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Dr. Danielle Harms

Dr. Danielle HarmsMarquette University

Marquette Hall, 215

MilwaukeeWI53201United States of America(414) 288-6859danielle.harms@marquette.edu

Teaching Assistant Professor

English

In any class I teach, whether creative writing, literature, or rhetoric, I want students to witness the power of their writing, both in the classroom and beyond it. I often design my courses to include hands-on, multimodal projects where students have agency in choosing how to put their writing process, research skills, and rhetorical dexterity to work. My hope is that students will develop a toolbox of fundamental skills that they can transfer to other situations in their lives.

My career began outside the U.S., first as an English teacher in South Korea and then in a rural village in Hungary. These experiences fortified my conviction that we learn best in dialogue with one another, in an environment that empowers all to participate. My teaching is informed by training I have done in inclusive teaching towards justice, conflict transformation, and online and blended teaching. In the classroom, I strive to be energetic and engaged, committed to accessible learning, linguistic justice, and universal design pedagogy. As a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College and a former employee at Wartburg College, I know the transformative impact of a whole-person, liberal arts education that meets students where they are and encourages a deep sense of social justice.

My own writing explores gender, power, and embodiment. In my scholarly work, I use feminist and queer theory as a lens to analyze portrayals of miscarriage and pregnancy loss in fiction. I am primarily a creative writer, and I mostly write fiction and creative nonfiction, but I also write poetry. My short stories and personal often explore women navigating uncomfortable questions in unfamiliar places. I am currently at work on my first novel, a contemporary work of literary fiction set in present-day Wisconsin that follows two best friends navigating infertility, miscarriage, and risky pregnancies alongside one another.

Education

PhD in English, Creative Writing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
Graduate Certificate, Women and Gender Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
MFA, Creative Writing, Creative Nonfiction, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
BA, English and Political Science, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN

Courses Taught

Foundations in Rhetoric
Creative Writing
Advanced Literary Journal Production
Introduction to Literary Studies

Research Interests

Contemporary Fiction and the Novel
Creative nonfiction
Literary magazines and publishing
Creative writing pedagogy
Feminist and queer studies.

Publications

Short Fiction

“The Blood Kettle,” Mid-American Review. Vol. XLI, Spring 2022. 2021 AWP Intro Journal Award. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

“Lessons Learned in a Hungarian Kitchen,” Juked, March 26, 2019.

Nonfiction

“Tear the Skin,” North American Review, April 17, 2024.

“Tick Season,” Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction, Volume 26, Number 1, Spring 2024, pp. 160-165, Michigan State University Press.

“Strawberry Tongue,” Short Reads. Vol. 13. June 21, 2023.

“Son of a Buck,” American Literary Review, Fall, 2022.

“Revision Notes Regarding the Fish in the River,” New Letters, Vol. 88 nos. 3 & 4, Summer/Fall 2022. Listed as a Notable Essay in the 2023 Best American Essays.

“Criteria for a Kiss in Quarantine.” Diagram Journal. 21.1, April, 2021. Featured in Creative Nonfiction’s Sunday Short Reads Newsletter, 149, Sept., 2021.