AULA CLASS NOTES
“In my new role, I’m faced with many challenges that
were once hypothetical scenarios in the Organizational
Management program. It’s exciting to work through the
difficulties with a medium that I love and know well. I’m
embracing the ambiguity and growing as a person.”
Elizabeth Earley (MFA ’11) Elizabeth’s debut novel, “A
Map of Everything,” will be published by Jaded Ibis Press
this spring.
Nina Frick (BA ’10) just earned her master’s in Social
Work from Portland State University with honors.
Joanna Gerber (MA in Organizational Management
’10) is currently finishing up her doctorate at UCLA in
Educational Leadership. Her dissertation is on MOOCs
(massive open online courses) and innovation diffusion
in higher education. “I’ve found that my foundation
in organizational management, thanks to AULA, has
tremendously benefited my leadership, group process,
and problem-solving skills. I still hate meetings – but I
use the skills gleaned through Jeanne Hartley’s courses
every day!”
Christine Stein (MA in Organizational Management ’10)
is in Washington, D.C., working in human resources and
organizational development for a hotel and restaurant
company. “Believe it or not, I miss my drive from Santa
Barbara! I’m actually doing what I set out to do postAULA. I anticipate 2014 to bring a change of location for
me. Best to all my classmates, and I hope to get to catch
up again soon!”
Telaina Eriksen (MFA ’09) is an assistant professor
in creative writing at Michigan State University. She
was the May 2013 artist-in-residence for the Institute
of Sustainable Living and Natural Design in East
Jordan, Michigan. She was honored to be one of the
judges for the Michigan Poetry Out Loud state finals in
February 2013 and was recently chosen by the Michigan
Humanities Council to be the creative writing clinician
and scholar at the 2014 Michigan Youth Arts Festival.
LaToya Jordan (MFA ’09) is the new development and
communications coordinator for the Center for AntiViolence Education in Brooklyn, which provides violence
prevention courses to teen girls, women, LGBTQ
adults, and homeless youth. The Center also provides
workshops across the city to all populations. “And yeah,
I’m bragging. I love my job!”
Betsy Basom (MA in Education ’08) is in her third year of
teaching at Village School in Pacific Palisades, California,
a co-educational independent elementary school for
children in transitional kindergarten through grade six.
She teaches Spanish to students in grades three to six
during the academic year, and started a French camp last
summer for the Village summer school program.
Josh Indar (MFA ’08) had an essay published in the
textbook “The Writer’s Way” about “wishing Armageddon
would just happen already.” He also published a
collection of writing by homeless youth called “Writing
for Donuts,” which he reports “has been pretty well
received. We did a reading and the writers even made
some money on it. There’s some talk about it being
turned into a play, and they may make it a text for CSU
Chico’s social work program.”
Toni Ann Johnson (MFA ’08) Last
spring, Toni’s story “Claiming Tobias”
was published in the Emerson
Review. Her story “Got to Be Real”
was published in the online and print
editions of the journal Elohi Gadugi,
and her story “Light Skin Gone to
Waste” is forthcoming by Soundings
Review. Her novel “Remedy for a Broken Angel” will be
released by Nortia Press this summer.
Kim Panke (MA in Education ’08) started Drama Maniacs,
a drama enrichment program for kids. “We have 140 kids
enrolled in the program. We’re adding new schools all the
time! At our afterschool classes, we offer ‘kid-created’
plays and musicals where students develop their own
characters and write and direct parts of the shows. Then
our students perform their unique productions at a professional
theater. In May, our students will be performing their
musicals at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank.”
Amanda Bastoni (MFA ’07) was awarded a MacDowell
Fellowship for writing in 2009, and has taught at Keene
State College and Franklin Pierce University. She
currently teaches at New England College and is
marketing director for a private school in New Hampshire.
She also writes a monthly column for her local paper
called Defiant Joy.
Cathy Elliott (BA ’07 MA in Organizational Management
,
’09) is beginning her second master’s program at USC in
Communications Management, and is working as an HIV
community liaison with a large pharmaceutical company.
Having been an AIDS activist for many years, she says,
“at first I wasn’t sure if the transition to a big corporate
structure would suit my personality. Now I’m here, nearly
three years later and thriving. I appreciate the wellrounded education I received at AULA that has allowed
me to excel.”
Jane Paul (BA ’05) is honored to be
at AULA as teaching faculty in the MA
in Urban Sustainability program and
the undergraduate Urban Community
and Environment concentration. “After
working with Southern California
coalitions and environmental justice
organizations on policies and collaborations to build a
new green economy, returning to AULA to help create
and support the Urban Sustainability program is an
inspiring opportunity to deepen and share the message
of sustainability and justice.”
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