New Faculty and Staff

Introductions College Centers and Services

Asian & Near Eastern Languages

Wendy Vincent (staff) joined the Department of Asian & Near Eastern Languages as an office supervisor in June 2021 . For many years she has been the principal home manager, specializing in family access, growth, and security solutions for the Vincent family . After her children were old enough to make their own lunch, she became the administrative director of an outpatient mental health facility where she could continue her journey in meeting the needs of others . She is excited to be working on campus and plans to finish a long-ago started degree . Wendy loves the attention of her two grandsons, while her teenage daughter wants anything but her attention . Her neighbors wish she would do more yardwork . She loves to read, quilt and is trying to love hiking .

Chinese Flagship

Chen Wang (visiting) received her PhD in Asian literatures, cultures, and media with a graduate minor in comparative studies of discourse and society at the University of Minnesota, 2019 . Prior to joining the Flagship Program at BYU, she worked as a visiting assistant professor of Chinese at Williams College, where she taught a variety of language, literary, and cultural courses as well as trained language fellows and teaching associates . She also worked as a graduate instructor for the Chinese Program and Flagship Program at the University of Minnesota . Her academic interests include Sinophone studies, translation theory, world literature, cultural geography, urban studies, and Chinese language pedagogy . Wang is dedicated to helping students cultivate their professional interests and critical thinking skills through learning languages and the relevant cultures . Shasha Yang (visiting) received her MA in teaching Chinese as a second language from Brandeis University . Prior to joining the BYU Chinese Flagship Center, she taught Chinese at all levels at Brandeis University and in programs including the Chinese Flagship Intensive program at the University of Rhode Island, the “Princeton in Beijing” program, the CIEE program at Peking University, and the CET summer program in Beijing .

Her research interests are second language acquisition, language teaching pedagogy, and educational technology . She is engaging in helping her students to learn and use Chinese in a communicative way with accuracy and propriety .

Center for Language Studies

Janelle Bullock (staff) was recently hired to be a coordinator for the American Sign Language program . Janelle grew up in southeastern Idaho . She has two undergraduate degrees in speech language pathology/audiology and educational interpreting from Idaho State University, as well as a master’s degree in deaf education . Janelle has been an active member of the Deaf community for over twenty years . She is married to Aaron Bullock and they have four children of whom they are very proud . They reside in Utah County . Cami Wilding (staff) was recently hired to be a coordinator for the American Sign Language program . Cami Wilding grew up in Gooding, Idaho with Deaf parents and eight Deaf siblings . She began her teaching career as a community education ASL teacher 26 years ago . Since that time, Cami has worked in education in various capacities . Some of her experience covers work as a Deaf Mentor, ASL instructor, Teacher of the Deaf, ASL Specialist, and as a member of the Alpine School District’s World Languages Leadership Team . Cami is passionate about learning and growing each day and she delights in learning from others . Cami has four beautiful daughters, two sons-in-law, one adorable grandson, and another precious grandson due in November . When circumstances allow, Cami enjoys baking, hammocking, machine embroidering, and game nights .

Dean's Office

Jess Anderson (staff) is the new Art & Media Specialist for the College . As the owner of “Joshua Tree Media” she has created videos for “Bagpipe Master” on YouTube that have garnered millions of views, directed a Kickstarter video starring Natalie Madsen that was funded with over $60,000 in under 33 hours, filmed an interview with Olivia Wilde at Sundance 2020, and had her work nominated for Best Cinematography in the Austin Comedy Short Film Festival . A former Spanish major and

University of Utah alumni, Jess also completed a summer film production program at UCLA in 2018 and a subsequent film production internship at Deseret Book . Jess loves reading to her three adorable children, going on outdoors adventures, swimming, and playing pickleball . Josh Perkey (admin) is the new manager of Digital Media and Communications (DMaC)— the redesigned communications arm of the College of Humanities . Prior to joining the college, Josh worked for fourteen years at the Church magazines, most recently as the marketing manager . His favorite job there was managing the print and digital youth content development team . He also worked for seven years as an associate editor with Glencoe/ McGraw-Hill Companies creating social studies textbooks . He has an MA in medieval history from The Ohio State University and a BA in history with minors in English and Classics from BYU . He and his wife (whom he met in Latin class at BYU) have four children . Josh loves rich story telling (he has a particular fondness for fantasy stories and British period or detective stories), biking, and generally being a little silly . If you need help with communications, promoting your work, or some dark chocolate and a chat (especially about Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Hercule Poirot, or personal development), feel free to drop by and say hi!

English

Johnny Allred (visiting) earned a PhD from the University of Arkansas, a master in education from Weber State University, and a BA in English teaching from BYU . Most recently, he was an assistant professor in the teacher education department at Fort Hays State University in western Kansas . He studies English education, especially focused on purposeful technology integration and dialogic pedagogy in secondary English classrooms . His publications have appeared in Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Voices from the Middle, The ALAN Review, and Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education . Johnny and his wife, Sarah, have three children, and— after living in rural Kansas—they are happy to be living near In-N-Out, Cafe Rio, multiple donut shops, and a Costco .

Christopher James Blythe (CFStrack) received his PhD in religion from Florida State University, his MA in history from Utah State University, his second BA in religious studies from USU, and his BA in anthropology from Texas A&M University . Before coming

to the Department of English, he held positions at the Neal A . Maxwell Institute for Religious Studies, the Joseph Smith Papers, and Utah State University . Blythe is the author of Terrible Revolution: Latter-day Saints and the American Apocalypse (Oxford University Press, 2020) . He is married to Christine Elyse Blythe, who is the folklore archives specialist at Brigham Young University . Together they serve as co-presidents of the Folklore Society of Utah . They have three boys: Chris Jr ., Blaine, and Jack . Joseph J. Darowski (visiting) earned a BA and MA in English from BYU and a PhD in American studies from Michigan State University . His research focuses on American popular culture, especially comic books and television . He has edited nine volumes in The Ages of Superheroes essay collections, as well as authoring X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor: Race and Gender in the Comics and coauthoring Frasier: A Cultural History and Cheers: A Cultural History. He is the host of The Protagonist Podcast, where he and a guest discuss a great character from a great story each week . He has taught writing and American literature at BYU-Idaho and BYU . Ann Dee Ellis (visiting) is the author of the novels This is What I Did: Everything is Fine, The End or Something Like That, You May Already Be a Winner, and The War with Grandma (coauthor) . Her books have received starred reviews, been named Junior Library Guild picks, and been featured on multiple lists . She lives in the foothills of her favorite mountains, and when she’s not writing or teaching creative writing, she’s hanging around with her husband and five laffy-taffy children . Debi M. Galley (visiting) uses her legal experience to teach advanced writing courses . She thrives in teaching students of various majors to embrace the struggles of writing and is interested in the development of major-specific writing programs . Recently, she developed a course with the HBLL instructing students to create TED talks, in addition to a report and infographic, about their research . Debi enjoys short hikes with her three kids, long biographical or history books, small road trips with her husband, and large portions of Korean food . Tyler Gardner graduated from BYU with a BA in English and a whole lot

of questions—questions that propelled him through an MA at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and a PhD in English at the University of Notre Dame, where he was a Mellon Fellow in religion . Along the way, he stumbled into a campus writing center and discovered the unparalleled thrill of collaborating with peers on how to effectively approach questions and communicate potential answers . His enthusiasm for this magical space led him to pursue opportunities in writing center administration, most recently at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and now as the Writing Center manager in the BYU Research & Writing Center . Originally from Southern California, he lives in Provo with his family and enjoys sunshine, water sports, and conversation . Brice A. Peterson (CFS-track) earned his MA (’15) and PhD (’19) from Penn State University . He studies early modern British literature, specifically the ways that religion, medicine, gender, and genre intersect in poetry and drama . His publications have appeared in Studies in Philology; Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal; Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900; and American Literature and the New Puritan Studies (Cambridge UP, 2017) . Brice and his wife, Rebecca, met at BYU as undergraduates in a Victorian literature class . Consequently, they have a fouryear-old daughter, Darcy, and fivemonth-old son, Bingley . Erika Dahl Price (visiting) earned both her BA in humanities and her MA in English at BYU . As an adjunct, she has taught writing in the honors program and the Department of English for a combined total of 18 years . She is the mom of five boys, the wife of a computer-programming introvert, and the owner of an enormous golden retriever named Rockefeller . Erika's lesser accomplishments include making chocolate chip cookies from start to finish in fifteen minutes, working as a DJ for a classical music radio station, and being the fifth best pickleball player in her family of seven . Juli Shelley (staff) is joining the department as the new secretary . She was born and raised in Highland, Utah . She graduated with her BS in food science and minors in chemistry and family life . While working in the computer science department

as a student, she found a passion for helping students, faculty, and staff succeed . In her spare time, Juli enjoys hiking, playing the guitar, and reading . She loves anything Disney and will take any chance to take a trip to Disneyland . She also enjoys traveling and exploring new cultures . Jarron Slater (visiting) earned both a BA (with a minor in logic) and MA in English from BYU . He also earned a PhD in rhetoric and scientific and technical communication from the University of Minnesota in 2018 . He has taught rhetoric and writing at four different universities, and he is excited to return to BYU . His publications have appeared in Rhetoric Review, Philosophy and Rhetoric, the Journal of Religion and Communication, and Style and the Future of Composition Studies (Utah State UP, 2020) . In his spare time, he enjoys reading, hiking, playing the piano, and visiting with family . Shelli Spotts (visting) is an essayist, advocacy writer, and sometime poet . Her favorite punctuation mark is the em dash . She earned her MFA in creative nonfiction from BYU, and she is passionate about exploring the stories of ourselves, building bridges with the communities around us, and languaging our lived experience . Her research interests include experiential learning, embodied rhetoric, visual rhetoric, and composition pedagogy, most of which she put into practice in an advanced writing class she developed for dance majors . When she is not teaching, writing, or reading, Shelli loves to spend time with her husband and four ‘almost adult’ children watching Marvel movies, attending the theatre, or dragging everyone outside to “look at the sky . ” Makayla C. Steiner (CFS-track) is joining the English faculty as an assistant professor . She earned her PhD in 2021 from the University of Iowa, and she holds both a BA (’09) and MA (’13) from BYU in English . Her intellectual interests are concentrated in 20th/21st century American literatures, postsecular studies, and contemporary American religious writing . She has published essays in Literature and Belief and the Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, coauthored an essay published in Resources for American Literary Study, and has essays forthcoming in Religion and Literature, Intégrité, and Marilynne Robinson: Collected Essays, published by Manchester University Press . She loves watching the Jazz win, taking road

trips, and hanging out with her nieces and nephews . Katie A. Watkins (staff) recently joined the department as an associate Writing Center manager in the BYU Research & Writing Center . She is originally from Provo and has spent the majority of her life living in, well, Provo (with brief interludes living in Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines) . She received her BA in Latin American studies and her MA in linguistics, both from BYU . Katie loves helping students learn; she spent many years as an ESL teacher, graduate student instructor, and most recently an adjunct instructor for BYU's linguistics and anthropology departments . Beyond teaching, Katie is passionate about research: her primary interest is ethnography and its applications to language learners, language-minoritized writers, and community development . When she's not teaching, researching, or engaged in other work at the RWC, Katie loves hiking, rock climbing, cooking vegetarian food, and spending time with her chihuahua, Sammy .

English Language Center

Allison Wallace Baker (visiting) calls Provo, Utah her hometown [Timpview, class of ’90] . She earned both her BA in humanities and her TESOL MA from BYU . She delights in helping English learners successfully acquire language skills, perhaps because her own attempts to learn French and Mandarin Chinese have not reached the level of linguistic comfort she has desired . Understandably (and selfishly), her linguistic research interests include the self-regulated learning skills and psychological state of mind necessary for language learners to master second language acquisition . In her free time, Allison enjoys knitting Scandinavian and Fair Isle colorwork, crocheting granny squares, sewing her own clothes, baking bread (and desserts!), hiking trails in Utah, and hanging out with her husband and three children .

AnnMarie Saunders (visiting) loves reading, teaching, and mentoring, and is thrilled that her new position combines her passion for all three into one job! She most recently graduated with an MA in TESOL from BYU, but also has an MA and BA in Asian studies (Korea emphasis) from the University of Utah and Utah State University, respectively . Her research interests include language

assessment, adult literacy education, and critical reading and thinking . When she's not grading or lesson planning, she likes to read long fantasy novels, try new restaurants, and watch Korean dramas .

Liberal Arts Advisement Center

Andrew Roberts (admin) is an academic and professional development manager in the Liberal Arts Advising & Career Center where he helps students make informed decisions about their education to develop the skills and competencies needed for life and work . He has worked in a variety of educational institutions and positions, including a high school English teacher, creative writing instructor, academic advisor, and student success manager . Andrew earned a BA in English teaching with a minor in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) from Brigham Young University and a Master of Education in educational leadership with an emphasis in higher education from Northern Arizona University . Andrew is passionate about helping students approach their education with intention to become career ready . Outside of work, he enjoys reading, playing trading card games, going to the movies, and watching his three kids under the age of five try new things . Bryan Walker (admin) grew up in Rexburg, Idaho, and currently serves in the Liberal Arts Advising & Career Center working specifically with the Department of Psychology . After completing bachelor's degrees in exercise science and secondary education from BYU- Idaho and a master’s degree in athletic administration from Idaho State University, Bryan’s passion for teaching, coaching, and helping others achieve their goals has led him to a variety of teaching, advising, and mentoring experiences . He has enjoyed working with students and athletes in every grade from kindergarten to professional graduate school, and in a variety of settings ranging from the classroom and online learning to the hardwood floors of the basketball court . He has a contagious enthusiasm for learning and life, and in his spare time enjoys fishing, golf, and spending time with his wonderful wife and three children .

Sara White (admin) grew up in California and lived there until she moved to Utah to study at BYU . As an undergrad she studied communications, focusing on public relations . It was there she discovered

her love for words and observing how people interact with them . After graduation, Sara worked for an international health food company as project manager for their Asia Pacific offices . She then went on to get her master's in linguistics at BYU . While considering and then pursuing a master’s degree, Sara taught Indonesian at BYU and English as a foreign language at UVU . Her research areas focused on socio- and corpus linguistics . After her master’s degree, Sara spent a year as a corpus linguistics research fellow at BYU Law School, designing a program to teach legal professionals how to integrate linguistics into legal research . Sara has enjoyed living internationally during her studies, spending time in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Egypt . Sara has spent the last three years at Indiana University as a career coach in the Walter Center for Career Achievement and an Indonesian teacher in the Summer Language Workshop . However, she is excited to return to BYU and continue working with students and helping them navigate their futures .

Linguistics

Jeff Green (CFS-track) is joining the department as an assistant professor . Jeff received his PhD in linguistics from the University of Maryland, and a BA in linguistics with a minor in Russian from the University of Utah . He specializes in psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics, and is especially interested in the kinds of predictions people make as they process sentences . His work has been mostly in English, with some looking at Mandarin . Here at BYU he is excited to also work on how we process sentences as second- or third- language learners . For the past three years he worked as a visiting assistant professor in the linguistics department at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign . In his free time he enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, and reading (especially fantasy) . Sherri Hadfield (staff) started working at BYU in December 2020 as a parttime secretary in the department . Her most recent work the last several years was with JetBlue Airways responding to disability, legal, medical, and serious customer complaints directed to the CEO . After graduating from BYU in family sciences, she was employed at the Utah County

Attorney's Office in the Criminal Division, then was re-assigned as the secretary to the White Collar Crime Unit, where she found and then married the great guy she was working with . The plan to further her education in social work changed as they raised their four wonderful children . Her husband, Phil, is an attorney working in corporate law and they enjoy any time they get together with their children or extended family . She was raised in the Pacific Northwest, but Utah has been her home since returning from the Great Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission . She's excited to become a grandmother soon, and she's convinced this role will become her favorite hobby and one of her greatest joys in life! Lisa Morgan Johnson (CFS-track) is joining the department as an assistant professor . Lisa received her PhD in (linguistic) anthropology from the University of Utah, her MA in linguistics from BYU, and her BA in English and Russian from BYU . As a sociolinguist, she studies how individuals and groups use language to construct identity, often below the level of conscious awareness . She is particularly interested in language in diaspora communities, teen language, and the effects of migration on language variation . Her dissertation research focused on the speech of an ethnically diverse group of teens in Salt Lake County, with a quantitative sociophonetic analysis of the speech of Pacific Islanders . She has done fieldwork in Nauru and Tonga, and she managed a summer program in which Shoshone youth learned their heritage language and participated in language revitalization projects . Outside of academia, Lisa enjoys family activities, travel, and teaching the nursery children in her ward .

Spanish & Portuguese

Lauren Truman (CFS-track) is joining the department as an assistant teaching professor and coordinator of Spanish 321 and Spanish 322 . She earned her BA from BYU in English with a minor in editing . After working as an editor and writer for a few years, she returned to BYU to complete her MA in Spanish Linguistics and went on to the University of Minnesota for her PhD Her research interests include language use, bilingual education, pronunciation instruction, and multiliteracies . A native of Colorado, she is thrilled to be back in the West, and to explore the mountains and lakes with her new dog, Rubi .