Faculty/Staff Detail
Noralyn Masselink
Noralyn Masselink, Professor of English, joined the department after teaching at Hofstra University for one year as a Visiting Assistant Professor. In her time at Cortland, she has taught and published in all three programmatic areas represented by the department’s majors: Literary Studies, Adolescence English Education, and Professional Writing. Her articles cover subjects ranging from the sermons of John Donne to language development in adolescence to email netiquette. She has had poems published in a variety of journals, is the author of three poetry collections, and has taught numerous Professional Development Workshops for junior high and high school teachers as well as dozens of business and professional writing courses throughout Central New York and for TC3.Biz. In 2005, she was the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and from 2007-2009, she served as coordinator of the graduate and undergraduate Adolescence Education Programs. She has also been a fitness instructor at the Cortland YWCA for many years and very much enjoys teaching yoga and chair yoga classes.
Education
Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana (August 1987)
M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana (August 1983)
B.A. with honors, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (May 1981)
Teaching
Graduate Courses:
Milton
The KJV Bible In and As Literature
Seventeenth-Century Poetry and Prose
Donne and Herbert
Language Development in Adolescence
Participant-Observation Experience: Language Development
Undergraduate Courses:
Renaissance Poetry
Seventeenth Century Literature: Sex, Death, and Salvation
Grammar
Grammar and the Writing Process
Major Figures in British Literature to 1780
War in Literature
Introduction to Myth and the Bible
Introduction to Poetry
Introduction to Fiction
Introduction to Literature
Academic Writing I & II
Publications
Technical Writing: "Non-impact printing technologies at the Watson Research Center" + numerous technical award announcements (1986-87) Research: IBM Research Magazine (Fall 1986)
Article: “Donne's Epistemology and the Art of Memory," The John Donne Journal. 8.1(1989): 57-88.
Article: "'Apparition Head' vs. 'Body Bush': The Prosodical Theory and Practice of John Crowe Ransom," The Southern Quarterly. (Winter 1991): 17-30.
Article: "Metaphor as an Epistemological Tool in John Donne's Sermons," 1991 Proceedings of the Northeast Regional Conference on Christianity and Literature
Article: "Wormseed Revisited: Glossing Line Forty of Donne's 'Farewell to Love,'" English Language Notes. 30.2 (December 1992): 11-15.
Book Review: John Donne and the Rhetorics of Renaissance Discourse. By James S. Baumlin. Columbia: U of Missouri P, 1991. Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 92.2 (April 1993): 242-244.
Invited Article: "A Matter of Interpretation: Example and John Donne's Role as Preacher and as Poet," The John Donne Journal. 11.1&2 (1992): 85-98.
Handbook: The Cortland Composition Handbook. Co-compiled with Mary Kennedy and Victoria Boynton. Needham Heights, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing, 1999.
Article: "Teaching Donne's Devotions Through the Literature of AIDS," Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching. 6.1 (Spring 1998): 51-66.
Article: "Memory in John Donne's Sermons: 'Readie'or Not?" South Atlantic Review. 63.2 (Spring 1998): 99-107.
Book Review: Lyric Wonder: Rhetoric and Wit in Renaissance English Poetry. By James Biester. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1997. Journal of English and Germanic Philology. (January 1999): 86-88.
Book Chapter: “Love of a Lifetime,” Family Therapy as an Alternative to Medicine: An Appraisal of Pharmland. Eds. Phoebe S. Prosky and David Keith. New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2003.
Article: “Where’s the Language in English Language Arts Classrooms?” ATEG Journal 21.1 (Fall 2005): 3-6.
Article: “Using Scaffolded Exercises to Teach Sentence Variety and Enhance Reading Comprehension.” ATEG Journal. 21.3 (Spring-Summer 2006): 2-5.
Article: “‘I dont mean to bother you but’: Student Email and a Call for Netiquette,” Co-written with Denise Knight, e-Learn Magazine May 2008)
Note: “On CDs that Skip and Papers with Editing Mistakes,” The Teaching Professor (March 2008), 3.
Short Article: “A Plea for Honest Grades,” Co-written with Denise Knight, Focus On Teacher Education (Winter 2009), 6-7.
Advisement Manual: Undergraduate Adolescence English Education Major Advisement Manual (May 2009)
Book Review: Habits of the Creative Mind. Richard Miller and Ann Jurecic. Boston, MA Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2015.
Poetry Chapbook: Song of My Breast. Gwynedd Valley, PA: The Lives You Touch Publications, 2015.
Poetry Book: EMerging from DRead. Hemet California: Kelsay Books, 2016.
Poetry Chapbook: Once Upon a Rhyme (or Not?). Gwynedd Valley, PA: The Lives You Touch Publications, 2016.
Poems:
“split mind,” “leave me once,” “What?” “See no evil,” and “Father, forgive him” in Toxic Compatibility (Accepted for July 2014 issue of Fishfood and Lava Juice, and issue which was subsequently cancelled due to lack of funds). The editors then published all five poems as Special Features on their web site November 15, 2014.
“Popping Her Cherry, or The Virgin Poke” Red Fez. 69 (July 2014). n. pag. Web.
*“Featured Poem of the Week” (10/26/14)
“Why does her unprotected sex” S/tick (September 2014). n. pag. Web.
“You could wear out a football team” RiverLit (October 6, 2014) n. pag. Web.
“Of Biopsies and Misunderstandings” and “12-28-10 Job 23:12b 4-12-12” TWJ Magazine (January 2015).
“Garage Cleanout” and “when there’s no joy in the mo(u)rning” The Riveter Review. 5 (August 2016) n. pag. Web.
“Exposed,” “Discharged,” and “Futility” The Awakenings Review. 7.1 (Fall 2017), 103-104.
Service
University and College:
BASIC, Faculty Advisor (2013-2018)
Provost’s Ad-hoc work group on the Professional Development School (2007-2008)
Middle States Review External Institutional Context Group (2000-01)
Voice Office Advisory Committee (89-90)
President's Taskforce on Teaching and Learning (91-92, 93-94)
Campus Selection Committee for Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Librarianship (90-91, 91-92)
Provost's AAC&U American Commitments: Diversity, Democracy, and Liberal Learning Faculty Development Team (95-96)
Graduate Coordinators Committee (2004-2009)
President’s TriPartite Council (2007)
Teacher Education Committee (2007-2009)
Ad-hoc Committee for the revision of the TEC by-laws (2008-2009)
Field Experiences Advisory Committee (2007-2009)
Adolescence Education Council (2007-2009)
Facilitator, Book Chats (2007-2008)
Department:
Interim Assistant Chair and Director of Graduate Programs, English Department (2004)
MSED_AEN Graduate Coordinator (2004-2009)
NCATE Committee, English Advisory Board (2000-01)
English Department Personnel Committee (88-92, 93-94, 98, 04-05, 10-11, 2011, 2016-2018)
Chair (93-94, 04-07)
Search Committee for nine full-time positions (90, 91, 92, 02-03, 04-05, 08-09)
Chair (03-04, 04-05, 07-08)
Department Curriculum Committee (89-90, 96-98, 99-02, 13-15),
Chair (97-98, 99-02, 03-04)
Graduate Studies Committee (90-92, 04-05),
Chair (91-92)
Scholarship Committee (91-98, 04, 12-14)
Chair (12-14)
English Department Composition Portfolio Committee (92-96)
English Department Ad-hoc Writing Committee (1997-99)
English Department Outstanding Portfolio Committee (1996-2001)
English Department AEN Committees (Curriculum and Graduate) (2005-Present)
TaskStream Coordinator (2007-2011)
Grants
Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award 2018
Poem “Nest” Nominated for a 2015 Pushcart Prize
Who’s Who among American Teachers & Educators, 2007-present
Marquis Who’s Who of American Women, 2007
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2005
Honored Member Empire Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals, 2005-2006
May 2008 College Assessment Committee Incentive Grant ($2000)
May 2007 College Assessment Committee Incentive Grant ($2200)
Summer 2007, College Assessment Committee Incentive Grant ($1375)
2005 Title III Advisement Seminar Grant
2005 NYS/UUP Individual Development Award ($220)
2002 NYS/UUP Individual Development Award ($305)
2001 Title III Year Two Instructional Technology Grant ($1200)
2001 NYS/UUP Individual Development Award ($150)
2000 Faculty Multimedia Development Project Award ($750)
2000 NYS/UUP Individual Development Award ($100)
1998 UUP/NYS PDQWL Travel Grant ($360)
1994 English Department Research Award of one-course release time
1994-95 NYS/UUP PDQWL New Faculty Development Award ($415)
1991-92 Alumni Association and Development Foundation Research and Travel Grant ($327)
1990-91 Alumni Association and Development Foundation Research and Travel Grant ($300)
1990-91 NYS/UUP PDQWL New Faculty Development Award ($650)
1991 English Department Research Award of one-course release time
1991 FACT Scholarship ($100)