Susan Danielson received her Ph.D. in American literature and women’s studies from the University of Oregon. She is professor of American literature at Portland State University and has been instrumental in developing and teaching community-based learning (CBL) courses through the Department of English and the Center for Academic Excellence since the early 1990s. In pursuing her scholarly agenda, she works to negotiate the borders among innovative programs, interdisciplinary curricular development, and more traditional literary scholarship. Integrating CBL pedagogy into courses such as Literature and Medicine and The Immigrant Experience deepens the impact of literary study; students develop a new level of understanding as well as a new discourse within the context of community-based experiences. She has received numerous grants from Portland State University’s Center for Academic Excellence and Campus Compact, and has lectured and written on the interconnections between CBL and literary studies.

Ann Marie Fallon received her B.A ion English from Swarthmore College and her M.A. and Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Virginia. She is an assistant professor in the University Studies program at Portland State University and teaches courses in postcolonial theory, feminist theory, and American studies and democracy. She was a junior Fulbright scholar in Germany in the 2004-2005 academic year and has lectured and written on the changing role of the humanities in the modern university.