Sandra L. Giles
Vita
Work Address:
Department of Literature and Language
School of Liberal Arts
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
Tifton, GA 31793
229-391-4961
Education
PhD in English (Creative Writing and Composition/Rhetoric), 2008, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
MA in English, 1991, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia
BA in English, 1989, Valdosta State University
AA in English, 1987, Abraham Baldwin College, Tifton, Georgia
Teaching Experience
Creative Nonfiction
Fiction Writing
Introduction to Creative Writing (Multi-Genre)
Nature and Environmental Writing
World Literature II
American Literature II
Composition I and II
Freshman Learning Communities
Learning Support English I and II
Freshman Seminar
Business Communications
Teaching Positions
Associate Professor of English
Fall 1997-Spring 2000, Fall 2003-Present, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Tifton, Georgia
Teaching Assistant, English
Fall 2000-Summer 2003, Department of English, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Full-Time Temporary Instructor of English
Fall 1993-Summer 1997, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia
Fall 1991-Spring 1992, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia
Part-Time Instructor of English
Fall 1992-Summer 1993, Valdosta State University
Teaching Awards
School of Liberal Arts Nominee for Donaldson Teaching Award, Spring 2011 and 2010
ABAC Nominee for Governor’s Teaching Fellows, 2009
Robert O. Lawton Award for Excellence in Teaching First-Year Writing, Spring 2002, English Department, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Selected Professional Activity
Publications/Awards
Forthcoming: “Crossing the Fall Line,” “First Memory,” and “At the Aquarium” (poetry) in Shout Them From the Mountaintops II: Georgia Poems and Stories.
“Cowboy Boots” (fiction) in Wilderness House Literary Review 6.2 (Summer 2011): <www.whlreview.com>.
Review of Terri Cheney's Manic: A Memoir. Pegasus (Spring 2011): 72.
“13 in 1980” (creative nonfiction) in Writer Advice (January-March 2011): <writeradvice.com/reader.html>.
"Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?" Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1. Eds. Charlie Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2010. 191-204. Also available at <writingspaces.org>.
“They Get Mad When You Save Yourself” (creative nonfiction), Honorable Mention, New Millennium Writings Nonfiction Contest, Winter 2009.
Chapter 1 of “The Tower,” from The Eight of Swords (novel). Pegasus (Spring 2009): 58-9.
“Reading and Writing in Bad Decline? Creative Writing and the AWP Conference 2007” (article). Blackwater Reflections 2.1 (October 2007): 2.
Review of Earnest Gaines’s Mozart and Leadbelly: Essays and Stories. Dead Tree Notes (Spring 2007): 1-2.
“More Than Just the Pedagogy” (article). Blackwater Reflections 1.1 (October 2006): 6.
Co-Authored with Tom C. Hunley. “What To Do When You’re Not Really New” (article). Feeling Our Way: A Writing Teacher’s Sourcebook. Eds. Wendy Bishop and Deborah Coxwell-Teague. Houghton-Mifflin, 2004. 18-29.
“Letter to the Reader: An Assignment in Metacognition” (article). Pedagogy Papers 2004. Associated Writing Programs. Was available online at awpwriter.org Spring 2004-Spring 2005.
“The Mediums, Their Message” (creative nonfiction). On Writing: A Process Reader. Ed. Wendy Bishop. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004. 289-93.
“After Mowing” (poetry). Pegasus (Spring 2004): 8.
“Review of Thomas Jeffrey Vasseur’s Discovering The World: Thirteen Stories.” Southeast Review 22.2 (Spring 2003): 142-4.
“Boundary Places” (creative nonfiction). 1999 Invitational Summer Institute South Georgia Writing Project Anthology. Ed. Jennifer A. Trevisol. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State UP, 1999. 31-2.
Conference Presentations
Co-Presented (with Jeff Newberry and C.D. Mitchell) “Literary Magazine Pedagogy,” Other Words: A Conference of the Florida Literary Arts Coalition, St. Augustine, Florida, November 6, 2010.
Co-Presented (with Jana Williams and Mike Williams) “Recess For Writers: Playing with Language and Laughter,” Student Success In First-Year Composition Conference, Statesboro, Georgia, February 4, 2005.
“Generative Forms for Prose Writing: The Greeks Invented That Wheel,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, San Antonio, Texas, March 24-7, 2004.
“Using Process Memos To Respond to Student Writing,” Responding to Creative Writing. Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, February 26-March 1, 2003.
“To Avoid the Franken-Quilt, Design Better Research Assignments,” Student Success in First-Year Composition, Statesboro, Georgia, February 11, 2000.
“Writing to Explore Historical, Sociological, and Psychological Effects: A Memoir Assignment for College Freshmen,” South Georgia Writing Project Summer Institute, Valdosta, Georgia, July 14, 1999.
“Sentence Boundaries Can Be Common Sense,” University System of Georgia’s Learning Support Programs Conference, Augusta, Georgia, April 18-20, 1999.
Co-Presented with Erin O’Neill and Sam Grantham. “English 098 As An Exit Course: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?” University System of Georgia’s Learning Support Programs Conference, Augusta, Georgia, April 18-20, 1999.
Literary Readings
Read original flash fiction “Cowboy Boots” during the Love Affair Fine Arts Festival, Tifton, Georgia, and during ABAC’s Pegasus Release Party, Spring 2010
Read original creative nonfiction “Soldiers” during the Love Affair Fine Arts Festival, Tifton, Georgia, Spring 2009.
Read from original series of linked haiku during the Pegasus/Baldwin Library National Poetry Month Reading, ABAC, April 24, 2007.
Read from original novel, The Eight Of Swords, during George Scott Day Celebration of Arts and Humanities, ABAC, April 13, 2006.
Read from original creative nonfiction “They Get Mad When You Save Yourself” during George Scott Day, ABAC, April 21, 2005.
Read original short fiction, “Love and Madness,” during Florida State University’s Warehouse Readings Series, Tallahassee, Florida, September 10, 2002.
Professional Institutes Attended
National Writing Project Summer Institute, South Georgia Writing Project site, Valdosta State University, Summer 1999.
Selected Service to Institution and Community—ABAC
Chair, Professional and Creative Writing Committee, Fall 2010-Present
Committee to design and propose new Bachelor’s Degree in English, Fall 2010
Chair, Committee to design the Writing and Communication track for the Rural Studies Bachelor’s Degree, Fall 2009
Chair, First-Year Writing Committee, Fall 2009-Spring 2010
CTL Faculty Learning Community, Fall 2010 with presentation “Alternatives to Quizzes in Literature Classes,” 28 March 2011
School of Liberal Arts Promotion and Tenure Committee, Fall 2010
Department of Literature and Language Promotion and Tenure Committee, Fall 2010
Curriculum Committee, Fall 2008-Spring 2009
Chair, Division Promotion and Tenure Committee, Fall 2008
President’s Team on Professional Development and Engagement, Spring 2008
Faculty Senate, Fall 2006-Spring 2008, and Sub-Committee on Student Evaluations, Fall 2007-Spring 2008
Chair of English Search Committee, Spring 2008
Academic Advising, Fall 1998-Spring 2000, Fall 2003-Present
Teacher-Consultant for the Blackwater Writing Project, a unit of the National Writing Project through Valdosta State University, Fall 1999-Present
Tiftarea Writers Haven (founder), a group of local fiction writers, Summer 2005-8
Pegasus Faculty Co-Advisor, Fall 1998-Spring 2000, Spring 2009-Present
Co-Coordinator of the first Conference of the College Literary Magazine Association (along with Herbert Shippey, Su Senapati, Billy Reynolds, and the Pegasus organization) April 13, 2007
Writing Center Coordinator, Fall 1998-Spring 2000
Professional Memberships
AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs)
NCTE (National Council for Teachers of English)
Phi Kappa Phi
Related Work Experience
Technical Writer/Editor
Paralegal