My Faculty

For a complete list of English Department Faculty, as well as more complete bios, please visit the department's Faculty Directory.

Dr. Jim Addison

B.A., M.A. Clemson University; Ph.D., The University of Tennessee. Professor of English; Director of Graduate Studies in English. Research and Teaching Areas: Fairy Tales and Folktales; Children’s Literature; James Joyce; and Post-Modern British Literature. Rhetoric and Composition.

Instructor Margie Askins

I graduated from Western Carolina University in 1997 with my BA degree in English/Concentration in Literature and Minor in Professional Writing and Editing. After graduating, I found a job as a Manager of a Jenny Craig center in VA with my English degree. After a few years in this position, I decided to return to college for my MA in English. I went back "home" to WNC and attended WCU again. I taught for a teaching assistantship my second year of graduate school, and fell in love with being in the classroom. After earning my MA, I wanted to stay in the area I had grown so fond of during my two academic careers at WCU, and English jobs here are slim in a small town, so I took a great position as a Weekend and Evening College Director at a local community college. I created, recruited for, planned, and built a Weekend College there. In addition, I had several other job duties: I also taught English, was the director of the SGA, Director of the Evening College, and Academic Advising Director. The jobs were great and demanding, but I needed a change. I decided to walk away from the desk job and to get into the classroom. After four and a half years at the community college, I resigned, and began working for WCU as a Visiting Instructor of English. I truly love to teach!

Instructor Leah Hampton

Leah Hampton: B.A., History, Southern Illinois University—Carbondale; M.A, English, Western Carolina University. Before coming to WCU, Ms. Hampton worked as a technical writer and non-profit organizer at home and abroad. She teaches Freshman Composition, Liberal Studies core courses, and Technical and Business Writing.

Instructor Eric Hendrix

Eric R. Hendrix holds a B.A. from WCU in English Literature and is in the final stages of completing his M.A. in Creative/Professional Writing. Due to graduate in the spring of '06, his immediate plans are to continue teaching English Composition levels 101 and 102 with an intent to develop a course in Latino Literature, specifically Puerto Rican writers.

Instructor Jamie Holbrook

Jamie Holbrook is a second year teaching assistant working on his M.A. in Professional Writing. He received his B.A. in English at the University of Georgia. Currently, he lives in Cullowhee, NC.

Dr. Beth Huber

Beth Huber, Director of the First-Year Composition Program, received her Ph.D. in English Composition/Rhetoric and History at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Her scholarly interests include Classical rhetoric, Post-WWII rhetoric, and the impact of economic and geographical factors on student writing. She is currently working on a book that examines the impact of Cold War rhetoric on Vietnam era university English classrooms.

Dr. Thomas Hughes

I got my B.A. from the University of Massachusetts in 1968, my Masters from the University of Oregon in 1970 and my Doctorate in 1973. I have a multi-disciplinary degree in English Literature, Psychology and Comparative Religion. The workings of the mind fascinate me, almost to the point of obsession. I had to know all I could about the deepest, most philosophical and spiritual, thoughts human beings have entertained. My Advisor was J. Barre Toelken the Folklorist. I stand in a lineage which goes back to Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung and Hermann Hesse. I taught folklore and mythology at the U of O for thirteen years. Then I interned as a clinical psychologist, a therapist. Moorpark College attracted me in 1982, and after twenty-one years in Southern California, I moved here to live in the mountains of Haywood County, NC. I have decided to "follow my Bliss," as Joe Campbell said, inasmuch as the very best qualities I possess as a human being show forth in the classroom. I absolutely LOVE being an educator.

Instructor Beth Keefauver

Beth Keefauver is in her third year as a Visiting Instructor. She received a BA in Philosophy from Furman University and an MA in English from WCU. When she's not immersed in feminist, postcolonial, and environmental studies, she enjoys outdoor adventure, creative writing, and theater.

Dr. Brent Kinser

Brent Kinser received his PhD from UNC, Chapel Hill. He teaches Nineteenth-Century British and American Literature and has published on Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and D. H. Lawrence. He serves as editor of The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle and as coordinating editor of eCarlyle, the electronic version of the project, both published by Duke University Press. He is also co-editor of the scholarly journals Carlyle Studies Annual and The Journal of Florida Literature and a trustee of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society.

Instructor Margie Kiser

I have been teaching first year composition at Western since 1996. Freshmen are my "first love"--especially WCU freshmen. I enjoy hearing about their endeavors and reading their compositions. I graduated from UNC-A and received my MA from WCU. I have a grown daughter and son who both graduated from other NC state universities and still reside in the state. I live in Asheville and enjoy commuting to Cullowhee across the mountain. During my free time I enjoy reading, gardening, taking care of two cats, touring Biltmore House and traveling.

Dr. Karen McKinney

Karen McKinney recieved her Ph.D from the University of New Mexico in 2004, specializing in Native American Literature and Literary Theory. She teach classes in Native American Literature, American Literature, Literature and Popular Culture as well as freshman composition courses. Her primary research interest is ethnological writings by and about the Appalachian peoples.

Instructor Amber MacDonald

I am very excited to join the ranks of such a wonderful First-Year Composition staff! As a graduate student of the WCU English Department, I received my M.A. degree in August and decided to pursue my passion for teaching. I am originally from outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but attended Ohio University as an undergraduate in English. Presently, I reside in exotic Asheville with my fiancé, Tim, and a rather obese orange tabby. Tim and I plan on getting hitched May 2006.

Instructor Tim Moran

I am in my second year of graduate school, working toward a M.A. in English with a focus in professional writing. I got my B.A. in English at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and I currently live in Asheville.

Dr. Terry Nienhuis

Terry Nienhuis is a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who took his BA., MA., and Ph.D. degrees at Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan before coming to WCU in 1972. In addition to his teaching career, Dr. Nienhuis is also a stage and film actor who has appeared in approximately 50 plays and 20 film and television productions.

Instructor Wayne Robbins

Wayne Robbins has been teaching in the FYC program since the fall of 1998. He has also the director of SmART, an outreach program that allows WCU students to work with Native American children on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. He has degrees from Appalachian State University and East Carolina University. Robbins is primarily a songwriter. His Asheville-based band, Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers, released it’s debut album in the spring of 2004.

Dr. Charles White

Charles White served in the Marines as an M1A1 Tank crewman before attending college on the GI Bill. Since then he has earned a BA and MA in English. He currently teaches Freshman Writing at Western Carolina University. His historical novel, THE BROKEN SWORD, was published in the summer of 2005 by Heritage Books. The sequel, MEN OF WAR, is due to be published in 2006, also by Heritage Books. He is editor and co-founder of THE PISGAH REVIEW.

Dr. Laura Wright

Laura Wright teaches postcolonial literature, world literature, and composition. Her specific areas of interest include Southern and Western African literature, performance studies, and environmental literature. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she studied with Peter Elbow, the author of Western Carolina’s English 101 text, Being a Writer. She has published in The Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Mosaic, and elsewhere. Her book on South African author J. M. Coetzee is forthcoming from Routledge Press in early 2006.

Instructor Murat Yazan

Born in Adana, Turkey, Murat Yazan has resided in North Carolina since the age of two. He received his BA in Literature from the University of North Carolina–Asheville and his MA in English from Western Carolina University. He has recently finished translating Ibrahim Burdurlu’s book Keloglan Masallari, a collection of Keloglan Turkish folktales, and is working on a translation of 16th Century Ottoman poet, Fuzuli’s “Leyla and Mejnun”. He has a keen interest in Ottoman Tassavuuf poetry as well as 19th century American authors.Mr. Yazan lives in Henderson County with his wife and two children.

Instructor Hamish Ziegler

Writer, teacher and activist, Hamish was educated at Michigan State University where he graduated with a BA in Social Science in 1983. After several years working as a graphic artist, Hamish went on to get his Master’s of Creative Writing at Florida International University in 1994. Hamish has worked for the Everglades Campaign in Miami and has written many freelance feature stories for the Miami Herald and Mt Xpress in Asheville. He currently resides in Asheville and is the father of two fine children, ages nine and thirteen.