Karen Busch

k.busch@lsc.edu

Office: W3666

Phone: 218.733.5973

• B.S. in English and Secondary Education from Bemidji State University Writing Emphasis and Sociology Minor
  Coaching License
• M.S. in English and Education from Bemidji State University

Teaching is literally IN Karen’s blood with her dad–a teacher, a coach, a principal, and a superintendent–and her grandma–a one room schoolhouse teacher (K-8) on the prairie of North Dakota. Karen was still “Undecided” as a sophomore when an English professor asked her, “Have you ever thought of an English major?” 

Karen started her teaching career as a Writing Center tutor and gained valuable experience for five years. She went on to teach at various levels: junior high, high school, technical college, community college, state university, and the U of MN system.

Every semester Karen is excited and surprised at her students’ journey to be powerful writers–from bumpy, gravel road to smooth, paved highway.

Karen feels finally at home in Duluth, personally and professionally.

On her desk, Karen has a framed photo of a bird’s nest with a couple of eggs with an Emily Dickinson quote, “I dwell in possibilities.”

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Steve Dalager

dalagest@lsc.edu

Office: W3616

Phone: 218.733.5948

A.A. from Northland Community College

B.A. in English Education from the University of North Dakota

M.A. in English from the University of North Dakota

Steve has taught both high school and college English since 1986. He’s been at LSC since 2001 and couldn’t be happier, he says, “because every day holds the possibility that another student will find his or her voice, and recognize the power of the written word.” He and his wife, Sherry (also an LSC instructor), live with their daughters just through the woods from the LSC campus.

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 Kelli Hallsten

hallsteke@lsc.edu

Office: W3608

Phone: 218.733.5957

• B.A. in Literature and Writing from St. Cloud State University
• M.A. in Rhetoric and Applied Writing from St. Cloud State University

Kelli started teaching composition at St. Cloud State University as a graduate student, where she also had experience in the Writing Center as the assistant director and a tutor. She spent two years in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, teaching all levels of writing as well as some random courses such as Mass Communications and Human Relations before coming back home to Duluth in 2005 to teach at Lake Superior College. Kelli finds satisfaction in showing the students the power of the written word, and she also enjoys teaching people that “alright” is really spelled “all right.”
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Jerry Niebauer

niebauge@lsc.edu

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Jocelyn Pihlaja

pihlajjo@lsc.edu

Office: W3614

Phone: 218.733.7657

• B.A. in English from Carleton College (concentration in film studies; semester of study in Dublin, Ireland)
• M.A. in English as a Second Language from the University of Idaho

Jocelyn started teaching composition at the University of Idaho in 1991.  Since then, she has taught writing and literature at the University of Colorado, Riverland Community College, and now at Lake Superior College.   While she loves all punctuation, she is partial to the semi-colon and the dash.  And, yes, she realizes having “favorite punctuation marks” officially qualifies her to preside over the Grammar Geek Club.

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Amy Jo Swing

a.swing@lsc.edu

Office: W3676

Phone: 218.733.7670

• B.A. in English from Purdue University
• M.F.A. in Creative Writing (poetry emphasis) from Texas State University, San Marcos

Amy Jo went to graduate school to study poetry and came out an English teacher. She couldn’t be happier with the outcome. Since 1993, she’s been teaching composition, creative writing, Shakespeare, and anything else that involves words, themes, connections, and love of language. She has been in Duluth and teaching at Lake Superior College since 1996. She loves the lake, the birch and spruce trees, and the snow, all of which remind her of her Alaskan upbringing. Her favorite English jargon word: a tie between onomatopoeia and caesura.

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Full-Time Faculty Not Pictured:

Damon Kapke:  kapkeda@lsc.edu

Kirsi Halonen:  haloneki@lsc.edu