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La Sierra University English Graduate Program, 4500 Riverwalk Pkwy, Riverside, CA (2026)

11/20/2019

Monica Shaar graduated from La Sierra University in 2019 with a M.A. in English literature. For the past two years, she worked as a college writing instructor and is now an adjunct in the English department. During her last year as a graduate student, she worked in the writing center as a tutor. Now, while also teaching at La Sierra, she works as a tutor in the writing center at San Bernardino Valley College. When not teaching or tutoring, she participates in academic conferences. This year she presented her academic work as part of the Postcolonial Literature and Culture panel and was chair of the Comparative American Ethnic Literature panel at the PAMLA conference in San Diego. Her essay “Do You Stay?” (2018) is published by Spectrum Magazine and her poem “Understanding Israel-Palestine” (2019) appears in the second issue of The Roadrunner Review. She spends her free time writing fiction and hopes to publish her first novel by the end of this year.

10/06/2015

After graduating from La Sierra’s M.A. in English Literature program, Patrick York moved on to complete an MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts at UC, Riverside. He is currently working as a writing mentor with the Society for Young Inklings. As well he is a contributing writer to the Journal of Emergency Medical Services, and he participates as a Lead Student Services Advisor at HotChalk, Inc. In his spare time, he writes as an independent scholar and writer. He lives in Los Gatos, California with his wife, Kendall, where they are both members of the Studebaker Driver’s Club of America.

09/01/2015

Jennifer Pimenta DoNascimento is currently the Vice President of Pepper Fields International Ministries, a nonprofit business based in Southern California with a heart for children around the globe. Pepper Fields International exists to promote positive and life changing connections between children, God, family and nature. As someone who just started being the Vice President at a small but extremely bold organization, Jennifer is learning as much as possible about the nonprofit world while also spending time with children through church initiatives. She is a proud Teach For America 2013 Corps Member, and she is extremely thankful for everything she learned at La Sierra University both as a grad student and as an Adjunct Writing Instructor because those experiences helped her navigate her two years as a TFA English Teacher working at Southwest Early College High School in conjunction with South Texas College. While in Texas, she was able to learn more about the public school system, meet great teachers and interact with amazing students. Now that she is back in Southern California, Jennifer wants to do all she can to help Pepper Fields flourish as it reaches children and helps strengthen family and community ties around the world.

08/14/2015

Kendra Kravig completed her B.A. in Writing (2010) and her M.A. in Literature (2012) at La Sierra University. After working for the Criminal Justice program for a few years and suffering an overdose of sunshine, she transplanted to London to pursue a second MA in Creative Writing and Publishing. Since hopping across the Pond, she has interned with Duckworth Publishers, attending the London Book Fair as their representative and has begun work on her first novel. When not studying the intricacies of the publishing world, Kendra enjoys blogging, attending comic conventions, and running as if a horde of zombies were chasing her.

07/23/2015

Shane Wood is receiving his MA in Theatre Arts with emphases in dramaturgy and theatre studies from San Diego State University in December 2015. While at SDSU, Shane has worked with Dr. D.J. Hopkins as Assistant Editor for Theatre Topics and is editing the new book project by Hopkins and Robert Weimann. He recently completed an internship with San Diego Repertory Theatre as a literary intern, providing dramaturgical assistance for productions such as H***y, the first play recorded for the new OnStage in America series for PBS and was awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy award from SDSU for his work on The Great American Trailer Park Musical. While studying, he continues to design and direct, most recently directing Macbeth for La Sierra University where he will return to direct Doubt: A Parable for their 2015-2016 season. His special session, Performing Women's Roles: England 1500-1700, with co-chair Amy Shine has been selected for the 2015 PAMLA conference with three separate panels because of the high demand for this session. This summer has him preparing two articles for publication, creating the La Sierra University drama online archive, and writing his thesis on the educational power of theatre as it relates to the dramaturgical work completed for La Sierra University's Macbeth which he hopes to publish later this year. He will begin applying for PhD programs in fall of 2015, looking specifically for programs with specialties in both early modern theatre and dramaturgy. While awaiting those decisions, Shane will be teaching composition, performance, and drama directing for La Sierra University.

06/27/2015

Desiree Lacey is currently completing a MAT with secondary teaching credentials in the LaSU School of Education Curriculum and Instruction program. She uses skills and knowledge, such as literary criticism, literary canons, and research strategies fostered in the English graduate program to construct lesson plans for secondary classrooms. One of her areas of interest is long term student motivation regarding reading and composition projects. She plans to complete the program by Spring 2016.

Besides her academic pursuits, she is working at LaSU as an Adjunct Writing Instructor; she thoroughly enjoys helping students develop critical thinking skills through composition. Furthermore, she has been a part of the undergraduate conference Inclinations and C-SAS 4U workshops. In addition to these professional development activities, she was honored to present an original creative non-fiction piece titled “Lucan 191” as a creative writing panel member during the Nature’s 2015 conference.

06/17/2015

Katherine Skoretz is an ABD PhD candidate at Wayne State University (WSU). She holds her BA in English Writing and MA in Literature from La Sierra University. She has been acting for the past ten years, recent credits include: Patient in 4.48 Psychosis, Horatia in Slipstream Theatre Initiative's all female Hamlet, and performer with YFX Physical Theatre. She has directed 5 plays during her time at WSU: Gladiator (2012), Time Stands Still (2013), and American Soldiers (2014) were in completion of degree requirements. She also directed Oohrah! and Three Sisters as co-artistic director of the Underground Theatre at the Studio, a student-run summer theatre season that she founded with her partner, Miles Boucher. This summer she continues her duties as co-artistic director of the Underground. Time Stands Still, American Soldiers and Oohrah! are also the center of her dissertation study on post-9/11 theatrical reintegration narratives. Her study employs both literary and practical performance of the plays to explore the significance and treatment of home in these stories. She has presented papers on her research at the International Theatre Conference in Athens and the Annual Conference of Citizenship Studies. She will be completing her PhD in May 2016 and looks forward to earning the title Dr. Awesome. This summer she will be playing Jane Eyre with Outloud Theatre Company in Rhode Island before moving to Seattle to start a theatre company with Miles Boucher.

05/30/2015

Deanne Sparks is in the process of completing a Ph.D. in English at the University of North Dakota where she teaches courses in multicultural literatures as well as composition courses that utilize food studies and film theory as pedagogical themes. Her specialities are North American multicultural literatures and literary criticism (with a focus on masculinity, body, dis/ability, and violence theories). Her dissertation will focus on the intersection between Native North American literatures and the history of political and medical interventions that have disrupted Native ability to exert sovereignty over their own bodies. After taking comprehensive exams during Fall 2015, her dissertation defense is scheduled for 2017.

05/27/2015

Katherine A. Wagner was the first of the LaSU English MA program alums to head to the bluegrass state of Kentucky. After realizing that the South wasn't so scary (although woefully lacking in good Mexican food), she encouraged Tiffany Hutabarat and Megan McDonough to also apply to the University of Louisville. Right now, Katherine is a PhD candidate in Humanities at Univ. of Louisville and is working on an interdisciplinary dissertation that examines the intersections between American horror literature and film, globalization, and placelessness. She is currently a part-time lecturer at both the University of Louisville and Bellarmine University, where she teaches on a wide range of subjects from zombies to crime in popular Victorian culture. She continues to actively present at academic conferences, particularly the Popular Culture Association Conference (a personal favorite as she knows she will get to see LaSU faculty Drs. Winona and Andrew Howe). She has several peer-reviewed academic articles and other scholarship published and forthcoming, including two articles that were co-written with Megan McDonough. When not teaching or researching, Katherine also writes fiction; her short story "Selling Happiness" was written for a class taken with Prof. Sari Forham and is published under the pen name Katherine A. W. Troyer. Katherine hopes to defend her dissertation in Spring 2016. Her Academia.com page address is https://louisville.academia.edu/KatherineWagner/.

05/05/2015

Jose Atil returned to La Sierra University to receive his BA in History in 2012. He was awarded Dean’s List recipient the six quarters he spent finishing up his degree. He then earned his MA in English from LaSU in 2014. During this period, he received invaluable experience as a College Writing Instructor and Writing Center Coach. Furthermore, he also took part in the LaSU Drama’s productions of Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon), Imaginary Invalid (Msr.Diafoirus), Festival of One Acts, 1st Annual 24-Hour Play Festival (Mr. Vandalay), and Red Pill(Improv). He is currently in LaSU Drama’s Spring 2015 production of Macbeth in the role of Malcolm. Furthermore, he has received a Marie Barber Marchus Endowed Scholarship in 2012-2013 and a KCATF acting nomination (2011).

Currently, Jose is working at LaSU as an Adjunct Instructor of English where he enjoys engaging his students in Composition and Rhetoric. However, in the Fall of 2015, he will be attending the University of North Dakota where he has been accepted into a Ph.D. of English program. While there, he hopes to further pursue Working-class Issues, Multi-cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, and Ecocriticism. His period of specialty is 20th Century American Literature, and his favorite author is John Steinbeck.

04/15/2015

Dorival Do Nascimento is a Grad student, majoring in English Literature at La Sierra University. He is set to graduate this year, 2015 and plans to pursue a PhD program focusing in American Literature/Biblical Studies. He enjoys talking about what first drew him to American Literature. His explanation has to do with the influence that American poetry and music had in his life since childhood.

Dorival also loves writing. He had his first book (in the Portuguese language) published in 2005. He was born in Sao Paulo Brazil and is married to a beautiful wife, Dinalva. Together they have 3 children, Jennifer, Sofia and Dorival Jr. He is a proud dad who knows that God wonderfully involved all of them in Education.

03/22/2015

Tiffany Hutabarat is currently in candidacy in the University of Louisville's Humanities PhD program in Kentucky. Her research areas are Women and Gender Studies, Cultural Studies and Phenomenology; to enhance the practical angle of her research she works with the UofL theater's costume department. Her dissertation examines dress and dress practices and the roles they play in the formation of notions of self and community. Presently her plans are to defend in Spring 2016.

La Sierra University English Graduate Program

11/20/2019

10/06/2015

09/01/2015

08/14/2015

07/23/2015

06/27/2015

06/17/2015

05/30/2015

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