Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

A-B Tech Celebrating 50 years

English and Communication

Instructors



Ellen Perry

Chair, English and Communication
Instructor, English
Office: Elm 206
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 829
Email: eperry@abtech.edu

Education: M.A. in English, Appalachian State University; B.A. in Literature and Language, UNCA

Work Experience: UNC-Asheville: Co-Director of Advising and Registration, Director of University Peer Tutoring, Coordinator of Liberal Arts Learning and Disability Services, Assistant Director of the University Writing Center, Adjunct Instructor of Literature/Language and Humanities; A-B Tech: Adjunct Instructor of English and Humanities

Courses Taught: British Literature I and II, Southern Literature, Literature-Based Research, Expository Writing

Favorite Literary Works: Fair and Tender Ladies, The Rover, The Way of the World, The Country Wife, Birdsong, A Farewell to Arms, Storming Heaven, Moll Flanders, Evelina, Madame Bovary, Sense and Sensibility, A Confederacy of Dunces, Frankenstein, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Maytrees, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, The Help

Favorite Quotation: "I suppose she can sing, dance, and jabber a little French; but I'll be hang'd if she knows how to make a pye or a pudding." The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751), Eliza Haywood

Ellen grew up in Weaverville, North Carolina, where she continues to live near her family and friends. She loves teaching students from all walks of life and working with the talented faculty in the A-B Tech English and Communication department. Her academic interests include 17th- and 18th-century British life and literature, Restoration drama, and Southern and Appalachian culture. The recipient of the 2003-2004 Distinguished Teacher Award for part-time faculty at UNCA and a 2009 Golden Apple Award at A-B Tech, Ellen enjoys traveling (especially to Paris and any beach), reading, singing, dancing (swing, lindy hop, charleston, bellydance, Bhangra), Zumba, speaking French, and photography.

Kenet Adamson

Dean, Arts and Sciences; Instructor, English
Office: Elm 230B
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 7650
Email: kadamson@abtech.edu

Education: B.S. in Journalism, University of Florida (1980); B.A. in English, Georgia State University (1997); M.A. in English, Western Carolina University (2000)

Work Experience: Taught at A-B Tech since 1997

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 113, ENG 131, ENG 275, HUM 115

Favorite Literary Works: Jonathon Strange and Mister Norrell, Invisible Man, The Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mockingbird

Favorite Quotation: "No other job in the world could possibly dispossess one so completely as this job of teaching. You could stand all day in a laundry, for instance, still in possession of your mind. But this teaching utterly obliterates you. It cuts right into your being: essentially, it takes over your spirit. It drags it out from where it would hide." — Sylvia Ashton-Warner, Spinster

Kenet was born in Frankfurt, Germany and spent the next five years moving around; he ended up in a small town (Troy) in a large cornfield (Ohio). He moved to Florida during senior year of high school and is still waiting to know what he wants to be when he grows up. Kenet has taught at A-B Tech since 1997 in the Developmental Studies, Continuing Education, and English departments. He was nominated for the Adjunct Instructor of the Year in 1998 and awarded the 2001 Adjunct Instructor of the Year.


Yesho Atil

Instructor, English
Office: Fernihurst Annex B
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 354
Email: yatil@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 113, ENG 125/126, ENG 135, HUM 150
 

Justin Bigos

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: bigos.justin@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111

Jennifer Browning

Instructor, English

Office: Ferguson 115
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 345
Email: jbrowning@abtech.edu

Education: B.A. in English, University of North Carolina at Asheville; M.A. in English, Georgia State University; currently working on PhD from Georgia State University

Work Experience: An English instructor since 1993, Jennifer has taught a variety of courses including Argument-Based Research, Professional Research and Reporting, Expository Writing, and Literature-Based Research. She has worked at A-B Tech for two years and focuses primarily on English 111, 113, and 125/126.

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 113, ENG 131, ENG 274

Favorite Literary Works: The Optimist's Daughter, Eudora Welty; anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald; The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay; Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg; Escaping Into the Open by Elizabeth Berg; Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Favorite Quotation: "... all experience is an enrichment instead of an impoverishment." Eudora Welty

In addition to her teaching and TAC obligations, Jennifer has served as faculty advisor to the school newspaper, Voices, and is working on her PhD dissertation on Eudora Welty (which she hopes to finish soon).


Jan Caldwell

Instructor, Communication
Office: Elm 223
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 889
Email: jhcaldwell@abtech.edu

Education: B.A. and M.S., Murray State University; M.A., Northwestern University

Courses Taught: COM 120, COM 231

Kathryn Curl

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: curl.kathryn@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 110

Ren Decatur

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 231
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 335
Email: rdecatur@abtech.edu

Education: B.A. in English, UNC-Charlotte (1974); M.A. in Literature, University of Idaho (1984); post-graduate studies, University of Vienna-Austria (1986)

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 112, ENG 261/262

Favorite Quotation: "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."


 

Michael Flanagan

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: flanagan.michael@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 102

Michael Flynn

Instructor, Communication
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: flynn.michael@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: COM 231

Sandi Goodridge

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 233
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 318
Email: sgoodridge@abtech.edu

Education: B.A. and M.A. Ed. in English, University of South Carolina; further graduate study in Speech and Mass Communication, Western Carolina University and North Carolina State

Work Experience: Sandi has taught at A-B Tech since 1983 (part-time) 1986 (full-time) and worked as an instructor at OCTEC in South Carolina before moving in 1983 to teach at Asheville High School. She served as reading coordinator for Lexington School District #4 and honored as District Teacher of the Year.

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 113, ENG 231/232

Favorite Literary Works: A Walk in the Woods (Bryson), any American author from 1700s on

Nominated for Instructor of the Year in 1996 and Who's Who Among America's Teachers in 2002, Sandi edited a non-fiction book, North Carolina UFOs, and has been involved in publishing the creative writing chapbook for several years. She received two grants from the Mountain Area Writing Project and served on the Financial Aid and LRC committees here at A-B Tech. Sandi belongs to CEI and served as a contributing editor to Hamilton Gregory's Public Speaking text.


Hamilton Gregory

Instructor, Communication
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: hamiltongregory@charter.net

Work Experience: A full-time instructor at A-B Tech for 20 years, Hamilton was named Instructor of the Year in 1989. Now he teaches part-time and writes full-time. He is the author of Public Speaking for College and Career, a textbook used at hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Web site for book: http://www.mhhe.com/gregory

Courses Taught: COM 231

Favorite Quotation: "Give me health and a day, and I will make the pomp of emperors ridiculous."  Ralph Waldo Emerson

In addition to teaching and writing, Hamilton enjoys photography.

Peggy Hammond

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: hammond.peggy@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111, 113

 

Kathryn Hast

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: hast.kathryn@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111

Ryn Hayes

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: hayes.ryn@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111

 
Melody Hays
Instructor, Communication
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: hays.melody@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: COM 231

David Holcombe

Instructor, Communication
Office: Elm 337
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 337
Email: dholcombe@abtech.edu

Education: B.A., Mars Hill College; M.A., Indiana State University; further graduate study, Western Carolina University

Work Experience: When in graduate school, David was a resident actor with the Indiana State University Theater, scene designer for Terre Haute Children's Theater, and taught in the Indiana public schools. After graduation, David taught at Mars Hill College and served as a director and designer for theater. He then joined the faculty of Converse College, serving as the designer for the theater department, the opera workshop, and the Brevard Music Center opera productions. David began teaching at A-B Tech in 1986.

Courses Taught: COM 231, ENG 235, DRA 124, HUM 160

Favorite Quotation: "The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably would lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square." Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest


Rusty Holmes

Instructor, Communication
Office: Elm 224A
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 835
Email: rholmes@abtech.edu

Education: B.A., UNC-Chapel Hill; M.A., University of Oklahoma; Ed.S., University of West Florida; further study at Florida State University

Courses Taught: COM 120, COM 231

 
 

Jessica Hutchman

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: hutchman.jessica@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111, 113

Lisa Johnson

Instructor, English
Coordinator, A-B Tech Writing Center
Office: Elm 205
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 324
Email: ljohnson@abtech.edu

Education: B.A. in English and M.A. in English Education, Western Carolina University

Work Experience: Lisa began her teaching career in Georgia's public schools (Johnson County High School and Lithia Springs High School), where she taught a variety of literature, composition, and research methodology courses and coached tennis. She has been a member of the A-B Tech faculty since 1989.

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 113

Favorite Quotation: "I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart's affections and the truth of Imagination."  John Keats

Lisa met her husband Bob in the Asheville Community Theater's 1971 production of Fiddler on the Roof. Bob teaches choral music and drama at Erwin High School. In their spare time, Lisa and Bob enjoy gardening, taking long walks, boating, and reading to each other from The Complete Works of Mark Twain. Her most memorable moments in her classroom are those in which she learns all over again, with the help of her students, the wonder of extraordinary writing: its power, as Pablo Neruda explains, "to widen out the boundaries of our being."

Kitty King

Instructor, Communication
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: king.kitty@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: COM 120, 231

Ken Krahl

Instructor, Communication
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: krahl.kenneth@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: COM 231

Erin Lesh

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: lesh.erin@abtech.edu

Education: B.A. in English, College of Charleston; M.A. in English with a concentration in Education in the Community College from Appalachian State University

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 113

Favorite Literary Works: Bob Dylan, Ernest Hemingway, biographies, letters and memoirs

Favorite Quotation: "I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame and every time I pass that way I always hear my name."  B. Dylan

Erin's roots are on John's Island, South Carolina's beautiful sea island layered with old oaks. Growing up, she remembers visiting her aunt in Asheville several times a year; as she crossed the border, she would always imagine the mountains were blue ladies lying on their sides lounging. That peaceful image stayed with Erin, and she has always felt most comfortable protected by mountains. She is living on part of an old farm in Marshall with an old chicken house, a grist mill, two dogs collectively known as Poosham, one cat (Luna), five horses, and a very patient other-half John.

Deb Maddox

Instructor, Communication
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: maddox.debra@abtech.edu

Education: B.A., University of Northern Iowa; M.A., University of Nebraska-Omaha; further graduate study, University of Houston

Work Experience: Deb has worked as a public school educator, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising researcher, Stewart Title Guaranty Company Director of Communications, and corporate and freelance writer.

Courses Taught: COM 120, COM 231

Favorite Literary Works: Blackbird: The Story of a Childhood Lost, My Mother's Ghost, The Sparrow, The DaVinci Code, The Lovely Bones, The Lords of Discipline, Through a Glass Darkly, The Great Gatsby, Into Thin Air, Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not

Deb was born and raised in a small, western Iowa town (too small); she then lived and worked in Houston, Texas (too big) for eight years. She moved from Omaha (9,000 shades of brown, eight months of winter) to Asheville in May 2000 with her husband and son. Deb began teaching at A-B Tech in spring 2002 and adopted a little girl from China in June 2004.

Kristin Marsh

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: marsh.kristin@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111

Julia McLeod

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: mcleod.julia@abtech.edu

Education: B.A., Campbell University; M.A., Western Carolina University

Work Experience: Lecturer at Western Carolina University (see below for more)

Courses Taught: ENG 113

Favorite Literary Works: Fair and Tender Ladies, Serena, The Kite Runner, The Shack, The Translator, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Twilight

Julia met her husband at Campbell University.  They married and went to West Palm Beach, Florida, where she spent five years working in the marketing department of a large bank.  They moved to Western North Carolina in 1990, and Julia stayed home with her two children as they grew up. Not one to sit still for long, she worked several part-time jobs including making window treatments, baking wedding and birthday cakes, and waiting tables. For the past ten years, Julia has been a meeting leader for Weight Watchers; she is still active in three meetings a week. 
 


Erik Moellering

Instructor, English
Coordinator, Transfer Advising Center
Office: Elm 200
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 7632
Email: emoellering@abtech.edu

Education: B.A. and M.A. in English, James Madison University

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 113, ENG 262

Favorite Authors: Czeslaw Milosz, Joseph Brodsky, Rebecca Solnit, Stuart Dybek, Don DeLillo, Stephen Dunn, Annie Dillard 

Favorite Quotation: "There is more simplicity in the man who eats caviar on impulse than in the man who eats grapenuts on principle."  G. K. Chesterton
 

Stephanie O'Brien

Instructor, Communication
Office:  Elm 210
Phone:  828-254-1921, Ext. 487
Email:  sobrien@abtech.edu

Courses Taught:  COM 120, COM 150, COM 231

 

Chris Pylant

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: pylant.christopher@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111

Debra Stokely

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: stokely.debra@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111

Mary Sugeir

Instructor, Communication

Office:  Elm 225
Phone:  828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email:  sugeir.mary@abtech.edu

Courses Taught:  COM 120, COM 140, COM 231

 

Heather Vaughn

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 221
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 315
Email: hvaughn@abtech.edu

Education: B.A., Elon University; M.A., University of Nebraska

Work Experience: A full-time instructor at A-B Tech for six years, Heather received the Adjunct Instructor of the Year award in 2000.

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 114, ENG 274

Favorite Literary Works: To Kill a Mockingbird, Atlas Shrugged, Cider House Rules, My Antonia, Fair and Tender Ladies

Favorite Quotation: "I've put up with too much too long, and now I'm just too intelligent, too powerful, too beautiful, too sure of who I am finally to deserve anything less." Sandra Cisneros from Woman Hollering Creek

 

Charles White

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: white.charles@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111

Lisa York

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 235
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 882
Email: lyork@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111, ENG 114, ENG 131, ENG 232

Kim Zdanowicz

Instructor, English
Office: Elm 225
Phone: 828-254-1921, Ext. 867
Email: zdanowicz.kimberly@abtech.edu

Courses Taught: ENG 111