UC San Diego
Department of Communication
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Michaela WalshMichaela Walsh

Email Address: mdwalsh@ucsd.edu

Education

  • M.F.A. Nonfiction Writing, May 2003
    Thesis: “It Had to Happen”
  • M.A. Theology, Ethics, and Culture, May 2004
    Thesis: “20 years Later, Remnants of Liberation Theology in Quito, Ecuador”
  • B.A. English/Psychology, May 1998
    Thesis: “The Jewishness of Leopold Bloom”/ “The Oral Histories and Social Processes of the Irish
    Jewish Community in Dublin”

Teaching Experience

Johns Hopkins: 
CTY Distance Writing Program Instructor, 2003-present

  • Instruct young writers on the craft of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry writing
  • Use of Microsoft Office and Web navigation
  • Correspond extensively through email and via phone
  • Assess student work
  • Write student progress reports throughout the course
  • Write comprehensive final evaluations of student progress in the course

University of Iowa:           
Graduate Instructor of Rhetoric, 2000-2003 

  • Taught Basic and Accelerated Rhetoric courses (approximately 20 students)
  • Designed syllabi, assignments, and grading system
  • Selected books and readings
  • Evaluated student assignments, providing extensive oral and written feedback
  • Maintained weekly office hours
  • Provided mid-semester progress reports
  • Attended weekly pedagogical development sessions


Graduate Instructor Nonfiction Writing, 2003

  • Taught Creative Nonfiction Writing (approximately 20 students)
  • Created “writer’s workshops”
  • Designed syllabi, assignments, and grading system
  • Selected books and readings
  • Evaluated student assignments, providing extensive oral and written feedback
  • Maintained weekly office hours
  • Provided mid-semester progress reports
  • Attended weekly pedagogical development session


Willowwind School:
Instructor, 1994 –’98, 2001-2003, 2004-2006

  • Taught creative writing, nonfiction, and poetry to children in grades 4-8
  • Editor of the Willowwind Literary Magazine
  • Designed courses to expose students to a variety of writing styles
  • Used a hands-on approach to cultivate an appreciation for language and writing-Worked with students individually to develop and refine their thinking and writing skills

Research Area

  • Postcolonial theory
  • Performance studies
  • Border studies
  • Critical Ethnography
  • Latin American Literature

Scholarships

  • “Paulo and the Birds: Towards a Magical Realist Approach to Ethnography”
    Communication Review, forthcoming
  • “Cardinals.” Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, Spring 2000.

Awards, Grants, Honors

  • Seminar in Experimental and Critical Theory (SECT) participant, 2007
  • San Diego Fellowship, 2006
  • Teaching Assistantship, Department of Rhetoric, 2000-2003
  • Stanley Scholarship, 2001
  • Student Government Scholarship, 2001
  • Phi Beta Kappa, Honors with High Distinction, 1998
  • Collegiate Scholar, 1998
  • Rhodes Dunlap Scholar, 1997
  • Student Government Scholarship, 1997
  • Annie Pritcher Award, 1997

Conference Presentation

  • “Foreclosure: The Shadow that Follows us” Competitively Selected Panel, National Communication Association, Chicago Illinois, 2007
  • “Desexed in the city, the confines of white, compulsory heterosexuality” Competitively Selected Paper, National Women Studies Association, Illinois June 2007
  • “Riding the Tides: Colonialism in Kona surf Culture” International Humanities       
    Conference, Honolulu, 2007
  • “Soccer and Silences.” Competitively selected paper,Western States Communication Association, Palm Springs, California, March 2006
  • “Reflexivity and the Researcher Dilemma.” Competitively selected paper, National Communications Association, Boston, Massachusetts, November 2005        
  • “Nightfall.”Competitively selected paper, Western States Communication              
    Association    , San Francisco, California, March 2005