Diane Raptosh English Professor- Eyck-Berringer Chair

Teaching: I teach a wide range of courses, ranging from basic writing to the literature of medicine. I teach the poetry writing workshop (upper- and lower-division) and the First Year Seminar, along with a variety of special topics courses, such as the Seminar on Adrienne Rich, Prose and Cons: Prison Literature, and The Prison Experience. The latter two courses serve the College's three Criminal Justice Studies minors and provide opportunities for students to learn first-hand about prisons and prison life through field trips to local prisions and jails as well as through exposure to literature by and about inmates. I have continuing interests in writing as a rehabilitative tool and frequently place students in internships in which they facilitate writing workshops for underserved populations. In my capacity as Boise's poet laureate, I hope to give poetry workshops in such places.

Creative Work: I write in such hybrid forms as prose poetry and flash fiction in addition to verse. I see poetry as primarily a mode of inquiry: every poem as a means to revise social, cultural, and aesthetic norms; every poem, an opportunity to reconceive the world. I have been awarded three distinguished fellowships from the Idaho Commission on the Arts. Among other honors, I have been the featured artist on "Art and Soul Public Radio Stories: American Masterpieces Celebrates Selected Idaho Artists, Writers, and Performers."

Hobbies: I love to read and travel. I enjoy a wide range of music and offbeat films.

The College of Idaho, Professor of English, 1990-present

Director of The College of Idaho's Criminal Justice Minors

Residency in the Literary Arts, The Studies of Key West, 2012

Residency in the Literary Arts, Banff Centre, 2011

Featured Writer on "The Writers Block," Boise Community Radio, 2011.

Presenter, "Prison Pedagogies: Teaching and Writing Behind Bars:" AWP Conference, 2010.

Featured Artist on "Art and Soul Public Radio Stories: American Masterpieces Celebrates Selected Idaho Artists, Writers, and Performers," Fall 2009.

Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, Boise High School, Boise Idaho:  Judge 2006-2013