Leora H. McCloskey

Leora H. McCloskey teaches English and Creative Writing. Ms. McCloskey is currently working on her PhD in English from the University of Hawaii. She holds an M.A. in English from North Carolina State University and a B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her teaching experience includes English Instructor at Diablo Valley College, Adjunct Assistant Professor English, University of Maryland University College, and Graduate Instructor at both the University of Hawaii and North Carolina State University.

Philosophy

"Enriching student learning by joining language arts and the performing arts gives genuine meaning to the concept of inter-disciplinary teaching and integrated understanding. At ArtsWest, all aspects of writing skills are stressed and reinforced by emphasizing ideas, organization, conventions, presentation, voice, word choice, and sentence fluency. We will be committed to the axiom "deep thinkers happen here!" My goal will be to foster a life-long love of literature and writing. But expect the unexpected! Students won't just read poetry, they'll create it. They won't just study Shakespeare, they'll recite and perform it. Who says a text has to be something out of a book? What about visual texts? What about film? What about art? Shouldn't we be analyzing and thinking critically about these things as well? Come to class and find out."