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English Department
English Resources
Meet our Faculty
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Teresa Alto, B.A. (English, Slavic Languages and Literature), M.A.
I
have taught at Itasca since 2001. Although I hail from Ames, Iowa, I
have lived in Iowa City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Minneapolis, and,
since 1999, Grand Rapids. I have held most "English major" jobs: as a
test writer and editor for ACT; a book editor for the Oliver Press, a
young-adult nonfiction publisher; a writer/account coordinator for
Sterling Executive Counselors, a public relations firm; and freelance
editor and publication consultant. I love the North Woods, enjoying
cross-country skiing, ice fishing, canoeing, and bicycling, and I go
canoe camping in the BWCA and Quetico and bicycle touring in the
summers. Inside, I love to cook, curl up on the couch with a good book,
and engage in great conversation about the big questions of the day. I
earned my Bachelor's degree in English and Slavic Languages and
Literature from the University of California-Berkeley and my Master's
degree in English from the University of Iowa. |
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Jon Byrne, B.A. (English, French), M.A. After
growing up in northern Wisconsin, I spent most of my twenties
traveling, working odd jobs, and attending colleges. I started at ICC
in 1990, but I began my teaching career in an Eskimo village in arctic
Alaska in the mid eighties. Eventually I settled down with my wife
Paula on a hobby farm east of Grand Rapids, where we raise children,
dogs, horses, chickens, pigs, vegetables, and apples. Depending on the
season, I like to bike, hunt, ski, make maple syrup, or lie in my
hammock by the lake, reading and wondering.
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Annie Erickson, B.A. (American Studies), M.A. I
have tried to live my life with a sense of adventure. I built a small
log house with my husband. We lived simply, hauling and heating our
water, gathering firewood, harvesting wild rice, and reading nature's
language of change. Ten years after we built our log house, we
travelled to Madrid, Spain, where we both taught English for a year. In
addition to teaching, my husband and I created Paragraphics, a
freelance writing, photography, and graphic design business. I also
have worked as an editorial assistant and a public information
director. I enjoy reading, crafting essays, gardening, cross country
skiing, cooking, and playing with my dog. Visual art, architecture,
music, and literature enrich my life. I have a B.A. in American Studies from Augsburg College and an M.A. in English from Bemidji State University. |
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Candace Knudson, A.S. (Nursing), B.A., M.A. I came to the teaching of English as a second career.My first career was in nursing.I
graduated with an Associate Degree in Nursing from Western Wisconsin
Technical College and first worked as a medical surgical nurse and,
later, as a home care and hospice nurse.In the
early 90s, I returned to college to earn a B.A. in English from
Pikeville College and an M.A. in English from Northeast Missouri State
University.I see much overlap between nursing and
teaching because both are concerned with health--one with physical
health and the other with expressive health.In my spare time, I work with my husband, Don (also a teacher, but of mathematics and computer science), restoring an oldfarmhouse that has been in my family since 1901.It
provides a tangible reminder of my agrarian heritage, a heritage I
value for its lessons about hard work, long-range vision, and communal
values. |
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Audrey L'Amie, B.A., B.F.A., M.A.
As an English Instructor, I am aware that I am a bit of a
cliché--I like books, scrabble, crossword puzzles, and pointy black pens.
However, I also love TiVo, Hulu, Oblivion, and Zelda. My academic
background and interest is also divided: My B.A. in English serves
the pointy-pen bit of my personality, while my B.F.A. in Professional Writing
serves the more creative part of my personality. My M.A. in English
reflects the combination of both sides and allows me to work, quite happily,
with students of ICC, Upward Bound, Bemidji State University, and Smarthinking
Inc.
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Patrick Mathias, B.A., M.A. I
am married to my best friend, Julie, have three kids--Zachary, Rachel
and Taylor--and love to read and write. I've been teaching writing for
the past 26 years at the college level. I have written and
published poetry, a coffee table book, several textbooks, and many
training manuals for business and industry. I enjoy teaching (my
dream job is teaching English at Itasca), and I love working with both
students and teachers. In my spare time, I love to hunt, fish, camp,
four wheel, and watch the Green Bay Packers. In addition to my
job at ICC, I am currently working as a writing coach at Northern
Lights Community School in Warba, MN, as a youth group leader at West
Cohasset Chapel, and as the Campus Crusade (CRU) For Christ Advisor at
ICC. |
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Catherine Schroeder, B.A. (English, History), B.Ed., M.A.
I
have taught English at ICC since 1999,
previously having taught kindergarten through ninth grade in
Canadian schools. Born and raised in a large family, just north
of International Falls, I graduated with a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Ottawa and a B.Ed. from the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario. I
moved with my husband and our three older children to Grand
Rapids from Vancouver Island in 1998. When I'm not teaching, I
particularly enjoy reading, writing, and debating issues; I'm
especially fond of Old English, Seventeenth Century
British literature, and Canadian literature, although some of
my favourite authors are Russian, as is my recently adopted son. I
enjoy spending time with friends, family, and my golden retriever at home and while travelling. |
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