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English Faculty   English / Speech / Communications Full-Time Faculty / Part-Time Faculty Faculty resources / Student resources   English Faculty (Full-Time)   Penny Shreve  / Dennis Conrad  /  Dr. Christie Firtha   /  Dr. Melanie Hanson /   Jill Murphy Penny Shreve English Office B-15 760-252-2411 x7486 pshreve@barstow.edu A.A.--Fullerton College B. A--CSU, Fullerton -  English M. A.--CSU, Fullerton - English UCI Writing Project I and II CVC on-line certification (IP) Teaching Certificate--CSU, Dominguez Hills, Community College Who Am I? Isn't that the answer we all are seeking? Ironically, I picked a career that lets me explore that every day. I believe writing helps us explore our minds and more fully discover how we think and hopefully see ourselves and our lives more clearly. Am do not see myself as just my occupation, my marital status, or my hobbies. I am a teacher, but a teacher is not all I am.  Like everyone else, I am a combination of my experiences and my likes and dislikes. We are complex beings. We are more than the sum of our parts. Just as literature and writing is more words on paper, writing and literature comes alive only when we add the human connection.     Teaching Experience: Barstow Community College Goldenwest College - hybrid and traditional  Orange Coast College - hybrid and traditional  Chaffey College Fullerton College NOCCCD Continuing Education Barstow College Experience: Have taught all of the following courses at BCC English 101 English 102 English 50 English 1A English 1C English 5 - Children's Literature English 7 - Creative Writing English 11 - Introduction to the Graphic Novel Currently the Barstow College Student Learning Coordinator Have been instrumental in starting Learning Communities at Barstow College (team teaching a group of students across different classes with different teachers to create a feeling of community for the students) Addictions: Bike riding Reading (check out my list of favorite books) Mountain Dew Anything created by Joss Whedon  Some of my favorite books – in no particular order: The Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons – I usually reread this once every couple of years and am always amazed at what it has to offer. (Finally being made into a movie--I am so THERE!) Persuasion by Jane Austen – One of her best. Sea Wolf by Jack London – Old, but great! But the movie is NOT the same story –at all! House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday – Tough read, but WOW! A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving – The only John Irving book I have read that didn’t make me think he was a complete megalomaniac, pervert. Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison – Tough topics, but relatively easy read – a book everyone should read. The Gunslinger by Stephen King – Not a "classic," but a fascinating story, keeps you guessing and interested. Light in August by William Faulkner – What to say? I had to read it for school, but ended up loving it. Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – A warped version of some future. In some ways is reminiscent of (though more complex than) White Plague by Frank Herbert, the writer of the Dune series. The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett - Yes, the same guy who wrote The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man. Same type of story, tough guy, tough times, betrayal, loyalty and a mystery, oh and a ‘broad," but in this case there is a another mystery – What the heck does that glass key mean?   Dennis Conrad Speech/Basic Skills English BA – MA – 760-252-2411 x7213, please call Dr. Christie Time Firtha English Office B-9 760-252-2411 x 7287 cfirtha@barstow.edu                              BA -- University of California, Riverside                              MA -- University of California, Riverside                              Ph.D. -- University of California, Riverside   Dr. Firtha has been teaching composition in the Riverside/San Bernardino area since 2000. She has taught a full range of English courses, from Basic Writing through graduate level English.  Her areas of specialization for her Ph.D. were Native American Literature, American Literature, and Critical Theory (with a focus on language and ideology), and she continues her research and interests in these areas.  Outside of academia, her interest lie in hiking, fishing, knitting, and cooking, especially with local and Native foods.  She is also a board member of the Native American Land Conservancy.   Dr. Melanie Hanson   English Office B-14 760-252-2411 mhanson@barstow.edu                              BA -- San Diego State University                              MA -- University of Las Vegas, Nevada                              Ph.D. -- University of Las Vegas, Nevada   A graduate of SDSU in California (BA) and UNLV in Nevada (MA, PhD), I will be celebrating my 34th year of teaching in secondary and post-secondary settings in September 2010. My most notable publication is the book Decapitation and Disgorgement: The Female Body as Text in Early Modern English Drama and Poetry (8th volume in the series Studies in English Literatures, edited by Koray Melikoglu, published by Ibidem-Verlag, Hannover, Germany, September 2007). I have two other publications coming out in the next 2 months: a chapter on bankruptcy issues from the English Victorian period and how these relate to Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market in a book being published in Connecticut and a chapter on Elizabeth Cary’s spiritual crisis and how it is manifested in her closet drama The Tragedie of Mariam being published in an early women writers’ special issue of the journal In-Between that is published in India. I have also published numerous chapters in books concerning women's issues; some of my published articles are about children’s books written by Native American writers. In addition, I have published a number of feminist articles in peer-reviewed journals at UNLV in Nevada and at the University of Alicante in Spain, to name just two.   My personal interests include swimming, knitting, embroidery, cooking, home decorating, travel, letter writing, and the fine arts including painting, opera, ballet, and theatre. I have traveled to England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, and Japan as well as taking a cruise down the Mississippi River and taking car trips all over the west coast and mid-western, southern, and south-western United States. I have a number of collections including figures by Lladro and Royal Dalton, limited edition plates, masks from my travels, Wizard of Oz and Betty Boop memorabilia, hummingbirds, and Japanese art and decor.       Jill Murphy ESL and Reading Office: S-8A (760) 252-2411 ext. 7263 jmurphy@barstow.edu B.A.:      General (World) Literature, U.C. San Diego M.A.:     English Composition with a concentration in Teaching ESL (English as a Second Language), Cal State San Bernardino   Jill Murphy has been teaching at the college level for ten years. She has taught English at all levels and Developmental Reading. She specializes in ESL at all levels and all skills (Speaking/Listening, Reading and Vocabulary, Writing and Grammar, Computers, Pronunciation, and English in the Workplace, here called Learning to Earn). In her graduate program, Murphy’s research focused on code switching, (what we commonly hear called Spanglish, for example), exploring how it is used to establish and negotiate identity and position in context. She continues to be fascinated by this and endeavors to explore its application in literatures from around the world. In “Real Life,” she reads a lot, spends time with family and friends, spoils her niece and nephew utterly rotten, enjoys watching some sports, especially soccer and hockey, (though some of her students are getting her really interested in baseball. J ). She loves to travel and hits the road every chance she gets…. Boy, could she tell you some stories. Hmm, maybe not.   English Faculty (Part-Time)   Heather Hubbard, M.A. Phillip Fitzpatrick, M.A. Heather Hubbard, M.A. Michelle James, M.A. Heather Johnson, M.A. Anna Morrison, M.A. John Pinson, M.A. Lyn Schrader, M.A. John Stacy, M.A. Clifford Walker, M.A. J. Whims, M.A. Linda Yuhas-Bedell, M.A. Communications/Basic Skills/ English 760-252-2411