English Department
A Great Place to Begin Your Future
- MCC English Department Website
- About Us
- Events Calendar
- The MCC Writing Program
- Literature Concentration
- Creative Writing Concentration
- Visiting Writers Series
- Dead River Review
- Information for Students
- Information for Faculty
- English Faculty
Full-Time Faculty
JILL KELLER is Department Chair and Professor of English. She originally began at MCC as an adjunct instructor in 1992 after completing her MA at Boston University and BA at Brandeis University. Her teaching interests are Early/Modern World Literature, Modern American, Shakespeare, and British Literature, as well as Comp 1, Comp 2, and the Accelerated Learning Program. One of her professional interests is infusing her composition courses with Positive Psychology, which focuses on developing individual strengths in and out of the classroom. Another is serving as co-coordinator of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Group on campus. She is deeply grateful and inspired to teach and learn here for so many years with her wonderful students and colleagues.
DONA CADY is a tenured faculty in the English and Humanities departments after having served as Dean of Humanities and Dean of Global Education at MCC. Her degrees in History, English, and European Archaeology from the University of the Pacific, the University of Notre Dame, and Somerville College, Oxford, and currently MLA at Kellogg College, Oxford University respectively have provided a unique perspective from which to successfully advocate that interdisciplinary and international education are essential for student success in today’s increasingly interdependent environment. She has written and directed multiple grants including the 2015-16 Fulbright Hays Group Study Abroad to Cambodia, is MCC-ASDP Regional Center Rep, and ASDP Alumni Association past-President and current Board member. Her latest work “Emily Georgiana Kemp: An Early Twentieth Century Traveler’s Perspective on the Heart-Mind of China” in Chinese Women: Crossing Borders and Confounding Identity (2021) will be published by SUNY Press.https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/globaleducation/
ANAHIT T. SHAHINIAN is a native of Yerevan, Armenia. At 5, Anahit played Aunt Polly in the kindergarten version of “Tom Sawyer’s Adventures” - in English. Graduated from high school with honors. Tutored and helped classmates and friends in school years and loved doing it. Received MS in English Philology (linguistics, translation, teaching) from Yerevan State University. Graduated with honors. Received Ph. D. in Germanic Languages (Lexicology of Modern English) from Moscow State Linguistic University. In 1988, when a devastating earthquake hit Armenia, worked as Mother Teresa’s personal interpreter for her three visits to the severest hit areas. Completed a Teacher Refresher course in Ealing, UK, Technical College. Has taught students from over 85 countries. Enjoys working with students in class and beyond
KERRI GAMACHE joined the English Department at MCC in 2014, after receiving her Master’s Degree in Literary Studies from Salem State University. Although her graduate studies focused on European Literature, her literary and teaching interests have shifted to voices traditionally marginalized in American culture. Her writing and research classes center on protest art, and global gender equality movements. In 2016, Kerri was awarded a Fulbright-Hays grant to Cambodia to study Khmer Buddhist literature and art. She remains passionate about Khmer history and culture, and continues to infuse Asian Studies into her writing, literature, and humanities courses at MCC. Kerri is also the director of LitCon, MCC’s annual student literary conference.
KATE BAKER is an associate professor in the English department who began teaching at MCC as an adjunct in 2011 and full time in 2016. She earned an MA in Literature from the University of Colorado-Boulder and graduated from UMASS-Lowell with a BA in Writing. Her teaching interests are English Composition I & II, Accelerated Learning Program, Classics of Children’s Literature, and Modern American Literature. Her courses focus on developing strong writing, research and critical thinking skills as well as social and civic responsibility. She loves supporting students on their academic journeys, as well as collaborating with members of the MCC community on innovative, student-centered initiatives.
DENISE MARCHIONDA, Ed.D., is currently a Professor of English at Middlesex Community College. She holds an Ed.D. in Language Arts and Literacy, an M.Ed. in Reading and Language Arts, and a B.A. in Secondary Education/History, all from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Her areas of teaching expertise include writing, reading, literature, and teacher education.
WILLY RAMIREZ is an educator, poet, and cultural advocate residing in Massachusetts. He is the founder and director of La Guagua Reading Group, as well as of the annual La Guagua Poetry Festival, hosted by Middlesex Community College in Lowell, where Ramirez is an Associate Professor of English. Ramirez’s poetry has been published in the anthologies Atlantic Currents: Cork and Lowell Writers (2020), Retrato íntimo de poetas dominicanos: Antología poética de la diaspora (2019), Feipol Anthology (2018),Abrazo del Sur (2017), Poets in New York (2013) and Nostalgia de Arena (2012). Ramirez has presented his work at colleges and literary festivals across the United States and internationally.
TOM LAUGHLIN is a Professor of English who has been teaching at MCC since 2000. He earned an MA in English / Composition with a Certificate in Creative Writing and a BS in Business Management and English from UMass-Boston. His teaching interests include Accelerated Learning Program, English Composition 1 & 2, literature, and creative writing courses. Previously Coordinator of the Writing Across the Curriculum Program for many years, he currently coordinates the MCC Visiting Writers Series and open poetry & fiction readings and contests for the Creative Writing Program. He has published articles in Teaching English in the Two-Year College and elsewhere; poetry and fiction in Green Mountains Review, Ibbetson Street, Drunk Monkeys, and elsewhere; and a calendar, Stone Balancing at Walden Pond, featuring his stone balancing. His poetry collection The Rest of the Way will be released by Finishing Line Press in 2022.
Part-Time Faculty
Part-time faculty members in the English Department are integral to the success of Middlesex Community College students. With many years of experience in various industries, K-12 and higher education, English faculty members provide expertise and diverse perspectives that are essential to student success. Part-time faculty members teach courses that meet the varied needs of students’ busy schedules and bring an understanding of the workforce and needs of a changing world to the classroom.
Cynthia Adler Mubiru
Holly Armstrong
Marilyn Black
Tim Bleecker
Barry Brown
Salah Dahany
Norman DeFilippo
Theresa DeFranzo
Lorraine DiBona-Jones
Bill Doncaster
Bridget Driscoll
Katie Durant
Carrie Finestone
Kelsey Ford
Rose Freriks
Darlene Furdock
Jack Gillis
Phyllis Gleason
Cheryl Hunter
Carolyn Karp
Kelly Keough
Paul Korzeniowski
Lynne Larson
James LaVecchio
Linda Mallen
Peter Maskaluk
Carl Mason
Eugene McCarthy
Joe McLellan
Linda Miller
Ardella Montgomery
Guy Peartree
Stephanie Pesce
Louisa Saladino-Kuhl
Mariealana Salamone
Peggy Schleicher
Peter Shea
Rosemary St. Onge
Maureen Szal
Debra Tait
Kerrie Tilney
Julie Tovar
Dianne Traynor
Jean Trounstine
Cathleen Twomey
Charles Twomey
Chris Weinmann