Diane Raptosh English Professor- Eyck-Berringer Chair

Teaching: I teach a wide range of courses, ranging from basic writing to the literature of medicine. I teach the poetry writing workshop (upper- and lower-division) and the First Year Seminar, along with a variety of special topics courses, such as the Seminar on Adrienne Rich, Prose and Cons: Prison Literature, and The Prison Experience. The latter two courses serve the College's three Criminal Justice Studies minors and provide opportunities for students to learn first-hand about prisons and prison life through field trips to local prisions and jails as well as through exposure to literature by and about inmates. I have continuing interests in writing as a rehabilitative tool and frequently place students in internships in which they facilitate writing workshops for underserved populations. In my capacity as Boise's poet laureate, I hope to give poetry workshops in such places.

Creative Work: I write in such hybrid forms as prose poetry and flash fiction in addition to verse. I see poetry as primarily a mode of inquiry: every poem as a means to revise social, cultural, and aesthetic norms; every poem, an opportunity to reconceive the world. I have been awarded three distinguished fellowships from the Idaho Commission on the Arts. Among other honors, I have been the featured artist on "Art and Soul Public Radio Stories: American Masterpieces Celebrates Selected Idaho Artists, Writers, and Performers."

Hobbies: I love to read and travel. I enjoy a wide range of music and offbeat films.

• The College of Idaho, Professor of English, 1990-present
• Director of The College of Idaho's Criminal Justice Minors
• Residency in the Literary Arts, The Studies of Key West, 2012
• Residency in the Literary Arts, Banff Centre, 2011
• Featured Writer on "The Writers Block," Boise Community Radio, 2011.
• Presenter, "Prison Pedagogies: Teaching and Writing Behind Bars:" AWP Conference, 2010.
• Featured Artist on "Art and Soul Public Radio Stories: American Masterpieces Celebrates Selected Idaho Artists, Writers, and Performers," Fall 2009.
• Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, Boise High School, Boise Idaho:  Judge 2006-2013