Faculty and Staff

Michelle Baptiste has a B.A. in English and a Masters degree in English as a Second Language. She has taught writing to international students at the University of Hawai'i, as well as to Navajo (Dine) teachers on the Navajo (Dine) Indian Reservation through Northern Arizona University. She is a returned Peace Corps volunteer and loves to interact with people from diverse cultures.

Stephanie Bobo has a Ph.D. in English and American literature from Boston University and has taught at the university level for almost twenty years. She has taught College Writing R1A since 1992. She writes both fiction and poetry, and does freelance writing and editing consulting for businesses and professionals.

Sarah Boggs received her Ph.D. from UCSB's Givertz Graduate School of Education in language, literacy, and composition studies. Her research focuses on how theoretical frames and group membership often transform the ways students see, read, and write texts. As a native of New Orleans , she is thrilled to be teaching themed sections of CW R1A that look at Hurricane Katrina. Sarah and her students are in the process of planning a service trip to New Orleans.

Yuet-Sim Chiang teaches courses in reading and composition and composition theory and practice at UC Berkeley. In addition to her work as a Bay Area Writing Project teacher-consultant, she also researches literacy issues, including the cultural tension and politics of English literacy for students of non-western roots. Her other research interests include teacher growth and development, English literacy practices in and out of schools, and post-colonial cultural studies. She has written chapters for such collections as Situated Stories: Valuing Diversity in Composition Research, Generation 1.5 Meets College Composition, and Under Construction: Working at the Intersections of Composition Theory, Research, and Practice.

Caroline Cole received her doctorate in the Center for Writing Studies at the University of Illinois. In addition to teaching composition courses, she has taught courses in business writing, technical writing, and desktop publishing. Beyond the College Writing Programs, she teaches Business Communication (UGBA100) for the Walter A. Haas School of Business and leads professional communication seminars and workshops in university and industry settings.

Teri Crisp has an M.A. in international studies from the University of Washington and did Ph.D. coursework in education at UC Berkeley, where she received an Outstanding GSI Teaching Award. Certified in TESOL, she has trained teachers in San Francisco, Prague, and Hong Kong. Her College Writing courses encourage collaborative research, critical thinking, and writing on ecology, art, and social values and policy.

Verda Delp has a doctorate in language, literacy and culture from UC Berkeley. She has taught literature and writing for many years in a number of settings, including College Writing, the Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Public Schools.

Donnett Flash has an M.A. in political science from UC Berkeley, and did coursework toward a Ph.D. in political science at Berkeley, as well. She was awarded an Outstanding GSI Teaching Award for her work in that department. She has taught writing and political science courses for many years in African-American Studies, Political Science, and in the College Writing Programs at UC Berkeley, and also at the City College of San Francisco, and Laney College. Donnett particularly enjoys teaching CW N2 Writing the Bridge: From High School to the University.

Jane Hammons is a recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award and for twenty years served as Coordinator for College Writing Programs' Summer Bridge Course CW N2 Writing the Bridge: From High School to the University. In addition to her passion for teaching, she is also passionate about writing. Her story "The Land with No Air," is included in Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories of 25 Words or Fewer (W. W. Norton 2010), and she recently guest-edited the inaugural issue of Fictionaut Selects for Fictionaut.com. She is a member of The Author's Guild, and her writing can be found in the Columbia Journalism Review , the San Francisco Chronicle , as well as several other journals and magazines such as Alaska Quarterly Review and Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers.

Carolyn Hill received her doctorate in rhetoric from UC Berkeley, studying the argumentative artistry of Sir James Frazer's Golden Bough. She has been teaching at the university for over thirty years, writes science fiction and fantasy, builds websites, and eats lots of chocolate. For publications and more, see carolynhill.com.

Born in New Orleans, T. Geronimo Johnson received his M.F.A. from the Writers' Workshop and his M.A. in language, literacy, and culture from UC Berkeley. He has taught writing and held fellowships—including a Stegner Fellowship and an Iowa Arts Fellowship—at ASU, Iowa, Berkeley, and Stanford. He is also a curriculum designer for Bay Area non-profits and director of the College Writing Programs Summer Creative Writing Program. His fiction and poetry have appeared in Best New American Voices, the Indiana Review, the LA Review, and Illuminations, among others. He has worked on, at, or in brokerages, kitchens, construction sites, phone rooms, education non-profits, writing centers, summer camps, ladies' shoe stores, nightclubs, law firms, offset print shops, and San Quentin. He is a Niroga certified yoga instructor and trained rally driver. Hold it 'til it Hurts, his first novel, was published in September 2012 by Coffee House Press.

Jonathan Lang received a bachelor's degree in comparative literature from UC Berkeley, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from Princeton University. His interests are in English, French, and American literature of the nineteenth century and the modern period.

Michael Larkin taught writing in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and elsewhere in the Bay Area before joining CWP. He currently coordinates the College Writing Programs' Summer Bridge Course, CW N2 Writing the Bridge: From High School to the University, and is a teacher-consultant for the Bay Area Writing Project. He has a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley and an M.F.A. in fiction writing from the University of Pittsburgh. His fiction and nonfiction have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, featured as "Notable Reading" in the Best American Nonrequired Reading series, and have appeared in KQED and journals and magazines such as The Cimarron Review, Other Voices, Kitchen Sink, Writing on the Edge, and You Must Be This Tall to Ride, among others.

John Levine received his B.A. in English from Oberlin College and his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. He has been teaching writing since 1995. Before teaching he worked as a public relations and advertising writer for radio and television. In his spare time he writes.

Kaya Oakes is the author of a memoir, Radical Reinvention (Counterpoint Press, 2012); a social science book of nonfiction, Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture (Henry Holt, 2009; San Francisco Chronicle notable book, 2009), and a poetry collection, Telegraph (Pavement Saw Press, 2007; Transcontinental Poetry Prize). At Berkeley, she was the recipient of an innovation grant and a faculty fellowship from the Mellon Faculty Institute for Undergraduate Research. A working journalist and creative nonfiction writer since elementary school, Kaya's essays have twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in nonfiction, and her poems have received awards from the Academy of American Poets. Her books and essays are taught in creative writing and composition courses at numerous universities, and she is a frequent speaker on the intersections of spirituality, feminism, and popular culture. She joined the CWP faculty in 1999.

Gail Offen-Brown has taught writing at UC Berkeley for over twenty years, and she is a Teacher-Consultant for the Bay Area Writing Project. She teaches courses in first-year composition and creative nonfiction to undergraduates, and provides training in writing theory and pedagogy to graduate students as well as high school and college teachers. Gail is a recipient of the 2004 Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs.

Vesna Rodic received her Ph.D. in French studies at UC Berkeley. She has taught art history, language, literature, and writing courses at San Francisco State University, Diablo Valley College, and UC Berkeley. She serves as a diversity facilitator for UC Berkeley's Multicultural Education Program.

Ryan Sloan teaches at UC Berkeley and the University of San Francisco. Previously, he taught at New York University, where he received his M.F.A. in fiction. He also holds an M.A. in English literature from University College London. Nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Ryan writes fiction and creative nonfiction, and has been published in LA Weekly, Opium Magazine, The Modern Spectator, and Painted Bride Quarterly.

Maggie Sokolik received her Ph.D. in applied linguistics from UCLA. She has taught writing and technical communication on the Berkeley campus since 1992. She is the author of over twenty ESL and composition textbooks, including Sound Ideas, co-authored with Michael Krasny. She has also written for and been featured in several educational video projects in Japan. She travels frequently to speak about grammar, writing, and instructor education, most recently in Tokyo, Japan, India, and Mexico.

Pat Steenland has a Ph.D. in English literature from Brown University. She has taught literature and writing at several places, including the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Brown University, and Harvard University. She has taught writing at UC Berkeley since 1997.

Steve Tollefson has taught writing at UC Berkeley for several decades and is the author of four books on writing and grammar, including Grammar Grams (1989) and Grammar Grams II (1992, HarperCollins), as well as short stories and numerous articles. He is a recipient of the campus Distinguished Teaching Award.

Margi Wald received her M.A. in Applied English Linguistics from the University of Houston. She is currently director of UC Berkeley's Summer English Language Studies program and co-editor of The CATESOL Journal and TESOL's Second Language Writing News. Her research focuses on corpus-based materials development and academic literacy development among immigrant ESL students.

Beth Williams received her Bachelor's degree in political science from UC Berkeley and her Master's degree in English composition at San Francisco State University.  She is particularly interested in the roles composition classes play in the formation of students' identities upon entering college.  She especially enjoys working with College Writing Programs during Summer Bridge, which she has been involved with since 2006.

Melinda Erickson taught a variety of courses in College Writing Programs, drawing on her interests in language, music, and travel as thematic content. Her academic work focuses on applied linguistics, teacher development, and composition studies. She currently serves as a member of the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on LGBT Community at Berkeley, an English Language Specialist with the U.S. Department of State, and a member of editorial advisory boards for several journals.