Biography

"We read to know we're not alone."
C.S. Lewis

Andrews University has been my academic home since pre-school! I received my BA in French in 1976 and my MA in English in 1977. After doctoral studies I returned to my "home" department to teach English in 1982. This home place of the English Department offers many things to me and my students - stimulating conversation among colleagues, a group of people who both challenge and support me to do my best, a lot of laughter, good food, a caring community, and a congregation of people who love the things I do: reading and writing and language.

My times away from Andrews University and Berrien Springs have been just as important to my development as a person, teacher, and scholar as my home base. I spent two years living in France and one in Germany. I have done research and traveled in the British Isles. My most exciting research included visits to the British Library and the collections at Oxford and Cambridge to examine medieval manuscripts. Perhaps most important were my years of doctoral work in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan. I completed my PhD in 1985. I teach writing and introductory English courses as well as classes in medieval literature, my area of specialization, and literature by women, an area of special interest to me.

In medieval studies my major research emphasis has been on codicology - the study of how a manuscript is made, organized, and laid out - and the manuscript context of Middle English lyric poetry. Most recently I have been examining 19th- and 20th-century primary sources as I research and write the history of Andrews University and its predecessors, Battle Creek College and Emmanuel Missionary College. The University published Volume I, As We Set Forth, in April 2002 as part of celebrating 100 years in Berrien Springs. For more information about this project you can go to www.andrewsheritage.com.

My pleasures in my spare time are my family, Gary and Jeremy, lots of reading (I favor English women mystery writers), and my hobby of doll collecting.

Current Research or Professional Activities

Article Published:
“Standing the Test of Time.” FOCUS 46.2 (Spring2010): 20-21.

Conference Organization:
Session Chair for Voices of the Medieval in Children’s and Young Adult Literature: Others and Othering. 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, May 2010.