Department of English

The English Department has many alumni; here are some who are willing to share their whereabouts and their comments on the department. If you are an alum and would like to add your information to this page, please contact Kevin Brooks, Andrew Mara, or any department member you would like to say "hello" to.

Kim Crowley. MA Composition, 2003.
Kim is living in Shelly, MN, and working as Coordinator of The University Writing Program at University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND.

"I wasn't really certain what area of study I wanted to pursue when I arrived at NDSU; because of the enthusiasm and knowledge of the composition/rhetoric faculty there, I got hooked on comp/rhet and never looked back. The academic background that I gained at NDSU was an integral part of preparing me for doctoral study and a career in academe."

Brent J. Driscoll, B.A. English 2006
Currently residing in New Hope, MN., Brent is working a 'blue collar' job thinking about Lennon's song "Working Class Hero" and keeping his head up and eyes forward toward a future of teaching.

"From the former greats like Matchie to the new and exciting profs like Mara, the NDSU English Department can boast a wide range of teaching backgrounds, interests and styles likely to satisfy even the most holistic of educational ambitions."

Katey Ehrenberg, MA Composition, 2005.
Katey is currently living in North St. Paul, MN and working as a Training Manager at Travelers Insurance Company in St. Paul, MN.

"My education and my degree from NDSU forced me to develop myself both academically and personally. Had I not been a part of that English department and a member of the GTA staff, I doubt I would be content in my professional life today. The subjects I studied there and the experience I gained as an instructor feed directly into the curriculum development and systems training I do for Travelers." Katey maintains a MySpace page.

Anthony Ellertson, BA 1990, MA 2000.
PhD, Rhetoric & Professional Communication, Iowa State University, 2005.

Anthony is an Assistant Professor of Web & Digital Media Development in the Computing & New Media Technologies Department at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He specializes in the Flash Platform including: 2D animation, Streaming Video/Audio for the Web, Game Development, Rich Internet Application Development, Distance Learning Applications and Actionscript/Object-Oriented Programming. Anthony maintains multiple websites, including current class sites.

"The English faculty at NDSU are some of the best and most supportive teachers that I have known. I think the environment that they create both in and out of their classes is a model for successful education in the humanities."

Martin Fredricks, BA 1990
Martin owns and operates Fredricks Communications, an advertising, marketing and business communication consulting firm in West Fargo, N.D. (www.fredcomm.biz).

One way to look at my English degree â€" and I often say this jokingly â€" is that it prepared me to drive a cab. Another is to say it prepared me to walk through doors in a wide range of career tracks. Yet another is to say it gave me the tools I needed to build a career. I’ve done the latter in a progression: Congressional intern â€" weekly newspaper editor â€" U.S. Senate staffer â€" university writer and editor â€" advertising agency copywriter â€" small business owner and operator. I am grateful every day for the thoughtful, challenging and broad-based education I earned at NDSU.

Katie Gunter, BA English and Classical Studies, NDSU, 2007.
Katie briefly attended the Masters in Rhetoric/Composition at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, but returned to the graduate program in English spring 2008.

"The English department at NDSU truly is willing to help their students reach their fullest potential. If a student is willing to work, they are willing to meet them half way. I look forward to staying in touch with many of the department members as I progress in my academic career. I have found their advice to be timely and applicable concerning graduate schools, and the current trends in English Studies."

Josh Hernandez, B.A., English, 1999. M.A., English Composition/Rhetoric, 2007.
Josh currently lives in San Antonio and works as the Director of Annual Giving at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, TX. He also teaches an introductory composition class that is inexplicably popular.

"In high school, I held the belief that the liberal arts prepared one to become the second-assistant manager to the floor sweeping division of the french fry section at one of many popular fast food chains. I started college convinced that I'd have a career in biology, physics or medicine. One class in American Literature with Steve Ward made me reconsider my major. The dedication of other departmental instructors made me consider graduate school. I've never regretted my decision to change majors, nor have I ever had to ask anyone if they'd like fries with fries with that."

Kaitlin Johnson, BA (English, NDSU, 2001), MA (Linguistics, U of MN, 2007), PhD (Linguistics, U of MN, ??? eventually....)
Kaitlin lives in Minneaplos, plodding away at a PhD in linguistics.

"The NDSU English department has the benefit of being small enough for all students to form relationships with faculty members."

David Kanenwisher. B.A. in English, minor in Computer Science, 2007.
He currently reside in Fargo, ND and works as an IT Support Technician for Verety LLC. He maintains a blog .

"My degree has proved invaluable in my professional life, primarily by giving me extra skills, like communication and analysis, which my fellow IT coworkers lack. Also, the knowledge I gained has opened up the world and shown me how day-to-day goings on, politics, art, science, and religion are all parts of a continuous discussion about life."

Joshua D. Kern, B.A. English Major, Computer Science Minor (Fall 2002) (NDSU)
M.A. English (Fall 2007) (NDSU)
A.A., A.S. (Spring 2000) (BSC)
Josh is an Assistant Professor of English at Bismarck State College.

"The expertise of the faculty on such a wide assortment of topics and the perspectives that they introduced enriched my graduate experience at NDSU."

Wade King. B.A. in English Education 1992. M.A. in English Composition, 1996.
Wade is Associate Professor and Department Chair of English & Humanities at the North Dakota State College of Science, Wahpeton, ND. He regularly teaches Business and Technical Communication, Composition I and II, Intro to Professional Writing, and Mythology, as well as overseeing the day-to-day functioning of the department.

“At the end of my freshman year, I switched my major from Wildlife Biology to English Education. I wrote a Beowulf paper for Muriel Brown’s English Lit class. On the last day of class, Dr. Brown returned the paper with no grade and invited me to her office to learn how to write an academic paper in the discipline. She could have simply placed a failing grade on the paper, but that moment of care set my future. I miss the inspiration of visits to Steve Ward’s office and the mentorship of Richard Shaw, as well as the consistently positive academic and personal interactions with the whole department.â€

Sheree Kornkven. M.A., English Composition, 2002, NDSU.
B.A., English, Mayville State, Mayville, North Dakota
Sheree lives with her husband, Ken, in Portland, North Dakota. They have five children and eight (fabulous) grandchildren.

"Since 1997, I have worked in several capacities in the Information Technology Services (ITS) department at NDSU. Currently, I am the Technology Learning Center (TLC) manager. The NDSU English graduate program was the right choice for me. The instructors are excellent--supportive and knowledgeable--and the academic work was challenging and rewarding. Through my graduate studies, I improved my communication skills and gained valuable teaching experience as a GTA, which helped me to achieve my professional and personal goals."

Chris Lindgren, BA 2004, currently lives in Portland, Oregon. He works at The CharityGroup as a Market Researcher/Donation Coordinator and gets his linguistic 'kicks' freelance proofreading for local Portland organizations. He also continues to pursue passions in the arts via poetry and music, working the open-mic, Portland-beat, art scene(s).

"Thank you to the NDSU English Department Staff for engaging tomorrow's elements of communication by prefacing it with yesterday's not-so-old and foundational techniques--'medium is the massage!' (Read your McLuhan! It's good for you.)" Chris maintains a blog.

KrisAnn Norby-Jahner, MA in English (NDSU) 2005, BA in English/ Mass Communications (MSUM) 2002
KrisAnn is living in Blaine, MN, and working on two degrees: JD (Hamline University School of Law) in progress, expected grad. 2010 and PhD in English (Kent State U) in progress, (ABD 2007--"yay!") expected defense, 2008. Her dissertation is a study about the ways in which contemporary American authors aim to uncover the injustices of the American legal system, but succeed only in keeping the laws intact, and, therefore, reconfirming female sexual oppression and a bourgeois system of justice.

"I admire the sense of camaraderie in the NDSU Department of English. Professors, students, and staff are innovative, supportive, and always looking for ways to reach out to the community and to demonstrate reading and writing as useful functions in a variety of discourses."

Marcie Lundberg Pagán. B.S. English Education, 2001; M.A. English, 2005.
Marcie lives in West Fargo with her husband, Mike. She is a trainer at Integreon Managed Solutions in Fargo.

"The experiences and knowledge I gained while involved with the English Program at NDSU have been invaluable to me. If it hadn't been for a little prodding from Kevin, I may not have entered the M.A. program, nor have been a GTA. Both of those experiences helped me prepare for my career, further my personal development, and build amazing friendships." Marcie can be found on Facebook.

Lee Palmer. BA in English Education, 2004.
Lee taught three years in an Alternative High School in Moorhead and is now teaching 7-12 Language Arts at St. Mary Catholic high School in Dell Rapids, SD

"The thing I enjoyed the most at NDSU was the English Department staff. It was always refreshing to be able to walk in and discuss literature, writing, thoughts or ideas. The thing I miss the most is walking through those hallways and seeing who was available to talk and bounce Ideas off of. Whether it was Kevin, Betsy, Steve, Dr. Bob, Amy, Dr. Cosgrove, or Mark Aune, it never felt like you were walking into a 'traditional' stuffy English Office. It was very comfortable talking to anyone."

Sybil Priebe. B.A. in English Education, 1999. M.A. in English Composition, 2005.
Sybil is currently an Assistant Professor of English & Humanities at the North Dakota State College of Science, Wahpeton ND (her home town!). Not only does she teach the basic Freshmen Composition classes, she also teaches Technical Communications and World Literature 240 Online each semester.

"I am extremely proud of the Composition program I came out of at NDSU. Kevin, Betsy, and Amy gave me more than enough theory & practice in Rhetoric/Composition. I'm continuing the blogging research I started in a class, developed for my MA Paper, and now plan to use as part of my professional development." Sybil maintains a blog and can be found on Facebook.

Kris Smetana. Spanish/English liberal arts (BA); English Education (BS) (Fall '05).
Kris is currently in the Peace Corps - Korca, Albania; professor at University F.S. Noli.
He is planning to go to law school, and will be applying shortly.

"The linguistics classes have proved extremely worthwhile as a Peace Corps volunteer. While Albanian itself was not discussed in detail during the classes, information about how languages work has made me one of the best volunteers in the country in terms of language ability. Education classes from faculty (specifically Dr. Shaw) have proven essential in teaching English (and methods for teaching it) to future Albanian teachers of English at the University of Korca." Kris can also be found on Facebook.

Amy Uthus, BA in Art (ceramics) and English (literature), Spring 2007.
Amy is currently residing in Williston, ND, but probably only for another month or so. She is working construction (building houses) saving money to travel and continue her education in clay; she would like to open her own pottery studio.

"I feel that the English department at NDSU did an excellent job preparing me, strangely enough, for my future as a potter. The writing, critical thinking, and job-preparation skills I developed through this program have already benefited me as I embark on the next stage of my life. The Capstone class, where we created 'job packets' with resumes, cover letters, and proposals, has been particularly helpful to me when I am applying for grants. Not only did I learn valuable skills through the courses I took in the English department, I also became good friends with several of my classmates. Additionally, I came to respect and trust the English faculty members not only as the qualified instructors they are but also as kind, caring, and helpful people." Amy maintains a website.

Kylee Williamson. BA 2004.
Kylee is currently pursuing a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

"NDSU's English Department supplied me with invaluable tools that I use on a daily basis. I have really been able to apply the linguistic knowledge and technical writing skills I learned at NDSU in my new field of study."