Final Examinations
Saturday 5/19 - Friday 5/25

Deadline to pay summer
and fall student fees
Wednesday, July 18

Shoshana Bianchi-McElwee
Title: Adjunct Assistant Professor
Degrees: M.A., English, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), San Francisco State University; B.S., Biology: Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, University of California, San Diego
Teaching Experience: Since 2004
Hobbies: Reading, gardening, hiking, playing music, dancing and spending time with her family
Quote: "Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart give yourself to it." —Buddha

Kristin K. Casado
Title: Adjunct Assistant Professor
Degrees: M.A., Linguistics, San José State University; Graduate Certificate, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), San José State University; B.A., Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), Hawaii Pacific University
Teaching Experience: Since 1998
Hobbies: Capoeira, flamenco, gardening, and traveling with her husband
Quote: "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. " —Mahatma Gandhi

Gail de Prosse
Title: Adjunct Assistant Professor
Degrees: M.A., English, San Francisco State University; B.A., French Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz
Teaching Experience: Since 1984 in the Unites States and Italy
Hobbies: Dancing, cooking, textile arts, and languages

Deborah Ebert
Title: Adjunct Assistant Professor
Degrees: M.A., English, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), San Francisco State University; B.A., Spanish with Teaching, Western Illinois University
Teaching Experience: Since 1974 (Spanish); Since 2002 (Writing and ESL)
Hobbies: Traveling, boating, hiking and biking
Quote: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."  —Confucius

Bernard Gershenson
Title: Professor
Degrees: M.A., English, Creative Writing, San Francisco State University; M.A., Education, University of Kentucky; B.A., English, University of Illinois
Teaching Experience: Since 1977
Career Highlights: Has written three books of poetry and several poems in literary journals
Hobbies: Hiking, cooking and volunteering

Andres Gonzales
Title: Professor
Speaks: Spanish
Degrees: M.A., English as a Second Language (ESL), University of Massachusetts; M.A., Anthropology, University of Chicago; B.A., Anthropology and Art History, California State College, Dominguez Hills; M.A., Spanish, Middlebury College; B.A., Spanish, Long Beach State College; A.A., El Camino Junior College
Teaching Experience: Since 1973
Hobbies: Participating in archaeological excavations and doing anthropological research in Mexico; cooking Mexican, Italian and American foods; traveling by car to Mexico; taking photographs of archaeological sites and colonial buildings
Quote: "Let the good times roll."

Felicia A. Mazzi
Title: Adjunct Assistant Professor
Degrees: M.A., English, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), San Francisco State University; Graduate Certificate in Post-Secondary Reading, San Francisco State University; B.A., Liberal Studies, Spanish minor, St. Mary's College
Teaching Experience: Since 2001
Hobbies: Reading, watching international films, traveling and learning about other cultures
Quote: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." —Margaret Mead

Lisa Suguitan Melnick
Title: Adjunct Professor
Degrees: M.A, English, San Francisco State University; B.A., Liberal Studies: Humanities/Foreign Language, San Francisco State University; Lifetime Community College Credential, State of California
Teaching Experience: Since 1978
Career Highlights: Taught in the Summer Bridge program at SFSU's Educational Opportunity Program
Hobbies: Playing Afro-Cuban music (drum/song), creative writing and serving as an instructor-consultant in brain education systems training (yogo/tai-chi based)
Quote: "The way to 'make yourself happy' is to be happy. The formula thus goes in the direction of be-do-have. We begin by being in whatever state we wish to attain." —Ilchi Lee

Nancy Paolini
Title: Professor
Degrees: M.S. Ed., Curriculum and Instruction and Reading, University of Southern California; ESL Certificate, California State University, San Jose; B.A., English, California State University, Sacramento
Teaching Experience: Since 1979
Career Highlights: Served as an elementary school reading specialist; has taught reading, English and ESL in community colleges
Hobbies: Traveling, exercising, reading, making jewelry, cooking and volunteering at the Animal Shelter (to learn about and work with cats)
Quote: “I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.”

Kristi Ridgway
Title: Associate Professor
Degrees: M.S., Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), University of Southern California; B.A., Journalism and Mass Communication, Drake University
Teaching Experience: Since 1993
Career Highlights: Taught ESL Conversation in St. Petersburg, Russia; taught at the University of Southern California and Ohlone College; has been teaching at CSM full-time since 2005; reported and edited at various newspapers including the Los Angeles Times and the Contra Costa Times
Hobbies: Trail running, gardening, reading and traveling
Quote: "Work like you don't need the money, dance like no one is watching, love like you've never been hurt." —Mark Twain

Brandon Smith
Title: Associate Professor
Degrees: M.A., Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), San José State University; B.A., Anthropology, San José State University
Teaching Experience: Since 2000
Career Highlights: Not being recognized by students on Halloween for nine years
Hobbies: Traveling, biking, hiking, backpacking, cooking, reading, and climbing trees
Quote: "To be good is noble, but to teach others how to be good is nobler—and less trouble."
—Mark Twain, from a speech by Doctor Van Dyke, (1906)

Amy Sobel
Title: Professor
Speaks: Spanish
Degrees: M.A., English, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), San Francisco State University; B.A., Russian Literature and Political Science, Stanford University
Teaching Experience: Since 1995
Career Highlights: Taught in Indonesia for two years; taught at Stanford for one summer; taught at San Francisco State University for two years; has been teaching at CSM full-time since 1997
Hobbies: Spending time with her husband and two children, camping, reading and hiking

Venus Chung Tritasavit
Title: Adjunct Assistant Professor
Speaks: Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin)
Degrees: M.A., English, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), San Francisco State University; Graduate Certificate in Composition, San Francisco State University; B.S., Human Development, English minor, University of California, Davis
Teaching Experience: Since 1999
Career Highlights: Taught in China (Inner Mongolia and Shandong); team taught with her husband in China during the Beijing 2008 Olympics (Hebei); led international students from the American Language Institute (ALI) at San Francisco State University to Bay Area attractions
Hobbies: Traveling, reading, dancing (ballet, jazz, salsa and swing), figure skating and hiking
Quote: "The best way to learn something is to teach it." —Unknown