Donald N.S. Unger, MFA, PhD
9 Judson Road
Worcester,
(h) 508.853.4594
donunger@mit.edu
EDUCATION:
Ph.D., English, Composition & Rhetoric,
Dissertation: “The Evolution of Gender-Neutral Language: Can
Fathers Mother?”
Director: Professor Anne Herrington, University of Massachusetts,
Amherst
Revised version published by Temple
University Press, June 2010
Title: “Men Can: The Changing
Image and Reality of Fatherhood in America”
M.F.A., Creative Writing, Fiction, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1990
B.A., Literature/Writing, Minor in Education, Columbia University, 1988
TEACHING POSITIONS HELD:
February 2006-Present, Lecturer, Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
June 2009-Present, Co-Coordinator, WAC, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
August 2002-May 2004, Visiting Assistant
Professor, English Department, The University at Albany-SUNY
Spring 2001, 2002, 2004, Visiting Instructor, Ctr. for
Interdisciplinary & Special Studies, College of the Holy Cross
1997-2001, Teaching Associate, English Department, University
of Massachusetts, Amherst
1994-1996, Adjunct Professor, Writing Program, Daniel
Webster College
1993, Adjunct Professor, Humanities Division, Massachusetts
Bay Community College
1990-1992, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of
Humanities and Social Science, Drexel University
1989-1990, Teaching Assistant, English Department, University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Summer 1987 & 1988, Teaching Assistant, Higher
Education Opportunity Program, Columbia University
COURSES TAUGHT (classroom teacher):
Writing Theory and Pedagogy:
“Composition Theory,”
Graduate Level (Albany)
“Seminar in Writing and Tutoring” (Albany)
Non-Fiction Writing:
“Introduction to
Technical Communication” Online at OCW
(MIT)
“Professional Writing” (Daniel Webster College)
“Critical Writing” (Albany)
“Forms of Argumentative and Persuasive Writing” (Albany)
“Expository Writing” (Albany)
“Reading and Research,” Freshmen Humanities Sequence: Course II (Drexel)
“College Composition,”
Freshmen Humanities Sequence: Course I (multiple institutions)
“Developmental Writing” (Daniel Webster College)
Creative Writing:
“Introduction to Creative Writing,” (Albany)
“Fiction Workshop,” both credit and non-credit courses (multiple institutions)
“Screen Writing Workshop,” both credit and non-credit courses (multiple
institutions)
Literature:
“Growing Up in America” (Albany)
“Introduction to Literature,” Freshmen Humanities Sequence: Course III (Drexel)
“The
Nineteenth Century American Novel” (
Women’s & Gender
Studies:
“Families and Fathers,”
Women’s & Gender Studies Seminar (Holy Cross)
COURSES TAUGHT (WAC lecturer in technical subjects, MIT):
CME (Cambridge-MIT Exchange Program)
2.671 Measurement and Instrumentation
6.021J Cellular Biophysics
6.033 Computer System
Engineering (WAC co-coordinator)
6.111 Introductory
Digital Systems Laboratory (WAC coordinator)
6.121J Bioelectronics Project Laboratory
6.152J Micro/Nano Processing Technology
6.161 Modern Optics Project Laboratory (WAC coordinator)
6.182 Psychoacoustics Project Laboratory
6.805
Ethics and Law on the Electronic Frontier
7.02 Introduction to Experimental Biology and Communication
15.301 Managerial Psychology Laboratory
PUBLICATIONS, Non-Fiction (Print and Multimedia):
Book: “Men Can:
The Changing Image and Reality of Fatherhood in
Articles: More than 125 articles; full list with links to some of the articles; topics: Education-Related Issues; Book Reviews; Gender and Family; Business; Technical Issues; Politics; Environmental Issues; Humor
Blog: Hydrocarbonaholics Anonymous. Focused on environmental and energy issues: hydrocarbsanon.blogspot.com/
Radio: More than thirty Morning Edition commentary pieces for local NPR affiliates; full list and links to MP3s
PUBLICATIONS, Creative Writing:
More than 20 short stories, and a few poems, published in literary magazines in the
CONFERENCES/PRESENTATIONS:
International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference,
Indiana University, May 2010
“Non-American
English and College Writing: Difficulties and Opportunities”
New England Fathering Conference, March 2010
“What Does Inclusion Look Like? Beyond the Doofus Dad in Modern Media”
New England Fathering Conference, March 2010
“Men
are a Danger to Children: Reality or Image Problem, What Do We Do?”
“How Can I Trust Him? Men as
Caregivers”
“Who's
Your (Media) Daddy? Raising Awareness of How Popular Culture Shapes Us as
Fathers”
Father’s Program, Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund, April 2008
“Media
Representations of Fathers,”
Women’s and Gender Studies Program, MIT, March 2008
“Men
Speak Out: Pro-Feminist Views on Gender, Sex, and Power,”
Screen Media and Sexual Politics Conference,
“AT&T’s
Reach Out Commercials and the New
American Family”
HumaniTech Conference: Humanities,
Technology, Science and the Nexus of Discourse, April 2004
Chair,
Pedagogy Panel
SUNY Council on Writing Annual Convention, April 2004
“The Externalization of Audience in College Writing Classes”
Modern Language Association Annual Convention, December 2002
“Why
Men Don’t Take Family Leave: Why They Might”
“Ted
Kramer and ‘the Other Mothers’”
“A
Father Would Have to Be Crazy to Mother”
Conference on College Composition and Communication,
“The
Invisible Man: The Gendering of Domestic Labor in Student Writing”
Worcester
County Young Writers’ Conference, Massachusetts, November 1997, 1998; February
2006-2010
Women’s and Gender Studies Program, MIT, March 2008
Jawbone Reading Series, Albany, New York, November 2002
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Graduate Student Conference, May 1998,
1999, 2000
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Writing Conference, March 2000
Book Mill Reading Series, Montague, Massachusetts, February 1999
Worcester Public Library, Writers’ Panel, Worcester, Massachusetts, November
1997
University of Louisville, 20th Century Literature Conference, Louisville,
Kentucky, February 1997
The Book Shop, Sheridan, Wyoming, May 1992
Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 1992
Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, New Jersey, December 1991, June 1992
Guild House, Ann Arbor, Michigan, November 1988 & 1989
Columbia University, NYC, April 1988, December 1987
WORKSHOPS:
1997, 1998, 2006-2010, Mentor, Worcester
County Young Writers Conference
1996, Fiction Workshop for Worcester Nightlife, Adult
Education Program
1993-1994, Screen Writing and Fiction Workshops for English
Honor Society, College of the Holy Cross
1991-1992, Adult Creative Writing Workshops, Arts Council of
Princeton: prose and screen writing
1990, Creative Writing Workshop for Green Hills School, Ann
Arbor, Michigan
1987, ESL Workshop for American Society of Composers, Authors,
and Publishers (ASCAP), NYC
JOURNALISM & EDITORIAL WORK:
2001-Present, Contributing Writer, Knowledge@Wharton
Also contribute to
sister sites: in China, India, Latin America; at Emory and Arizona State
Universities
1998-2003, Political Commentator, WFCR, Amherst, Massachusetts
Regular commentator for local NPR affiliate
1997-Present, Contributing Writer, Holy Cross Magazine
1996, Editor and Publisher, Worcester Underage: an Anthology of High
School Writing
Compiled, edited, and published a collection of fiction and poetry by local
students
1995-2001,
Founding Editor, Princeton Arts Review
Edited a small literary magazine, publishing fiction, poetry and essays; editor-in-chief,
fiction editor
1995-1996, Faculty Advisor, The Talon, Daniel Webster
College Student Newspaper
Provided editorial
guidance and assistance to editor and staff of student-run newspaper
1995, Columnist and Education Correspondent, The Auburn
News
Covered education for
local Massachusetts weekly; wrote regular column on parenting
issues
TUTORING & TRANSLATING:
1990-1992, Drexel University Writing Center
1987-1988, Columbia University Tutoring and Translating Agency
(CUTTA)
English as a Second Language (ESL); writing; literature; and other liberal arts
subjects
1987-1988, Certified Translator, Columbia University Tutoring
and Translating Agency (CUTTA)
Translation work in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish
Puffin Foundation Grant, 1999, for “Living on the Hinge” issue of Princeton
Arts Review
University Fellowship, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1997-1998
Puffin Foundation Grant, 1996, for Worcester Underage: an Anthology of High
School Writing
Worcester Cultural Commission Grant, 1996, for Worcester Underage: an
Anthology of High School Writing
Spring Writer’s Residence, Ucross Foundation, Ucross, Wyoming, 1992
Distinguished Artist Writing Fellowship, New Jersey State Council on the Arts,
1992
Writer-in-Residence, Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, New Jersey 1991-1992
Michigan Council for the Arts Grant, 1991
Hopwood Award, Short Fiction, University of Michigan, 1990
Summer Writing and Research Grant, University of Michigan, 1989
Dean’s Discretionary Fund Grant, University of Michigan, 1989
Bennett Cerf Memorial Writing Prize in Fiction, Columbia University, 1988
Quarto Prize for Outstanding Literary Achievement, Columbia University,
1988
LANGUAGES:
Speak, read, and write: Danish and Spanish; read Norwegian and Swedish.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:
American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
Modern Language Association (MLA)
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Updated October 2010