Department of English and Foreign Languages

Faculty

Ted Atkinson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English
B.A. University of Mississippi
M.A. Mississippi College
Ph.D Louisiana State University
Office: Allgood Hall E247
Phone: 667-4439

Ted Atkinson is an assistant professor of English at Augusta State University. He teaches courses in composition, humanities, American literature and culture, literature and culture of the American South, and film appreciation. Atkinson’s research interests include late 19th- and early 20th-century American literature and culture, Southern literature and culture, modernism, social realism, and historical and cultural approaches to the study of literature and film. Atkinson has published journal articles on the work of William Faulkner, as well as a book from the University of Georgia Press entitled Faulkner and the Great Depression: Aesthetics, Ideology, and Cultural Politics.

In the spring of 2001, Atkinson received his Ph.D. in English from LSU, specializing in twentieth-century American literature and culture. He received his M.A. in English from Mississippi College in 1996 and his B.A. in Journalism with a minor in English from the University of Mississippi in 1990. After earning his undergraduate degree, Atkinson worked for three and a half years in politics before coming to his senses and pursuing an academic career.

Bledsoe Dr. Rob Bledsoe
Associate Professor of German
B.A. University of California, Berkeley
M.A. University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D University of California, Berkeley
Office: Allgood Hall E339
Phone: 667-4718
rbledsoe@aug.edu

We aren't quite sure, why Dr. Bledsoe insists on wearing those Birkenstock sandals almost everywhere--Is it his little contribution to the German economy or an attempt to hang on to those student days in Berkeley? We do know that he stayed at Berkeley long enough to get three degrees (B.A. in History and German, M.A. and Ph.D. in German) from the University of California and spend time in Göttingen, Tübingen and Paris. We also know that if you want to learn German, he is your man on campus
--be it to learn how to say Guten Tag or to learn if there really are Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftkapitänsmützen.

Dr. Bledsoe also teaches in the Humanities Program and promotes the medicinal qualities of beer--if brewed according to the German purity law--coffee and tea.
http://www.aug.edu/~lngrsb/

William A. Bloodworth, Ph.D.
Professor
B.S., Texas Lutheran University
M.A., Lamar University
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

William A. Bloodworth also is president of the university. He is the author of Upton Sinclair (1977), Max Brand (1993), and articles on American literature, especially the literature of the American West.

He grew up in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to joining Augusta State in 1993, he served on the faculty at Central Missouri State University and East Carolina University, teaching courses in composition, literature, folklore, and American studies.

M. Michelle Cook
Instructor of English
B.A. Augusta State University
M.A. Clemson University
Office: Allgood Hall E336
Phone: 729-2170

Michelle teaches College Composition I and II. Her research interests include 20th century poetry and conflict literature (with a Master’s thesis entitled “Sleepers, Dreamers, and Inescapability in the Poetry of Wilfred Owen: ‘A dream from which there is no awakening’”), popular culture and postmodernism, language and movement, children’s literature, the Beat Generation, creative writing, and live literature (Michelle was a founding reader at the First Friday poetry series in Pendleton, SC).

She recently presented "The House has Fangs: Children's Fiction and the Monstrous Feminine" at the 2007 conference of the Popular Culture Association of the South. Michelle is also the English Club advisor. Her interests and obsessions somewhat less academic include Harry Potter (books, audiobooks, and movies), modern fantasy literature (specifically Tolkien, Terry Brooks, Tad Williams, and Mervyn Peake), Lost, art and art history, Carnivàle, teaching modern dance, trees, Buddhism, the ocean, and miniature schnauzers named Moose.

Crippen Aaron Crippen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English
B.A. University of Virginia
M.F.A. University of Houston
Ph.D. University of Houston
Office: Allgood Hall E335
Phone: 729-2169
acrippen@aug.edu

Aaron Crippen writes, translates and teaches. He has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Literary Fellowship and the PEN Texas Literary Award for Poetry.

His publications include the book Nameless Flowers: Selected Poems of Gu Cheng. Aaron feels joy when exchanging ideas in the classroom. He is very gratified to find, almost invariably, remarkable students expressing new thoughts and doing creative work in his classes.

Evans Walter Evans, Ph.D.
Professor of English
B.A. University of Missouri
M.A. University of Missouri
Ph.D. University of Chicago
Office Allgood Hall E246
Phone 667-4024
wevans@aug.edu

When he was 10 or 12 years old he found Poe’s description of the short story as a genre and wondered, “Can this be right?” It took him several years in graduate school and a dissertation to figure it out. (Sometimes he’s a slow learner.)

He teaches courses in Humanities and in American literature. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the Université de Rouen in France, has served as Director of the Humanities Program since 1995, in 2005 directed the Cullum program on Russia and received ASU’s Outstanding Faculty Member award. He edited The Best of Sand Hills and several versions of The Humanities Handbook, has a dozen short story publications (Midlands, Chelsea, Oyez, The Long Story, The Best of Cimarron Review, etc.), and has had two plays produced. He has published 16 essays in books and 15 in academic journals, principally on American literature, many on the American short story.

Sara Griswold
Assistant Professor of Spanish
B.A. National University of Trujillo
M.A. Unviversity of Kansas
Office: Allgood Hall E342
Phone: 731-7078
sgriswol@aug.edu

Sara Griswold, a native of Peru, earned her B.A. in Foreign Language Education from the National University of Trujillo, Peru, and her Master's degree in Education from the University of Kansas, USA. She also earned the French Teaching Certificate from the University of Grenoble in France. She is presently pursuing a Doctorate degree in Language Education at the University of Georgia. She teaches Spanish language courses and linguistics at Augusta State University. Her main areas of interest include bilingualism, second language acquisition, and sociolinguistics.

Heckman Christina M. Heckman, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of English
B.A. University of Notre Dame
M.A. Loyola University Chicago
Ph.D. Loyola University Chicago
Office: Allgood Hall E242
Phone: 667-4436
checkman@aug.edu

Christina Heckman specializes in medieval language and literature. She teaches courses in Anglo-Saxon and Middle English literature, Chaucer, the history of the English language, hinguistics, Renaissance literature, writing, humanities, and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Her research focuses on the intersections of violence and piety in the Middle Ages, with a particular emphasis on anti-semitism, the cross as a cultural symbol, and medieval conceptions of justice. She began her teaching career in Chicago, her hometown, and worked in New York and Ohio before coming to ASU. She presents her research regularly at conferences and has contributed to Essays in Medieval Studies and The J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia.

Elizabeth B. House, Ph.D
Professor of English
B.M. University of North Texas
M.A. University of North Texas
Ph.D. University of South Carolina
Office: Allgood Hall E244
Phone: 729-2167
ehouse@aug.edu

Elizabeth House teaches a variety of courses, and her academic field is American literature. She has published articles on Toni Morrison and other topics in journals such as American Literature, Modern Fiction Studies, Studies in American Fiction, and Journal of Advanced Composition. S he has also contributed articles to Dictionary of Literary Biography and Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poets and Poetry and has published chapters in books such as MLA's Approaches to Teaching the Novels of Toni Morrison.

Wesley Kisting, Ph.D Kisting
Assistant Professor of English
B.A. Marquette University
M.A. The University of Iowa
Ph.D. The University of Iowa
Office: Allgood Hall E345
Phone: 667-4448
wkisting@aug.edu

As Hamlet observes, "There are more things in heaven and earth … Than are dreamt of in your philosophy”—or, for that matter, in psychology, history, science, mathematics, business, or communications. If, like Hamlet, you yearn to discover more of your universe than is dreamt of in other academic disciplines, Wes Kisting is the “renaissance man” to know.

Wes specializes in the literature and culture of early modern (“Renaissance”) England . He is particularly interested in ways secular and religious discussions of authority intersect and affect each other. His published and presented work examines how theological teachings about the conscience shaped secular and literary attitudes toward power and interiority in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

An award-winning teacher, Wes teaches courses in Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, Milton , humanities, and composition. Embracing the Renaissance belief in literature's unique power “to teach and delight,” he blends traditional lecturing with vigorous discussion, student presentations, creative activities, and humor.

Christie Launius
Assistant Professor of English
Women's Studies Director
B.A. Illinois State University
M.A. Illinois State University
M.A. University of Cincinnati
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Office: Allgood Hall E240
Phone: 667-4430
claunius@aug.edu

Christie Launius is an assistant professor of English and director of the Women's Studies program at ASU; she also advises the Women's Studies Student Association. She earned a B.A. and an M.A. in English from Illinois State University , an M.A. in Women's Studies from the University of Cincinnati , and a Ph.D in Modern Studies from the English Department of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She teaches composition and women's literature, as well as the introductory course in Women's Studies. Her experiences as a first-generation college student led to her ongoing interest in working-class literature and culture; she has published articles on 20 th century American narratives of upward mobility in American Drama and College Literature, and has an article forthcoming in College Composition and Communication.

Marsha Maurer
Part-Time Instructor
B.S. Concordia University
M.A. Kansas State University
Office: Allgood Hall E114
Phone: 667-4023
mmaurer@aug.edu

Marsha Maurer has taught College Composition at ASU since 1990. She holds a B.S. in Education from Concordia University and an M.A. in English Composition, Language, and Literature from Kansas State University.

Marsha has taught English with an emphasis on writing at colleges in the United States and Europe while accompanying her husband Michael, a career Army officer.

She is the author of In the Garden: A Collection of Prayers for Everyday, which won the Georgia Author of the Year Award (2000) for Inspirational Nonfiction, A Fragrant Fullness: The Spiritual Essence of Everyday Life (Ambassador Emerald 2003), and With Healing Wings: Prayers for Those Who Hurt and Those Who Care (Chalice Press 2006).

Marsha speaks to church groups and community organizations, and is a member of the Columbia Country Literary Arts Guild.

Dr. Mary McCormack Mary McCormack, Ph.D.
Associate Chair
Associate Professor of English
B.A. Emory University
M.A. University of South Carolina
Ph.D. University of South Carolina
Office: Allgood Hall E229
Phone: 667-4438
mmccorma@aug.edu

“English literature is a flying fish. It is a sample of the life that goes on day after day beneath the surface; it is a proof that beauty and emotion exist in the salt, inhospitable sea.”
- E.M. Forster

Since graduate school, Dr. McCormack has been drawn to the intersections of literature and science, the subject of her dissertation on Doris Lessing’s science fiction. At ASU she has taught classes in postmodernism and postmodern fiction from Pynchon to Byatt, 19th and 20th century British novels of social consciousness, science fiction, and, most recently, science fiction and the challenges of the post-human era, the era humanity now inhabits, scarcely noticing the implications of its increasing dependence on technology.

She regularly teaches freshman composition courses, humanities, and English 2250, the gateway course to the English major. Dr. McCormack also serves as an advisor for internships and honors theses.

Mucha Susan Polonus Mucha
St Francis School of Nursing, 1965
Augusta State University, 1996
Seton Hill University, 2002

Susan Polonus Mucha is a former registered nurse from Pittsburgh, Pa. She has worked as an emergency room nurse in Pittsburgh and New Orleans and moved to Augusta in 1974. She has a degree in English and Spanish from ASU and a masters in writing popular fiction from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa.

She is the author of Deadly Deception (ISBN: 1-891799-25-8), a thriller set on the grounds of Augusta National and in the historic city of Lima, Peru, and is working on a sequel. She has written for many publications and has served as editor of Healthscope Magazine.

Susan teaches freshman English, runs a mentoring program at Immaculate Conception School on Laney Walker Blvd, and writes – always writes.

Norm Prinsky, Ph.D
Associate Professor of English
B.A. Reed College
M.A. University of California, Irvine
Ph.D University of California, Irvine
Office: Allgood E238
Phone: 667-4431
nprinsky@aug.edu

Phi Beta Kappa from Reed College; Woodrow Wilson Fellow to graduate study at Yale University; California State Graduate fellowship to University of California at Irvine; M.A. and Ph.D from University of California at Irvine. Articles on many subjects in several literary reference book sets, as well as published film reviews. Interests in and has taught courses (at ASU) in Biblical literature, British Renaissance literature, British Renaissance drama, Humor in America , New Testament literature, Old Testament literature, Science Fiction, and Shakespeare.

Karin Sisk
Writing Center Director
B.A. Emory University
M.A.T. Emory University
Office: University 235
Phone: 737-11402
ksisk@aug.edu

Writing Center Director Karin Sisk joined the Augusta State University Writing Center in July 1989 after teaching in the Department of Languages, Literature, and Communications for two years. Her bachelor and master of arts in English were earned at Emory University.

She has a six-year history of teaching in high school and college upon graduation, followed by eight years in television as a writer, producer, reporter, anchor, and talk show host. She also used her creative abilities in an historical documentary and numerous commercials and promotions. Other benefits of her English degree led to jobs in public relations and marketing in the health care industry, as well consulting in customer relations and politics. Her communications abilities enhanced her involvement in numerous school and civic committees and boards. Moreover, she is an avid exerciser and horsewoman.

Her greatest joy, however, is working with second language speakers whose strengths and struggles she finds supremely admirable. Reading and gardening bring her peace, and at times she aspires to be the next Mel Blanc.

Dr. Seretha Williams
Associate Professor of English
Coordinator, Minority Advising Program
Campus Advisor, Sigma Tau Delta
Campus Advisor, Delta Sigma Theta
swilliam@aug.edu (706) 667-4173
mapmail@aug.edu (706) 729-2078

Seretha D. Williams is an associate professor of English . She earned a B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Georgia.

She also earned a graduate certificate in Women's Studies and participated in the Fulbright Hayes Swahili Language program in Tanzania. Her areas of specialization are African and African diaspora literatures. She has published essays on Gwendolyn Brooks and Leon Forrest.

Department of English and Foreign Languages
2500 Walton Way Augusta, GA 30904
(706) 737-1500 http://efldept.aug.edu