Susan B.A. Somers-Willett
Susan B.A. Somers-Willett
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Related Links

Montclair State University English Department

Carnegie Mellon University English Department

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign English Department

University of Texas at Austin English Department

Rude Mechanicals' Grrl Action Workshop

Teaching Interests

  • Creative Writing
  • 20th c./Contemporary American Poetry and Poetics
  • Performance Studies
  • Cultural Studies
  • Gender and Women’s Literature
  • African American Literature and Culture


Poetry and Performance Class
University of Illinois, Spring 2005

Recent Courses

2009-2013 | Assistant Professor
English Department, Montclair State University

  • 601: African American Poetry and Poetics (graduate seminar)
  • 412: Advanced Poetry Workshop
  • 312: Intermediate Poetry Workshop: Form and Technique
  • 325: American Poetry: WWII to the Present
  • 364: Contemporary American Poetry
  • 365: Poetry and Performance
  • 250: Special Topics in English
  • 212: Introduction to Writing Poetry
  • 200: Introduction to Creative Writing (Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, Drama)

2008-2009 | Visiting Writer and Lecturer
English Department, The University of Texas at Austin

  • 341L: Advanced Poetry Workshop (senior/graduate level)
  • 376M: African American Poetry and Poetics (cross-listed with Afro-American Studies)
  • 379S: Senior Seminar: Poetry and Performance
  • 379M: Sylvia Plath’s Poetry and Prose
  • 391L: Independent Study in Creative Writing (graduate level)

2006-2007 | Visiting Artist
Center for the Arts in Society, Carnegie Mellon University

  • 64-401/76-401/76-701: Contemporary American Poetry, Poetics, and Publics (senior/graduate seminar)
  • 64-301/76-211: Poetry and Performance

2004-2006 | Visiting Assistant Professor
English Department, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • 461: Contemporary American Poetry and Poetics (senior/graduate level)
  • 460: Feminism and the African American Literary Tradition (senior/graduate level). Cross-listed with Women’s Studies and Afro-American Studies.
  • 274: Poetry and Performance, Spring 2005.

1998-2002 | Assistant Instructor
English Department, The University of Texas at Austin

  • 318L: Poetry and Performance (introductory creative writing)
  • 318L: Gender and the Writing of Poetry (introductory creative writing). Cross-listed with Women’s Studies.
  • 309K : Race, Gender, and the Image in Black Culture. Taught course as part of the Gateway Program for retention students; cross-listed with African American Studies.
  • 306: First-Year Rhetoric and Composition

1996-1998 | Teaching Assistant
English Department, The University of Texas at Austin

  • CHE 333T: Technical Writing
  • 316K: Masterworks of American Literature
  • 316K: Masterworks of British Literature
  • 324: Modern British Fiction

2001-2003 | Instructor and Guest Artist, Grrl Action

Coached a diverse group of girls, ages 12-15, in a month-long autobiography and performance workshop. Grrl Action is a non-profit community outreach project sponsored by the Rude Mechanicals Theater Company.