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About Joan Baranow

Joan Baranow, Ph.D., is Professor of English at Dominican University, where she directs the Master of Arts in Humanities and the Low-Residency MFA program in Creative Writing. She is a Fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and a long-time member of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. Her poetry has appeared in The Gettysburg Review,The Paris Review, Poetry East, JAMA, Feminist Studies, and other magazines.Her book Living Apart was published by Plain View Press. With her husband, physician and poet David Watts, she produced the PBS documentary Healing Words: Poetry & Medicine. Her second documentary, The Time We Have, is currently in post-production.

Positions

2016 - Present Director, Dominican University of California
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2016 - Present Professor, Dominican University of California Department of Literature and Languages
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2015 - Present Director, Dominican University of California Graduate Humanities Program
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2010 - Present Associate Professor, Dominican University of California Department of Literature and Languages
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2005 - Present Assistant Professor, Dominican University of California Department of Literature and Languages
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1996 - Present Producer, Healing Words Productions
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2003 - 2005 Adjunct Instructor, Dominican University of California
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1994 - 1997 Adjunct Instructor, San Francisco State University
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1994 - 1995 Adjunct Instructor, City College of San Francisco
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1993 - 1994 English Tutor, Golden Gate University
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1992 - 1994 Instructor, Tamalpais Adult/Community Education
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1991 - 1992 Adjunct Instructor, New College of California
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1989 - 1991 Assistant Professor, Ashland University ‐ Department of English
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Curriculum Vitae



Research Interests


Grants

2009 - 2016 Professional Development Grants
Dominican University of California
2015 "The Time We Have,” documentary finishing funds
Fred and June MacMurray Foundation
$14,000
2015 Sabbatical leave for Poetry
Dominican University of California
Sabbatical Leave
2012 To underwrite The Healing Art of Writing conference
Dominican University of California
Strategic Initiative Grant
$7,868
2010 To support students presenting conference papers
Dominican University of California
Strategic Initiative Grant
$848
2009 To work on a videdo documentary, “The Time We Have: The Caitlin Dolaghan Story,”
Dominican University of California
STRAP grant
2001 Marin Arts Council Grant in Poetry
Marin Arts Council
Marin Arts Council Grant
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Honors and Awards

  • Fayhe Ivanhoe Award in Fiction, Hollins, 1977
  • Fayhe Ivanhoe Award in Poetry, Hollins, 1979
  • Departmental Honors in English, Hollins, 1980
  • Academic Citation in English, Hollins, 1980
  • Mary Williamson Award for the Best Essay in the Humanities, Hollins, 1980
  • Hollins College Literary Festival Prize in Fiction, 1980
  • Nancy Thorpe Poetry Prize, Hollins College, 1980
  • First Prize, Academy of American Poets, 1982
  • Honorable Mention, Academy of American Poets, 1986, 1983, and 1980
  • Ohio Arts Council Individual Artists Fellowship in Poetry, 1988
  • Finalist, Anhinga Press First Book Award, 1991
  • Finalist, Eve of St. Agnes Award, 1993
  • Finalist, The Randall Jarrell Poetry Prize, 1994
  • Semi-finalist, The Bluestem Award, 1994
  • Finalist, World-Fest Screenwriting Competition, 1997
  • Nominated for Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Dominican University of California, 2008
  • Nominated for Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Dominican University of California, 2012
  • Book Contest Semi-finalist, Transgressions, Brittingham/Felix Pollac Prize, 2014
  • Book Contest Semi-finalist, Transgressions, Crab Orchard Series in Poetry, 2014
  • Semi-finalist, River Styx International Poetry Contest, 2015
  • Book Contest Finalist, Transgressions, Marsh Hawk Press, 2015
  • Spring Sabbatical leave, Dominican University of CA, 2015
  • Fellowship, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, 2015
  • Quarter-finalist, Cold Pastoral, Codhill Press Poetry Award, 2016
  • Honorable Mention, Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry, 2016
  • Semi-finalist, Cold Pastoral, Codhill Press Poetry Award, 2017
  • Finalist, Cold Pastoral, Rochelle Ratner Award, Marsh Hawk Press, 2017

Education

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1984 - 1992 Ph.D., Rutgers University - New Brunswick/Piscataway ‐ English
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June 1985 - August 1985 La Scuola Italiana, Middlebury College
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1981 - 1983 M.A., State University of New York, Binghamton ‐ English
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1976 - 1980 B.A., cum laude, Hollins College ‐ English
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Contact Information

Dominican University of California
50 Acacia Ave.
San Rafael, CA 94901

Email:


Interviews (5)

Professional Activities (24)