Education:
M.F.A in Writing and Poetics, Naropa University: 2001
M.A. in English (with distinction), University of New Mexico: 1999
B.A. in English, University of New Mexico: 1994
Teaching Experience: Naropa University, Boulder, CO: 2000 to present
Language and Thinking Workshop, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY: summer 2004
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM: 1997-1999
Sakuragaoka Koko, Yokohama, Japan: 1994-1996
Selected Publications: Poetry Books Beloved Integer. PUB LUSH, forthcoming in 2007. Tri / Via. Co-authored with Veronica Corpuz. Erudite Fangs/PUB LUSH, 2003. 48 Minutes Left (c hapbook). Belladonna* Books, 2003.
Articles, Book Reviews, and Research Book-length project: a collection of interviews with women writers on creative writing pedagogies:
“The Spaces Between: An Interview with Kass Fleisher.” Transformations , 2007.
“Transforming Mind & Habit : A Dialogue with Thalia Field.” Teachers and Writers Magazine, 2004.
“Community & the Classroom: A Dialogue with Juliana Spahr.” Rain Taxi , 2004.
The Opening Question . Prageeta Sharma. Reviewed in St. Mark’s The Poetry Project Newsletter, 2005.
“Creating Dialogue: What the English Curriculum Doesn’t Teach.” Co-authored with Denise
Stephenson and Bob Mayberry. Sharing Pedagogies: Students & Teachers Write about Dialogic Practices, 1997.
Edited Journals Bombay Gin 27 , Co-Editor in Chief with Veronica Corpuz Empty Set 26 , Co-Editor with Veronica Corpuz Blue Mesa Review 11 , Editorial Board Conceptions Southwest , Editorial Board
Selected Conferences and Invited Presentations: “ Tri / Via and its Influences.” Denver University, April 2006.
“The Theoretical Framework of Tri / Via . ” College of St. Catherine, April 2005.
“The Writing of Tri / Via .” College of St. Catherine’s Poetry Circle, April 2005.
“Promoting Cohesion and Coherence: Make It So.” RMMLA, September 2004.
“Collaboration of Tri / Via.” Bard College, April 2004.
“New Initiatives for Writing Across the Curriculum in the Writing Center.” CWTC, February 2004.
“Awakenings, Bridges, Entry Points: Curriculum Across the Writing.” CWTC, February 2004.
“Margins of the Margins: Contemplative Techniques in the Writing Center.” CWTC, February 2003.
“Text and Image: The Third Mind.” Moderator. Summer Writing Program, Naropa, July 2000.
“Disjunctive Techniques & Varied Surfaces in the Hybrid Poem.” CSU, May 2000.
“‘Meaning(s)’ and Movement in the Indeterminate Narrative: The Poetry of Gertrude Stein,
Frank O’Hara, and Michael Palmer.” UNM, May 1999.
“Discovery, Less Rational Ways of Knowing, and The Image.” UNM, February 1999.
“Helping Students Write about a Text.” UNM, August 1998.
“Descent into Word.” La Puerta Poetry Workshop, UNM, October 1997.
“Effective Team-Teaching in Oral Communication Classes.” JET Seminar, CLAIR ( Kobe, Japan), January 1996.
Selected Readings: Women of Naropa Reading, Naropa, September 2006.
Tendrel Reading, Naropa, March 2006.
Writing and Poetics Departmental Reading, Naropa, February 2006.
SASE: The Write Place Reading Series, College of St. Catherine, April 2005.
Faculty Reading, Language & Thinking Workshop, Bard College, August 2004.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Poetry Reading, Urban Space Gallery, June 2004.
Ashbery Reading Series, Bard College, April 2004.
Left Hand Reading Series, Left Hand Bookstore, February 2004.
Belladonna* Reading Series, Bluestockings Bookstore , November 2003. Tri / Via Book Release, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, April 2003.
Summer Writing Program Reading, Naropa, June 2000.
Summer Writing Program Reading, Naropa, June 1999.
Southwest Symposium, UNM, April 1999.
UNM Writer’s Workshop, UNM, December 1997.
“La Puerta Poetry Reading,” UNM, October 1997.
“New Voices: The Beats and Their Contemporaries,” UNM, December 1996.
UNM Writer’s Workshop, Tulane Book Exchange, December 1996. Conceptions Southwest , Outpost Performance Space, April 1993. Conceptions Southwest , Salt of the Earth Bookstore, October 1992.
Teaching Philosophy: My writing pedagogy comes from a collaborative model that creates an active dialogue between the student-writer, her text, and the discourse-community. This approach offers a foundation for critical thinking, risk-taking, questioning, and problem-solving so we understand the choices writers face and gain an awareness of how to employ, transform, or break writing conventions.
Undergraduate and Graduate Courses Taught at Naropa: First-Year Writing and Research Art of the Scholar
The Writer’s Craft
Writing Seminar I: Art of the Engaged Writer
Pedagogy
Writing Pedagogy Practicum
Writing Pedagogy Seminar: Composition & Writing Center Theory
Writing Pedagogy Seminar: Creative Writing Theory
Poetry
Contemporary American Poetry
Currency of the New Millennium
Experimental Women Writers
Hybrid Forms
Poetic Operation
Techniques of Disjunction
Independent Studies Collaborative Poetics
Exploration of Prose Writing
History, Theory, and Practice of Teaching Creative Writing
Women of Color in Literature
University and Community Service:
NWC Selection Committee, Chair, 2000-2007
Writing Workshops and Education Resources, Faculty Supervisor, 2000-2007
Core Writing Seminars, Founding Lead Faculty, 2004-2007
BA Core Advisory Team, 2006-2007
Faculty Affairs Committee, 2006-2007
BA Curriculum Committee, 2005-2006
Academic Policy Committee, 2004 -2005
Writing Proficiency Assessment, Coordinator, 2000-2004
Writing Across the Curriculum, Developer/Coordinator, 2001-2004
BA Curriculum Committee, 2003-2004
Learning Needs Specialist Selection Committee, summer 2003
Job Market Workshop for Graduate Students, Facilitator, spring 2003
NWC Associate Director Committee, Chair, spring 2003; summer 2002
Naropa College Assessment Committee (Communications spoke, Chair; Portfolio, Faculty Supervisor), 2002-2003
Naropa College Core Curriculum Committee, 2000-2002
Summer Writing Program Panel, Coordinator, summer 2000
Share Our Strength’s Writers Harvest, Consultant, fall 2000; Organizer & Event Chair, fall 1999; Reader & Fundraiser, fall 1998
Naropa Writing Center , Founding Member with Thalia Field, et al., 1999-2000 Interzone Newsletter Editor, fall 1999
Poetry Reading Coordinator, fall 1999
Michelle Naka Pierce