Assistant Professor
Department of English
Office - Bellarmine 110
Phone: (610) 660-3272
Email: jspinner@sju.edu
Education
B.A., Millikin University, 1992
M.F.A., Penn State University, 1995
M.A., University of Connecticut, 1999
Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 2004
Publications
Tell Them I Didn't Cry. (with Jackie Spinner). New York: Scribner's, forthcoming.
"Together in the Old Square Print, 1976 [poem]." The Essay Connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, forthcoming.
"When 'Macaroni and Cheese is Good' (Enough): Revelation in Creative Nonfiction." Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture 4.2 (2004).
"The American Essay." Encyclopedia of American Literature. New York: Oxford UP, 2004.
"A Journalist's Sister." All Things Considered. NPR. 6 Dec. 2004.
"Women Rule." Newsday. 25 April 2004.
"Block Island, 1998 [poem]." Mid-American Review. 24.1 (2003): 128-9.
Interview with Sam Pickering. Fourth Genre. Spring 2003: 192-207.
"Pulling a Poem Out of a Hat." 2003 Creative Writing/Creative Teaching: Pedagogy Forum Handbook. Associated Writing Programs, 2003. n.p.
"My Father's Dead (If Only I Could Tell You)." Fourth Genre. Fall 2002: 135-43.
"Fiction or Nonfiction? Pushing Against Genre Boundaries." 2002 Creative Writing/Creative Teaching: Pedagogy Forum Handbook. Associated Writing Programs, 2002. n.p.
"In Search of a Past." The Essay Connection. Ed. Lynn Z. Bloom. 6th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. 573-80.Handbook.
"Poetry and the Little Magazines." 2002 Creative Writing/Creative Teaching: Pedagogy Forum Handbook. Associated Writing Programs, 2002. n.p.
"In Medias Rest." Touchstone Spring 2001: 78-82.
Interview with Lynn Z. Bloom. Writing on the Edge Spring/Summer 2001: 9-18.
"Toward a Personal Ethics of Telling." Writing on the Edge Fall/Winter 2001: 31-4.
"First Christmas." All Things Considered. NPR. 24 Dec. 2001.
"Architecture is an Act of Optimism." All Things Considered. NPR. 8 Nov. 2001.
General Fields of Professional Interest
The essay/creative nonfiction
Ethics and writing
Rhetoric and composition
Journalism
Pedagogical style
I believe that students best learn to write in a classroom setting by forgetting that classroom setting. Certainly, the classroom community is relevant, but I urge my students to think beyond the classroom, to think of the skills they learn as transferable, that is, applicable in any writing situation they encounter, both inside the university and (especially) beyond. Ultimately, I want my students to understand that each act of writing—whether art of literary criticism, a poem, a research paper, a biology lab report, a design project description, or a personal essay—inhabits a different set of rhetorical circumstances, some inherent, some invented. Moreover, each act of writing carries responsibility with consequences outside the experience of composing
I also emphasize critical reading and thinking in my courses. I have found that often the biggest impediment to students improving their writing is their lack of critical reading and thinking skills. A writer who possesses such skills, along with some basic writing know-how, can tackle more successfully a variety of writing situations. Good writing skills adapt themselves to any form, and I want my students prepared not simply for the challenges of academic writing but for any writing situation they encounter.
Practically, how does that philosophy work itself out in the classroom? Through frequent discussions of the writing process. Through peer review workshops that emphasize the benefits of both receiving and giving feedback to other writers. Through writing extras: journals and blogs kept outside of class as well as visits to the Writing Center and attendance at on- and off-campus readings. Through challenging readings that raise questions for us as writers and thinkers—but also provide us with models for own writing. Through a variety of writing assignments (rather than a single formula or model). Through one-on-one discussions of student writing, both in office conferences and via comments on student work.
Other information
Member of National Council of Teachers of English, Associated Writing Programs, Modern Language Association, and Phi Beta Kappa