Adam Renchen, M.A.—Instructor of ENG 111R, 112R & RESC 200 (Varieties of Writing, Academic Writing, and Eating Green: Local Food for a Sustainable Future).   

Adam earned a B.A. and M.A. in Literature at the University of Cincinnati while playing drums in various original rock bands, delivering pizzas, and mowing lawns at Spring Grove Cemetery.  He started teaching composition in 1996 as adjunct faculty at University of Cincinnati and Xavier University while working for a textbook publisher. In 2000, he landed a full-time teaching gig in the English department at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.  Adam began teaching in General Studies Writing at BGSU in fall 2004 and came to Chapman in 2007.  In addition to the first-year writing sequence, Adam has taught such courses as Technical Writing, Literature of War, and Great Ideas (with a Utopian/Dystopian theme).  His richest experiences always come from helping to empower students to become producers of knowledge through writing.  In summers, Adam grades AP Literature Exams for The College Board and teaches for Johns Hopkins’ Center for Talented Youth.  His latest publications and conference presentations address integrating visual rhetoric into the writing classroom and appreciating the quiet learner. He and his partner Sarah (who is currently pursuing a PhD in American Culture Studies) live in Toledo with one husky and too many cats.  Sarah and Adam are vegetarians with a strong commitment to supporting local agriculture and promoting awareness about food sources.  Look for their cooking and food culture workshops in Kohl Hall throughout the year. Adam still pounds drums regularly with the Toledo rock band, The Wide Awakes, and writes and records music with Sarah in their own lo-fi indie rock group, Hemline Theory.