Faculty Biographies
Department Chair
Chris Kellett
Chris Kellett received her M.A. and Ph.D. in English at the University of Washington and currently serves as Chair of the Department of Humanities and Sciences at Cornish College of the Arts. Before joining Cornish in 2004, Chris was on the faculty at Antioch University Seattle for fifteen years where she taught courses in literature, creative writing, composition and interdisciplinary studies. She previously taught for the University of Washington, Central Washington University (Extended Degree Programs), Bellevue Community College and the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Core Faculty
Associate Professor Lauren Basson
Lauren Basson completed her B.A. at Brown University and received an M.A. in Middle East Studies and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Washington. Before joining the Cornish faculty, she taught interdisciplinary courses about ethnicity, citizenship and national identities as a lecturer in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben Gurion University in Beersheva, Israel. Lauren also held Fulbright, Lady Davis, Golda Meir and Kreitman doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships at Ben Gurion University and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is the author of a book entitled White Enough to be American? Race Mixing, Indigenous People and the Boundaries of State and Nation, published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2008. In her teaching, Lauren combines creative and social science approaches to investigating key contemporary political and social issues from international perspectives.
Assistant Professor Amanda Hill
Amanda Hill received her M.A. in English with an emphasis in Rhetoric and Composition at Western Washington University. She teaches courses in the study and practice of writing and is coordinator of the Cornish Writing Center. While at Western, Amanda received the Marjory Rivverun Award for Teaching Excellence. Her Master’s Thesis, which advocates the inclusion and study of web 2.0 compositions such blogs, wikis, and online video into the teaching of writing and literacy was nominated by the English Department for the Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award from the Western Association of Graduate Schools. Through reading of print, digital and video texts, discussion, and personalized writing projects, Amanda’s classes invite students to discover the role that writing plays in forming them as individuals and as members of social and artistic communities. In both one-on-one tutoring and in the classroom, Amanda most enjoys helping writers find exciting and effective ways to articulate their ideas on the page or screen.
Assistant Professor Erica Howard
Erica Howard earned her B.A. in Chemistry and International Environmental Studies from Cornell University. She received an M.S. in Land Resources and Forestry from University of Wisconsin – Madison, and will soon complete a Ph.D. in Environment and Resources, also from UW-Madison. In 2006 she earned a graduate certificate in the integration of research, teaching, and learning. Erica teaches courses primarily in interdisciplinary environmental studies. She has strong interests in the human side of environmental issues, and in fusing artistic and scientific perspectives to advance our understanding of our environment. She has life-long interests in promoting public science literacy. She enjoys international travel, cross-cultural communication, and learning from and working with diverse types of people. She has studied abroad in Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Russia. She has also worked and performed as a modern dancer, choreographer, and pianist, and has occasionally taught modern dance, hatha yoga, and piano. Erica looks forward to new opportunities to bring the arts and the sciences together.
Professor Kimball MacKay
Kimball MacKay has an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College. He has received three grants from the Seattle Arts Commission’s Seattle Artist Program and the Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship. His poetry has been widely published in such journals as Arts & Letters, The Crab Creek Review, The Journal, Spoon River Quarterly, Fine Madness, Willow Springs Review, Green Mountains Review, The Seattle Review, and others. He has been the Associate Editor of a scientific journal, Limnology and Oceanography, and has taught in California’s Poets-in-the-Schools program, the University of Washington Extension program, Seattle Central Community College and City College in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 1999, he received the Cornish Teaching Excellence Award, and in 2003, he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar, teaching American literature in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Kim teaches Integrated Studies, Literature, Creative Writing (Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction) at Cornish.
Professor Raymond Maxwell
Raymond Maxwell received his Master’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and completed further studies at Sacred Heart University (Connecticut), the University of Washington and Herzen University (Saint Petersburg, Russia). He has been the recipient of Fulbright scholarships (The Netherlands, 1989 and Poland/Czechoslovakia, 1992) and several National Endowment for the Humanities summer fellowships. Raymond has taught, guest-lectured and presented papers at a number of universities in the United States and Europe. He has been on the faculty at Cornish College of the Arts since 1986.
Professor John K. Wilson
John Wilson holds a BA in Speech and Drama from LaGrange College and an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Georgia. An instructor at Cornish for over 10 years, John currently teaches Theater History and The History and Theory of Performance Art. John’s plays have been performed at colleges and regional theaters, and he served as co-author and dramaturg on the 1997 Cornish production of Hamlet and Juliet. He received the Seafirst Faculty Excellence Award in 1989 and in 1992 attended a National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar for College Teachers on The American Playwright at Columbia University.
RANKED ADJUNCT AND ADJUNCT FACULTY
Adjunct Instructor Dr. Cori Adler
Dr. Cori Adler has a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Interdisciplinary studies, an M.A. from the University of Colorado Creative Writing program, and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Literature/Cultural Studies. Cori has published poetry, short stories, articles and creative non-fiction in the U.S. and Canada and one chapbook, The Toothed World. She has taught a wide range of courses at Cornish, including Integrated Studies, classes in literature and film and the editorial semester of Birds and Whistles, Cornish’s student-generated literary and arts magazine. Cori also teaches at Antioch University Seattle and has taught previously in Colorado, Washington, Massachusetts and Greece. Her classes study interactions between society, culture and creative expression. They heavily emphasize discussion, collaboration and writing (both creative and academic) and self-discovery. “It is my goal,” she says, “that each student should leave each of my classes with a heightened sense of how his or her art can contribute to making a better world.”
Adjunct Instructor Dr. Rahul K. Gairola
Dr. Rahul Krishna Gairola received a joint PhD in English Literature and Theory & Criticism from the University of Washington (UW) in December 2009, and also holds an MA in English (Distinction) from Rhode Island College and a BA in English and Film & Media Studies from George Mason University. In addition to teaching for H&S, he teaches in the UW Comparative History of Ideas Program and has also taught for UW Department of English. He has held research fellowships/ grants at Pembroke College, Cambridge University; Humboldt University of Berlin; School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University; and the Simpson Center for the Humanities. He has delivered papers and public talks at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Cornell, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, MLA, ACLA, BAAS, and a number of universities in Canada, the UK, Germany, Spain, and India. He has published widely in the fields of postcolonial studies, cultural studies, queer studies, and non-western and American literary studies, and has also been a prolific journalist and cultural critic for Popmatters.com. His doctoral dissertation is titled: “Queering Home: Neoliberal Biopolitics and Diasporic Reappropriations in the Cultural Texts of Michelle Cliff, Hanif Kureishi, Jessica Hagedorn, and Jackie Kay,” and a short version of his Kureishi chapter has recently been published in South Asian Popular Culture (Routledge).
Adjunct Instructor Ellen Forney
Coming Soon!
Adjunct Instructor Himanee Gupta-Carlson
Himanee Gupta-Carlson holds a B.A. in Journalism from Northwestern University, as well as an M.A. in American Studies and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawai’i. Her dissertation, “No Place to Call ‘Home’: Remapping America’s ‘Middletown’ from a South Asian Perspective,” was about the experience of South Asians who settled in her hometown of Muncie, Indiana, beginning in the late 1960s. Himanee’s work blends scholarly knowledge of America’s racial and ethnic politics with storytelling. She has written for academic journals as well as general interest publications. She has been a reporter for The Kansas City Star and The Seattle Times, and a copy editor for The Honolulu Advertiser. Himanee teaches political science, social sciences and creative nonfiction. In addition to teaching at Cornish College of the Arts, she also teaches at Tacoma Community College and the Richard Hugo House.
Ranked Adjunct Associate Professor John Hagman
John Hagman earned his BA from the University of Washington and his MA from the University of Chicago where he completed further graduate studies. He taught history and philosophy at Coe College in Iowa for three years, and then earned a second MA in Education and Reading Instruction, from Seattle University. He spent the next two decades working in adult literacy, teaching at community-based organizations, community colleges, reservations, maximum and medium-security prisons, and the King County Jail. He also coached a middle school Math Olympics team for four years. In addition to teaching at Cornish, he has been the Education Coordinator at the I-WA-SIL Youth Program, a division of United Indians of All Tribes. He also serves on the board of the Kruckeberg Family Garden Foundation, and as a member of the American Federation of Teachers State Committee on Human Rights. He remains active in the transitional housing movement, which develops viable living situations for inmates newly released from State prisons. He is the author of many texts, learning materials, and articles on adult literacy. He is now developing a learning taxonomy for history for application to global citizen initiatives. He has twice received Cornish’s Excellence in Teaching Award.
Adjunct Instructor Carolyn Hall
Carolyn Hall earned her B.A from the Evergreen State College and a Masters Degree in Education/Human Development from Pacific Oaks College, and has also studied creative writing at University of Newcastle in Newcastle, UK. She most recently was a member of the faculty of education at Antioch University. Prior to this, she taught for many years in the Seattle Public Schools; worked as a writing consultant for Powerful Writers; and taught at The Richard Hugo House. She has been a two time resident at Hedgebrook Retreat. She has written two novels - Gypsies and Sins and Sacraments - and published short fiction in the Calyx Literary Journal. She also won a Thomas Wolfe Award for Short Fiction. She is also a jewelry designer and her work is exhibited in several locations in Central and South Seattle.
Adjunct Instructor Steve Haworth
Steve Haworth holds a B.A. from Yale University in economics, an M.A. from The George Washington University in Public and International Affairs, and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in Government and Foreign Affairs. He has taught at Cornish in the Humanities and Sciences Department since 2002, including a course on “The Psychology of War” and, most recently, “God, Nature and World Politics,” in the Integrated Studies Program. His most recent course looks, during the first semester at what is happening to the world’s environment and how that impacts politics around the world, and, during the second semester at the impact of religious conflicts on world affairs. He also taught courses in international politics at the Evergreen State College and Pacific Lutheran University after a 15-year career as an executive responsible for corporate public relations at CNN and RealNetworks. He began his professional career as a professor of political science in Atlanta, Georgia.
Adjunct Instructor Maureen Hickey-Putnam
Coming Soon!
Adjunct Instructor Matt Kuharic
Matt Kuharic is the Program Manager of Climate Change Initiatives in King County’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks. Prior to this role, Matt was the County’s Climate Change Response Coordinator in the King County Executive Office. Matt has a B.A. in geology from Carleton College, Minnesota and spent several years researching glacial history and long term climate change in Tibet and Mongolia before receiving a graduate certificate in Environmental Management from the University of Washington in Seattle. Matt’s current work focuses on greenhouse gas emissions mitigation efforts as well as helping the government and community prepare for inevitable climate change impacts. Matt taught HS 370, The Science and Policy of Climate Change, at Cornish College during the Spring of 2007, and is excited to engage with the Cornish community again.
Adjunct Instructor Richard Levin
After receiving his B.A. in Biology at Harvard, Richard Levin began graduate studies at the University of Washington, and was a T.A. in Microbiology and Genetics. Restless after completing his M.S. in Microbiology, he bought a cello and left the world of science for a while. He became a student in Theodore Roethke’s Poetry workshop, and also a grad student in the School of Music at U.W., eventually earning an M.A. in Composition. He never considered leaving teaching, however, and while studying music and poetry, he taught at U.W. as a Lecturer in Microbiology. Though his heart was in the world of music, his living would be earned in the realm of science. Thus, after completing his Trumpet Concerto, he once again climbed the hill toward a Science doctorate, earning a Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. Fortuitously, he got the job of his dreams, teaching Microbiology and Genetics at Oberlin College, which just happens to have a superb Music Conservatory. He taught at Oberlin for 35 years, before retiring to his beloved Northwest in 2003. Since then, he has taught Viral Oncology to Medical Students in the West Indies, and Microbiology to student nurses at a local community college. He has published work on bacterial lipids, on microbial nitrogen fixation, and on bacterial tumor induction in plants. Since 1981, he has presented dozens of lectures on Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and on the AIDS crisis.
Adjunct Instructor Charles Morrison
Charles Morrison received his MA in English Language and Literature from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. After teaching composition at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, he taught for six years at the Kansas City Art Institute, including classes in Humanities, Modern Drama, Contemporary Lit and Beginning Acting. Charles worked for thirteen years at Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska as a Human Resource trainer, and two years each at CONNEXT and SCAN as a leadership trainer. Over the past two decades he has been adjunct instructor at Antioch University-Seattle teaching World History, Modern European History, World Philosophy, and, recently, Liberal Studies. He is also currently an adjunct instructor at Devry University, where he teaches psychology, sociology, critical thinking, leadership, and health/wellness.
Adjunct Instructor Alex Morrow
Alex Morrow is currently completing his PhD in History at the University of Washington. His research focuses broadly on the social and cultural history of working people during the 20th century. Emphasizing transnational flows of labor that converged on the Pacific Coast of the United States, his dissertation examines the history of day laborers in Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Alex is a contributor to the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, held a fellowship with the West Coast Poverty Center, rides a bike, and volunteers for Seattle Youth Garden Works.
Adjunct Instructor Kathleen O’Brien
Coming Soon!
Adjunct Instructor Mark Pitner
Mark Pitner received his B.A. in History and the Classics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, his M.A. from the University of Washington in Asian Languages and Literature and is completing a Ph.D. at the University of Washington in Chinese Language and Literature. Mark has lived in China, Taiwan, and Japan, most recently as a Fulbright Fellow in Taiwan (2008-2009). He has also spent numerous years working with the East Asian art collection at the Seattle Asian Art Museum as a Blakemore Curatorial Fellow (2004-2008). His research and teaching explores the relationship between literary and material culture; between religion and science; between geography and self as diversely expressed in Chinese cultural history. He has written on early developments in Ruism (Confucianism), the history of biology in China, and is currently working on a number of projects that explore the role of place in the intellectual history of China.
Adjunct Instructor Subramanian Ramachandran
Subramanian Ramachandran received his Doctorate in Physics from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2007. In spring 2009, he had taught an introductory physics course covering Optics, Thermodynamics and Modern Physics in the Department of Physics at Seattle University, WA. Prior to returning to graduate school in 2002, he worked at Energy Conversion Devices (ECD), Inc in Troy, MI as a Research Scientist for eight years. There he was instrumental in successfully demonstrating a hydrogen powered two-wheeler to the US Department of Energy. At ECD he was also involved in materials research related to metal hydrides and thermoelectric materials. His research interests are in the area of condensed matter physics, particularly studying phenomena at cryogenic temperatures and materials research. He is a co-inventor on five US patents and has three scientific publications to his credit in peer-reviewed journals. He also holds a graduate degree in Physics from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI and a degree in Cryogenic Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He earned his undergraduate degree from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India. He looks forward to the opportunity to introduce topics in physics to art students at Cornish.
Adjunct Instructor Judith Roche
Judith Roche received her BA from Eastern Michigan University and her M.F.A. from New College of San Francisco. She is the author of three poetry collections, most recently, Wisdom of the Body, an American Book Award winner, has published widely in various journals and magazines, and has poems installed on several Seattle area public art projects. As Literary Arts Director for One Reel she produced the Bumbershoot Bookfair and Literary Program for over twenty years. She was Distinguished Northwest Writer-in-Residence at Seattle University in 2007 and currently teaches at Hugo House Literary Center and at Cornish College of the Arts. She is a Fellow in the Black Earth Institute.
Adjunct Instructor Patricia Russell
Coming Soon!
Adjunct Instructor Jentery Sayers
Coming Soon!
Adjunct Instructor Tom Sheehan
Tom Sheehan received his BA from UC Santa Barbara and his MA and PhD from UC Berkeley. He also holds an MA in Continental Philosophy from the University of Warwick in Britain. He was an Assistant Professor of English at Florida Atlantic University for four years and has recently returned to his home town. He has published on literature, film, music and philosophy. Teaching at Cornish fulfills a lifelong dream of being able to teach multidisciplinary classes and getting closer to the process of art.
Adjunct Instructor Adrian Sinkler
Coming Soon!
Adjunct Instructor Christine Sumption
Christine Sumption received her BFA in Drama from the University of Montana and her MFA in Directing from the University of Washington School of Drama. She was on the artistic staff of Seattle Repertory Theatre for nine seasons, where she produced the annual Women Playwrights Festival in partnership with Hedgebrook, a Whidbey Island writers retreat. Her directing credits include productions at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Tacoma Actors Guild, DARTS/Company Subaru in Tokyo, where she served as Resident Director for three years. As a dramaturg, she has worked with playwrights Tanya Barfield (Blue Door), Elizabeth Heffron (New Patagonia), Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House), Kathleen Tolan (Memory House), and Cheryl L. West (Birdie Blue), among many others. She has served as a dramaturg for Sundance Theatre Lab, the New Harmony Project, Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Seattle Children’s Theatre. She now serves as Resident Dramaturg at Hedgebrook and teaches at Seattle University and Cornish College of the Arts. Sumption is currently co-editing (with Liz Engelman) Hedgebrook Plays, Volume 1 for Whit Press, due out in 2010.
Adjunct Instructor Nicole Torres
Coming Soon!
Adjunct Instructor Nadya Zimmerman
Nadya Zimmerman is a cellist and composer who received her PhD in Musicology from the University of California Los Angeles with a focus on the Sixties Counterculture, and her undergraduate degree from the University of California Berkeley in English and Mathematics. Her scholarly work on topics ranging from African American slave spirituals and resistance, narrative in the works of James Joyce, and countercultural ideologies has been published in Music Research Forum, The Journal of Modern Literature, and American Music and she is currently completing a book on the late Sixties counterculture for the University of Michigan Press. In addition to being an experienced adult school English as a Second Language instructor and high school math/basic college math instructor, Nadya Zimmerman has taught music history as well as interdisciplinary 20th-century humanities/science courses for the past six years at the University of California Los Angeles, San Francisco State University, Linfield College, Foothill College, Antioch University, University of Puget Sound, and most recently here at Cornish College of the Arts.