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As a writer and educator, I seek to engender a globally-minded citizenry, empowered by language and literature.

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We bring grace into the world—or chaos and cruelty—through the stories we tell about ourselves and others. By revising our stories, we change our lives.

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Because I believe in the power of story, I integrate narrative modes of knowing into everything I do. Each time I map out a course, I ask how it will enable students to write creatively and think critically, to consider the plights of others, and to see the world as a place in which they have a voice.

About Me

Honors & Awards

Education

Foreword Reviews INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award, Bronze Winner in Family and Relationships, 2015.

 

Black Hills State University, Research, Scholarship, and Creative Achievement Award, College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, 2015.

 

USA Best Book Award, Autobiography/ Memoir, 2015.

 

Friends of TRiO award in teaching advising, 2015.

 

Georgetown Review national nonfiction prize finalist, 2010.

 

Western Literature Association Frederick Manfred Prize for creative nonfiction, 2009.

 

Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Charles Davis Award for outstanding graduate student research, 2007.

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Douglass Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching, University of Nevada, Reno, 2006.

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Macmillan Scholarship: Award in Creative Writing, University of Nevada, Reno, 2006.

 

Thesis selected to represent Utah State University in the Western Association of Graduate Schools’ Distinguished Thesis Award, 2003.

 

Utah State University, Graduate Fiction Award, 2003.

 

Utah State University, Thad Box Nature Writing Award, 2002.

 

Member Phi Kappa Phi.

Ph.D.  English. University of Nevada, Reno, May 2009.

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M.A.   English. Utah State University, May 2003.

                       

B.S.    English.  Utah State University, June 1992.

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B.F.A. Theatre Arts/ Music, June 1988.

           Certificate: Secondary Education.

Listen to Dr. Turner's interview on The Teacher's Voice Podcast

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