Behind the Read

Today we are joined by Kelsey Sivertson, a recent graduate of Hope College. Kelsey is a dear friend of mine, and truly one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. While at Hope College, Kelsey majored in Creative Writing. She also was very involved in the Theater department, with her most recent role as Gloria Mitchell in the play, By The Way, Meet Vera Stark. In 2022, Kelsey was the recip...

In part two of this podcast episode, we are joined by Dr. Michael Van Dyke, an English professor at Hope College. Dr. Van Dyke joined the Hope faculty in August 2023, but he taught at several universities and colleges before coming to Hope College. When asked about his favorite part of teaching, he responded by saying that he finds it most rewarding when students discover books they might not have...

In part one of today’s podcast episode, we are joined by Dr. Michael Van Dyke, an English professor at Hope College. Dr. Van Dyke joined the Hope faculty in August of 2023, but he taught at several universities and colleges before coming to Hope College. When asked about his favorite part of teaching, he responded by saying that he find it most rewarding when student discover books they might not...

Today we are joined by Dr. Steven McMullen, an economics professor at Hope College. In this episode he discusses the economics of the 1920s and how it pertains to The Great Gatsby . One of Dr. McMullen’s academic passions is to explore Christian thinking about economics. He is the host of the podcast Faithful Economy and executive editor of the journal Faith & Economics , both associated with the...

In this first episode of season three, the host for this season, Addie Wilcox, talks with Dr. David “Mike” Owens. Dr. Owens is a retired professor of American Literature. He taught at Hope College starting in 2017, and before he taught at Valparaiso University in Indiana. While at Hope, Dr. Owens also served as the founding/interim director of college writing. Dr. Owens received his PhD in America...

In this episode, my co-host, Addie, and I have a conversation with Joe Goodkin, a Chicago-based singer/songwriter and modern traveling bard. Joe tours the country performing his one-man folk-opera interpretation of Homer's Odyssey (over 300 performances in 43 US states, Canada, Greece, Italy, and The Netherlands) and for years released music under the name Paper Arrows (five records total). In 202...

In this episode, my co-host, Addie, and I have a conversation with George O’Connor, an author, illustrator and cartoonist. Above all, George is a Greek mythology buff and a classic superhero comics fan, and he's out to remind us how much our pantheon of superheroes (Superman, Batman, the X-Men, etc) owes to mankind's original superheroes: the Greek pantheon. Now he has brought his attention to Oly...

In the episode, my co-host, Addie, and I have a conversation with Liv Albert, the host, creator, writer, editor, and producer of the “ Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! ” podcast. Liv has a degree in English Literature & Classics from Concordia University in Montreal where she studied ancient Greece and Rome broadly. Now, she researches new details and versions of Greek mythological stories to tel...

In this episode, my co-host, Addie and I have a conversation with two middle and high school teachers at Black River Public Schools, Brent and Karen Rowe. Karen Rowe has taught middle and high school English at Black River Public Schools since 2005. She has her Masters of Arts in English Literature from Grand Valley State University. Karen has participated in NEA Big Read Lakeshore for all of its...

In this episode, my co-host, Addie, and I have a conversation with two professors at Hope College, Dr. Bram ten Berge and Dr. Margaret Burr. Dr. ten Berge has his Ph. D. in classics from the University of Michigan. As part of his postgraduate training, Dr. ten Berge did the Regular Year Program at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, and has worked on archaeological projects in Engl...

In this episode, my co-host, Addie and I have a conversation with Dr. Stephen Maiullo, the interim Dean of Arts and Humanities at Hope College. Dr. Maiullo has his Ph. D. in Classics from Ohio State University, and has been a professor at Hope College since two thousand ten. His area of expertise is in Greek literature, Greek and Roman philosophy, and reception of classical literature. He teaches...

In this episode, my co-host, Addie, and I have a conversation with Elisabeth Thoburn, a professor at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Professor Thoburn was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1985. She is an art historian, educator, public speaker, and world traveler who received her Master’s degree in both Western and Asian art from the University of Michigan...

In this episode, I have a conversation with Susanna Childress. She has authored the poetry volumes Jagged with Love and Entering the House of Awe and is finishing a collection of essays, Extremely Yours . Susanna teaches at Hope College and lives with her family in Holland, Michigan. We are grateful to have her expertise teach us about poetry today! Learn more about our program at bigreadlakeshore...

In this episode, I have a conversation with poet Mark Hiskes. Mark Hiskes grew up in Chicago, the seventh of eight kids lucky enough to be raised by Harold and Everdean.  He has been blessed to be an English teacher for 35 years. When he’s not grading papers, he loves to walk, read, write, hang out in classrooms with students, and refurbish old furniture with Cindy for her antique business. O...

In this episode, I have a conversation with my Hope College colleague, Pablo Peschiera. Pablo is an Associate Professor in the Department of English, at Hope College, and currently serves as the Interim Chair and as the Area Coordinator for Creative Writing. He's published over 100 poems, interviews, reviews, essays, and translations from Spanish and he teaches poetry to Hope College students. Hea...

In this episode, I have a conversation with Dana VanderLugt. Dana VanderLugt lives in West Michigan with her husband, three sons, and spoiled golden retriever. She has an MFA from Spalding University and works as a teacher and instructional coach. Her work has been published in Longridge Review , Ruminate , The Reformed Journal, and Relief: A Journal of Art & Faith . She can be found online at...

In this episode, I have a conversation with David James. James, who writes as D.R. James has taught writing, literature, and peace-making at Hope College for 34 years and lives in the woods near Saugatuck, Michigan. His poems and prose have appeared in a variety of journals Including  Galway Review)  and anthologies, his latest of eight poetry collections are  If god were gentle &nb...

In this episode, I have a conversation with Jack Ridl. Jack Ridl taught at Hope from 1971 until retiring in 2006. With his wife Julie, Ridl founded the Visiting Writers Series at Hope College, later named the "Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series" in his honor, He is the author of several collections of poetry, and has also published more than 300 poems in journals and has work included in numerous a...

In this podcast episode, I talk with Thea Patterson, one of my former Hope College students! Now, she's a teaches sixth grade English and is sharing her expertise with our Big Read community. We talk about her love for literature and where it began, engaging with characters, books as windows and mirrors, and her book recommendations! We admire Thea's love for literacy and we cannot wait for you to...

In this podcast episode, I talk with Karen Rowe, Black River High School English teacher. We talk about her involvement with the Big Read (eight years!) and how she's seen reading benefit and build community. Karen uses examples from her own classroom, other classrooms, and even her daughter to share ideas and tools for utilizing reading in a community. We are so grateful for Karen! Learn more abo...

In this podcast episode, I talk with Professor Bill Moreau, associate professor of English at Hope College. Our conversation is focused on the strategies he uses to emphasize literature and reading with his students, both at the high school and college levels. Bill has a keen understanding teaching the greater storyline of literature and shares some of the strategies he uses with his students! Lea...

In this podcast episode, I talk with Dr. Tatevik (Tato) Gyulamiryan, associate professor of Spanish at Hope College. In our conversation, Tato explains why the Big Read Lakeshore is her favorite event on campus and reflects on the ways she makes the study of literature timely, relevant, and engaging to the college students in her classes. Learn more about our program at bigreadlakeshore.com and fo...

Big Read Lakeshore of Hope College is proud to present Behind the Read, a podcast series that offers listeners insights and perspectives on all what goes into, around and behind the act of reading. Tune into our biweekly podcast!