Five recent graduates of the Ph.D. program in English have already secured coveted tenure-track positions in the field. Katelynn DeLuca ‘17Ph.D., Regina Duthely ‘17Ph.D., Meghan Gilbert-Hickey ‘16Ph.D., Heather Pope ’15Ph.D., and Anna Sicari ‘15Ph.D., have made SJU proud with their success on the job market.
DeLuca will be hooded in the May 2017 Graduate Commencement Ceremony, but has already landed a position as Assistant Professor of Composition at Farmingdale State College (SUNY) on Long Island. In her new role, she will teach composition courses ranging from freshman composition to upper-division technical writing. She will also work with other Farmingdale faculty to further establish the Writing in the Disciplines program and English distance education courses. “My time at St. John’s has been instrumental in preparing for this position,” said DeLuca.
“The SJU faculty were insightful and supportive, and the coursework was relevant to my interests in class studies and the writing classroom. I look forward to working with students of varying backgrounds at Farmingdale and to continuing to develop relevant pedagogical approaches.”
Duthely will also be hooded in May and is now Assistant Professor of Writing, New Media, and Digital Literacies in the English department at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. She will be teaching courses on race, gender, and new media and digital composition. “The Ph.D. program at SJU provided me with the freedom to explore my interests and embark on my own research study,” said Duthely. “The courses are rigorous, and the faculty are generous teachers, mentors, and scholars, and as a result I have become a better researcher and thinker. The professors in the department are a model for the kind of mentor and scholar I want to be in the future.”
Gilbert-Hickey will join the faculty at Stella and Charles Guttman Community College, the newest initiative in the CUNY system, and an institution focused on innovative pedagogy and community engagement. As Assistant Professor, she will teach English and First Year courses, while continuing her research on intersectionality in contemporary popular fiction. Said Gilbert-Hickey: “For me, the freedom I had in our program allowed me essentially to create my own focus in young adult pop culture and intersectionality in a way that a more traditional program might not. That focus, along with my teaching experience, is really what made me a good fit for Guttman.”
Pope has joined the English faculty at Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) in Newark, NJ. BHSEC is a partnership between Bard College and Newark Public Schools that allows students who are ready for college-level work in high school to graduate with both a high school degree and an associate’s degree.
“I took quite a few classes at St. John’s that provided me with a good understanding of the field,” said Pope. “My professors set the bar so high and were great examples of the kind of teacher I want to be.”
Sicari will start as Director of the Writing Center and Assistant Professor in English at Oklahoma State University. She was previously Interim Director and Visiting Assistant Professor of English and was offered the position permanently. She is also Associate Editor of The Writing Center Journal, the premier publication for the field of writing center studies. Said Sicari: “Through the close mentorship and support of my advisors and their ability to challenge my own thinking in my research and teaching, I felt extremely prepared for my first year in a tenure-track position. My former advisors are still very helpful to me for my own research agenda and I still send my work to them for their feedback.”
“In a hyper-competitive academic job market, the success of our students in finding tenure-track faculty positions provides the St. John’s department with hope for a creative and productive future,” said Steve Mentz, Ph.D., professor and graduate director for English. “We are especially proud that the innovative work of our students is leading them to be successful on the national market.”
see the article here:
http://www.stjohns.edu/about/news/2017-04-28/english-phd-graduates-land-tenure-track-positions
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