Mary Pernal Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of English and Writing Coordinator in the Jose Calhoun Learning Center

Dunton Hall 334
One College Circle
Poultney, VT 05764-1199
Email Address: pernalm@greenmtn.edu
802-287-8269; Fax: 802-287-8080

"I am happy to be here at Green Mountain College. I am especially happy about the environmentally sustainable vision of the college. I've recently come from Post University in Connecticut, and before that from Dine College on the Navajo Reservation in Tsaile, Arizona. My field in English is primarily Gender Studies/Women's Studies and Multicultural Literature. I have a book out on Multicultrural Women's Literature which includes gender diversity as an aspect of multiculturalism. I am also a bit of a generalist, and I enjoy teaching a variety of literature and writing courses. My other life experiences include two years in the Peace Corps in the Philippines, extended study of Tibetan Buddhism in India, and travels with students to Berlin and Prague. I have also traveled to Poland, to study the works of Polish poets in translation through a program with the Jagellonian University of Krakow."

Education and Training
Ph.D. English, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, (Sept. '96 - May 2000)
M.A. English, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, (Sept. '94 - May '96)
M.A.T. English, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, (Sept. '94 - Dec. '95)
B.A. English, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, (Sept. '81- May '85)

Research Interests
Creative Fiction, Gender Studies, Multicultural Literature, Buddhist Philosophy and Literature.

Courses Taught
Buddhist Literature, World Literature, Voices of Civil Disobedience, Multicultural Literature, Native American Literature, Literature of Nature, Introduction to Creative Writing, Creative Writing: the Short Story, Introduction to Literary Theory, Images of Nature, Voices of Community, Women's Literature, and Vegetarian Lifestyle.

Teaching Experience
Post University, Waterbury, Conn., Assistant Professor of English, 2001 to 2005
Dine College, Tsaile, Ariz., English instructor, 2001
Binghamton University, graudate instructor in English, 1996 to 2000
Tompkins-Cortland Community College, adjunct professor in Women's Studies and English, 2000
The Alternative Community School, Ithaca, N.Y., student teaching high school students, 1995
Overseas work as ESL Instructor in Thailand and India with Tibetan Refugees
Peace Corps, Lamut, Ifugao, of the Philippines instructor of college-level Biology and English

Experience Abroad
Led a group of students on a two-week trip to Berlin and Prague, with a course on contemporary European Literature, as part of Teikyo Post University’s study abroad program, May 2002.
Awarded a university grant to study abroad in Krakow, Poland. Studied Polish literature for one month, with an emphasis on poetry, as well as art with Professors from Jagellonian University, July 2003.
Chosen as an alternate for a six-week summer Fulbright program to Argentina and Peru for 2004.

Publications
My dissertation has recently been published as a book by Peter Lang Publications. It is part of a series on the intersections within cultural studies of feminism and issues relevant to race and gender discrimination. The title of my book is Explorations in Contemporary Feminist Literature. In it I examine works of fiction by 20th century and late 19th century women writers with the intention of demonstrating that literature is an effective avenue for expressing complex theoretical arguments regarding social injustice, the need for social change, and the means for effecting that change on personal and public levels. It also addresses the intersections between of issues gender identity, race and feminism. In a sense it is an attempt to define contemporary feminism while recognizing its complexity due to avenues of connection with other social and personal issues. Authors who are given particular attention in the book include Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Sarah Orne Jewett, Willa Cather, and others.

I have also presented papers at various national conferences, including the Popular Culture and American Culture Conferences, and others

Membership in Professional Associations
Modern Language Assiciation, Trustee of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences (representing Green Mountain College).