Biography

"Pure and spontaneous pleasures are `patches of Godlight' in the woods of our experience." --C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer (p. 91)

My favorite quotation says much about me and about how I feel about my years teaching in the English Department. When I came to Andrews University in 1976 to work on an M.A. in English, I never expected that my two years as a teaching assistant would evolve into a Ph.D. in composition and a career as a composition teacher where almost every day is a "pure and spontaneous pleasure."

Since coming to Andrews, I've been blessed with many pleasures. I've enjoyed teaching numerous versions of the general education English composition sequence as well as creative (short stories and dramatic scripts), technical, and professional writing. I teach a graduate composition course for future writing teachers, and occasionally an Arthurian literature course. And I direct the university's Writing Center wher I enjoy helping students improve their writing.

When I'm not engaged in the pleasures of teaching, I read. What English teacher doesn't? But I'm also a closet musician. I try to learn at least one new piano composition every year for my own development. Folk music appeals to me so I have been learning to play a five-string banjo. I have performed with the Andrews University Early Music Ensemble on the bass recorder and crumhorn. I also enjoy costuming and have constructed several medieval costumes for myself and other friends who enjoy attending Renaissance Fairs. Recently I've learned to make chain mail, which I call a masculine version of knitting.

Current Research or Professional Activities

Article Published: 
(2010). An important day. Life. Info, 9 (1), 25-27.

Conference Presentations: 
Closser, B. (2010). First impressions, second changes: The role of gender stereotypes in the university writing center. Paper presented at the Michigan College English Association, Henry Ford Community College, October 15.

Closser B., and David, S. (2010). Written miscommunication and cultural expectations. Paper presented at the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters, Calvin College, March 26.

Performance or Exhibition:  
(2010). Early Music Ensemble. Music for Arminianism and Adventism: Celebrating our Soteriological Heritage. Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI, October 14.