The English Faculty This page has two sections: Who are the English faculty? What do they say about literature?

Who are the English faculty?

The following full-time faculty serve as academic advisors to our students; they help students select which English language and literature courses will best suit their needs.

Adelman, Deborah

Ph.D. — New York University
IC 3127e (942-3406)

Allen, James

Ph.D. — University of South Carolina-Columbia
M 111b (942-3421)

Anschicks, Laura

M.A. — Northwestern University
IC 2059e (942-2311)

Bell, William

M.A. — Northeastern University
M 165e (942-2116)

Carter, Allen

M.A. — University of Rhode Island
M 115b (942-2124)

Chu, Mike

Ph.D. — University of Nebraska
IC 3045b (942-3030)

Cookis, Patricia

M.S.T. — University of Chicago
IC 3089e (942-2709)

Daly, Mary

M.A. — University of Wisconsin
IC 3067a (942-2447)

Fitch, Frances

Ph.D. — Purdue University
IC 3044a (942-2793)

Fitch, Kathy

M.A. — Northern Illinois University
IC 3129a (942-3367)

Geesaman, Jan

M.A. — State University of New York at Stony Brook
IC 3059f (942-2327)

Georgalas, Bob

M.A. — City College of New York
M 115g (942-2205)

Gutschera, Deborah

Ph.D. — University of California, Berkeley
IC 3059d (942-3385)

Hagman, Ida

M.A. — University of Chicago
IC 2059 (942-2498)

Hester, Frank

Ph.D. — Nova Southeastern University
M 131e (942-2443)

Holdway, Mary

Ph.D. — University of Illinois at Chicago
IC 3089d (942-2563)

Hubbard, Danica

Ph.D. — DePaul University
IC 3059b (942-2101)

Kies, Daniel

Ph.D. — University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
IC 3089f (942-2415)

Kumamoto, C. D.

Ph.D. — Loyola University
IC 3113b (942-2034)

Leppert, William

Ph.D. — Northwestern University
M 165d (942-2549)

Libman, Freyda

M.A. — Northwestern University
M 113b (942-2402)

Lindsey, Daniel

Ph.D. — Northwestern University
IC 3059c (942-2449)

McGrath, David

M.A. — Chicago State University
IC 3133c (942-3342)

Montgomery-Fate, Thomas

M.A. — University of Iowa
IC 3081e (942-3412)

Nyka, James

Ed.D. — Northern Illinois University
IC 2113c (942-2467)

O'Conner, Irene

M.A. — University of Illinois at Chicago
IC 3021b (942-3403)

Ryel, Debby

M.A. — University of Southern California
IC 3113c (942-2748)

Sherman, Carole

M.A. — Roosevelt University
IC 3105e (942-2330)

Snelgrove, Alice

M.A. — Indiana University
IC 3113a (942-2749)

Stablein, Catherine

M.A. — Northern Illinois University
SRC l560 (942-2650)

Thorpe, Dan

M.A. — Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
IC 3081d (942-2778)

Tipton, Tom

M.A. — Northwestern University
IC 3067e (942-2570)

Webb, Nancy

Ph.D. — Northern Illinois University
IC 3089a (942-3411)

Weshinskey, Gwenna

M.S./A.M. — University of Illinois
IC 3129c (942-3341)

---

What do they say about literature?

It's difficult to describe the value of literature ... It may be like the feeling you get when, while following a trail through a wild forest swamp at dawn, your path is suddenly blocked by a timber wolf that has emerged from a tangle of bush and trees. You are both uncertain, rigid, breathing each other's smell. She makes no sound but bares her teeth, then turns and is absorbed again into the undergrowth. Yet musty scent is still in your nostrils, along with the cold sweet smell of the swamp. The sensory experience, the surprise discovery, the simultaneous fear and elation — that is also what it's like to lose yourself in a great piece of literature. David McGrath

In addition to providing enjoyment, literature offers a pathway to knowledge that is as vital as science, mathematics, philosophy or history." Via lecture, discussion and group work, l try to impress upon my students how literature can enrich one's understanding of self and of life in general. Robert Georgalas

I try to introduce students to the human side of literature, to the psychological side, especially to the unconscious (my approach is sometimes Jungian), etc. I would like my students to be 'moved' by what they have read — moved by the human condition," and see themselves, therefore, with more compassion and understanding. Bill Bell

I want students to enjoy to read. To help them toward this end I will introduce a 'formula' to help them approach what they read so they can gain a deeper understanding and ultimately a richer enjoyment of the material. Nancy Webb

Literature connects us deeply to our own lives as well as offers us an unparalleled opportunity to observe the craftsmanship of writers. Ultimately, my teaching reaches towards this illumination of our humanity and the power of the word to reveal it. Freyda Libman

My primary goal in any literature course is to help students discover how literature can be relevant, even practical, in their own lives, as well as in their understanding of our human condition. Jim Allen

We human beings have spent the last few thousand years making up stories and telling stories and listening to each other's stories and singing stories and dancing stories and acting out stories and even believing one another's stories and believing our own, sometimes calling them "science" and "religion" and "history." The upshot of all this is that we still can neither bring on rain nor prevent it I am amazed and delighted at the audacity and ingenuity we display over the years. I enjoy the magic. Bill Leppert

I don't lecture. Classes should be about exploration and interpretation. However, I want students to become acquainted with the kinds of questions and approaches to literature commonly held by those who spend their lives studying it. That is (particularly in 130), I do think of this as an introduction to the study of literature. Deborah Adelman

Like atoms exploding . . .
          Like lightening crackling,
Words have power.
String them one-by-one-by-one
          Together. . .
And they sizzle and flash
          Firing emotion
          Illuminating truth
          Changing lives.
I know.

               Carole Sherman

Back in the 6th century B.C., Solon of Athens, one of the so called Seven Sages, issued this advice: Know thyself. Better than philosophy, psychology, sociology, or history, literature enables us to know not only ourselves but others. It dramatizes the conflicts, asks the questions, and sometimes even offers answers regarding what makes us human, what makes us similar, what makes us different, and what enables us to make a difference. Gwenna Weshinskey

Read, read, and read, masterpieces as well as trash, so we can inhabit words, feel their movements, embark on voyages over writers' voices and visions until we can span our minds and hearts across time, culture, and geography. C. D. Kumamoto