Penn State York’s faculty combine prestigious academic credentials with diverse professional backgrounds, which allows us to support you as you prepare to enter the workplace or to pursue further academic study.
- Dr. Jennifer Nesbitt, professor of English, teaches classes in women’s literature, Caribbean literature, modernism, and composition. Her research centers on feminist literature, Caribbean literature, and whiteness. Dr. Nesbitt is currently completing a book about rum in literature and has served as a commentator and lecturer on the TV series Downton Abbey. She is the winner of the 2020 University College Faculty Council Teaching Award.
- Dr. Noel Sloboda, associate professor of English, teaches creative writing, literature, and composition. He has served as a dramaturg for the Harrisburg Shakespeare Company, and he sits on the board of Gamut Theatre Group. He is also an active poet who reads and publishes creative work in a variety of venues. Recent publications have appeared in Crannog (Ireland), The Evansville Review, Prime Number Magazine, Riddle Fence (Canada), Spring: The Journal of the E.E. Cummings Society, and Quarter After Eight. Dr. Sloboda has won the James H. Burness Award for Excellence in Teaching campus award, the campus advising award, and the campus Research and Creative Accomplishments Award.
- Ann Fetterman, assistant teaching professor, teaches writing classes and organizes Penn State York’s PaSSS program; she is also a master tutor. A longtime member of the campus Cultural Diversity and Enrichment Committee, she is the driving force behind some of our campus’s most successful community fundraising drives, including the recent Not a Box Build-a-Thon. She has been honored three times by the Student Government Association for her contributions to the campus.
- Marcy Nicholas, Assistant Teaching Professor in English, teaches a general education course called The Bible as Literature and writing courses. She has mentored honors students in a project that connected them with professionals in their fields and their workplace communication tasks.
- Betsy Wentzel, part-time instructor in English as a Second Language (ESL) and writing tutor, teaches courses for English language learners and tutors at the Nittany Success Center. She is also involved in Penn State’s Experiential Digital Global Engagement (EDGE), which joins universities around the globe. Locally, she works with American Field Service Intercultural Programs and volunteers at an area food bank.
- Sara Shaw, adjunct lecturer in English, teaches writing courses for first-year students.
In addition to offering regular courses from the faculty above, the Penn State York English program provides access to a wide range of other courses taught by experts in diverse fields at other Penn State campuses. Recent offerings have included a 400-level course on banned books, taught by Dr. Lynda Goldstein at the Wilkes-Barre campus; a 400-level course on African American poetry, taught by Dr. Millie Mickle at the greater Allegheny campus; and a 400-level course on the editing process, taught by Dr. Kyle King at the Altoona campus. To find out about upcoming English courses available to Penn State York students, please contact Dr. Noel Sloboda.
