UC Merced Writing Program Faculty

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The Writing Program Faculty

Paul Gibbons

Education: B.A. in English, B.M. in Music Composition, Arizona State U; M.F.A. in Creative Writing, U of Massachusetts

Teaching Interests: poetry, creative writing pedagogy, metaphor, composition pedagogy

Office: Classroom Building

Email: pgibbons@ucmerced.edu

Phone: n/a

Paul has taught writing in several states and venues, including a university in the Northeast and a jail in the Southwest. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in several journals (Beloit Poetry Journal, Zone 3, The Modern Review, Poet Lore, and FIELD among them), and his chapbook, Bray (2008), recently won the Elixir chapbook competition.

Tom Hothem

Education: B.A. in English, Rutgers U; M.A., PhD in English, U of Rochester

Teaching Interests: ecocomposition, general education, the psychology of writing, literature of the environment, 18th Century British Literature, memoir, ghost stories, science writing, teaching technologies

Office: Classroom Building 303

Email: thothem@ucmerced.edu

Phone: 209-217-7247

Tom gladly learns and gladly teaches just about anything. His pedagogy revolves around a comprehensive sense of place whereby students might critique linguistic, cultural, educational and professional environments that are central to their experience. He finds that such a multidimensional approach to writing cultivates an extensive awareness with which writers investigate their surroundings, approach their craft, and shape rhetorical positions. Tom's interest in the idea of place has inspired articles on suburban studies in college composition, suburban history in Jane Austen's fiction, ecosystemic approaches to teaching literary anthologies, and the concept of education in picaresque fiction, as well as a book project on eighteenth-century landscape aesthetics and the modern environmental imagination. His attention to the process of composition has also led him to study the psychology of writing in both eighteenth-century poetry and twenty-first century scholarship (a project he recently initiated with an article on "Samuel Johnson in the Composition Classroom"). Tom has taught at the U of Rochester, the Eastman School of Music, Cornell U, Gannon U, and UC Davis. When he's not professing or scribbling, you can find him biking around town, combing through the bins at the record store, or kicking a soccer ball in the park. He lives in Merced with his wife Anne, a chihuahua named Lily, and feline companions Fran, Lola and Zeke.

John Hundley

Education: B.A. in General Literature, UC San Diego; Teaching Credentials in English/Language Arts and History/Social Science, UC Santa Barbara; M.A. in Creative Writing, Prescott College

Teaching Interests: California during the Civil War (1861–1865); history and ecology of the Sierra Nevada; the pedagogy of empowerment; theory, practice and professional development in teaching writing K-12; multiple genre writing; nature writing

Office: Classroom Building

Email: jhundley@ucmerced.edu

Phone: 209-217-7204

Experience has provided John with some of his best learning opportunities. In addition to teaching writing courses at UC Merced, his professional experience includes sixteen years in the public school system teaching English to 8th graders, as well as part-time work at Merced College and CSU Stanislaus. He also serves as a co-director of the UC Merced Writing Project and as a school board member in Atwater. When the paved life is too much for John, he flees to the Sierra Nevada wilderness to fish, explore, breathe, and remember to watch his step. His reading and writing compass often points toward the "Range of Light." His master's thesis included a novel about a Christian who finds his faith challenged during an extended trip into the backcountry of Sequoia National Park. Recently he adapted other pieces of his master's work into a series of multiple genre stories thematically connected to the 1863 massacre of thirty-five Tubatulabal natives in the Southern Sierra Nevada. John's wife Amy is an English instructor at Merced College. Their daughter Emma attends public school in Atwater. Their two dogs, Lucy and Jessie, help them in the garden and keep them all laughing.

Robert Ochsner

Education: PhD in Applied Linguistics, UCLA

Teaching Interests: rhetoric, stylistics, composition, ESL

Office: Classroom Building 301

Email: rochsner@ucmerced.edu

Phone: 209-217-7186

Robert received his doctorate from UCLA in Applied Linguistics. He is the former Director of Writing at the U of Maryland Baltimore County and at CSU Monterey Bay. Among his publications, he has written two books on literacy issues, Rhythm and Writing (1989) and Physical Eloquence and the Biology of Writing (1990), and numerous articles for refereed journals such as Language Learning, TESOL Quarterly, Style, and Review of Educational Research.

Jeremy Resnick

Education: B.A. in English, Dartmouth C; M.F.A. in Creative Writing, New York U

Teaching Interests: expository writing, fiction writing, creative nonfiction, contemporary American fiction

Office: Classroom Building

Email: jresnick@ucmerced.edu

Phone: 209-323-8623

Jeremy grew up in Los Angeles, in the no-man’s land between the West Side and the San Fernando Valley. His was an idyllic upbringing, and he spent many a pink summer evening in the meadow/empty lot in his neighborhood, watching the flickering of the brake lights on the 405 freeway. In adolescence he practically lived in the great indoors of the ol’ Sherman Oaks Galleria, where he roamed the fields of red carpet with his pals, hunting quarters for the arcade and wrassling hot-dogs-on-a-stick. Eventually, the Galleria began to seem small, provincial. Jeremy switched to cheese-on-a-stick. Still, he felt the call of the road. And now, having lived in New Hampshire, Washington, D.C., Colorado, Arkansas, New York and New Orleans, he has returned to California to teach at UC Merced. He has a B.A. in English from Dartmouth and a M.F.A. in creative writing from New York U, and believes his writing classes are among the most important his students will ever take. He teaches students how to read, think and write with intelligence, sensitivity and wit, particularly by demystifying the writing process and cultivating strategies for writing successful papers and presentations. His classes are never dull: all of his students participate in every discussion and go on to live wildly successful lives, both spiritually and financially. At least that’s the goal.

Mary Smith

Education: B.S. in Biology, U of Memphis; BSN, U of Tennessee; MATESOL, Monterey Institute of International Studies

Teaching Interests: English for Academic Purposes, Composition, Second Language Acquisition, Language Education (e.g., Bilingual Education, Second Language Learners, Generation 1.5)

Office: Classroom Building

Email: msmith5@ucmerced.edu

Phone: 209-217-7250

Mary began her academic career in the sciences, and taught middle school Earth Science and Biology before receiving a bachelor's degree in Nursing. Eventually, however, she returned to the teaching profession—this time teaching English. This switch came as she recognized the needs of immigrants whose language skills limited their full participation in her Georgia community. Before coming to UC Merced, Mary taught briefly in Barcelona and Shanghai, in the state of Georgia, and on the Monterey Peninsula. She is interested in theories of language acquisition as occurring in sociocultural contexts; this interest explains her enthusiasm for Writing 1's theme of linguistic and cultural diversity. She sees that course as a perfect avenue to facilitate students' integration into the UC Merced community and the academic writing it expects. Although Southerners by birth, Mary and Denny (her husband of 30+ years) have always enjoyed vacationing in California; they shunned the Florida beaches other Southerners love to experience the waterfalls, views, and hiking trails of Yosemite. A great day for her is to see the Sierras in the distance while driving in Merced or walking from building to building on campus.

Jared Stanley

Education: B.A. in English, UC Berkeley; M.F.A. in Creative Writing, U of Iowa

Teaching Interests: the ethics of writing, ecocomposition, contemporary poetry, the history of the book

Office: Classroom Building

Email: jstanley@ucmerced.edu

Phone: 209-217-7213

Jared began his higher education at UC Berkeley, and earned an M.F.A. in poetry at the U of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop. He has taught at the U of Iowa, Dominican U, and Roosevelt U. At UC Merced, he teaches Writing 10 and Core 1. He is particularly interested in the intersection between English composition and ethics, as well as the intersection between English composition and the environment, whatever that is. His poems have been published in Conduit, Gutcult, and Mustachioed. He is the author of Measuring Daylight With a Stick and In Fortune (with Lauren Levin & Catherine Theis) both of which are chapbooks. He edits the poetry magazine Mrs. Maybe.

Michael H. Truong

Education: B.A. in American Studies, UC Santa Cruz; M.A., PhD in Ethnic Studies, UC San Diego

Teaching Interests: writing for the social sciences and humanities

Office: Classroom Building

Email: mtruong@ucmerced.edu

Phone: 209-217-7249

Most of Mike's life has been spent in California. He grew up in San Jose, went to college in Santa Cruz, attended graduate school in San Diego, and lived in Los Angeles before moving to Merced. He has taught Writing, Ethnic Studies, and other social science courses at UC San Diego, and Ethnic Studies and Sociology at Glendale Community College. His primary research examines Asian Americans’ relationship to the American welfare state and their cultural citizenship. In particular, he focuses on how the “model minority” stereotype informs social welfare policies in the U.S., and in turn affects access to social welfare resources for various Asian American communities. He is also interested in the sociology of religion among different Asian American immigrant communities. He envisions UC Merced as a model institution of higher learning that fosters interdisciplinary learning, teaching, and research, and hopes students will learn the important skills of interdisciplinarity that are so vital for success in the 21st century. He sees the Writing Program as an indispensible component of UC Merced for providing students with such training.

Michael Winder

Education: B.A. in English, Loyola C; M.A. in English, Georgetown U

Teaching Interests: management communication, science fiction, satire

Office: Classroom Building

Email: mwinder@ucmerced.edu

Phone: 209-205-8674

Michael comes to UC Merced from Baltimore, Maryland, where he studied and taught at Loyola College and Georgetown U. Five years on the East Coast couldn’t dampen his desire for a return to the West, however—nothing like the rain and fog of the Central Valley in winter (so reminiscent of his home state of Oregon). When he isn’t dodging sunbeams or raindrops, Michael can be found reading too much science fiction and drinking too much coffee for his own good.

Anne Zanzucchi

Education: B.A. in English, Drew U; M.A., PhD in English, U of Rochester

Teaching Interests: educational assessment, women's studies, science writing, 19th Century British Literature, journal production, teaching technologies

Office: Classroom Building 303

Email: azanzucchi@ucmerced.edu

Phone: 209-217-7228

Though a Jersey-girl at heart, Anne left the Garden State in 1996 to pursue her graduate work in Romantic literature at the U of Rochester. Her literary research considers the significance of animals in eighteenth- and nineteenth- century British literature of humanitarianism, abolitionism, and women's rights. Her teaching and research tend to be cross-disciplinary, exploring intersections between the respective studies of science, gender, and literature. No matter the content or context, however, Anne's approach to teaching is writing-intensive and student-centered. Currently, her research is primarily focused on assessment, including the coordination and study of writing placement reading projects. She is co-advisor to the University Women of Merced Network, a student organization that creates educational opportunities and raises money for domestic violence intervention centers. In her free-time, she nurtures her inner Julia Child by hosting vegetarian cooking classes at Davis's Food Co-Op. She also enjoys walking her feisty Chihuahua, Lily, and hanging out with her "substantial" cats Lola, Zeke, Fran, and (husband) Tom.

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UCMWP Home News Initiatives Courses Faculty Resources UCMCROPS UCMWP Moodle UWP Policies Writing Minor School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Arts Contacts	The Writing Program Faculty
	Paul Gibbons Education: B.A. in English, B.M. in Music Composition, Arizona State U; M.F.A. in Creative Writing, U of Massachusetts Teaching Interests: poetry, creative writing pedagogy, metaphor, composition pedagogy Office: Classroom Building Email: pgibbons@ucmerced.edu Phone: n/a
Paul has taught writing in several states and venues, including a university in the Northeast and a jail in the Southwest. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in several journals (Beloit Poetry Journal, Zone 3, The Modern Review, Poet Lore, and FIELD among them), and his chapbook, Bray (2008), recently won the Elixir chapbook competition.
	Tom Hothem Education: B.A. in English, Rutgers U; M.A., PhD in English, U of Rochester Teaching Interests: ecocomposition, general education, the psychology of writing, literature of the environment, 18th Century British Literature, memoir, ghost stories, science writing, teaching technologies Office: Classroom Building 303 Email: thothem@ucmerced.edu Phone: 209-217-7247
Tom gladly learns and gladly teaches just about anything. His pedagogy revolves around a comprehensive sense of place whereby students might critique linguistic, cultural, educational and professional environments that are central to their experience. He finds that such a multidimensional approach to writing cultivates an extensive awareness with which writers investigate their surroundings, approach their craft, and shape rhetorical positions. Tom's interest in the idea of place has inspired articles on suburban studies in college composition, suburban history in Jane Austen's fiction, ecosystemic approaches to teaching literary anthologies, and the concept of education in picaresque fiction, as well as a book project on eighteenth-century landscape aesthetics and the modern environmental imagination. His attention to the process of composition has also led him to study the psychology of writing in both eighteenth-century poetry and twenty-first century scholarship (a project he recently initiated with an article on "Samuel Johnson in the Composition Classroom"). Tom has taught at the U of Rochester, the Eastman School of Music, Cornell U, Gannon U, and UC Davis. When he's not professing or scribbling, you can find him biking around town, combing through the bins at the record store, or kicking a soccer ball in the park. He lives in Merced with his wife Anne, a chihuahua named Lily, and feline companions Fran, Lola and Zeke.
	John Hundley Education: B.A. in General Literature, UC San Diego; Teaching Credentials in English/Language Arts and History/Social Science, UC Santa Barbara; M.A. in Creative Writing, Prescott College Teaching Interests: California during the Civil War (1861–1865); history and ecology of the Sierra Nevada; the pedagogy of empowerment; theory, practice and professional development in teaching writing K-12; multiple genre writing; nature writing Office: Classroom Building Email: jhundley@ucmerced.edu Phone: 209-217-7204
Experience has provided John with some of his best learning opportunities. In addition to teaching writing courses at UC Merced, his professional experience includes sixteen years in the public school system teaching English to 8th graders, as well as part-time work at Merced College and CSU Stanislaus. He also serves as a co-director of the UC Merced Writing Project and as a school board member in Atwater. When the paved life is too much for John, he flees to the Sierra Nevada wilderness to fish, explore, breathe, and remember to watch his step. His reading and writing compass often points toward the "Range of Light." His master's thesis included a novel about a Christian who finds his faith challenged during an extended trip into the backcountry of Sequoia National Park. Recently he adapted other pieces of his master's work into a series of multiple genre stories thematically connected to the 1863 massacre of thirty-five Tubatulabal natives in the Southern Sierra Nevada. John's wife Amy is an English instructor at Merced College. Their daughter Emma attends public school in Atwater. Their two dogs, Lucy and Jessie, help them in the garden and keep them all laughing.
	Robert Ochsner Education: PhD in Applied Linguistics, UCLA Teaching Interests: rhetoric, stylistics, composition, ESL Office: Classroom Building 301 Email: rochsner@ucmerced.edu Phone: 209-217-7186
Robert received his doctorate from UCLA in Applied Linguistics. He is the former Director of Writing at the U of Maryland Baltimore County and at CSU Monterey Bay. Among his publications, he has written two books on literacy issues, Rhythm and Writing (1989) and Physical Eloquence and the Biology of Writing (1990), and numerous articles for refereed journals such as Language Learning, TESOL Quarterly, Style, and Review of Educational Research.
	Jeremy Resnick Education: B.A. in English, Dartmouth C; M.F.A. in Creative Writing, New York U Teaching Interests: expository writing, fiction writing, creative nonfiction, contemporary American fiction Office: Classroom Building Email: jresnick@ucmerced.edu Phone: 209-323-8623
Jeremy grew up in Los Angeles, in the no-man’s land between the West Side and the San Fernando Valley. His was an idyllic upbringing, and he spent many a pink summer evening in the meadow/empty lot in his neighborhood, watching the flickering of the brake lights on the 405 freeway. In adolescence he practically lived in the great indoors of the ol’ Sherman Oaks Galleria, where he roamed the fields of red carpet with his pals, hunting quarters for the arcade and wrassling hot-dogs-on-a-stick. Eventually, the Galleria began to seem small, provincial. Jeremy switched to cheese-on-a-stick. Still, he felt the call of the road. And now, having lived in New Hampshire, Washington, D.C., Colorado, Arkansas, New York and New Orleans, he has returned to California to teach at UC Merced. He has a B.A. in English from Dartmouth and a M.F.A. in creative writing from New York U, and believes his writing classes are among the most important his students will ever take. He teaches students how to read, think and write with intelligence, sensitivity and wit, particularly by demystifying the writing process and cultivating strategies for writing successful papers and presentations. His classes are never dull: all of his students participate in every discussion and go on to live wildly successful lives, both spiritually and financially. At least that’s the goal.
	Mary Smith Education: B.S. in Biology, U of Memphis; BSN, U of Tennessee; MATESOL, Monterey Institute of International Studies Teaching Interests: English for Academic Purposes, Composition, Second Language Acquisition, Language Education (e.g., Bilingual Education, Second Language Learners, Generation 1.5) Office: Classroom Building Email: msmith5@ucmerced.edu Phone: 209-217-7250
Mary began her academic career in the sciences, and taught middle school Earth Science and Biology before receiving a bachelor's degree in Nursing. Eventually, however, she returned to the teaching profession—this time teaching English. This switch came as she recognized the needs of immigrants whose language skills limited their full participation in her Georgia community. Before coming to UC Merced, Mary taught briefly in Barcelona and Shanghai, in the state of Georgia, and on the Monterey Peninsula. She is interested in theories of language acquisition as occurring in sociocultural contexts; this interest explains her enthusiasm for Writing 1's theme of linguistic and cultural diversity. She sees that course as a perfect avenue to facilitate students' integration into the UC Merced community and the academic writing it expects. Although Southerners by birth, Mary and Denny (her husband of 30+ years) have always enjoyed vacationing in California; they shunned the Florida beaches other Southerners love to experience the waterfalls, views, and hiking trails of Yosemite. A great day for her is to see the Sierras in the distance while driving in Merced or walking from building to building on campus.
	Jared Stanley Education: B.A. in English, UC Berkeley; M.F.A. in Creative Writing, U of Iowa Teaching Interests: the ethics of writing, ecocomposition, contemporary poetry, the history of the book Office: Classroom Building Email: jstanley@ucmerced.edu Phone: 209-217-7213
Jared began his higher education at UC Berkeley, and earned an M.F.A. in poetry at the U of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop. He has taught at the U of Iowa, Dominican U, and Roosevelt U. At UC Merced, he teaches Writing 10 and Core 1. He is particularly interested in the intersection between English composition and ethics, as well as the intersection between English composition and the environment, whatever that is. His poems have been published in Conduit, Gutcult, and Mustachioed. He is the author of Measuring Daylight With a Stick and In Fortune (with Lauren Levin & Catherine Theis) both of which are chapbooks. He edits the poetry magazine Mrs. Maybe.
	Michael H. Truong Education: B.A. in American Studies, UC Santa Cruz; M.A., PhD in Ethnic Studies, UC San Diego Teaching Interests: writing for the social sciences and humanities Office: Classroom Building Email: mtruong@ucmerced.edu Phone: 209-217-7249
Most of Mike's life has been spent in California. He grew up in San Jose, went to college in Santa Cruz, attended graduate school in San Diego, and lived in Los Angeles before moving to Merced. He has taught Writing, Ethnic Studies, and other social science courses at UC San Diego, and Ethnic Studies and Sociology at Glendale Community College. His primary research examines Asian Americans’ relationship to the American welfare state and their cultural citizenship. In particular, he focuses on how the “model minority” stereotype informs social welfare policies in the U.S., and in turn affects access to social welfare resources for various Asian American communities. He is also interested in the sociology of religion among different Asian American immigrant communities. He envisions UC Merced as a model institution of higher learning that fosters interdisciplinary learning, teaching, and research, and hopes students will learn the important skills of interdisciplinarity that are so vital for success in the 21st century. He sees the Writing Program as an indispensible component of UC Merced for providing students with such training.
	Michael Winder Education: B.A. in English, Loyola C; M.A. in English, Georgetown U Teaching Interests: management communication, science fiction, satire Office: Classroom Building Email: mwinder@ucmerced.edu Phone: 209-205-8674
Michael comes to UC Merced from Baltimore, Maryland, where he studied and taught at Loyola College and Georgetown U. Five years on the East Coast couldn’t dampen his desire for a return to the West, however—nothing like the rain and fog of the Central Valley in winter (so reminiscent of his home state of Oregon). When he isn’t dodging sunbeams or raindrops, Michael can be found reading too much science fiction and drinking too much coffee for his own good.
	Anne Zanzucchi Education: B.A. in English, Drew U; M.A., PhD in English, U of Rochester Teaching Interests: educational assessment, women's studies, science writing, 19th Century British Literature, journal production, teaching technologies Office: Classroom Building 303 Email: azanzucchi@ucmerced.edu Phone: 209-217-7228
Though a Jersey-girl at heart, Anne left the Garden State in 1996 to pursue her graduate work in Romantic literature at the U of Rochester. Her literary research considers the significance of animals in eighteenth- and nineteenth- century British literature of humanitarianism, abolitionism, and women's rights. Her teaching and research tend to be cross-disciplinary, exploring intersections between the respective studies of science, gender, and literature. No matter the content or context, however, Anne's approach to teaching is writing-intensive and student-centered. Currently, her research is primarily focused on assessment, including the coordination and study of writing placement reading projects. She is co-advisor to the University Women of Merced Network, a student organization that creates educational opportunities and raises money for domestic violence intervention centers. In her free-time, she nurtures her inner Julia Child by hosting vegetarian cooking classes at Davis's Food Co-Op. She also enjoys walking her feisty Chihuahua, Lily, and hanging out with her "substantial" cats Lola, Zeke, Fran, and (husband) Tom.
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