The Studio @ CHS
Media, Communication, and More
Dr. Jill Dahlman
Dr. Jill Dahlman is a composition specialist whose primary area of research is in student self-efficacy in the first-year composition classroom. She has interests in the pedagogies of composition and service-learning and rhetoric of the Cold War era, including protest songs, comic books, and Star Trek. Dr. Dahlman studied and worked at the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she began her work in using grading conferences as a means of raising student self-efficacy. Her research in student self-efficacy continued at the University of Nevada, Reno. Conferences, such as National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), Writing Program Administration (WPA), the Rocky Mountain MLA (RMMLA where she is an Editorial Board Member), and International Writing across the Curriculum (IWAC where she is a member of the Advisory Board) frequently see Dr. Dahlman on their program as a speaker or workshop leader. She loves helping students de-mystify the writing process.
Liz Ryder Baxmeyer
Liz Ryder has been a college instructor since 2009. She has taught music and English composition courses at Heald College in San Francisco, Solano College in Fairfield, and given workshops at Southside Unlimited and CLARA in Midtown Sacramento, alongside maintaining an active career in the arts as a writer, theatre professional, musician, engineer, composer, and sound designer. Ms Ryder has toured in the UK and US as a musician and songwriter, and performed at festivals such as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, the San Francisco Folk Festival, and Sidmouth and Warwick in the UK to name a few. She has also been involved in numerous theatre productions for companies in San Francisco, New York, and Sacramento - for which she has received seven nominations, and two industry awards for sound design – and has a passion for Shakespeare, as well as modern playwrights (especially the work of Sarah Ruhl). Ryder has a special interest in podcasting and voice recording, and has edited and mastered various narrative and journalistic pieces for release on NPR, and local radio. She has worked closely with the Media and Communication Studio since Spring of 2018, and continues to help build on its vision to impact student success as full time humanities faculty at CHS.
PALs & UTAs
A variety of wonderful Peer Assisted Learners and Undergraduate Teaching Assistants work in the MCS to help you with all your writing and media needs. PALs are students who have already taken the required English courses at CHS, and have demonstrated strong writing and communication skills. UTAs also have to be in excellent academic standing.
Dr. William Davis
Dr. Davis received a BA in English from Virginia Tech and made his first foray into teaching at the high school level. After a two-year break from teaching, Dr. Davis began work on a master’s degree in Literature at Northern Arizona University. He taught 2 different college composition courses there while also working in the university’s writing center. Dr. Davis received his PhD in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Tech and is a founding faculty member at CHS. Though he no longer delivers English composition courses, Dr. Davis never stopped teaching writing. Lucid prose, especially when it paves the way for other forms of communication, remains powerful and persuasive. No matter the profession, clear, direct communication benefits everyone involved. Join Dr. Davis to discuss personal statements, plan creative projects—essays, book reviews, and podcasts--, and practice interview skills.