Faculty & Staff Directory
Faculty
- Jacqueline Cason, Department Chair
Jacqueline Cason
Chair, Professor
jecason@alaska.edu
(907) 786-4367
ADM 103-BJackie grew up in Southern California, a network of sprawling suburbs where young people often feel anonymous. To escape the crowd and pursue higher education, she moved east and south, first to North Carolina and then to Arkansas, where she attended UNC Charlotte and the University of Arkansas Fayetteville (M.A. & Ph.D) before marrying an Alaskan and migrating to Anchorage in 1992. The southeast immersed her in regional identities, a sense of place, and storytelling. She enjoys Alaska’s lower population density and the close connections among people and places. Her research and teaching inquire into public forms of writing and rhetoric that allow citizens to engage one another on the issues they care about, through deliberation, dialogue, stories, and shared expertise. These capacities to engage are particularly relevant in Alaska, where key questions and issues often focus on natural resources and cultural diversity and the policies that allow residents to develop as well as sustain both natural and cultural resources over time. Her teaching emphasizes the power of language, multiple literacies, rhetoric, research, and the public understanding of science. Her service focuses on curriculum design, information literacy, and shared governance. She loves yoga, sewing, skiing, biking, hiking, and the many outdoor activities that Alaska provides.
- Carrie Aldrich
Carrie Aldrich
Associate Professor
claldrich@alaska.edu
(907) 786-6480
ADM 103-ECarrie Aldrich is an Associate Professor in the Department of Writing. She earned a Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of Iowa, a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Bachelor’s degrees in English Education and Sociology from Indiana University. Carrie teaches a variety of writing courses, coordinates placement into first year writing, and serves as a member of the Alaska Native Study Initiative. Her research focuses on socio-cultural approaches to retention and success in first year writing. In all of her work, she strives to develop a healthy culture of literacy in homes, classrooms, and communities. She and her son live downtown Anchorage with two painted turtles and an ant farm.
View Carrie's curriculum vitae.
- Martha Amore
Martha Amore
Assistant Professor
mjamore@alaska.edu
(907) 786-4381
ADM 101-LDr. Martha Amore lives in Anchorage with her family, and she enjoys hiking with her overly enthusiastic shepherd mix and commuting to campus on her flashy bicycle. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in fiction and an interdisciplinary studies PhD (psychology and English) in feminist creative writing. In 2015, she received a Rasmuson Individual Artist Award, and soon after she and Lucian Childs edited the University of Alaska Press anthology Building Fires in the Snow: A Collection of Alaska LGBTQ Short Fiction and Poetry, which was a finalist for a LAMBDA Literary Award. Her collection of short fiction, In the Quiet Season & Other Stories, came out in 2018. She is currently hard at work on a new book.
- Angela Andersen
Angela Andersen
Instructor
asandersen@alaska.edu
(907) 786-4372
ADM 103-J - Douglass Bourne
Douglass Bourne
Assistant Professor
dabourne@alaska.edu
(907) 786-4380
ADM 101-PAfter earning an MA in Literature and Composition and an MFA in Creative Writing, Douglass Bourne began teaching many writing/composition courses at UAA in 2011. During his free time, he enjoys working on his own writing projects, volunteering for the Anchorage International Film Festival, and spending time in the great outdoors of Alaska with his fiancé and their two dogs.
- Shane Castle
Shane Castle
Assistant Professor
sdcastle@alaska.edu
(907) 786-6823
ADM 103-FShane Castle has taught a variety of writing courses at UAA and other universities since 2004. His writing has appeared in a number of well-respected literary journals and newspapers and he is an affiliate editor of Alaska Quarterly Review. Besides reading and writing, a few of his favorite activities include hiking, picking berries, and viewing wildlife.
- Shannon Gramse
Shannon Gramse
Associate Professor
sggramse@alaska.edu
(907) 786-6889
ADM 103-H
Shannon Gramse began teaching writing at UAA in 1996 while earning his M.F.A in poetry. When he is not teaching, writing, reading, or working to make UAA a better place for everyone, he loves to cross country ski and spend time with his family at their cabin on an island in the Susitna Valley. - Andrew Harnish
Andrew Harnish
Assistant Professor
ajharnish@alaska.edu
(907) 786-0473
ADM 103-DAndrew Harnish holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of North Dakota and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. His research examines the intersections between disability studies and writing studies. He also works on the relationship between literacy and LGBTQIA+ identities. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, cooking, traveling with his husband, and writing about Mennonite culture.
- Greg Hartley
Greg Hartley
Associate Professor
gphartley@alaska.edu
(907) 786-6843
ADM 103-LGreg fell into higher education at a ridiculously early age and eventually wound up with a PhD in English Literature from the University of South Florida. While initially a specialist in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, the long decades in academia have spawned a host of mini-professions as well: museum docent, children’s theatre, college registrar, even amateur travel agent. Greg won’t pursue anything that doesn't fascinate him, but fortunately nearly everything does.
- Sarah Kirk
Sarah Kirk
Professor
sjkirk@alaska.edu
(907) 786-6851
ADM 103-ASarah Kirk began teaching basic reading and writing at UAA in 1994 for the Department of Developmental Education. Raised in Chugiak, Alaska, Sarah has lived briefly in other countries: Australia, Italy, and Norway. Soon, she plans to spend time living and teaching in Vietnam. She enjoys her husband’s cooking, her daughter’s laughter, and watching UAA volleyball games.
- Emily Madsen
Emily Madsen
Assistant Professor
emadsen6@alaska.edu
(907) 786-4371
ADM 101-EEmily is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Writing. She earned her PhD in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is currently working on a project that applies Indigenous conceptions of genre to traditional readings of Victorian texts. Emily plays the violin in the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra and lives in Anchorage with her family.
- Don Rearden
Don Rearden
Chair, Professor
djrearden@alaska.edu
(907) 786-6893
ADM 101-JAccording to The Washington Post, Don Rearden is “a master of suspense.” A novelist, screenwriter, and sometimes poet, his books include The Raven's Gift, Never Quit, and Warrior's Creed. When he's not hanging out with rock stars and celebrities, he spends time at an undisclosed location in the mountains with his family and a pair of ravens.
- Sara Rufner
Sara Rufner
Assistant Professor
sjrufner@alaska.edu
(907) 786-6871
ADM 101-RSara Rufner has lived in Alaska since 2001 and earned her MFA in creative nonfiction from UAA in 2004. In her free time, Sara enjoys running, and exploring the outdoors with her family.
Staff
- Cassi Ricks
Cassi Ricks
Administrative Assistant
caricks@alaska.edu
(907) 786-6856
ADM 103-C