Welcome to yet another new faculty member Professor Sarah Van Dan Acker! Professor Van Dan Acker is joining the English department this year and will be teaching English 101. For those of you who have not yet met Professor Van Dan Acker, here is a quick profile to help you get to know her a little better.
Originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, Professor Van Dan Acker also lived in Beaverton and Silverton, Oregon in her young-adulthood. As a first generation college student she attended Portland State University in order to learn the ropes of being an undergraduate. While there she focused on International Studies and Japanese. She also got her master’s degree and Teaching English to Speaker of Other Languages certificate from PSU.
Professor Van Dan Acker is excited to teach English 101 because she feels that it is important for students to learn to write for any class they may take in any given curriculum. She believes that English 101 will provide students with transferable writings skills that will set them up for success throughout the remainder of college. Professor Van Dan Acker’s love of teaching English came from being a Teaching Assistant in undergraduate classrooms. Since then, she was worked hard to alleviate what she witnessed as miscommunications between professors’ expectations and students’ work.
Even after all her academic and pedagogical training Van Dan Acker identifies writing as he main passion. She wrote fiction stories when she was young and remains an avid journal keeper and free writer. Professor Van Dan Acker’s favorite authors are John Steinbeck, C.S. Lewis, and Maxine Hong Kingston. Professor Van Dan Acker recommends that students read Steinbeck’s East of Eden and is currently reading the Game of Thrones series. Professor Van Dan Acker holds office hours in the basement of Christie. Stop in and say hello!