Lindsay has been happily teaching at Clark since 2012. She previously taught at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado and at the University of Denver, where she earned her Ph.D. in Literary Studies and developed proficiencies in climbing 14,000 foot mountains and descending the powdery slopes of the Rockies. Her teaching interests include multiethnic American literature, Native American literature, and research writing. She loves learning from her students’ diverse experiences and journeying with them as they develop new ideas, perspectives, and ways of being.

Jill has been teaching at Clark since 2000. She holds a B.A. in French and a B.A. in English from Oregon State University; she also spent one year abroad at the Université de Poitiers in France, where she studied in the Faculté de Langues et Lettres. Her M.A. comes from Portland State University, where her areas of focus were 18th and 19th century British literature and critical theory. Last, she returned to Portland State during her sabbatical, resuming her work in composition theory.

Her research, conference presentations, and published works focus on assignment design, transfer theory, and more equitable classroom practices. She has been published in the journal Teaching English in the Two-Year College (TETYC), the book Transparent Design in Higher Education Teaching and Leadership, and, with Melissa Favara, will soon be published in Just in Time from Utah State University Press. She has presented for the Conference on College Composition and Communications (CCCC), for the First-Year Experience (FYE), for the Two-Year College Association (TYCA), and for the state’s Assessment in Teaching and Learning (ATL) conference. Jill has served on the board for the journal TETYC and in English Department leadership, and she was recently elected to the Higher Education Practices (HEP) board of the MLA.

Marylynne is originally from the Washington D.C. suburbs of Maryland but has called Oregon home since 1986. She began her education at the University of Alabama as an Interior Design major, but soon changed to Criminal Justice and Sociology with a minor in English. After receiving her B.A., she moved to Eugene, Oregon, where she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in English at the University of Oregon, specializing in Rhetoric, American literature, and Queer Studies. She has been teaching English and Humanities since 1987, and began her career at Clark College in 1998. In addition to teaching ENGL 102, Marylynne also teaches American Lit, Queer Lit, LGBTQ Studies, and Nature and the Humanities. Marylynne likes to relax and play too; she is an avid hiker and nature photographer as well as a huge fan of football, basketball, and tennis.

A Chicago native, Elizabeth holds a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Italian from DePaul University and an M.A. in English and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Chapman University. She started her teaching career in rural New Mexico as a middle school teacher and has also taught at the middle school and college levels in California. In 2013, she taught Italian literature and writing in the WCCCSA foreign study program in Florence, Italy. At Clark, Elizabeth teaches all levels of composition, Intro and Advanced Fiction Writing, American Literature, and literary publishing. She also has taught in the online and hybrid modalities for over fifteen years and has focused much of her academic research on engaging the online learner.  In Spring 2025, she will be the lead faculty member in the WCCCSA foreign study program in Rome, Italy. 

Elizabeth's short fiction has appeared in ZYZZYVA, RiverSedge, Pomona Valley Review, and elsewhere. She also has been the recipient of an Oregon Literary Fellowship in fiction, an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant for fiction, and a Caldera Residency. From 2013 to 2021, she was literary advisor to Phoenix, Clark’s award-winning art and literary journal. 

Melissa holds a B.A. in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis from Western Michigan University and an M.A. in English Literature from The Pennsylvania State University, where she studied Victorian and Modernist literature with a critical focus on Queer Theory. She loves teaching composition classes, Detective Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and American and British Literature.

Off campus, Melissa writes creative nonfiction, curates the 1,000 Words reading series, enjoys the Pacific Northwest outdoors, and collects manual typewriters. She is also a board member at the Independent Publishing Resource Center and is always on the lookout for opportunities to promote reading, writing, and the printed word. Her writing has been published in street roots, Metro Parent, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and elsewhere.

Mark has been teaching at Clark College since 2020. He has previously taught at Southwestern College (Kansas), Texas Tech University, and Montgomery College and Howard Community College. He earned his Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from Texas Tech University, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and B.A. in Japanese Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is also a proud graduate of Howard Community College. His creative work has been supported by Artist Trust, Kundiman, and The Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. He lives in North Portland with his wife, twin boys, and dog.

Ray has been teaching English at Clark since 1993.  He has B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Washington State University-Pullman.  Dr. Korpi teaches all levels of composition, especially focusing on English 102.  He has been engaged with teaching composition with computers since his start as a teacher in 1988, and teaches a diverse selection of literature classes reflecting his multifaceted background.  Dr. Korpi has also been actively involved in the learning communities activities at Clark as well as participating in the common read program.  He served as a dean from 2003 to 2013.  His current research interests are dealing with the changes in birding culture that deal with changes in technology and environmental issues.

Alexis’s teaching career began in Rouen, France: a small medieval city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, Gustave Flaubert set his famous novel Madame Bovary, and Alexis tried to help a bunch of French teenagers learn the English language. At Clark, where she has worked since 2010, Alexis teaches all levels of composition as well as various creative writing and literature courses. She also helps run the Columbia Writers Series, which brings nationally-recognized authors to campus, and Subtext, a week-long literary festival that takes places each spring. Alexis holds a B.A. in English from UC Santa Barbara and an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Portland State University. Her articles and essays have appeared in various publications including The LA Review of Books, The Normal School, and Tin House. Born and raised in San Francisco, she now lives in Portland with her husband, son, and little brown dog.

Julian was a professor of English at Clark College where he was also the German professor and director of the German Studies Program in Berlin, Germany. Julian held a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from UC Davis and some of his academic interests include world literature, philosophy, modernist aesthetics, contemporary theory, the Weimar Republic, photography and popular culture. Julian was fluent in German, French, and English, and since earning his Ph.D. in 2000, has taught a wide range of courses in languages, literary traditions, and the arts to both undergraduate and graduate students at different institutions. Significant teaching experience in the Humanities underscored his ethical and theoretical concern to frame learning outcomes with a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, intellectual traditions, and world areas. Julian organized and directed study abroad tours to Paris, France, and Berlin, Germany for more than two decades. Julian advocated international learning opportunities for his students with the understanding that such experiences are embedded in debates about social justice in an increasingly globalized society and as such are an existential and economic necessity for students. Julian’s primary educational goals were to help students succeed in acquiring proficiency in language, literature, and culture, but broader aims challenge students to develop empathy for cultural diversity while cultivating the effective communication skills needed to negotiate the trans-national nature of contemporary society. Beyond his teaching and scholarly work, Julian was also a practicing artist and photographer who worked with traditional film media for over twenty years and mounted solo and collaborative shows in galleries and cafés. He favored traditional, large format, black and white photography with a particular emphasis on portraiture.  In addition to publications on modernist aesthetics, he published his photography and writing in journals and contributed to a book on contemporary photography.

Tobias earned Bachelor’s degrees in English and Spanish Literature from the University of Texas at Austin. He then went on to receive a Master of Arts in English Literature from George Mason University and a Master’s of Fine Arts in Poetry from Texas State University. He teaches technical and creative writing, including poetry and writing for comics. He’s the former sports editor for the online magazine Popmatters, and his poetic work can be found in the Gulf Coast Review, Analecta, and elsewhere.  Currently, he serves as the English Division Chair. Visit him at tobiaspeterson.com.

Gail has been teaching English at the college level for nearly twenty-five years and the time has flown by. That must be a sign that she loves what she's doing. Gail finds it deeply rewarding and humbling to witness the journeys of her students and to be part of the process of discovery and success. In addition to teaching, Gail is also a writer, though she struggles to find time for both teaching and her writing life. That's probably why she's still working on writing a memoir 15 years after she started it. She has hope that she'll finish it one of these days! Her other passions are cooking, baking, and being outdoors. Whenever Gail spends a weekend at the ocean or the mountain, all is right in her world. Gail earned her Bachelor's Degree in 1984 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She majored in English with minors in Communication and Technical Writing. She then earned her Master's Degree in English in 1992 from Portland State University. Over the years, she has taken several workshops to build her knowledge and skills as a creative writer, with some of her most important teachers being Judith Barrington, Kim Stafford, Jennifer Lauck, and Martha Gies.

Professor Smith (they/them) has been teaching at Clark College since 2015. They earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from McDaniel College and later a Master of Arts in English from the University of Utah, with an emphasis in rhetoric and composition. Their research and teaching interests include the study of political, popular, and news-reporting rhetoric.

As a teacher, Professor Smith firmly believes that for students to thrive and succeed in college, their learning and social environments must be supportive and free of judgment, and they must be supported by teachers and others who believe in their capacity for growth and success.

To this end, Professor Smith strives to create inclusive, accessible, and engaging classroom spaces that are sensitive to the lived realities, needs, and interests of all students, especially those who have been traditionally excluded from the halls of education and power.

Kimberly grew up in rural Mississippi and received her B.A. in English from Belhaven College and her M.A. from Mississippi State University. She continued her graduate studies at the University of Mississippi and Georgia State University. After teaching composition at Mississippi State University and Georgia State University, she eventually moved to Macon, Georgia, and taught at Mercer University. After a trip to the Washington state in 1990,  she decided to move to the northwest where she felt a strong affinity with the area and the people.

Kimberly has been teaching at Clark College since 1991. Her teaching interests are composition, technical writing and world literature. Outside of academia, her passions are animal rescue and land use issues. She works with a local non-profit animal rescue organization and serves on her local planning commission.

Cydney teaches all levels of composition, American literature and creative writing courses. She studied English/Literature at Eastern Oregon University and earned an M.A. in Writing and Publishing from DePaul University in Chicago. She began her teaching career at the City Colleges of Chicago and has been at Clark since 2015.

Justin teaches composition and writing courses themed around exploring cultural identity, disability, and social injustice. He earned his Master’s Degree in Fiction Writing from Portland State University.  Before that he studied English Literature at Linfield College and Chemeketa Community College.

Lisa earned her MA in English from Montana State University and has been teaching writing courses since 2011 at colleges and universities in Montana, New York, and in Washington. She has taught composition, literature, creative writing, and college skills courses. Prior to going back to school for her Master's Degree, Lisa taught toddlers, preschoolers, and substitute taught all grade levels in Montana and Vermont.  Lisa has published writing in her own name as well as in her pen name, Isa Nye. You can find some of her work at The North Meridian Review, The Manifest Station, and forthcoming in an anthology titled We Don't Cry Anymore. When not teaching or writing, Lisa enjoys spending time with her family, being in nature, snowboarding, canoeing, traveling, and binge watching shows. She has moved countless times throughout her life, and is enjoying the comfort of staying put right here in the Pacific Northwest and loves being a part of the Clark College community.  

Jason has been an English instructor at Clark College since 2018, where he has taught courses in the composition sequence (ENGL 101 and 102) as well as the survey of twentieth-century American literature (ENGL 270). He did his undergraduate work (BA in English and Classical Humanities) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and his graduate work (MA, some PhD work in English Language and Literature) at the University of Virginia. In addition to teaching, he has worked as an editor, mostly for other academic writers.

When not teaching about reading and writing, he likes to do those things himself, with a reading list ranging from antiquity to modernity—from Sophocles to Shakespeare to Joyce and Woolf and Beckett. He also likes to read and write about the outdoors, where he tries to spend as much time as possible—after growing up in the Midwest, he moved out to the Pacific Northwest to spend his summers rambling about the high peaks and old-growth forests and wildflower meadows of the Cascades (and when the mountains are covered with snow, the coast and the desert are great alternatives!)

James earned a B.A. in English from Washington State University in 1986, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon in 1988, and an M.A. in English from Eastern Washington University in 1995. From 1989 to 1997 he lived in his hometown of Spokane where he taught at Gonzaga University, Spokane Community College, and EWU. After teaching in Chicago for three years at Columbia College and DePaul University, he moved to Portland in 2000 and began working at Clark. He teaches composition and literature (especially British Literature and Shakespeare) and has been a director and co-director of Clark’s Columbia Writers Series for over ten years. He enjoys writing poetry and fiction, playing guitar in a bluegrass band, oil painting, fishing, and reading and writing about Pacific Northwest history.

Cassia earned an A.A. from Portland Community College, and a B.A. in English from Portland State University. Her M.A. in English (also at PSU) focused on literature and culture using the lens of queer ecologies. During the course of her studies, she was a non-traditional student and worked as a teaching assistant, tutor, and single-parented her daughter. She also helped organize the Graduate Employees Union at PSU. She teaches writing, composition, and interdisciplinary studies at colleges and universities in the Pacific Northwest. She is  also active in social justice movements.

Michael earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Arizona State University, and a B.A. in TV and Radio with an emphasis in Studio Recording at San Francisco State University. He’s been a DJ, a sound engineer, and a band manager (never a roadie!), but after many years in the music industry, went back to his first love of writing. He teaches composition, American literature, and creative writing in fiction. His primary focus is on the short story but considers writing in all of its forms as a way of communicating and sharing truths. He has received an Oregon Literary Fellowship, became the first Post-baccalaureate in the Walter Kidd Tutorial for writing at the University of Oregon, and his stories have appeared in numerous publications.

Eleanor is an essayist and fiction writer. She began her teaching career at Western Washington University, where she earned her MFA in Creative Writing. At Clark she teaches English literature and composition. Her work has appeared in The Southeast Review, The Normal School, Pithead Chapel, Bitch Media, Hobart, and elsewhere. She is also a part-time professional baker, and enjoys reading, doing puzzles, and riding her bike in her free time. She grew up on the coast of Maine and now lives in Portland, Oregon.

Soohyon began teaching at Clark in 2018. Previously, she taught at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University, where she earned her Ph.D. in English, specializing in Second Language Studies. She also works as a writer, translator, and instructor for a Korean publishing company, focusing on developing English language and writing curriculum. Her teaching interests are composition, second language writing, and curriculum development. Outside of teaching, she enjoys spending time with her family.  

Shannon completed her undergraduate degree in English Education at Trine University in 1998. She worked in marketing and communications for 14 years in the San Francisco Bay Area. She went back to school in 2012 and completed a Master of Arts degree in Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse and a Master's Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from DePaul University in 2014. Additionally, Shannon worked with the Chemeketa Press to author a technical communications textbook titled, Practical Models for Technical Communicators. It is currently in its first edition.

Aubrey Hõlpus-Lenahan (she/her) is a poet and Estonian translator. Originally from New York, she holds a BA in English from UNC-Greensboro and an MFA in Poetry from George Mason University, where she was a Poetry Fellow. In addition to teaching writing courses at Clark, she teaches creative writing, American literature, and writing courses at Portland State University, Portland Community College, and Keiser University. A native New Yorker, she has called Portland, Oregon home since 2014. She is the author of Note Pinned to the Back of a Dress, (HNGMN BKS) and her work has appeared in The Massachusetts Review, The Collagist, The Greensboro Review, Forklift, Ohio, and elsewhere.

Alexis grew up outside of New York City and earned degrees at the State University of New York at Binghamton and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.  The bulk of her twenty-five-year teaching career was spent at Reedley College in California, but she also taught at Fresno City College and Greenville Technical College in South Carolina.  She has been mercilessly mocked by students for introducing every single reading assignment as her favorite piece of writing.

Airin earned her MFA from Hollins University and her B.A. from Bennington College. She has taught composition, creative writing, and college skills courses since 2009. Airin writes fiction. She was a recipient of an Oregon Literary Fellowship and a Zoland Poetry Fellowship with the Vermont Studio Center. When not teaching, Airin enjoys focusing on her fiction projects, spending time with her partner, and training her Gerberian Shepsky puppy, Watt. Airin is an avid reader and filmgoer; she loves recommendations from her students at Clark College. 

Meredith has been teaching composition and poetry at Clark College for over a decade. She received her M.FA. in Creative Writing from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Her poetry has appeared in The Eastern Iowa Review, VoiceCatcher, The Atlanta Review and others.

Dawn teaches composition, literature, and poetry writing courses, advises editors of the student-run publication the Swift: Clark College Literary Journal, and helps host guest writers for the Columbia Writers Series. She received her bachelor's degree at University of California Davis and her master's degree at Columbia University, where she was the editor of Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art. Her poems and essays have appeared in the Boston Review Pacific Standard Bomb, the New Inquiry, and Fence>, among others.

Sara Renee Marshall grew up in the American southwest. She is a teacher, poet, and essayist. Her work appears in places like Colorado Review, OmniVerse, The Volta (where she was a founding editor), Dusie, CutBank, in several chapbooks, and elsewhere. She received a BA in Political Science and an MFA in Creative Writing from University of Colorado, as well as a PhD from University of Georgia. Her scholarly interests include affect theory, mobility in literature, and women’s fiction in the long 18th century. As a teacher, she is energized by syllabi and coursework that elevate marginalized thinkers. Outside of the classroom, Sara is always in search of weird books, weird movies, bike paths, wilderness, and fresh water. She lives with her child in Portland, Oregon.

Kym started as a small shivering member of the Croft family in Anchorage, Alaska but gravitated to warmer climates for an undergraduate degree in Political Science at Stanford University and then a J.D. from Santa Clara School of Law. After practicing law for "a second" (read, a year) in California, Kym decided that a) the family should move to Oregon and b) she should be a writer. Since her husband is an easy-going, saint-of-a-man, that is exactly what they did. Now they live in Portland and she happily uses her M.F.A. from Pacific University to work as a freelance editor and English professor. Kym has an inexplicable love of essays, but also digs being with her three grown children and hanging out with her granddog, Marvin.

Lynne was born in Seattle, and, after spending time in Arizona, Oklahoma, California, and Texas, moved back to the Pacific Northwest in 1994 and immediately felt at home among the trees.  She lives in Portland with her husband, Mike.  They have two beautiful daughters and an incredible grandson.  Lynne received her B.A. in English Literature from Lewis and Clark College and her M.A. in English from Portland State University where she specialized in Renaissance literature and literary theory.  She joined Clark's English Department in 2003 and teaches all levels of composition (and sometimes literature) both online and in the classroom.  Her classes emphasize sense of purpose, and she encourages students to continually ask “why” on many levels.  She is always eager to talk about Shakespeare, the best television show ever--Lost, the Chicago Cubs, the Washington Huskies, and will take on all challengers in basketball.

Inspired to become an English teacher by his first composition instructor's emphasis on critical thinking and advanced literacy, Joshua tries to spread the same. Since 2008, Joshua has taught reading, writing, and literature classes at Clark College, specializing in pre-college reading and writing. He has a master's degree in English from Portland State University where he studied Critical and Composition Theory. He enjoys games, animals that do not bite, and music.

Arwen belongs to the east of Sonoma Mountain, California and gets back there when she can. She has a B.S. in biology from Humboldt State University (1997), M.A. in English from Sonoma State University (2000) and Ph.D. in English from the University of Oregon (2005), where she focused on the nineteenth-century British novel and evolution and ecology in utopian science fiction. Her recent scholarly work includes the relevance of Ursula Le Guin’s and Jeff VanderMeer’s science fiction in the age of climate crisis. She has published two science fiction novels, Perdita and The Hour before Morning. Her favorite thing about teaching composition classes is bringing together a group of diverse voices to have meaningful, respectful discussion about topics that matter.

Linda Stewart has taught Composition and Technical Writing classes at Clark College since 2016. She also teaches at Portland Community College. A Portlander who spent her college years in Seattle, Linda grew up camping, cycling, and hiking, activities she continues to enjoy with her family. With the help of Clark’s Native Plant Center, she con-verted part of her yard into a low water garden. She is a fan of experiential learning and frequently bases students’ writing projects on sustainability related case studies. She is grateful to work in such an interesting profession and to learn new things each quarter from her students.

Mackenzie has been teaching writing, rhetoric, and literature since 2014. Before earning her M.A. in English from Portland State University with a focus in Composition Theory, she earned an M.S. in Curriculum & Instruction and holds a B.A. in English from Western Washington University. In addition, she has a Certificate of Innovation in College Teaching and a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Born and raised in Clark County, she was once a Running Start Penguin! Her work has been published (or is forthcoming) in Labyrinth, Pathos, The Literary Review, and Post45’s Contemporaries with new research in pop culture, speculative fiction, and genre theory. She is a member of National Council of Teachers of English and the Western Literature Association, as well as being a National Geographic Certified Educator. Outside of the classroom, she is an avid gamer (both video and board) and drinks way, way too much coffee.

Brogan Sullivan is a fiction writer who also teaches composition, professional communication, and creative writing. On the side, he’s an amateur musician, coffee addict, science fiction enthusiast, and comics aficionado. He lives up a mountain in Camas with his family and far ;too many animals.

Maureen has B.S. in Biology from Penn State University (1984) and an MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific University (2015). There were many years between college degrees when she worked in pharmaceutical sales and then as photography studio manager and artist representative. She is delighted that she found her way and is teaching at Clark. When out and about in the NW she loves to hike and cross-country ski with her partner and ridiculously large dog. When inside, she can be found near the many piles of books she is reading or intending to read.

Julia (they/them) is a creative writer and educator from Michigan by way of New York, Virginia, and Istanbul, Turkey. A published poet and translator, they hold an MFA in Creative Writing from Virginia Tech and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College. In addition to teaching pre-college writing, composition and creative writing at Clark, they also teach English for Speakers of Other Languages at PSU’s International Special Programs.

In Todd's class, his goal is for students to develop their reading and writing skills to become more critical and active participants in society.  Through this work, students develop skills that they can transfer and use throughout their academic career and beyond.  Todd has taught at San Francisco State University where he also received his M.A. in English before moving to the Pacific Northwest, where he now teaches.  Outside of teaching, he enjoys spending my time surfing, playing music, eating delicious greasy food, and spending time with his wife

Lee teaches composition, technical writing, and creative writing. She holds a B.A. in English and Psychology, an M.F.A in Creating Writing, and a Certificate of Innovation in College Teaching. Her essays and short stories have appeared in The North American Review, The Normal School, Green Mountains Review, and elsewhere. Originally from Northern California, she now lives in Portland, Oregon with her partner and their very, very large dog.

At Clark, Tara (she/her) has taught co-req 099, ENGL&101 and 102, and Literature Written by Women, ENGL 240. Prior to relocating to the PNW, she taught composition, literature, and creative writing courses at Mohave Community College in Arizona and California State University Fresno. She earned her MFA in Fiction at Fresno State, where she also earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership. Her dissertation research focused on schooling experiences of Central California Native tribes. She also holds a masters in Teaching & Curriculum from Fresno Pacific University. Before teaching at the college level, she taught high school English and related subjects in California's Central Valley for 10 years. When not teaching, she writes fiction and nonfiction and has published a variety of books, short stories, flash fiction, essays, and articles, and has won fellowships to Fish Trap and Writers in Paradise. When not writing, teaching, or reading, she loves to travel, garden, make strange creatures from clay and cloth, and spend time with her family camping, hiking, and exploring.