Professor of English
Department Chair
Office: NC 32
Phone: (574) 535-7469
Email: anneh@goshen.edu
Education
BA, Kenyon College, 1976
MA, Penn State University, 1982
PHD, University of Pennsylvania, 1996
Editorial Positions
Website Editor, Center for Mennonite Writing.
Co-editor, with Ervin Beck. Journal of the Center for Mennonite Writing.
Editorial Board member, Conrad Grebel Review, The Mennonite Quarterly Review.
Current Projects
The Paradox of Place in Mennonite Writing. A Study of Geographical influences on the formation of Imaginative Writing by Mennonites and the representation of place and community in their work.
Canon and Context: African American Writers and The New York Times Book Review, 1970-2002.
White Buffalo Woman [or, Soaring Woman]: The Cheyenne Mennonite Life and Work of Anna Ruth Ediger Baehr and the cultural crossings (Mennonite, Cheyenne, Jewish, Unitarian, Church of Christ) that inform her life and work. A biographical and critical project that includes previously unpublished essays and a collection of her poems, both published and unpublished, on Cheyenne and Mennonite topics.
The Unexpected Guest. Poetry manuscript.
Research
I am currently involved in researching the development of critical consciousness in students who take ethnic literature classes at the college level. My current project involves studying both a Mennonite Literature and a Latino literature class taught at Goshen College in 2011 and 2012. In particular, I hope to define “triggering points” in the classroom that stimulate growth and discussion, as well as reveal conflicting points of view. The goal is to help teachers anticipate and use such triggering points in a way that enhances student knowledge and communication skill development.
This research was supported in 2011-2012 by a teaching faculty fellowship from the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning at Goshen College. During the summer of 2012, two students–Lauren Stoltzfus and Rebecca Weaver–analyzed data for the project through the Maple Scholars student research program.
Selected Publications
Books
The Amish, 3rd Ed. by John A. Hostetler. Revised and updated with Steve M. Nolt. Herald Press, 2013.
Letters to the World: Poems from the Wom-Po Listserv. Ed. Moira Richards, Rosemary Starace, and Lesley Wheeler. Member of Editorial Board for this collaborative anthology created through the internet. Los Angeles: Red Hen Press, 2008.
A Cappella: Mennonite Voices in Poetry. Ed. University of Iowa Press, 2003.
Empty Room with Light. Poems. Dreamseeker Books, 2002.
Selected Poems
- “Topeka, Indiana,” Valparaiso Poetry Review, Spring/Summer 2013.
- “Unexpected Ghost,” Bluestem, Spring 2013
- “The Languages of Yoga in Dresden,” The Cresset, Easter 2013
- “Herman Hesse Learns the Language of Color,” The Cresset, Lent 2013
- “Transfiguration,” Goshen College Lenten Meditation for March 30, 2013
- “The Many and the One,” Grey Sparrow Journal, April 2013
- “The Woman Who Refused to be Shunned,” The Atlanta Review, Fall/Winter 2012
- “In German Class,” Limestone, The University of Kentucky, 2012
- “Black Flower,” Talking River Review, Lewis-Clark State College, Summer 2012.
- “Sacred Harp Singing in Mid-July” and “Cleaning the Closet,” The MacGuffin, Winter, 2012.
- “Youth in Autumn.” Rhubarb. Winter 2013.
- “Jahrzeit” and “Neuroma.” The Alembic. Spring 2012
- “Prayer.” Shepherd Express Online, April 2012.
- “Accounting,” Gulf Stream Magazine, Online #7, Spring 2012
- “Enough” and “Flight Patterns,” Nimrod International Journal, Spring 2012
- “Strangers”, The Monarch Review, November 28, 2011.
- “Too Big for Words,” Poet Lore, Summer 2011.
- “Portrait of the Artist,” Washington Square Review, Summer 2011.
- Representations of the Body: The German Hygiene Museum, The Stickman Review, Spring 2011.
- “On the Front Porch at Midnight” and “After Birth,” Literary Mama, May 8, 2011.
- “Living Sacrifice” and “For Those Who Would Change the World” in Tongue Screws and Testimonies, ed. Kirsten Beachy. Scottdale: Herald Press, 2010
- “Market,” “Know What You Love,” “Correspondence,” “Birthday Dinners,” “Connection.” In Rhubarb, 26, Summer 2010.
- “Heirlooms,” Valparaiso Poetry Review
- “Sonnets for the Amish Girls of Nickel Mines.” Mennonite Weekly Review, January 1, 2007. Rpt. The Elkhart Truth. 9 January 2007.
- “Female Ancestor.” In Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania. Ed. Marjorie Maddox and Jerry Wemple. State College: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005. Noted on the Pennsylvania Center for the Book website.
Selected Essays
“Winning the Lottery: A Tribute to Daniel Hoffman.” Per Contra: An International Journal of the Arts, Literature, and Ideas, Issue 27, Spring 2013.
“The Self in Mennonite Garb: Where Does the Writing Come From?” The Mennonite Quarterly Review, January 2013.
“The Cheyenne in the Poetry of Anna Ruth Ediger Baehr.” Co-authored with Sarah Roth-Mullet. The Mennonite Quarterly Review July 2011.
“Of Mothering, Monasticism, and Creative Space: A Retreat at Soul Mountain.” Future Earth Magazine, vol. 4, Summer 2010.
“A Valediction Forbidding Excommunication: Ecopoetics and the Reclamation of Community in Recent Work by Di Brandt.” Journal of Mennonite Studies, 28, Summer 2010.
“Every Buggy Has Four Wheels: Making ‘Sonnets for the Amish Girls of Nickel Mines.’ In Making Poems: 40 Poems with Commentary by the Poets. Albany: SUNY Press, 2010.
“The Art of Teaching: An Interview with Toni Morrison.” Toni Morrison: Conversations. Ed. Carolyn Denard. Jackson: Univ. Mississippi Press, 2008.
“Playing the Sacred Harp: Mennonite Literature as Confession.” The Conrad Grebel Review. Winter 2008.
“Cento for an Anthology of Women Poets.” With Ann Fisher-Wirth, Ellen Goldstein, D’Arcy Randall, Rosemary Starace & Lesley Wheeler. Junctures: The Journal for Thematic Dialogue. Vol. 10, June 2008.
“Walter Mosley”
“Harryette Mullen”
“Natasha Trethewey”
“Mel Watkins”
African American National Biography. Edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Evelyn Higginbotham, Oxford Univ. Press, 2007.
“Bringing Experience to Consciousness: Reflections on Mennonite Literature, 2004.” Journal of Mennonite Studies. Volume 23, 2005.
“Three Women Poets and the Beginnings of Mennonite Poetry n the U.S.: Anna Ruth Ediger Baehr, Jane Rohrer, Jean Janzen.” Mennonite Quarterly Review (October 2003) 77.4, 521-546.
“The Unofficial Voice: The Poetics of Cultural Identity and Contemporary U. S. Mennonite Poetry.” Mennonite Quarterly Review (October 1998) 72.4, 511-528. Rpt. In Migrant Muses: Mennonite(s) Writing in the U. S., ed. John Roth and Ervin Beck, Mennonite Historical Society, Goshen, IN, 31-48.
“The Aesthetics of Race and Gender in Nella Larsen’s Quicksand.” PMLA, vol. 105, no. 1, January 1990.
“Emerson and the Visual Arts: Private Response and Public Posture.” ESQ: A Journal of the American Renaissance (Autumn 1987) 34.3, 121-136.
Courses
Fall 2011
- Engl 204 Expository Writing
- Theory and practice of written communication. Assignments in a variety of prose forms aim at developing the student’s control of logic, organization, rhetoric, usage, and audience accommodation.
- Engl 210 Intro to Literature
- Analysis of literary texts in a genre chosen by individual professors. Instruction in literary analysis essay and literary research essay.
- Engl 280 Sophomore Writing Portfolio
- Guided instruction on portfolio development, including editing and revising skills needed for advanced writing courses.
- Engl 408 Senior Writing Practicum
- English Writing majors develop a final writing portfolio under supervision of faculty adviser.
- Rel/WOST 328 Spiritual Writings of Women
- A survey of women’s writings about the spiritual journey. Examines women’s use of their experiences as one source of theologizing.
Spring 2012
- Engl 204 Expository Writing
- Theory and practice of written communication. Assignments in a variety of prose forms aim at developing the student’s control of logic, organization, rhetoric, usage, and audience accommodation.
- Engl 207/307 Latino Literature
- A study of literature written in English by writers of Latin American cultural heritage.
- Engl 280 Sophomore Writing Portfolio
- Guided instruction on portfolio development, including editing and revising skills needed for advanced writing courses.
- Engl 322 Writing Poetry
- A workshop course in writing poetry in a variety of forms, with special attention to imagery, sound, line, meter and revision. Readings of classic and contemporary poets.
- Engl 408 Senior Writing Practicum
- English Writing majors develop a final writing portfolio under supervision of faculty adviser.
Historic Courses
Engl 120 Intro to Creative Writing
Engl 303 American Literature
Engl 307 African American Literature, Mennonite Literature, Native American Literature
Engl 330 Writing Fiction
Engl 334 Writing Creative Nonfiction
Recent Lectures & Presentations
“The Self in Mennonite Garb, or Where Does the Writing Come From?” Mennonite/s Writing VI: Solos and Harmonies. Eastern Mennonite University, March 29- April 1, 2012.
“The Emergence of Critical Consciousness in the College-level Study of Ethnic Literature.” American Literature Association. MELUS Panel. San Francisco, CA. May 25, 2012.
Honors & Awards
John Hewitt Summer School Bursary, Armagh, N. Ireland, Summer 2008
Soul Mountain Retreat Residency, Spring 2007
Contemplative Curriculum Development Seminar participant, August 2006. Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts.
Finalist for Arlin G. Meyer Award, Sponsored by the Lilly Fellows Program of Valparaiso University, 2005, for Empty Room with Light
Honorable Mention, Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Contest of the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature, 2003. For “Priestess of Love.”
C. Henry Smith Peace Lectureship, 2002-2003
Outstanding Educator Recognition, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, 1995
Wisconsin Arts Board Development Grant, 1993-94 for Poetry
Academy of American Poets William Carlos Williams Award
1989 – Honorable mention, judged by W. S. Merwin
1988 – Third Place, judged by James Merrill
Phi Beta Kappa, 1976
Grants & Fellowships
Faculty Research Fellowship. Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning. 2011-2012.
Mininger Conference Grants, 2011-2012, 2009-10, 2008-09, 2007-08, 2005-04, 2004-03
Mininger Research Grant, 2006-07
Women’s Studies Research Award, Goshen College, 2006, 2002, 2001
Plowshares Research Grant, Goshen College, 2003-04
Multicultural Education Office Course Enrichment Grant, Goshen College, 2001-2002; 2002-2003
Committees
- Broadside advisor (with Kyle Schlabach)
- Red Cents advisor (with Jessica Baldanzi)
- Bookstore Advisory Committee
- ipad Curriculum Advisory Committee
- Mennonite Quarterly Review Editorial Board
- Mennonite Museum Committee
