Curriculum Vitae for

Ruth Rhodes

A curriculum vitae (vitae is Latin for “race of life”) is like a resume, though usually it goes on for more than just a page.  It is the summary of a person’s education, professional history, and job qualifications.  Here’s a bit of my current CV:

Education and Honors

MA in English, 1995, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, Summa Cum Laude, Oviate Scholarship for teaching and research, McIntyre Award for outstanding graduate paper of 1995, three-time winner Case Reserve Review Fiction Prize

BA in English, 1992, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, Summa Cum Laude, Senior Honors Thesis, Phi Beta Kappa

Teaching Experience

Assistant Professor of English, College of the Redwoods, Crescent City, California, August 2005-Present

  • Planned and taught English 350 (Reading and Writing Skills), English 150 (College reading and Writing Skills), English 1A (College Composition), and English 1B (Composition and Critical Thinking)
  • Serving on several faculty committees, including Faculty Development and Building Renovation.
  • Contributing to college events including “I’m Going to College” and “How to Get a Job at Home Depot”

Education Specialist, Redwood National and State Parks, Crescent City, California, November 2003 to August 2005

  • Directed curriculum-based educational programming for the South District
  • Managed Wolf Creek Education Center, which presents Outdoor School, a curriculum based environmental science program for 5th and 6th graders in Del Norte and Humboldt Counties
  • Regularly hired, trained, and supervised seasonal teaching staff

Adjunct Instructor, South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia, WA, September 2002 – March 2003

  • Planned and taught three sessions of English 102 (Argumentation and Research)
  • Served on the All-College Assessment Committee
  • Worked at SPSCC while holding a technical writing position at Mount Rainier

Secondary School English Teacher, United States Peace Corps, Kenya, Hobunaka Secondary School (1996) and Kiranja Girls Secondary School (1997)

  • Planned and taught courses in grammar, composition, poetry, drama, fiction, and oral literature
  • Created, cataloged, and managed two school libraries
  • Patron of the Wildlife Club and Drama Club (1997)

Graduate Teaching Fellow, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, August 1993-May 1995

  • Planned and taught three semesters of English 150 (Expository Writing), each with a different focus (Nature Writing; Women Writers; Girls, Girls, Girls!)
  • Planned and taught one semester of English 148 (ESL Composition)
  • Assisted the Graduate Director in teaching ENGL 225 (Major British Writers)

Related Professional Experience

Technical Writer, National Park Service, Mount Rainier National Park, December 2001-September 2003

  • Designed and edited an issue of the park newspaper, The Tahoma News
  • Designed and edited a community newsletter, Park Issues
  • Wrote and designed Mount Rainier’s Commercial Services Plan
  • Redesigned, updated, and created numerous informational handouts for the public

Resource Educator / Park Ranger, National Park Service, 1998-2001

  • Olympic National Park, March 1998-July 1998
  • Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, July 1998-August 2000
  • North Cascades National Park Service Complex, August 2000-October 2001

Conference Presentations

Literature and Writing

  • “Rich Chains: Seventeenth Century Visions of Nature and Aemilia Lanyer's "‘Description of Cooke‑ham,’" McIntyre Award Ceremony, Case Western Reserve University, May, 1995
  •   “After Alcuin: The Impact of Mary Wollstonecraft on the Novels of Charles Brockden Brown,” February, 1994, Unheard Voices, Graduate Student Conference, University of Missouri-Columbia
  • “Selections from Alaska Men: A Novel in Progress,” February, 1995, Text, Texture, and Context, Graduate Student Conference, University of Missouri-Columbia
  • “Selections from Alaska Men: A Novel in Progress,” February 1995, Speaking Aloud, Midwest Feminist Graduate Student Conference, University of Toledo

Resource Education

  •    “The Samoan Way: Setting up the First Interpretive Program in the National Park of American Samoa,” Reveal the Untold Stories, National Association of Interpretation, Spring Training Workshop, April 3-7, 2001, Honolulu, Hawaii

Publications / Forthcoming Publications

  • “Learning to Fly,” BBC World Service’s Program Short Story, aired December 1997
  • “Gorillas in Our Midst,” in Adventures in Green Travel:  Essays in Ecotourism, Edited Andrea Herrmann, forthcoming
  • Completed a novel for my Master’s Thesis, Alaska Men
  • Currently working on a novel, The Last Snake in Africa