Curriculum Vitae

of Charles Bivona
[last updated February 6, 2011]


 

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. Candidate: [All But Dissertation] : Drew University, Modern History and Literature: Literature Track, 2005-Present.
  • MA: Rutgers University, English: Literature Concentration, 2003.
  • BA: William Paterson University, English: Writing Concentration, 1996.


AWARDS

  • May, 2003: Rutgers University English Department Award: Highest Distinction in Literary Studies.


TEACHING POSITIONS

  • Fall 2010: Embedded Writing Instructor, Graduate Program in Health Care Management, The College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown, New Jersey.
  • Fall 2008 – Fall 2009: Adjunct Writing Instructor, Writing and Literature, Drew University: Madison, New Jersey.
  • Fall 2007: Adjunct Writing Instructor, Seton Hall University: South Orange, New Jersey.
  • Fall 2004 – Fall 2008: Part-Time Lecturer, Writing and Literature, Rutgers University: Newark, New Jersey.
  • Fall 2003: Adjunct Instructor, Passaic County Community College: Wanaque, New Jersey.

PUBLICATIONS

Conference Papers

  • “A Difficult Telling: Fragmentation and the Traumatized Writer.”  18th Annual Tufts University English Graduate Conference: On Difficulty. Medford, Massachusetts, October 20, 2006. »Link to Text

Essays

  • “The Mourning After.” NJ Peace Blog. May 30, 2010. »Link to Text
  • “Phil Donahue Gave Me Writer’s Block.” NJ Peace Blog. May 3, 2010. »Link to Text
  • “Stealing Childhoods, Destroying Families.” The Acorn: Drew University’s Student Newspaper. April 16, 2010. »Link to Text
  • “Stare.” This I Believe: a public dialogue about belief — one essay at a time. September 16, 2009. »Link to Text
  • “The Mentor Zone.” GetOnTheCouch.com. Summer 2009. » Link to Text
  • “New Criticism & the Romantic Poet: Summarizing and Contending with Cleanth Brooks.” Suite 101.com. April 11, 2008. » Link to Text
  • “Manufactured Awe: The Grand Canyon and the American Sublime.” Cerebration. 2003. Ed. Amrita Gosh and Smita Maitra. »Link to Text
  • “Buddha in the Reader, Buddha in the Tale: A Buddhist Reading of Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale.” Cerebration. 2003. Ed. Amrita Ghosh and Smita Maitra. » Link to Text
  • “Commercial Americanness.” Cerebration. 2003. Ed. Amrita Ghosh and Smita Maitra. » Link to Text

Articles

  • “How to Calm SAT Test Anxiety: Practical Mind Tricks for Calming Your Nerves.”Suite101.com. April 23, 2008. » Link to Text
  • “High school, DeVry form partnerships.” Union Leader: Union, NJ. April 25, 1996.
  • “Roselle Park officials call cleanup a success.” Union Leader: Union, NJ. April 25, 1996.
  • “School budget awaits review.” Roselle Park Leader: Roselle Park, NJ. May 2, 1996.
  • “Police investigate attempted abductions.” Roselle Park Leader: Roselle Park, NJ. May 2, 1996.
  • “Principle retires after 37 years.” Roselle Park Leader: Roselle Park, NJ. May 2, 1996.
  • “Republican leaders fear charter study.” Roselle Park Leader: Roselle Park, NJ. May 2, 1996.
  • “Glynos, Cohen elected ’96-97 President, VP.” Kennilworth Leader: Kennilworth, NJ. May 9, 1996.
  • “Regional school board gives teacher awards.” Kennilworth Leader: Kennilworth, NJ. May 9, 1996.
  • “Senior citizens learn dangers of prescription drugs, alcohol.” Union Leader: Union, NJ. May 9, 1996.
  • “Planner’s just say no to drug clinic lot.” Union Leader: Union, NJ. May 9, 1996.
  • “Local man charged with contract killing.” Union Leader: Union, NJ. May 9, 1996.

Poetry

  • “Written On Her Body.” Decompression. (Vol.3 — June, 2010) »Link to Text
  • “To My First Love, Beth, In Second Grade.” Insanity’s Horse. (Fall 2008 – Spring 2009).
  • “…and then…” Unquiet Desperation.  (June/July 2008 – Volume 2, Issue 2), 12.
  • “¶6.” FLASHSHOT.  July 2008.
  • “Miscarriages.” Paterson Literary Review.  (Issue 34: 2005), 109. »Link to Text
  • “The Cherry Blossom Blooming.” Cerebration. 2003. Ed. Amrita Ghosh and Smita Maitra. » Link to Text
  • “The Cherry Blossoms Blooming.” The Newark Metro. 2003.  Ed. Robert W. Snyder.
  • “Lack.” Cerebration. 2003. Ed. Amrita Ghosh and Smita Maitra. »Link to Text
  • “Song.” PHOOYA.  (June 1998), 2.
  • “Backward Cento to Kenneth Koch.” Sensations Magazine. (Summer 1996), 93.
  • “The Zen Master Explains How He Writes His Poems.” Sensations Magazine.(Summer 1996), 108.
  • “Last Resistance.” The Rift. (Aug/Sep 1996), 15.
  • “The Bargain.” The Rift. (June/July 1996), 7.
  • “Good Night Father.” The Rift. (June/July 1996), 29.
  • “Essay on Creativity.” Stretchmarks. (May 1996), 14.
  • “Untitled.” Hipnosis. (Apr. 1996), 16.
  • “Moment.” Hipnosis. (Apr. 1996), 16.
  • “Things to Do Today.” World’s Too Heavy Press. (Mar 1996), 4.
  • “Evening In A Greasy Spoon Diner.” World’s Too Heavy Press. (Mar 1996), 13.
  • “Supermarket.” World’s Too Heavy Press. (Dec 1995), 18.
  • “Sitting.” World’s Too Heavy Press. (Apr 1995), 6-7.
  • “if.” World’s Too Heavy Press. (Apr 1995), 6-7.
  • “Untitled.” Sophomore Jinx. (Spring 1995), 48.
  • “‘Who is sane?’ asked the lunatic.” The Unsilenced Voice. (Mar/Apr 1995), 16.
  • “An Argument.” Expression Forum Review. (1995), 25-26.
  • “Lessons.” Expression Forum Review. (1994), 12.

COURSES TAUGHT

Rutgers – Newark, New Jersey

  • English 352, Special Topics in American Literature: The Beat Movement: A course focusing on the major works of the Beat Generation, including Allen Ginsberg’s HOWL and other Poems, Jack Kerouac’s novels On the Road and The Dharma Bums, William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch, and various short works and poems from other authors. However, more than merely surveying the literature, the course aims to incorporate various other cultural phenomenon of the period. A documentary film serves as the theoretical base for this exploration and is expanded upon with music from the period, recorded readings, historical information, and some exploration of the influence that Buddhist thought had on the writers. Ideally, the course aims to build a firm base for any further study and appreciation of the literary movement and its lingering influence on contemporary literature.

  • English 101, Composition I: The first of two required composition courses at Rutgers University, this class focuses on analytical writing based on non-fiction readings.  Students are expected to develop a critical understanding of argument, both in the recognition of the strategies of other writers and in the effective management of their own. Students must demonstrate the ability to write accurately, coherently, and thoughtfully about representative academic readings. The course also emphasizes strategies of revision and editing.
  • English 102, Composition II: The second of two required composition courses at Rutgers University, this is an analytical writing course based primarily on fiction readings.  Students are required to write frequently—both in and out of class—with a particular stress on critical thinking, revision and editing.  To pass this course, students must demonstrate the ability to make a coherent argument based on careful reading, thorough research, and clear and independent thinking. Student writing is expected to be not only free of grammatical errors, but graceful and thought provoking.
  • English 142/098, Communication Skills I: A basic skills course that assists the student in achieving the ability to read critically and to develop clear, fluent, well-organized grammatical writing appropriate for the university level. Students read a variety of essays for content and style, and write their own essays based on the readings. During the semester, students read and write essays organized around different rhetorical forms or modes. The course places revision, active decision making, and problem solving at its center as a technique for improving writing skills.
  • English 142/098, Communication Skills Workshop: An intensive remedial workshop tagged onto the first semester of a one year remedial English track, the curriculum is designed to address student issues with reading comprehension, critical thinking, basic grammar, syntax, diction and transition in analytical and expository essays.
  • English 143/099, Communication Skills II Workshop: An intensive remedial workshop tagged onto the second semester of a one year remedial English track, the curriculum is designed to address student issues with basic grammar, syntax, diction and transition in analytical and expository essays.

Seton Hall University  – South Orange, New Jersey

  • English 1201: College English I: An introduction to reading and writing on the college level, focusing on critical reading and thinking, exploring and developing an idea, writing an argument, learning how to research a subject, and engaging the ideas of others and incorporating them into one’s own work.

Drew University – Madison, New Jersey

  • Independent Study: ENGL 117: Advanced Studies in American Literature from the Civil War to World War I: Walt Whitman: An exploration of the prose and poetry of Walt Whitman.  Students will read extensive excerpts of several editions of Leaves of Grass including many passages from Whitman’s memoir Specimen Days and essays such as “Democratic Vistas.”  The course will be broken up into thematic units, focusing primarily on Whitman’s innovations in comparison to his contemporaries, his brazen sexuality, and his experience in the Civil War. Assignments will be writing and research intensive and will include in-class writing and two formal papers intended to deepen student knowledge of a particular aspect of Whitman’s work.
  • College Writing 1: In this course, students begin to acquire, to develop, and to practice the advanced literacy skills necessary for a liberal arts education. All of the students in this class are also enrolled in a College Seminar, and this class is designed to extend the sense of intellectual community developed in those Seminars and the related living-learning communities and Common Hour. Students are asked to develop questions and writing topics from material discussed in the Seminars and presented in the Common Hour. They explore ways to respond to those questions and write and revise papers as part of that process. They also learn to find and assess the appropriateness of a variety of kinds of sources, becoming information literate as they also become stronger academic writers.
  • College Writing 1: Accelerated: This advanced version of College Writing 1 covers in one semester much of the work that other students are covering in two semesters. Because of this, if a student earns a ‘C’ or better in this class, they do not have to take a course in the Spring.
  • English 1: At Drew University, English 1 introduces students to a variety of expository and academic forms of writing. The emphasis is on academic writing skills, of which general writing skills are an important component.  Students refine their ability to write summaries, syntheses, analyses, comparisons, definitions, and practice combining these forms into larger formal papers. The course presents a variety of  methods of pre-writing, organizing, developing, drafting, revising, and editing academic papers, in addition to introducing students to college-level internet and library research skills. Ideally, the course is run as a writer’s   workshop where students discuss essays (both professional and those written by their peers), explore writing and critical thinking strategies, and practice the skills they have learned. Individual conferences with the instructor, meetings with writing tutors, and comments on papers and drafts are all designed to help students acquire greater control over their writing, develop a more fluid writing style, and       master the art of academic writing.

Passaic County College – Wanaque, New Jersey

  • Developmental English: A remedial writing class emphasizing pre-writing techniques, drafting, revision and proofreading and basic grammar and style.


OTHER RELEVANT EMPLOYMENT

  • January 2010 – May 2010: Off-Site Writing Tutor/Learning Specialist, Conklin Academic Skills Center, The College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown, New Jersey.
  • April 2009: Co-Instructor, Grammar and Logic Workshop, Rutgers University Writing Center, Newark, New Jersey: A one-day intensive workshop covering logical strategies for identifying and correcting grammatical errors.  Instruction was focused on correcting syntax errors, misplaced and dangling modifiers, and errors in parallel structure.
  • March 2009: Writing Workshop Leader, Rutgers University School of Nursing, Newark, New Jersey: A two-day intensive workshop focusing on revision and editing of a midterm paper dealing with current issues in health care.
  • Sept. 2008 – Aug. 2009: Research Assistant for Dr. David Hoddeson, Department of English, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey.
  • Sept. 2008 – Aug. 2009: Writing Tutor. Rutgers University Writing Center, Newark, New Jersey.
  • Aug. 2006 – Jun 2008: Tutor, Huntington Learning Center, Verona, New Jersey: SAT Reading, SAT Writing, SAT II Literature, SAT II U.S. History, ACT English, ACT Reading, ACT Writing, English grammar, and general essay composition.
  • Spring, 2006: Teaching Assistant, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey: History 108: History of Work, Professor Richard A. Greenwald, Director of Business, Society & Culture Program; Associate Professor of History.
  • Spring, 2004: English Tutor, Estelle Finkel Educational, Livingston, New Jersey: SAT verbal and general essay composition
  • Jan. – Jun, 2000: Board of Education, Bloomfield, New Jersey.
  • Jun. 2000 – Jan. 2011: Letter Writer, Dr. Joseph Rosania, Chiropractic Physician, Belleville, New Jersey: Research, Proofreading, Composition and Editing for medical reports, accident reports, insurance arbitration letters, medical necessity reports, billing, general correspondence.
  • Apr. – May, 1996: Staff Writer, Worrall Community Newspapers, Union, New Jersey.

VOLUNTEER WORK

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