“Their Story, My Story: Integrating Text Analysis and Student Writing”
Andrea Fabrizio, Ph.D., Department of English, Hostos Community College, CUNY,
“‘I Can Say It. Why Can’t I Write It?’: WAC Pedagogy and the Move from Oral to Written
Communication in Literature and Composition”
Candice Kaup Scioscia, EdM Student, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY,
“Feeling Too Old for ‘First Year’ Writing: Designing a College Writing Course that Addresses College
Learners of All Ages”
E.3 Creating Online Connections: Using Community 2.0 to Teach Literature at the Community
College [4th Floor – N440]
Chair: Zhanna Yablokova, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY
Speakers: C. Jason Smith, Ph.D., Department of English, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY,
“The Supernatural Web: Using Web-tools to Encourage Collaborative Learning about Literature”
Michelle Pacht, Ph.D., Department of English, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY, “Reaching the
Facebook Generation: Using Social Media to Teach Literature”
Ximena Gallardo, Ph.D., Department of English, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY,
“More Than Dreamt in Your Philosophy: Using Networked Communities to Bring New Perspectives
to the Literature Classroom”
E.4 Open Forum Roundtable: Pedagogical Concerns about Teaching Literature at a Community
College [4th Floor – N443]
Chair: Juliet Emanuel, Ph.D., Developmental Skills, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Facilitators: Saundra Tara Weiss, Ph.D., Department of English, Kingsborough Community College,
CUNY; Natasha Lvovich, Ph.D., Department of English, Kingsborough College, CUNY; Chinelo
Ejueyitchie, Department of English, Hunter College, CUNY
Description: We will hold an open forum on how teaching literature is different at community colleges
versus four-year schools and call the participants to look closely and candidly at what it means to be
a teacher of literature at a community college today. What do our students look like and what do they
represent? How are we affected by the digital age? How do we teach non-readers? Are we making
necessary paradigm shifts? Do our teaching styles accord with the literary receptivity of our students?
Can we articulate these changes? What are they? Let us hear the voices of our colleagues.
E.5 Reading Literature in Socio-Cultural Contexts [Hudson Room – Ground Floor]
Chair: Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Ph.D., English Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY
Speakers: Uzma Akhand Hossain, Doctoral Student, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY,
“Negotiating Multiple Identities and Literacies: Muslim Bangladeshi-American Women’s Responses to
Culturally Relevant Literacies”
Krystal Languell, M.F.A., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College and York
College, CUNY,
“Letting Go of Reading for Entertainment: “I Would Prefer Not To”
Jen Johnson, Ph.D. Student, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY,
“Hip-Hop Debate: Remixing Literacy and Textual Possibilities in the 21st Century”
E.6 Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching Literature [3rd Floor – S370]
Chair: Tristin Striker, Ph.D. Candidate Graduate Center, CUNY/Adjunct Lecturer, Department of English,
Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Jungah Kim, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan
Community College, CUNY, “Interdisciplinary Approach to the Teaching of Literature: Rethinking
“‘Humanity’ Across the Disciplinary Boundaries”
Jaime Weida, Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate Center, CUNY/ Instructor, Department of English, Borough of
Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
“And Ever the Twain Shall Meet: Teaching Literature and Science”
Meghmala Tarafdar, Ph.D., Associate Director, CETL Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning,
Queensborough Community College, CUNY,
“An Interdisciplinary Approach to Global Literacy: Teaching Eastern Perspectives in World Literature
Courses”
F Sessions (Concurrent: 5:15 - 6:30pm)
F.1 Identity, Reflection, and Critical Thinking [4th Floor - N414]
Chair: Carlos Hernandez, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY
Speakers: Heather Ostman, Ph.D., Department of English, Westchester Community College, NY,
“Identity in Language and Time: Community College Autobiographers Trace the Possibilities of
Selfhood”
Jeffrey Markoviz, M.A., Department of English, Community College of Philadelphia, PA,
“Re-establishing Literacy, Rewarding Literature”
Janet Crosier, Ph.D., Department of English, Springfield Technical Community College, MA,
“Self-reflective Learning Through Literature”
Matthew Lau, Ph.D., Department of English, Queensborough Community College, CUNY,
“Composition Technology, Critical Thinking, and the American Dream: My First Semester as a
Community College English Professor”
F.2 Resources and Reasons for Teaching Literature [4th Floor – N438]
Chair: Jungah Kim, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
Speaker: Benjamin Lawrance Miller, M.F.A., Queensborough Community College, CUNY,
“Combatting “Depressive Hedonia”: A Theoretical Inquiry”
Tisha Ulmer, Ph.D., Department of English, Kingsborough Community College, CUNY,
“Using Pre-reading Strategies to Provide Context in an African-American Literature Course”
Maryam Habibian, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Department of English, Borough of Manhattan
Community College, CUNY, “Dramatic Technique in Teaching Persepolis”
Margaret Barrow, Ed.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
“Developing Discussion as a Learning Resource: Discussion Practices in the Community College
English Classroom”
F.3 Psychoanalytic Theories of Pedagogy [4th Floor – N440]
Chair: Manya Steinkoler, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College,
CUNY
Speakers: Stephen W. Whitworth, Ph.D., Renaissance Studies, Bloomsburg University, PA,
“Resuscitating the Dead Letter: Psychoanalysis, Teaching, and Transference Love”
Martine Fourre, Psychanalyste, Résidence Ecole et soin psychosocial,
“Psychoanalysis and Pedagogy from the Beginning a Matter of Conflict”
Manya Steinkoler, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
“Transference the Letter or the Real: Uses and Abuses of Transference”
Jessica Datema, Ph.D., Department of English, Bergen Community College, NJ
“Cloning in the Classroom: Lessons from Never Let me Go”
F.4 Teaching Classical Literature [4th Floor – N443]
Chair: Rolando Jorif, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Kevin Cavanaugh, Ph.D., Department of English, Dutchess Community College, NY,
“Making the Ancient Seem Modern: Pedagogical “Best Practices” in the Teaching of Classical
Literature”
Robin Lehleitner, M.F.A., Instructor, Department of English, Berkshire Community College and
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, MA,
“Bridging the Gap: Helping Non-elite Students Create Relationships with Elite Literature”
Joyce Zonana, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
“Teaching Homer’s Odyssey in the Two-Year College Writing Program”
Jeremey Cagle, Ph.D., Department of English, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY,
“‘Closer Yet I Approach You’: Building Student Empathy and Pleasure through Whitman’s ‘Crossing
Brooklyn Ferry’”
F.5 Feeling, Thinking and Reading [Hudson Room – Ground Floor]
Chair: Janet Crosier, Ph.D., Department of English, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY
Speakers: Rochelle Spencer, Department of English, Instructor, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY;
Daryl Corcoran, Department of English, Adjunct Instructor, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY;
Svetlana Bochman, Ph.D., Department of English, Adjunct Assistant Professor, CUNY; Irwin Leopando,
Ph.D., Department of English, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY,
Title: “What Does This Have To Do With Me? Using Literary Texts to Foster Critical Thinking and
Student Engagement in the Community College Writing Classroom”
F.6 Race, Class and Ethnicity in the Teaching of Literature [3rd Floor – S370]
Chair: Ivelisse Rodriguez, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College
Speakers: Crystal Belle, Ph.D. Student, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY,
“The Power of Race and Identity in the English Classroom to Impact Student Achievement”
Caroline Pari-Pfisterer, Ph.D., Department of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY,
“Discovering italianita: Teaching Italian American Literature to Community College Students”
Florence Kabba-Diallo, Ph.D. Student, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY,
“How The Help Almost Got Away With It: Helping Students Unmask Racial Ideology”
Jessica Rogers, M.F.A, Substitute Lecturer, Department of English, Queensborough Community
College, CUNY
“About Face: The Harlem Renaissance, Race Relations, & Introduction to Literature.”
Conference Acknowledgements
Margaret Barrow and Manya Steinkoler, thank you for designing, organizing and inspiring colleagues to come together from
as far as South Africa to the North-East Region of the country to discuss the teaching of literature in the community college—
a much needed and long awaited discussion.
A special note of thanks to our Keynote Speaker Sheridan Blau for his expertise, guidance, and friendship. This event took
an enormous amount of time and organization--just as you warned. Your work and encouragement inspired us deeply.
A special note of thanks to our Featured Speaker Edward (Ted) Fiske for setting the tone for our conference event.
A special note of thanks to the Conference Organizational Committee Members at Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, English Department: Robert Masterson, Jan Stahl, Elizabeth Berlinger, Andrew Levy, Racquel Goodison, Ivelisse
Rodriguez, Jill Richardson, Zhanna Yablokova and Joyce Zonana. Thank you for your dedication to this event.
A special note of thanks to Joyce Harte, Department of English, Chair, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY –
Thank you for sharing our vision and supporting it.
Sadie Bragg, Senior Vice President/Provost of Academic Affairs, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY – Thank
you for your guidance and support.
Juliet Emanuel, Department of Developmental Skills, Deputy Chair, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY—
Thank you for all your guidance, suggestions and support every step of the way!
Thank you Dr. Sealey-Ruiz for all your assistance and for encouraging your doctoral students to add their voices to this very
important conference.
Thank you to our Sponsors: Pearson Publishing, Cengage Publishing, Bedford/St. Martin Publishing and McGraw-Hill
Publishing – your invaluable support helped us to create a dynamic conference!
Thank you Kelly Secovnie, Ivelisse Rodriguez, Elizabeth Berlinger, Racquel Goodison, Andrew Levy, and Robert Masterson for
providing us with editorial support.
Thank you to our work study students Alberto Ayora and Harold Paz. Alberto your guidance along with Geoff Klock’s
unwavering support helped to develop our conference website. Harold thank you for great assistance with everything!
Thank you to Hitomi Tonaka whose expertise ensured our website continued to look professional!
Thank you to Shurlan Millien, English Department College Assistant for all her help to keep track of registration.
Debbie Parker, Women’s Center Director, thank you for all your assistance with helping us organize our budget.
Thank you Dolores DeLuise for working so hard to organize the students and taking on the task of making the Friday and
Saturday run smoothly!
Thank you to Frank Crocco and Elizabeth Berlinger for agreeing to coordinate the AV requests for our speakers.
Thank you Anita Samuels for all your assistance with organizing our conference.
Thank you to Everton Barrett, Science, Technology Entry Program Director
Thank you to Building & Grounds for all you help.
Thank you to John Gallagher, Media Center Director and Vinton Melbourne, Media Center Staff.
Thank you to Thomas Lew, InstructionalTechnology Services Director
Thanks to all session chairs!
Thanks to all our student volunteers.
Thanks to all the conference presenters for giving us so much to discuss and think about in our teaching of literature
at the community college.