Richard Jewell  College Teaching, Meditation, Creative Writing

                 
BOOKS

Writing for College: Three Simple Steps, Many Types of Papers, with Examples

Experiencing the Humanities: An Introductory Handbook

Writing to Literature: Six Methods with Examples

Writing Consciousness: Using Critical Thinking, Heuristics, and Metacognition
             

ESSAYS and ARTICLES

"Seven Methods of Teaching Literature through Writing"

"Background for Teaching Literature Using Writing"

"The Nobel Prize"

"Hiring Guide for Minnesota Two-Year Colleges"

"Online Tutoring: Writing, Reading, & ESL Vocabulary" (with Ann Ludlow)
 

            IHCC COURSE SYLLABUSES

First-Year Comp    Research Writing (Comp II)

Intro to Literature       World Literature       Intro to Humanities
 

MnWE—MINNESOTA WRITING & ENGLISH: https://www.MnWE.org

College Teaching Biography

Richard Jewell retired from the English and Humanities Departments of Inver Hills College in MinnState (Minnesota State Colleges and Universities) in 2019. He was a Writing, Literature, and Humanities professor. In 2007, he cofounded MnWE--the Minnesota Writing & English--with Donald Ross of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. This all-volunteer professional organization sponsors an annual two-day conference, a yearly scholarly journal, and a bimonthly newsletter. Richard continues to serve as general coordinator and MnWE News editor. Conference information and the News are sent through the MinnState English Discipline Listserv to 1500-2500 faculty and students in colleges and universities in Minnesota and parts of nearby states. You may be added to the list by emailing Richard (see About).

He attended Shimer College, a Great Books school, in Mt. Carroll, Illinois and in the city of Oxford for two years. He then moved to Monmouth College in Illinois (B.A. in Philosophy, minor concentration in creative writing). He was accepted into the Master of Arts in Creative Writing program at San Francisco State University in 1970 but, because of the Vietnam War draft, had to divert, attending San Francisco Theological Seminary, Berkeley campus, instead, where he specialized in existentialism (M.A. in Theology) and street ministry (M.Div.). He then moved to Minneapolis and developed a freelance writing career with over 100 publications of his articles, photos, and stories. However, discovering a love of teaching, in 1983 he began offering composition classes at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota while earning an M.A. in English with training in composition theory and a creative writing thesis in 1985.

At St. Cloud State, he started developing his own writing textbook, creating the early chapters of what now is a full textbook with sample student papers, Writing for College. At another school, in order to develop its first Introduction to the Humanities course, he began creating the first chapters of the introductory handbook Experiencing the Humanities. Both books have become OER (Open Educational Resources)--free online college textbooks--used nationally.

In his adjunct years that followed, he taught college, university, developmental, creative, and magazine writing from the 1000 to 5000 levels, as well as literature, humanities, philosophy, and religion. His teaching also included arts residencies in K-12 schools and teaching creative writing and writing for publication in community education programs throughout Minnesota. During this time, he presented at national and regional conferences and published scholarly works on critical thinking in writing, the Nobel Prize, and adjunct teaching issues, and a number of creative stories and poems (see Creative Writing).

He moved to a full-time Education Specialist position at the University of Minnesota in 1996, teaching upper- and lower-division writing in the disciplines and composition courses. He also developed UMN-TC English's first comprehensive composition and writing-center website and won a grant for a new writing-dedicated computer lab.

In 2001, he accepted a tenured position at Inver Hills College in its English and Humanities Departments. He taught composition, research writing, introductions to the humanities and to literature, and world literature. In addition, he facilitated Inver Hills' Annual Research Conference (ARC) for students, the twice-yearly Student Success Day (SSD) conference, and the school's chapter of the International Honor Society Phi Theta Kappa and several regional conferences the chapter hosted. He received the student body's Best Teacher Award in 2016 and began half-time retirement, and retired fully in 2019.

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Most recent page revision: May 2024
Top photo: Richard as a professor © 2000 by Peggy Sorrell