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College of Arts and Humanities

Jeremiah Alexander Henry

Lecturer

English

jhenry0302@csufresno.edu

Education

M.A. with Distinction (Summa Cum Laude), English Literature, California State University, Fresno. 2015.

Thesis: “Literature as Cultural Catalyst or Cataclysm?: Friction Zones in Folklore, Myth, and Religion in Victorian Fiction”
Committee: Ruth Jenkins (Chair), Steve Adisasmito-Smith, John Beynon
Description: My work explores what I have named “friction zones,” points of interpretive anomaly and contention between the Judeo-Christian narrative and other, antecedent mytho-pagan narratives; moreover, this work focuses on these friction zones as they appear in selections from Victorian prose and poetry, revealing tensions between hegemonic and subversive narratives. While this research builds on feminist and deconstructionist literary theory, it also informs my core pedagogy which is to help students see places in their own lives where they have been marginalized and to nurture their own power in their present and future narratives.

B.A. with Distinction (Summa Cum Laude), English, California State University, Fresno. 2012.

A.A., English, Fresno City College, Fresno. 2010.

Courses Taught

ENGL-10: Accelerated Academic Literacy, 3 units, 20 sections. Fall 2014 – Present
Another directed self-placement option, English 10 also satisfies general education requirements in written communication but at a faster pace than the 5A/5B “stretch” option. Emphasis placed on rhetorical reading and writing strategies, reflection, expository reading and writing, textual analysis, synthesis, foundational research methods, and genre and discipline-specific reading and writing practices according to students’ individual majors. Conducted in a variety of formats including traditional face-to-face, tablet-enhanced, and “HyFlex” blended online.

ENGL-5A/5B: Academic Literacy I & II, 6 units, 24 sections. Fall 2012 – Present
The English 5A/5B two-semester sequence is one of the university’s directed self-placement options that satisfies general education requirements in written communication. Emphasis placed on rhetorical reading and writing strategies, reflection, expository reading and writing, textual analysis, evaluation, foundational research methods, and integrating outside sources into analytical and argumentative essays. Students who choose English 5A/5B overwhelmingly tend to be emergent bilingual learners and first-generation college students. Conducted in a variety of formats including traditional face-to-face, learning communities with interdisciplinary faculty cohorts, tablet-enhanced, and blended online.

ESE: Early Start English, 1 unit, 15 sections. Summer 2012 – 2021
A bridge course for incoming freshmen, Early Start English puts students through a condensed experience of what reading and writing practices they will encounter at the university. Emphasis placed on academic reading and writing strategies, reflection, and habits of mind for successful university-level work.

ESE: Early Start English, 1 unit, 3 sections. Summer 2014
Developed curriculum for multiple teaching cohorts and led a cohort of four other teachers teaching 200 students per section. In addition to teaching, responsibilities in team building, micro and macro-organization. Live sessions recorded for use in off-site online instruction.

UNIV-1: Summer Bridge, 1 unit, 2 sections. Summer 2013 – 2014
A bridge course for incoming freshmen, Early Start English puts students through a condensed experience of the reading and writing practices they will encounter at the university. Emphasis placed on academic reading and writing strategies, reflection, and habits of mind for successful university-level work.

After working jobs in industries ranging from real estate to retail, I joined California State University, Fresno's Department of English as a lecturer in 2015 where I continue to teach a variety of courses in composition and rhetoric. In 2017 I also began teaching composition, rhetoric, and logic courses at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA. My teaching and research interests include peaceful language practices, mindfulness, compassionate pedagogy, ed-tech, and curriculum design for inclusion and resiliency. Yet my passions don’t end with teaching and language.

In addition to helping my students find powerful and peaceful language practices, in 2019 I started Firewell Technology Solutions, a bespoke IT service company serving small businesses.

When my students find out that I also own an IT service company, they’re often as surprised as my clients are when they find out that I’m also college English teacher. And I get it. Scholarship in education and English seems a world apart from a profession in IT. But my view is that there is a synergy between education and technology.

My students often benefit from my technical expertise (particularly during the times of emergency distance learning protocols). My clients often benefit from the skills that come with advanced degrees in English, namely, accurate, compassionate, and collaborative language practices that enable us to work together joyfully and efficiently. So I purposefully cultivate ongoing expertise in both of these fields in order to provide a unique and useful experience for my students and my clients.

Mindfulness approaches to curriculum and pedagogy. Writing and reading as acts of peace. Burkean rhetoric. Composition and communication. Flipped classroom. Digital humanities. Universal Design for Learning. British literature (particularly 19th century). Folklore and mythology. Irish literature. Fantastic literature. Educational technology.