Faculty & Staff Directory

Faculty

  • Jacqueline Cason, Department Chair
    A photo of Jackie Cason in ski gear with a winter woodsy background

    Jacqueline Cason

    Chair, Professor
    jecason@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-4367
    ADM 103-B

    Jackie 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

    Carrie Aldrich

    Associate Professor
    claldrich@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-6480
    ADM 103-E

    Carrie 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

    Martha Amore

    Assistant Professor
    mjamore@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-4381
    ADM 101-L

    Dr. 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

    Douglass Bourne

    Assistant Professor
    dabourne@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-4380
    ADM 101-P

    After 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

    Shane Castle

    Assistant Professor
    sdcastle@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-6823
    ADM 103-F

    Shane 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
    Photo of Shannon Gramse in front of a snowy background

    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 standing in front of a bookcase

    Andrew Harnish

    Assistant Professor
    ajharnish@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-0473
    ADM 103-D

    Andrew 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, wearing sunglasses and a hat

    Greg Hartley

    Associate Professor
    gphartley@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-6843
    ADM 103-L

    Greg 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
    A photo of Sarah Kirk standing in front of a lake with sunglasses

    Sarah Kirk

    Professor
    sjkirk@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-6851
    ADM 103-A

    Sarah 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
    A headshot of Emily Madsen

    Emily Madsen

    Assistant Professor
    emadsen6@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-4371
    ADM 101-E

    Emily 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
    A headshot of Don Rearden

    Don Rearden

    Chair, Professor
    djrearden@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-6893
    ADM 101-J

    According 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

    Sara Rufner

    Assistant Professor
    sjrufner@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-6871
    ADM 101-R

    Sara 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