The
Composition Department is served by a number of instructors, each
representing a wealth of experiences and knowledge. Each instructor
is dedicated to making his or her students' experience in AH 110/120
as productive and enjoyable as possible.
Matthew
Mace Barbee
I come to Defiance College from
Bowling Green State University where I earned a PhD in American
Studies and taught composition and American Studies and served as
a faculty member in the Department of Ethnic Studies. Prior
to my time in BG, I taught composition at Marymount University in
Arlington, Virginia; taught composition and earned an MA in English
at Washington State University; and earned a BA in English at the
College of Wooster. While at Wooster I played on the varsity
football team, DJ’ed for and helped manage the campus radio
station, served as assistant editor of the campus literary journal,
and served as president of a men’s multicultural, residential
service community.
My academic interests focus on
the intersections of race, gender and public memory, especially
in the contemporary U.S. South. Specifically, I am interested
the ways communities fashion collective identities out of the past
and the ways literary, visual, and media cultures respond to and
shape the memories of collective traumas. I am working with
the University Press of Mississippi on a manuscript which examines
constructions and articulations of race, masculinity and public
memory in discourses surrounding Richmond, Virginia’s Monument
Avenue. I am also developing a project on race and masculinity
in post-punk music from the U.S. South.
As a teacher I try to build supportive
yet challenging environments in which students engage the writing
process through an intensive interdisciplinary study of community
and memory. In 2009-2010 my sections of AH 110 focused on
violence, nationalism, and race in contemporary westerns; for those
classes we looked at films such as Dead Man and Lone
Star and read Michael Ondaatje’s The
Collected Works of Billy the Kid. My sections of AH
120 focused on memory and trauma associated with ethnic violence
and diaspora. Our reading included: the graphic novel Maus,
which deals with memories of the Holocaust; the film Ararat,
which focuses on the legacies and denial of the Armenian Genocide;
and a unit on the forgotten horrors of ethnic and sexual violence
of Jim Crow segregation in the U.S.
Despite the rather grim nature
of my classes I am a very approachable and friendly teacher who
takes seriously student concerns and needs. Plus, I’m
pretty funny.
Outside of teaching I am husband
to Karin, who teaches composition at BGSU, and father to Pearl,
who turned three in January, 2010. We are expecting our second
child, a boy, in May 2010.
email: mbarbee_AT_defiance.edu
Penny
Claudio
Born
and reared in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, I am a Cleveland Indians
fan. My formal education is comprised of a Bachelors and Masters
degree in English Literature from the University of Toledo.
Life experiences include twenty three years of marriage to my college
sweetheart, rearing our three children together, and enjoying a
career in the non-profit arena for several years.
As much as I enjoy watching the Indians, or sitting down to enjoy
a good book, the activity I most enjoy is bicycling. I can be found
biking the back roads of Williams and Defiance counties spring through
fall, and the stationary bike in my basement in the winter. I have
biked in four GOBA’s since taking up the sport and finished
my first century ride at the age of 43. I find biking to be the
perfect opportunity for solitary reflection and can actually accomplish
a lot mentally on rides.
Teaching Composition at Defiance College combines my education,
interest in reading and communicating, experience of helping others,
the discipline and perseverance of an aspiring athlete, and the
patience of an often disappointed Indians fan!
AH
110: Affecting Community: Effecting Self
Exploration and application of Mahatma Gandhi’s “Be
the change you wish to see in the world” to the American
condition. In this section of AH110 we will examine how an individual
decision, intent, or action can escalate to evoke major change.
Through reading, participation in service related activities,
discussion, and writing the student will examine the effect an
individual’s decisions and actions could have in defining
not only the self but the larger community.
AH
120D: Solutions in a Changing World
This section of AH120 will begin by taking a look at our world
from an environmental standpoint by referencing sections of Thom
Hartmann’s The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. Based
on the class’s analysis of basic human needs, students will
examine, analyze, and evaluate a variety of types of solutions
ranging from individual efforts, to non-profit organizations,
to governmental efforts. Other sources will include but may not
be limited to Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea,
the Online Charity Guide, and The Brief Wadsworth Handbook.
email: pclaudio_AT_defiance.edu
Todd
Comer
Todd
completed his MA and PhD in American literature and film at Michigan
State University, and now works as an Assistant Professor of English
at Defiance College. Prior to his time at Michigan State University,
Todd worked as a reporter, copy writer, and librarian. He earned
his BA (English and History) at Taylor University and was born and
raised West Virginia.
Todd's strengths lie in the area of 20th century American literature/film
and postmodern theory. One of the exciting perks of teaching at
Defiance is that it also allows him to teach Postcolonial and British
literature, and Composition. Todd also happens to be the Director
of Composition.
For
more information, check out
Todd's website.
AH
110: "I Still Haven't Found What I am Looking For:" Locating Freedom
in Popular Culture
Being able to communicate well is not just a question of how much
money ends up in one's pocket (important as that is!), but also
a question of whether one is an active producer or a passive consumer
of knowledge. Being able to communicate well is in that sense
a matter of power. AH 110 is designed to prepare you to enter
the world as an agent of change. We will discuss how popular media
affects us, how films and television control and mold individuals
and communities, and how to find freedom in this context. We will
end with a segment on censorship. Possible texts include, Buffy
the Vampire Slayer, Dogma, The Simpsons, The Dark Knight, Manufacturing
Consent, various advertisements, and Nick Hornby's High
Fidelity.
AH
120: Sports and Ableism in the World
There are few things as deeply ingrained in human culture as competition.
Competition, athleticism, and the able body play a central role
in our arts, politics, religion, and daily rituals. Many of us
read the sports page (or ESPN.com) on a daily basis. Many of us
would prefer to warm a bench than a pew on Sunday. Many of us
have sat in the nose-bleed section during a WWF wrestling match
and screamed, "kill him!" (or the equivalent during a football,
hockey, or basketball game). George Orwell once wrote that "Serious
sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred,
jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure
in witnessing violence: in other words, it is war minus the shooting."
This section of Writing the World will ask whether sport
is indeed "war minus the shooting." We will trace athleticism
and ableism in ancient Greece, fascist Germany, and in antebellum
America, showing how we are socialized into games and whether
athletics is tied to violence and the marginalization of those
with disabilities. Texts will probably include Frank Miller's
300, and Tony Perrottet's The Naked Olympics.
email:
tcomer_AT_defiance.edu
Geromina
Courtney
Professor
Courtney has served as part-time instructor in the Arts and Humanities
Division since August 1991.
Born
Geromina (Jerri) Catherine Ferrara in Washington, D.C., she grew
up in the politically charged, culturally diverse Washington area.
National events and political issues continually played out on the
family television and on the streets she traveled. Jerri was fortunate
to grow up with friends from a wide variety of cultures and creeds.
Frequent treks to the Smithsonian and an Italian immigrant family
also contributed to her interest in culture and her appreciation
of diversity.
Jerri married Larry Courtney and the two moved to “the city
with the big shoulders” (Chicago) and started a family. College
was put on hold for a time. Then the Courtneys moved to northwest
Ohio and Mrs. Courtney soon enrolled in Defiance College.
In
May 1978, Mrs. Courtney earned a B. A. in Social Work from Defiance
College with special emphasis on interdisciplinary studies in Humanities.
The skills she gained through the DC social work program combined
with insights gained from her interest in Humanities helped to shape
her subsequent practice as a professional Social Worker. Mrs. Courtney
later traveled a new path and completed a Master of Liberal Studies
Degree (an interdisciplinary degree) at the University of Toledo
in June 1987. Continuing interest in history and culture has led
her to travel in Europe, Canada, and Puerto Rico where she has visited
and photographed several interesting sites.
In
addition to photography, Professor Courtney enjoys writing, studies
in religion and spirituality, art, music, and theater. She loves
to experiment with new technologies and has pages on Facebook, My
Space, Deviant Art, and Yahoo 360.
As
an Adjunct Professor at Defiance College, Mrs. Courtney has taught
Composition, Literature, Western and Global Civilization courses,
and Freshman Seminar. For Professor Courtney, the excitement of
teaching comes from the opportunity to share. She believes that
learning deepens as students work together to share their understanding
and their ideas. By participating in that interaction, the professor
continues to learn from her students. And of course she loves to
share her passions, love of writing, fascination with culture and
interdisciplinary studies, and her favorite travel photos.
AH120H:
Expressions of War
In this section of AH120, we will explore ways in which different
cultures give expression to the experience of war. Through the study
of a variety of visual and literary art forms, as well as a variety
of music, we will seek to understand the range of expressions of
war, from an ancient Chinese military treatise, The Art of War,
to U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” Thus course materials
will include selected works from ancient as well as contemporary
conflicts and from cultures around the world. These works will form
the subject matter for student writing and logging.
email:
gcourtney_AT_defiance.edu
Lisa
Crumit-Hancock
I believe Composition is all about exercising and improving
one’s reading, writing and researching skills. So in preparing
to write this biography, I decided to do a little research and
asked my family for some input. My daughter said I am “a
very intelligent mother of two loving children” and my
son said I am “the best mommy in the world.” I obviously
have reared them well, but they might be a little biased. My
husband of over fifteen years, John Hancock (yes, that is really
his name and don’t ask him to sign his “John Hancock”
because he will), decided to plead the fifth. It became clear
in this “research process” that I needed to just
take matters into my own hands and simply move on to the drafting
process. This is what I finally decided upon:
I am a first generation Ohioan with strong Appalachian roots.
I completed my BA in English and History at Defiance College
and then completed my MA in American Culture Studies at BGSU.
I have taught for many years at NSCC and more recently began
to teach at my alma mater, DC. Due to my interdisciplinary interests
and training, I teach a variety of courses in English, Philosophy,
History, and the Arts and Humanities. At Defiance College, I
teach Composition and Global Civilization I and II.
In AH110, I focus on writing as a process, collaborative learning,
and critical thinking skills. I use the concept that the “world
is a text” (borrowed from my course textbook The World
is a Text by Rader and Silverman) to persuade students to read
the world around them both formally and informally. Through
course discussion, group work and formal assignments, I encourage
students to read, write and research the popular culture they
interact with every day and not take the way(s) it affects them
and the way(s) they use it for granted.
AH
110: Stories, Stories Everywhere!
This writing intensive course centers on content relating to
the human impulse to create stories. We humans have created
and told stories of ourselves in our quest for identity since
the beginning of time. In this section, we will be both story-listeners
and story-tellers, as we discover what the elements of a good
story are, what the different types of storytelling techniques
are, and what drives humans to create and tell stories. We will
start our course examining the stories in selections of art
and music. We will then study memoir and other biographical
non-fiction like, the national bestseller, Into the Wild
by Jon Krakauer. We will also consider stories in film and new
media.
AH 120J and K:
What is the meaning of life?
“What is the meaning of life?” is the central question
that has engaged all peoples across all times. It is a
question that crosses disciplines from philosophy and theology
to science and technology and it is a foundational question
that examines both the purpose and reason of human existence.
Three primary philosophical categories of responses to this
question exist: Supernaturalistic, Naturalistic, and Nihilistic.
This course will look at these responses as well as examine
the universal import of this question, the diverse cultural
responses to this question, and the ways we may attempt to answer
to this question in our own cultural and historical context.
We will examine a variety of texts from art and music
to philosophical essays as well as such classic texts as Victor
Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and contemporary
films like, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.
email: lcrumithancock_AT_defiance.edu
M.C.
Harper 
Mary
Catherine Harper teaches literature, creative writing, and Global
Civilization at Defiance College. She has had poetry published in
The New England Review, WomenWriters.net, The
Bozeman Er, and Masque, and has had her poetic theater
piece "A Quarrel of Voices" performed at the Interdisciplinary International
Women's Studies Conference of 1996. She has just finished a cross-media
epistolary novel, Letters to Christian Duval, which is set
in Ohio and Iraq.
Professor
Harper also publishes articles on women’s science fiction
and has been published in Science Fiction Studies, Extrapolation,
and FemSpec. Her interests in language arts, cultural studies,
poetics, and social justice issues have taken her to Cambodia to
work on a language arts and ethnography project, so she is currently
writing poetry about her experiences in Cambodia.
AH
110: What IS The Good Life?
The question of what it means to Live the Good Life has been asked
from culture to culture and through the ages of human existence.
In this section of AH110 we will explore the possible features
of The Good Life (money, love, social standing, spirituality,
playfulness, art, sport, family, work, achievement) and how much
each of these might be valued in the multicultural American environment.
Through reading and writing each of us will come up with our individual
way to define The Good Life.
AH120A
and B: The Art of World Lifestyles
“The Art of World Lifestyles” sections of AH120 begin
with an analysis of comical art from around the world showcased
at the haha.nu
blog site of http://haha.nu/funny/strange-statues-around-the-world,
and continue with the visually stunning film Baraka. The
focus will be on diverse lifestyles around the world through the
study of image, film, poetry, essay, and fiction. In particular,
as students study such texts as Material WorldPicture Bride,
they will write (and blog) about the ways in which a lifestyle
can be expressed as art and how art can be influenced by a culture’s
lifestyle.
email:
mcharper_AT_defiance.ed