Faculty and Staff

Jessica Restaino, Writing Studies Department chair and professor, received her PhD from Temple University. Her research interests include composition theory and pedagogy, writing teacher preparation, community-based and activist writing, feminist rhetorics and research methodologies, and rhetorics of health and medicine. She teaches courses across a range of department offerings. She is the author of Surrender: Feminist Rhetorics and Ethics in Love and Illness (SIU Press 2019), recipient of the 2020 CCCC Outstanding Book Award; First Semester: Graduate Studies, Teaching Writing, and the Challenge of Middle Ground (SWR/NCTE 2012); and co-editor (with Laurie Cella) of Unsustainable: Re-Imagining Community Literacy, Public Writing, Service-Learning, and the University (Lexington 2012). Her essays and book chapters appear widely, and she has served as an editorial board member for a number of professional publications, including College Composition and Communication; and Composition Studies.

Dr. Tatum Petrich, Associate Teaching Professor and Director of First-Year Writing, received a PhD in English and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from Temple University. She teaches courses in first-year writing, public and professional writing, and gender studies. Her research interests include composition and rhetoric, contemporary American literature, and the relationship between motherhood and race.

Jazmine Thompson, Associate Director of First-Year Writing, received an MBA from Metropolitan College of New York and an MAT in Secondary English Education from Relay Graduate School of Education. She teaches courses in the First-Year Writing program. Her work has been published by Teen Vogue, Ebony Magazine, and Essence Magazine.

Elizabeth Martin, is the Assistant Director of First-Year Writing in the Writing Studies Department at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She received her M.F.A. in Creative and Professional Writing from William Paterson University and holds a Graduate Certificate in Science Writing from John Hopkins University. Her journalism has appeared in Parsippany Life, Neighbor News, and The Suburban Trends. Her creative writing has been published by Neworld Review, Hot Metal Bridge, and Menacing Hedge, among others. She is the recipient of two New Jersey Press Association awards. Currently, she is working on a collection of essays.

Melissa Adamo, Assistant Teaching Professor, teaches in the Writing Studies department and has taught composition, creative writing, literature, and pop culture courses as well as worked as a writing tutor at other New Jersey colleges. She also previously worked as a Faculty Developer with the Office for Faculty Excellence here at Montclair and as the College Liaison for the Dodge Poetry Festival. Her focus on engagement strategies in the classroom, especially working with pop culture texts, and meeting students where they are has been the subject of presentations and panels both at Montclair and the Northeast Modern Language Association Convention.

Dayna Arcurio, Associate Teaching Professor, received an MA in English from Montclair State University. Her pedagogy focuses on digital and visual rhetorics; she experiments with the latest digital platforms and designing multimodal assignments. Her classes explore texts in all forms and how rhetorical argument is shaped by digital media and aesthetics. She teaches courses in First-Year Writing and the Professional and Public Writing minor.

Pamela Booker/MFA (She/Her/Hers), Assistant Teaching Professor, is an Interdisciplinary Writing/Performance-Media Artist, Educator, and Eco-Activist. Her pedagogy is informed by the “artist as scholar” methods in partnership with cultural inquiry, race/gender/LGBTQ identities, and divergent storytelling styles. She holds an MA in Dramatic Writing & Performance Studies from New York University and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College. Her teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels focuses on returning adult and first-generation college student populations, a range of writing and critical thinking course content at Montclair State University, and formerly at NYU Global Studies and as Core-faculty in the undergraduate programs at Goddard College. Recent featured publications include Eco-Mediations & Memories of Dirt (About Place Journal) and the critically acclaimed anthology BlacktinoQueerPerformance (Duke Univ. Press). Currently, she is completing a collection of speculative short fiction stories and also recently founded WheresYourTree.com, an urban green initiatives project.

Kenneth Brewer specializes in Jane Austen and narratology

Ron Brooks, associate professor, received a PhD from the University of Oklahoma. He was the founding chair for the Department of Writing Studies. He has taught courses in composition, writing pedagogy, style and editing, and digital writing. He has published in journals such as College Composition and Communication, Enculturation, Pre/Text, and Technical Communication Quarterly.

Bridget Brown, Associate Teaching Professor, received a PhD in American Studies from New York University. She teaches courses in the First-Year Writing Program. She has previously taught at institutions including New York University and Muhlenberg College. She is the author of They Know Us Better Than We Know Ourselves: The History and Politics of Alien Abduction published by NYU Press in 2007.

Claudia Cortese, AssociateTeaching Professor, received an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her research interests include Fat Studies, Fat Poetics, the Lyric Essay, Prose Poetry, and Hybrid Writing. She teaches in the Department of Writing Studies, as well as in the Gender, Sexuality, Women’s Studies program and the Creative Writing program. She has taught Introduction to Poetry, Intermediate Poetry, Art of Poetry, College Writing I and II, and Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies. Cortese is the author of the following books: Wasp Queen (Black Lawrence Press, 2017), which won Southern Illinois University’s Devil’s Kitchen Award for Emerging Poetry; Blood Medals (Thrush Press, 20‌15); and The Red Essay and Other Histories (Horse Less Press, 2015). She has published poetry, fiction, and nonfiction in Bitch Magazine, Blackbird, Black Warrior Review, Crazyhorse, Gulf Coast, and The Offing, among many others.‌ She is the Book Reviews editor for Muzzle Magazine. The daughter of Neapolitan immigrants, Cortese grew up in Northeast Ohio’s Rust Belt and lives in New Jersey.

Caroline Dadas, associate professor, received a PhD in rhetoric and composition from Miami University. Her research interests include digital rhetorics, public sphere theory, professional writing, queer rhetorics, and civic participation. She teaches courses on rhetorical theory, digital writing, research methods, technical writing, and queer studies. She is the author of articles published in venues such as College Composition and Communication, Computers and Writing, New Media and Society, Composition Forum, Literacy in Composition Studies, and Computers and Composition Online. She is co-editor of the CCCC Lavender Award winning 2019 collection, Re/Orienting Writing Studies: Queer Methods, Queer Projects.

Benjamin Delloiacono, Assistant Teaching Professor, MA English, specializes in First Year Writing, rhetoric and composition, and prison pedagogy. Ben spent ten years teaching English composition, literature, technical writing, philosophy, criminal justice, political science, and sociology within seven prisons throughout the state of NJ. His areas of academic interests are writing in the sciences, writing for social justice, and information literacy.

Denell Downum, Assistant Teaching Professor, received a Ph.D. in English from the CUNY Graduate Center. She teaches courses in the First-Year Writing Program and the Public and Professional Writing major; previously she has taught courses in both writing and literature at Queens College (CUNY), Suffolk University, and New York City College of Technology. Her research interests include the relationship between reading and writing as symbiotic practices that work together to construct meaning; game-based learning; and contemporary Irish literature. Denell has presented as a panelist at numerous conferences, published articles in several scholarly journals, and coauthored an ebook called The Companion to the First Year at City Tech that reflects her commitment to supporting student success in the first year of college.

Laura Field, Associate Teaching Professor, received a PhD in rhetoric and composition from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Her research interests include the challenges of employing a feminist pedagogy in the writing classroom. She teaches courses in the First Year Writing and Public and Professional Writing programs.

Vanessa Florestal, Assistant Teaching Professor, received an MA in English from Iona College. She teaches courses in the First-Year Writing Program. Her research interests include young adult literature and contemporary African American literature. When she is not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her family.

Christine Giancatarino, Associate Teaching Professor, received an MFA in Theater from Columbia University. Her pedagogical interests explore the way embodied inquiry and somatic awareness serve as a platform for writing and meaning-making. She is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner as well as a theater practitioner. She teaches courses in composition in the First-Year Writing Program.

Sarah Ghoshal, Associate Teaching Professor, received an MFA in Creative Writing from Long Island University. Her research interests include: Online and Hybrid Teaching and Learning, Composition and Rhetoric, Creative Writing, Poetry, and Literature. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks and several articles and individual poems, and presents regularly at conferences and workshops about the efficacy of online teaching. She is the Committee Chair for Hybrid and Online Teaching for the Department of Writing Studies, and strives to help others achieve their teaching goals.

Currently, I teach first-year writing (WRIT 105 and 106) at Montclair State. Prior to joining the MSU community, I was a tenured faculty member at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, WY, where I developed and taught courses in development and college-level composition, literature and film, and the first-year experience. I earned a B.A. in English from the University of Central Oklahoma and a M.A. in English from Colorado State University.

I am obsessed with all things curriculum and have developed several literature courses to meet student interests including Gay & Lesbian Literature, Young Adult Literature, and Horror Literature. When not teaching, I spend time with my husband, Michael, and our three dogs, Moose, Oreo, and Link; play video and board games; see a Broadway show; or enjoy a big cup of coffee (cold brew for life!).

Emily Isaacs, professor, specializes in writing pedagogy, writing assessment, and writing programming in higher education. Professor Isaacs’ scholarship is focused on best practices for writing instruction and administration, the national state of writing instruction and support at U.S. four-year universities, and teaching and learning in public higher education. Her articles have appeared in Pedagogy, College English, Writing Program Administration, Writing Center Journal, Journal of Teaching Writing, and in several book collections. In addition, she is the author of three books, including most recently, Writing at the State U (Utah State UP). Emily Isaacs is also the Executive Director of the Office for Faculty Excellence.

Tavya Jackson, Associate Teaching Professor, received an MA in English Literature from Montclair State University. She teaches courses in the First-Year Writing Program. In the past, she has taught writing courses at the University of Georgia and Union County Community College.

Henry Margenau, Associate Teaching Professor, received an MFA in fiction writing from The New School. He teaches courses in the First-Year Writing Program and for the Public and Professional Writing major as well as creative writing courses for the English department. Henry has presented as a panelist on multimodal writing pedagogy, skills transfer, and collaborative composition at conferences such as the Northeast Modern Language Association Conference, The South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference, and the College English Association conference. He was the co-host of The Write Mode, a podcast about writing and multimodal composition. He also writes fiction and his work has been published in different venues such as Prick of the Spindle and Cleaver Magazine. In the past, he has taught at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Drew University, and Lasell College.

Sean McCarthy is a Professor in the department of Writing Studies.

Professor McCormick, Assistant Teaching Professor, specializes in student identity development as First-Year Writing students transition into scholars. Her College Writing courses center student experiences and interactions. She employs community-engaged scholarship to foster a sense-of-belonging within and beyond her classes. She coordinates Human Library experiences on campus to create student-led platforms for overcoming stigmas and bias. As Dissertation Support Specialist, she assists doctoral candidates with dissertation writing through The Graduate School by hosting workshops and offering 1:1 consultations.

Maria Montaperto, Associate Teaching Professor, received a PhD from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Her research interests include the intersections between race theory and composition and rhetoric, particularly on how invisible white privilege manifests and functions as a form of racism in higher education. She teaches courses in the First-Year Writing Program. She has regularly presented at CCCC, the Feminism(s) and Rhetoric(s) conference, and other local and national conferences. Her most recent research takes up issues related to disciplinary and institutional mis-implementation of organizational missions toward language equity within first year composition courses and in the professional development of teachers of writing.

Kara Morillo is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Writing Studies at Montclair State University. She holds a B.A. in English from Montclair State University and an M.A. in English from the State University of New York, University at Buffalo, where she completed a thesis project titled “Cultural Hybridity in Early Twentieth Century American Literature.” Her scholarly work focuses on themes of cultural identity and hybridity, as demonstrated in her paper, “‘Soy Nadie/I’m Nobody’: Cultural Schizophrenia and Puerto Rican Identity in Judith Ortiz Cofer’s Work,” which she presented at the Tenth International American Women Writers of Color Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2004.

Matthew Mosher, Assistant Teaching Professor, received a PhD in English from Stony Brook University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College. His research interests include composition and rhetoric, creative writing, twentieth-century American literature, and cultural studies. He has presented at the annual conferences of the American Literature Association and the American Studies Association, the International Conference on Narrative, and the Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900. He teaches courses in the First-Year Writing Program.

Jacqueline Regan, Associate Teaching Professor, received a PhD in literacy from the department of Educational Specialties at St. John’s University. She also holds an MA in Education from Fairfield University and an MA in English from Montclair State University. Her research interests include first-year writing students transitioning to college, academically underserved writing students, and multiliteracies. She teaches courses in the First-Year Writing Program and Public and Professional Writing major. She previously worked in publishing and has taught high school in both New Jersey and Connecticut. Recent works were published in Awakenings Review and Making Literacy Connections: The Journal of the Greater Washington Reading Council.

Rick Reid, Associate Teaching Professor, received a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Southern California. His research interests include the avant-garde, critical theory, composition and rhetoric, and curriculum studies. He teaches courses in first-year, collaborative, creative, and digital writing as well as in critical theory and literature. Most recently, a book of poems, To Be Hung from the Ceiling by Strings of Varying Length, was published by Black Goat and an article, “Frequency,” that analyzes the multimodal work of Vito Acconci, appeared in the interdisciplinary journal Crossings. Reid also works as a conceptual artist and writer.

Jennifer Russo, Associate Teaching Professor, received her PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her research interests include experimental poetry, political poetry, and women’s literature. She has published articles on the clairvoyant poet Hannah Weiner in the journal Wild Orchids and in the book Time In Time: Short Poems, Long Poems, and the Rhetoric of North American Avant-Gardism, 1963-2008 (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2013). She teaches courses in the First-Year Writing Program.

Shiladitya Sen, Associate Teaching Professor, received a PhD in Early Modern drama from Temple University. He had wide-ranging interests, but his classes are invariably concerned with performance, power, narratives, audience, and gender. He teaches College Writing I and II in the First-Year Writing Program, as well as Intro to Gender Studies and Women’s Studies (GSWS) and Intro to LGBTQ+ studies (GLQS). His most recent publication was a chapter on “Cleopatra as Metatheatrical Monarch” in Shakespeare’s Queens (Palgrave) and he has a forthcoming chapter on “Abuse, Coercion, and Power in Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild” (Routledge, India).

Jennie Snow, Assistant Teaching Professor, received a PhD in English from Brown University. Prior to joining MSU, she taught reading, writing, and literature courses at Fitchburg State University (MA) and Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Her research interests include first-year writing, education justice, and open pedagogy, as well as multiethnic American literature, critical refugee studies, and carceral studies. At MSU she teaches first-year writing (WRIT 105 and 106).

Sasha Troyan, Associate Teaching Professor, received an MA with a concentration in Creative Writing from New York University. She teaches courses in composition, creative writing, and as part of the First Year Writing program. She specializes in creative writing, fiction, and creative nonfiction. She is the author of two novels, Angels in the Morning, (The Permanent Press, 2003) and The Forgotten Island (Tin House Bloomsbury, 2006). Her short story, “Hidden Works,” appeared in the Spring 2009 issue of Ploughshares, guest-edited by the poet Eleanor Wilner and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and chosen as one of the “Distinguished Short Stories” in the Best American Short Stories for 2010.

Christa Verem, Associate Teaching Professor, received an MA in English from Seton Hall University and an MFA in Poetry from Sarah Lawrence College. She teaches courses in the First-Year Writing Program. She has been published in the literary journals Many Mountains Moving and The Wide Shore.