Joan Peterson  |  Interests  |  Scholarship  |  Service  

Education:

• Ed.D. Curriculum and Instruction, University of San Francisco, May 1994
  Dissertation: The Portrayal of the Schoolteacher in American Literature Based upon Colonial Types: 1794-1987
• M.A. British and American Literature, Mills College, May 1989
  Thesis: Mysticism in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson and Gerard Manley Hopkins
• B.A. English, minor in Speech, San Francisco State University, May 1969

Teaching Experience:

• Professor - Saint Mary's College of California (2000 - Present)
• Associate Professor - Saint Mary's College of California (1998 - 2000)
• Full-time adjunct - Saint Mary's College of California (1991 - 1997)
• Instructor: English - Diablo Valley Community College (1987 - 1990)
• Secondary teacher: English, Journalism, Speech - (1970 - 1987)

Awards:

• O. DeSales Perez Award - Saint Mary's College of California (November 2003)
• For Dedication to Teaching the Lessons of the Holocaust to the Next Generation - The Bilha Sperling Holocaust Education Award (November 2000)

Fellowships:

• Transforming Troubling Tellings: The History of the Deicide Charge and the Holocaust - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (June 27, 2011)
  In this week-long seminar, 20 participants studied historical, biblical and theological literature to better understand how the deicide charge has contributed to anti-Semitism through the ages.
• Institute on the Holocaust and Jewish Civilization - Northwestern University (June 2006)
• Literature of the Holocaust - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. (June 2003)

Honor:

• Holocaust Appreciation - The Holocaust Remembrance Committee of Alameda County (May 2000)

Professional Licenses & Certifications:

• California Secondary Teaching Credential: English and Speech - San Francisco State University (June 1970)

Presentations:

Papers

• All That's Left Unsaid: How Conrad Gets it Right. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Annual Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
  (May 13, 2012)
• Babi Yar: In Yevtushenko, Shostakovich, Testimony, and Monuments. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Annual Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
  (March 2010)
• Magnitude and Dimension in Dickinson. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Association of Core Texts (ACTC)
  (April 2008)
• Tell it Slant: The Journey from Past Order to Present Disquiet in Love and Other Demons. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Association of Core Texts (ACTC)
  (April 2007)
• W.G. Sebald: Witness to a Post-Holocaust World. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Lessons and Legacies Conference
  (November 2006)
• The Aeneid of Virgil and the Protection Afforded Jews by Italian Soldiers in Occupied Territories: A Personal Reading. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Association of Core Texts (ACTC)
  (April 2006)
• Constant Company: W.G. Sebald in the Wake of the Holocaust. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
  (March 2005)
• Italian-Jewish Response in Giorgio Bassani, Carlo Levi, and Natalia Ginzburg. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
  (March 2002)
• Images of Secondary-Character Teachers in Literature. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  American Educational Research Association
  (April 2000)
• Italian Response to the Holocaust in Morante's History: a Novel, and De Luca's Sea of Memory. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
  (March 2000)
• The Holocaust and Tragic Discourse. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
  (March 1999)
• "Some Gold Across the Water": Paul Celan and Nelly Sachs. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
  (March 1998)
• The Female Teacher in Fiction. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  American Educational Research Association
  (March 1997)
• Teaching the Holocaust: The Problems of Intention, Prior Knowledge, Historical Reduction, Distance, and Separation from the World. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
  (March 1997)
• Teaching Cynthia Ozick's "The Shawl" with Elie Wiesel's "Night". Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
  (March 1997)
• Reflections on Silence as Response. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
  (March 1996)
• William James Illuminates Gerard Manley Hopkins. Peterson, Joan (paper)
  Literature and Spirituality
  (November 1995)

Publications:

• Peterson, Joan. "Iterations of Babi Yar." Journal of Ecumenical Studies: Crisis and Credibility in the Jewish-Christian World: Remembering Franklin H. Littell 46.4 (2011): 585-598
• Peterson, Joan. "Brother Agathon: On Teaching and the Virtue of Gentleness ." Educational Perspectives XV.2 (2011): 22
• Peterson, Joan. "Thoughts on the Teaching of the Holocaust." California English 12.4 (2007): 13-14
• Peterson, Joan. ""Some Gold Across the Water": Paul Celan and Nelly Sachs." Holocaust and Genocide Studies 14.2 (2000): 197-214
• Peterson, Joan. "The Holocaust, George Steiner, and Tragic Discourse." Rendezvous 34.1 (1999): 93-104
• Peterson, Joan. "Teaching Guidelines and Annotated Bibliography on the Holocaust." Teaching for a Tolerant World, Grades 9-12. Eds. Danks, Carol and Rabinsky, Leatrice Urbana, Ilinois: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), 1999. 356-375
• Peterson, Joan. "Reflections on Silence as Response." Educational Perspectives XIII.2 (1996): 17-23
• Peterson, Joan. "Probable Loss." Christianity and Literature, Vol. 44, Iss. 1, pgs. 58. Carrollton, GA: West Georgia College, 1994