Faculty

Regina Arnold holds a PhD in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University and a BA in Communications from UC Berkeley. She is a former teaching fellow at Stanford's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and her scholarly interests include media studies, journalism, creative non-fiction, and critical race theory. A former music writer for both Rolling Stone and Spin magazines, she is the author of three books on rock music, "Route 666" (St. Martin's), "Punk in the...

I am currently living the dream as a full time part time instructor at three different colleges. Since earning my MA from University of the Pacific in 1990, I have been teaching mostly public speaking courses. My most significant publication is Speaking to Entertain, a supplement for public speaking courses. My main focus is getting students to feel comfortable using humor in their speeches. I have been at USF since 2003.

Sue Bae has a BA in Sociology from Ewha Women's University in Seoul, Korea and an MA in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) and an EdD in International and Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco. Her areas of interest are reading and writing, language and culture, and sociolinguistics. She has taught ESL in community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area and EFL in South Korea. She has taught in the ESL Program in the Department of Communication Studies at the...

Bob Bathrick has been teaching AEM to adults since 2001. He worked at AEM Language Centers for 6 years, preparing students for university study. Since gaining his MA in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 2009, he has worked both here at USF and at Stanford. Bob also has a BA and MA in Geography from San Francisco State University. His love of geography, culture and history affects his students in their adaptation to American ways and success at an American university. Bob is...

I love being an educator and teaching Public Speaking and Argumentation and Debate courses at USF. I have taught Small Group, Interpersonal, Intercultural, Persuasion and Fundamentals of Communication at other campuses. I received my Masters of Speech Communications from San Francisco State University. I am a former competitor in Speech and Debate, and coach too. I love teaching students these skills and watching them excel in Public Speaking. As an educator, I believe that it is my task to...

Robert R. Boller has a diverse academic and professional background focused on rhetoric, communication, and leadership development.  He is a debate coach and organizational development consultant, and researches social networks of expatriates in SE Asia.

James Warren Boyd received his BA, History from UCLA and his advanced degrees (MA English: Literature, M. A. Communication Studies: Performance Studies, Graduate Certificates in College Composition and Reading) from SFSU. His first experience in college instruction was as a Peace Corps Volunteer on faculty at the Teacher Training College (NKJO) in Radom, Poland. His goals as an instructor for RHET 103 and 130/131 at USF are to guide students' growth as scholars, writers, and public speakers...

Chisako Cole received an MA in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University and a BM in Voice Performance from Boston University. She has taught ESL at New York University, The City University of New York, UC Berkeley, the University of San Francisco and Academy of Art University. She has assisted with Japanese to English translations and enjoys researching innovative ways of bringing investigative learning to ESL teaching.

Deborah Cox Callister’s research focuses at the nexus of contemporary rhetorical theory and criticism, participatory democracy and environmental decision-making. She has more than ten years of experience in conflict mediation and community dialogue work. Prior to becoming a communication scholar, she coordinated a statewide Utah BLM wilderness dispute resolution project and the Community and Wild Lands Futures Project, in Emery County, Utah. Topics for her recent published works range from...

Roberta D’Alois teaches business communication at USF as well as at San Francisco State University. Prior to beginning her teaching career, she spent several years in human resources and recruiting. She has a BA with honors in theatre arts from Brandeis and an MFA in playwriting from San Francisco State University. Roberta was chosen as one of the 2016-17 fellows at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where she worked with 30 other artists and change-makers to delve deeply into the intersection of...

Professor DeLorenzo utilizes course goals to help students develop a clear perspective in persuasive essays, include authentic voice in academic writing, and encourage group dialogue and open discussion about complex current issues.

Sarah Goss has a B.A. in English from Scripps College and an MA and PhD from the University of Oregon in English. Her areas of focus were the Victorian novel and gothic literature. She has been teaching in the Rhetoric and Language Department at USF since 2002 and also enjoys working in USF's Writing Center.

Michael Hammond received an MA in English from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago and has taught and tutored rhetoric, composition, and literature in both Chicago and San Francisco. At USF, his classes emphasize a curious exploration of big picture topics from a local perspective based on the belief one can "change the world from here."

Miah Jeffra is a part-time professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Language at USF. They are the author of The Violence Almanac (Black Lawrence 2021), The Fabulous Ekphrastic Fantastic! (Sibling Rivalry 2020) and The First Church of What's Happening (Nomadic 2018). Awards include the New Millennium Fiction Prize, The Sidney Lanier Fiction Prize, The Atticus Review Nonfiction Prize, a Lambda Literary Fellowship, the Alice Judson Hayes Fellowship from Ragdale, and the Hub City Writers Project...

Patricia Kalman holds a BA from the Michigan State University and an MA from the University of Michigan. She also completed graduate courses at the University of Chicago. Since then, she has worked as an editor and writer for more than 25 years as well as having over 20 years of teaching experience at several universities including San Francisco State University and UCLA. She joined USF in 2002 and teaches a variety of courses in the department of Rhetoric and Languages. Her interests include...

Ron Key has been an adjunct professor at USF since 2006. He earned a BA in English and an MA in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin as well as a Certification for English Language Teaching to Adults from St. Giles (a Cambridge University-associated EFL school) in San Francisco. He has been an editor and writer for a cable television network as well as the Brown University School of Psychiatry; he has likewise been an editor for UC's Continuing Education of the Bar and the Rand...

Kara Knafelc earned a BA in English from Scripps College and an MA in English Literature and Language from the University of Washington. Since coming to USF, she has enjoyed teaching a variety of writing courses for first-year and transfer students, as well as the literature seminar that is offered as part of the Martin-Baró Scholars Program. Her current interests include feminist rhetorical theory, subaltern theory, the transfer student writing experience, and the relationship between literary...

Kendon teaches rhetoric to nursing students at the Sacramento Campus part time. He also teaches writing full time at UC Davis, and teaches second-language acquisition theories and pedagogies classes part time at Sac State. His primary research interests are second-language writing and writing across the curriculum (WAC).

Todd Lewis has a BA in Speech Communications and an MA in TESOL from San Francisco State University. He has taught AEM in private institutes, City College of San Francisco and Academy of Art University in addition to teaching EFL in Mexico, Taiwan, and Costa Rica. Spanish is his second language while his Chinese language skills remain a third language option. He also works in TESOL teacher training, computer assisted language learning, Spanish literacy, and curriculum development, presenting at...

Marla Lowenthal received a doctorate in International/Multicultural Education from USF, an MA in Media /Communication Studies from Concordia University in Montreal, and an MA in English from the University of Missouri. Aside from teaching college all over the world and in various disciplines, she has experience in public relations, advertising and consulting. She founded and conducts workshops for SHAPE (Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Education) and emphasizes personal responsibility...

Marlene Mahony earned her doctorate degree in International and Multicultural Education, with a double concentration in Human Rights and Linguistics. Her study investigated The Causes and Cures of Unclear Scholarly Writing, which blended elements of linguistics, rhetoric, critical pedagogy, and scholarly writing. She also earned her M. F. A. in Creative Nonfiction, her M. A. in British Literature, and her B. A. in English. She teaches academic writing, with an emphasis on style, rhetoric, and...

Marc Martin comes from a diverse experiential and practical background. He holds a BFA in painting from USF and has completed graduate work in printmaking from the Massachusetts College of Art and San Francisco State University. He also received a Masters degree in Conflict Management from San Francisco State University. He studied mediation and negotiation at the Harvard Law School and has been trained in arbitration by the American Arbitration Association. He holds a doctorate in Humanistic...

Nicole Mauro earned her BA in Communications Arts in 1992, and her MAW in fiction in 1996, both from USF. After receiving her MFA in poetry from Mills College in 1999, Nicole began teaching at USF, where she has mainly taught intermediate and advanced rhetoric, as well as a First Year Seminar course titled Intersection: Sidewalks, and Public Space. She has published poetry and scholarly articles in numerous publications, and is the author of six chapbooks, and two books of poetry, The...

Professor McDonnell teaches courses in written and oral communication.

Jake McGoldrick has a BA in American Studies and an M.A. in English, with a concentration in TESL from San Francisco State University. He has also studied at LaSalle College, the University of Madrid and the University of Santander, Spain. He has taught English, Spanish and French at high schools in San Francisco and ESL at community colleges and universities in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been involved in San Francisco City government for many years and served as Supervisor of the...

Myrtis Mixon has a BA in history from Trinity College, an MA in English from Wichita State University, a TESL Certificate from New York State University, and an EdD in International and Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco. She has worked teacher training and curriculum development in more than 20 countries, including in the United States and abroad in Eastern and Central Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. She has taught English at U.S. high schools and...

Sabrina L. Nelson is a writer, filmmaker, photographer, graphic artist, educator, and entrepreneur. Sabrina teaches Writing for Science, Writing for Psychology, Public Speaking, Writing for Advertising, and Business and Technical Writing at USF, and English Composition and Multimedia Arts at Berkeley City College. She taught film editing at Academy of Art University for eighteen years, and has taught graphic design, film editing, and film festival producing at Berkeley City College for nine...

Daniel Pearce holds an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University and a bachelor of arts in English literature from Bard College. In addition to teaching at USF, he has taught at Columbia University, University of California at Santa Cruz, and San Quentin State Prison. His research interests include the prison university and the intersections of human rights and rhetoric. He is also a drummer, and plays in several groups in the Bay Area.

Lynn C. Perkins has been teaching public speaking and English as a Second Language at USF since 1990, minus one year spent training English teachers in Sweden when she was selected to be an English Teaching Fellow. Midway through her USF teaching career, she decided to become a registered nurse. Her distinctive academic and professional experiences in communications and nursing integrate well into USF’s social justice mission and allow her a unique perspective on teaching diverse learners about...

Angelika Rappe has a BA in Liberal Arts and an MA in English with a concentration in TESOL from San Francisco State University. She has experience teaching Academic English at all levels. She taught at the American Language Institute at San Francisco State University and at Cañada College in Redwood City. She has taught Academic English at the University of San Francisco since 2008 and she currently also teaches at the Academy of Art University in downtown San Francisco. She also worked for...

Rick Roberts is now approaching his 22nd season of conducting both Voices and Voices sub-groups (Men's, Women's, Jazz, and Six). Roberts is an alumni of both University of San Francisco, and San Francisco State University.

Jill Schepmann earned an MFA in creative writing from Vanderbilt University and a BA in English and psychology from the University of Kansas. In addition to teaching RHET 110 and RHET 120 courses at USF, she has provided adult literacy coaching through San Francisco Public Library's Project Read program, facilitated community and college-level creative writing workshops in Tennessee, taught middle school ELA in the Bay Area, and high school literature courses in Kansas. In her classroom, Jill...

Cynthia Schultes has taught at Trinity College in Washington, D.C., and Notre Dame Seishin University in Okayama, Japan. At USF, she teaches courses in rhetoric and language as well as historiography.

Gina Stahl-Haven has been teaching in the fields of rhetoric and communication since 2005. Her dynamic teaching style emphasizes critical thinking, following research toward a conclusion, and creating an end product that sparks your passion. Gina is an amazing mom and she can't live without truffle salt.

Ellen Thompson has been teaching lower division writing courses at USF—RHET 99, 110, and 120—since 2000. She has also taught upper-division and graduate-level expository writing, creative writing, critical thinking, college-level reading, and fire service courses. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing, an MA in English: Creative Writing, and graduate certificates to teach post-secondary reading and composition from San Francisco State. She has a BA in Social Science from Humboldt State, a...