Rebecca Dierking
Hi! I’m thrilled to bring this course to COPLAC and to discuss challenged Young Adult Literature with you! While familiar with this course and its topic, I’m relatively new to the Digital Humanities, especially that “digital” part.
I have a B.A. from Central Methodist University in English (1993). After my undergraduate degree, I worked in journalism for a while before returning to graduate school at Northwest Missouri State University where I earned an M.S.Ed. in English Education as well as met certification requirements to teach high school (1999). In 2012, I completed my Ph.D. work at the University of Missouri. My dissertation explored how literacy professionals (teachers) used writing to deal with trauma.
For a decade I taught English Language Arts courses in a couple of high schools, mainly sophomore English and a dual enrollment (college credit) composition course. I also moonlighted and taught both composition and speech courses for a local community college at night.
Currently, I teach at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, preparing future English teachers for the profession. In addition I teach a different version of our course on campus during the school year and online in the summer. I also teach a literature focused Young Adult Lit course and a Mindful Reading, Writing, and Research course.
My research interests include ongoing explorations in how people use writing to deal with issues in their life, how mindfulness practices can enhance the academic life of college students, and pedagogical issues for pre-service English teachers.
Cathy Moran Hajo
Hello! I am excited to teach this course, a first online experience for me. I want to tell you a bit about my background and the ways that I hope my skills and experiences will help you succeed in this course.
I have a B.A. from Ramapo College of New Jersey (’86), where I focused in Medieval and Early Modern History. I went to graduate school at New York University, receiving an M.A. in history in 1988, a certificate in archival management and public history (’90) and a Ph.D. (’06). My specialization by the end was 20th Century Social History and my dissertation centered on the history of birth control clinics in the United States. This was published as Birth Control on Main Street: Organizing Clinics in the United States, 1916–1939 (’10).
I am a historical editor who worked for 25 years as the Associate Editor and Assistant Director of the Margaret Sanger Papers at New York University. I worked on the Margaret Sanger Papers Microfilm Edition, the four volume Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger, and two digital publications, Margaret Sanger and The Woman Rebel and the Public Writings and Speeches of Margaret Sanger, 1911–1960.
I took over the Jane Addams Papers Project and brought it to Ramapo College in 2015. We are completing the last three volumes of the Selected Papers of Jane Addams and are digitizing her correspondence and writings from 1901-1935 as the Jane Addams Digital Edition, using the Omeka platform. I also work with the Mahwah Museum as a board member and archives director.
I have taught courses and workshops on digital history and historical editing at NYU’s Archive and Public History program, William Paterson University’s Master’s Program in Applied History, the Digital Humanities Summer Institute, and the one-week Institute for Editing Historical Documents.