Faculty Of The Department Of English

Alan J. Chaffee, Professor of English

A member of the Muskingum faculty since 1970, Dr. Chaffee has a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. He teaches composition, masterpieces of literature, principles of literary study, Shakespeare and the Renaissance, Romantic and Victorian literature, and linguistics. He holds two college level awards: The Cora I. Orr Service Award and the William Oxley Thompson Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Timothy Christensen, Visiting Assistant Professor of English

Dr. Christensen is a specialist in twentieth-century British literature who will be teaching in the English Department for 2008-2009, while Professor Farquhar is on leave. Dr. Christensen's Ph.D. is from Michigan State University. He will be teaching composition, masterpieces of literature, non-western literature, and 20th century British literature.

Andre DeCuir, Associate Professor of English

Dr. DeCuir's Ph.D. is from the University of Kentucky. He teaches composition, masterpieces of literature, developmental English, advanced writing, and business and technical writing. Dr. DeCuir joined Muskingum in 1997. His areas of interest are Victorian and Edwardian Literature. He is a recipient of the William Rainey Harper Award for Scholarship.

Donna M. Edsall, Professor of English

Dr. Edsall joined the Muskingum faculty in 1989. She has a Ph.D. from Ohio University in Athens, specializing in Medieval literature. She teaches composition, masterpieces of literature, non-western literature, British literature surveys, Chaucer, and Medieval literature courses. She serves as chair of the English Department and coordinator of the college's art and humanities course (IDIS 150). She is a past recipient of the college's award for Excellence in Teaching and of the Cora I. Orr Service Award. The author of Unified Vision: The Art of Jianmin Dou and co-author of A Song of the Seasons: Paintings by Jianmin Dou, her interests are eclectic. Her play, Making Sausage, was performed on Muskingum's campus in October 2007.

Polly Farquhar, Instructor of English

Ms. Farquhar teaches composition, masterpieces of literature, non-western literature, gender issues in literature, post-modern literature, and contemporary literature. She has been a department member since 1999, and has an MFA in English from The Ohio State University. Professor Farquhar will be on maternity leave during the 2008-2009 school year.

Meghan Fox, Instructor of English

Ms. Fox earned an MFA in English from The Ohio State University in 2001. She teaches composition, masterpieces of literature, women's literature, modern literature, post-modern literature, and contemporary literature. A winner of a grant from the Ohio Arts Council for her fiction, she also advises the college yearbook, The Muscoljuan.

Kekoa Kaluhiokalani, Assistant Professor of English and Humanities

Dr. Kaluhiokalani has a Master's Degree from Brigham Young University (Utah) in British Literature, and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University (2001) in English and Anglo/Irish literature. He has a special interest in theater and interdisciplinary studies. Dr. Kaluhiokalani teaches composition, masterpieces of literature, and IDIS 150:Arts and Humanities in the Western World.

Vivian Wagner, Assistant Professor of Journalism

Dr. Wagner is a past winner of the Sheridan Barker Advisor of the Year Award, given by the Society of Collegiate Journalists. She received her Ph.D. in 1996 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has a great deal of experience as a freelance journalist. Her articles have appeared in a variety of regional and national publications. She advises the weekly student newspaper, The Black and Magenta, and teaches journalism courses, such as introduction to journalism, news story types, feature and editorial writing, editing and make-up, public relations writing, and journalistic ethics. She recently won first-place honors in a competition held by the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists. Her book, Fiddle: One Woman's Search for Tunes, Grit, and Authenticity has been accepted by Citadel Press. She serves as coordinator for the college's writing across the curriculum program.

Jane Varley, Associate Professor of English

Dr. Varley teaches creative writing, advanced creative writing, composition, modern poetry, and masterpieces of literature. She has an M.A. from the University of Idaho and a Ph.D. from the University of North Dakota. Her specialization is in poetry. She is the author of Flood Stage and Rising, published by the University of Nebraska Press. A past winner of the William Oxley Thompson Excellence in Teaching Award and the William Rainey Harper Scholarship Award, Dr. Varley is advisor to the college's literary annual, First Circle.

Richard Williamson, Professor of English

Dr. Williamson has a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas and specializes in American literature, with a particular interest in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. A past winner of the college's Excellence in Teaching Award and the William Rainey Harper Award for Scholarship, he teaches composition, masterpieces of literature, American literature survey, nineteenth century American fiction, twentieth century American fiction, and business and technical writing. Dr. Williamson joined the Muskingum faculty in 1996. He is the author of The Impact of Franklin Pierce on Nathaniel Hawthorne: Friendship, Politics, and the Literary Imagination, published by Edwin Mellen Press.

"AND THEN HAWTHORNE SAID..." Dr. Williamson discusses his book on Nathaniel Hawthorne and Franklin Pierce. His presentation was part of the library's author talk series.	"I FEEL IT IN MY SOUL!" Dr. Edsall appears to be praying, but she's actually explaining how she came to write a two-act farce, performed in October 2007 in Thompson Theater.

ANOTHER PERFECT YEAR has ended. Dr. Chaffee, Ms. Farquhar, Dr. Williamson, Ms. Fox, Dr. DeCuir, Dr. Wagner, and Dr. Varley on the deck of Dr. Edsall's house as they celebrate the end of the school year.	LIFE IS GOOD. Drs. Chaffee and DeCuir enjoy a picnic on the deck in April at the annual English department "cruise" to celebrate another successful school year.
	HERE WE ARE, ALL TOGETHER... For Christmas, the English department had dinner at The Old Market House Inn in Zanesville, OH. Back row: Richard Williamson, Donna Edsall, Andre DeCuir. Front row: Meg Fox, Polly Farquhar, Vivian Wagner, Jane Varley, Alan Chaffee, and Kekoa Kaluhiokalani.

DINNER WITH THE DEPARTMENT. Visiting fiction writer Lee Martin sits at the head of the table and converses with members of the English Department. He gave a reading earlier in the day and visited with creative writing classes. A catered dinner was featured at the home of Dr. Donna Edsall.

ANOTHER FINE FEAST. Students and faculty pose at Old Market House Inn, where the English Department hosted a dinner for this year's scholarship winners. Shown are front row: Paula Lehman, Beulah Brooks Brown Creative Writing Award; Liz Strauss, co-winner of the Sara Wilhelm Award for English Studies; Professor Meghan Fox; Professor Vivian Wagner; and Alli Hornyak, co-winner of the Amos Award for Print Journalism. Back row: Tom Wilson, co-winner of the Sara Wilhelm Award; Dr. Richard Williamson; Rob Snowden, winner of the Matilda Bailey Award in English Studies; Dr. Jane Varley; Professor Polly Farquhar; Professor Al Chaffee; Professor Kekoa Kaluhiokalani; Professor Donna Edsall; and Professor Andre DeCuir.