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English & Communications departments updating their programs
New classes and tracks on the Fall schedule
By Stephanie Hallman
J-Lab Staff Writer
The English and communications programs are gearing up to offer students several new classes and even a new English creative writing track next semester.
Corban’s in-house graphic designer, Corey Wells, will be teaching a Visual Design class covering the basics of graphic design during the fall. The class will remain an elective for another school year, but may eventually be required for journalism students.
“This class will begin to fill, and begin is the important word, a missing part of the arts component of Corban’s liberal arts education,” Dr. Marty Trammell, English department chair, said. “I am so thankful that God has led someone our way who is a professional artist and faithfully serves Him. I think we’ll hear more art discussions in the dorms, and we’ll have students commenting on the difference visual arts make in their lives, as well as the difference they make in God’s Kingdom.”
Another new communications class to be offered is Debate and Oratory, taught by adjunct professor Andrew Madaus, who teaches at George Fox.
The English department will also be adding two classes as part of the newly formed creative writing track.
The specific requirements are what set it apart from other English tracks. Required classes include Creative Writing and Poetry Writing, both taught by Dr. Collette Tennant, associate professor of English; Play Writing, which will be taught by an adjunct; Creative Nonfiction, previously offered under the title of Advanced Composition and taught by Dr. Jim Hills, professor of humanities; and Short Story Writing.
Tennant is especially excited about the Short Story Writing class, which will be taught by a local award-winning short story author, Gina Ochsner.
Ochsner has been a guest teacher in her classes, after the two met through Tennant’s daughter.
“She’s both devoted to her Christian walk and her artistic craft,” Tennant said.
Ochsner has published her short stories in two book collections, “People I Wanted to Be” and “The Necessary Grace to Fall,” which won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. She has also been published in “The New Yorker.”
The student response to the new track has been positive, Tennant said.
“It’s a really nice option for those who have a special interest in this aspect of English,” she said. “And they’ll still be getting an English degree.”
