Dr. Sandra Hiortdahl
Class of 1985
Major/Minor: English
The 1985 Sophie Kerr Prize Winner
Bio
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember because it helps me to figure out how the world works and also allows me to reorder the world when I don’t appreciate how it works. Great writers from the past have changed my life with their images and characters and worlds-come-to-life, particularly the late John Gardner. I’ve won several awards for my writing, including Washington College’s Sophie Kerr Prize and the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the novel (Maryland). For the foreseeable future, I’m teaching English at Northeast State Community College in East Tennessee.
Education
2008 Ph.D. in English
The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Dissertation: “John Gardner’s Grendel: Reinventing Beowulf” passed with distinction
2000 MA in English
University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
Thesis: “James Joyce’s Exiles, The Influence of Ibsen”
1991 MFA in Creative Writing
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
Thesis: In Certain Seasons, a novel
1985 BA in English, with honors
Washington College, Chestertown, MD.
Teaching Awards
2008 Digital Innovator Award, for Support of Digital Media Literacy, Washington College
2006 Teacher of the Month, Alpha Kappa Gamma, The Catholic University of America
2002 Evaluative Ranking, Distinguished Member of the Faculty, West Chester University
2000 Distinguished Adjunct Faculty Member of the Year, University of Delaware
Curriculum Vitae
Interview
Publications
Cultural Dissonance and Norfolk - The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review
Enraptured in East Tennessee - Punchnel’s