Welcome to Nicky Didicher’s webpage

(not very fancy, but I put more effort into WebCT than this)

I joined the faculty of Simon Fraser University as a senior lecturer in the fall of 2002, and am enjoying my work here. My fields of specialization are eighteenth-century British literature and children’s literature, and I also teach a variety of other courses including poetry, drama, detective fiction, nineteenth-century literature, science fiction, and Chaucer.

[here’s a picture taken at the costume warehouse in Stratford ON]

Students in current courses can go to the WebCT log on page for information on specific classes.

[A detailed c.v. appears below.]

Here's some formal information about me:

· Education: PhD in English (Restoration & eighteenth-century British literature) from Queen's University (Kingston ON) 1990, MA in English (Middle English literature) from Queen's 1985, Honours BA in English from University of Guelph (Guelph ON) 1983, Winegard Medalist at U of Guelph 1983, many other student awards

· Senior Lecturer, SFU English dept.: As a lecturer, I teach eight courses per year and concentrate on pedagogy rather than research.

· Publications: on Swift, Defoe, P.L. Travers, Rudyard Kipling and Anne McCaffrey, pedagogy, and Richardson

· Teaching Experience & Strategies: I have taught many different courses at many different universities in Ontario, Québec, Minnesota, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and now BC; I use a student-centered approach to teaching, and a contractual evaluation system in upper-year courses; I’ve been experimenting with student-chosen curricula.

· Courses for 2005/’06: Engl 205 17^th- and 18^th-Century Literatures in English (Fall) Engl 320 Topics in 18^th-Century Literature (Fall), Engl 387 Children’s Literature (Fall and Summer Session), Engl 102 Intro to Poetry (Spring), Engl 322 18^th-Century British Novel (Spring), Engl 333 19^th-Century British Novel (Spring)

· Courses for 2004/’05: Engl 103 Intro to Drama (Spring), 206 19^th-century Literatures in English (Fall), 322 18^th-Century British Novel (Fall and Spring), 325 Romantic Poetry (Fall), 383 Fantasy & Popular Culture (Spring)

· Courses for 2003/’04: Engl 102 Introduction to Poetry (Fall), 322 18^th-Century British Novel (Fall), 387 Children’s Literature (Fall and Spring), 205 17^th- and 18^th-Century Literatures in English (Spring), 320 Studies in Restoration and 18^th-Century Literature (Spring), 103 Introduction to Drama (Summer), and 306 Chaucer (Summer)

· Courses for 2002/’03: Engl 206 19^th-Century British Literatures (Fall and Spring), Engl 322 18^th-Century British Novel (Fall and Spring), Engl 387 Children’s Literature (Spring), Engl 383 Fantasy & Popular Culture (Summer Session)

Here's some less formal information:

· I collect stegosauruses.

· My favourite colour is yellow.

· I am a mezzo soprano and enjoy choral singing. Music is especially important to me as part of my Christian spiritual life.

· I think Terry's chocolate oranges are nature's most nearly perfect food … though I’m trying to cut down on them because of the child slaves who pick cocoa beans in West Africa.

· I’ve been doing some interesting genealogical research over the past couple of years: my father’s family is half Scots and half Banater (German-Hungarian), 20^th-century immigrants to Canada, and my mother’s is mostly British pioneer stock who settled in Ontario in the early 19^th century.

· Things that give me joy include (but are not limited to) sunshine, the touch of the Holy Spirit, the novels of James H. Schmitz, the music of Palestrina

C.V.

Nicole E. Didicher
Dept. of English

Simon Fraser University

8888 University Dr.

Burnaby BC V5A 1S6
didicher@sfu.ca

Birth-date and place: April 16, 1960; North Bay, Ontario

Citizenship: Canadian 




Areas of Expertise and Interest:
·    17th- and 18th-century British literature

·    children's literature 

·    parody and satire

·    maps and literature

·    pedagogy, especially student-centered learning

·    fantasy and science fiction

·    detective fiction

·    Middle English literature, especially Chaucer




Published Works:




“Making Pamela Real for Undergraduates: Sexual Harassment and the Epistolary Form.”  Approaches to Teaching the Novels of Samuel Richardson. Ed. Lisa Zunshine and Jocelyn Harris. New York: MLA, 2006. 77-81. ISBN 0-87352-923-5




“Evaluation by Agreement as a Part of Student-Centered Learning”; Refereed Proceedings of The Sixth Annual Atlantic Universities' Teaching Showcase; Halifax: Association of Atlantic Universities, 2002. 109-118. ISSN 1490-4861.




“Adolescence, Imperialism, and Identity in Kim and Pegasus in Flight .”  Mosaic  34.2 (2001): 149-164.  Special issue on children's literature.  ISSN 0027-1276.




“(Un)Trustworthy Praise and (Un)Governed Passions in The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.”  Chapter 6 in Relocating Praise: Literary Modalities and Rhetorical Contexts.  Ed. Alice G. den Otter.  Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press, 2000.  ISBN 1-55130-141-5.




“The Children in the Story: Metafiction in Mary Poppins in the Park .”  Children's Literature in Education  28.3 (1997): 137-149.  ISSN 0045-6713.




“Mapping the Distorted Worlds of Gulliver's Travels.”  Lumen 16 (1997): 179-196.  ISBN 0-920980-69-4.




Formal Papers:




June 2006 “Transforming the Transformation Story: Dahl and Pullman”; Conference of the Children’s Literature Association; Manhattan Beach CA
 
May 2006 “Collaborative Learning and WebCT Presentation Pages”; 8th Annual Symposium on Innovative Teaching; Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC
 
May 2004 “WebCT for Arts Classes: How to Maximize its Usefulness”; Blended Classroom and eLearning Practice, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Teaching, Learning, & Technology Conference Series; Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC 
 
Oct. 2003 “Student Response to Gender Roles in Haywood’s Love in Excess”; joint meeting of the Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies and the Northwest Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies; University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC

May 2002 “Student-Centred Evaluation: Implementing individualized evaluation agreements”; 5^th Annual Symposium on Innovative Teaching; Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC

Feb. 2002  “Models of Motherlove in Winnie-the-Pooh”; Examining and Expanding the Meanings of Motherlove; Centre for Research on Mothering; York University, Toronto, Ontario

Nov. 2001  “An 'Abundance of Very Handsome Things': (Un)Trustworthy Praise and (Un)Governed Passions in The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”; 25th Anniversary Meeting of the Northeast American Society for 18th-Century Studies in co-operation with the Atlantic Society for 18th-Century Studies; Halifax, Nova Scotia;  originally delivered Oct. 1998 at conference on “Literary Modalities of Praise”; Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Oct. 2001 “Evaluation by Agreement as a Part of Student-Centered Learning”; The Sixth Annual Atlantic Universities' Teaching Showcase; Mt. Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick

Oct. 1995 “Mapping the Self: The Distorted Worlds of Gulliver's Travels ”; conference of the Canadian Society for 18th-Century Studies; Windsor, Ontario

Second editor, with Katherine Quinsey and Walter S. Skakoon, Lumen 16 (1997), refereed conference proceedings of the Canadian Society for 18th-Century Studies, from the conference of Oct. 1995

Oct. 1993 “Parodic Displacement in Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park”; annual meeting of the Midwestern American Society for 18th-Century Studies; Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Oct. l992 “Out of Odour with God: The Visitations of Defoe and Camus”; joint conference of the Canadian Society for 18th-Century Studies and the Atlantic Society for 18th-Century Studies; St. John's, Newfoundland

Oct. 1990 “Heralding Literature: Parody as Critical Theory in the Late Eighteenth-Century Novel” (on Goldsmith, Godwin, and Beckford); annual meeting  of the Midwestern American Society for 18th-Century Studies; Macomb, Illinois

Oct. 1990 “The Citizen of the World and the Parodic Stance”; conference of the Canadian Society for 18th-Century Studies; Kingston, Ontario

May l989 “Much (Masqu'd) Merit: The Function of Parody in Joseph Andrews ”; conference of the Association of Canadian University Teachers of English; Ville de Québec, Québec

Sept. 1987 “Jane Austen: Parody and the Satirized Reader”; conference of the Northeastern American Society for 18th-Century Studies; Kingston, Ontario

Informal Papers:

May 2006 Guest Speaker to English Bridge Program, SFU

Oct. 2004 Guest Speaker to English Bridge Program, SFU

Oct. 2004 and 2005 Guest Speaker for Sean Zwagerman’s ENGL 810 Professional Development Seminar for graduate students

Feb. 2002  “Texts and Maps in Children’s Fiction”; Seniors’ Seminar Series; Mt. Allison University Extension Education, Moncton, New Brunswick
Feb. 2002 “Gender and Geography in Winnie-the-Pooh”; guest lecture in Michal Avram’s Geography 4811 “Gender, Culture and the City”; Mt. Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick  

Oct. 2001 “Tales of a Scholar Gypsy: English Departments and English Students in North American Universities”; English Student Society Speakers Series; Mt. Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick
Oct. 2001 “The Sexualization of Landscape in Pope's Epistle to Burlington”; guest lecture in Robert Lapp's 3rd-yr “Literature in the Age of Enlightenment” class; Mt. Allison University, Sackville, New  Brunswick
Oct. 2001 “Demonstration and Explanation of Fourteenth-Century British Costume”; guest lecture in Janine Rogers's 3rd-yr “Major Texts in Early English Literature” class; Mt. Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick
Sept. 2001 “Classroom Use of the Plates in Swift's Travels”; Colloquium on British Literature Before 1800; Mt. Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick
Feb. 2000 “Ibsen and Nineteenth-Century Realist Drama”; guest lecture in team-taught 1st-yr course on “Culture and Ideas”; University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario
Feb. 1996 “The History of Utopias and Dystopias”; guest lecture in Wanda Campbell's 2nd-yr “Canadian Fiction and the New Nation” class; University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario

Teaching Experience:

2005/'06 Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC; senior lecturer

[all SFU English courses one semester long]

Studies in 18^th-Century British Literature (drama, 3^rd yr)

18^th-Century British Novel (3^rd yr)

17^th- and 18^th-Century British Literatures (2^nd yr)

19^th-Century British Novel (3^rd yr)

Intro to Poetry (1^st yr, Writing Intensive)

Children’s Literature (3^rd yr, 3 sections)

plus supervision of Distance Education 17^th- and 18^th-Century British Literatures

2004/'05 Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC; senior lecturer

19^th-Century British Literatures (2^nd yr)

Romantic Poetry (3^rd yr)

Eighteenth-Century British Novel (3^rd yr, 2 sections)
Detective Fiction (3^rd yr)
Intro to Drama (1^st yr)

plus supervision of Distance Education Medieval and Renaissance (2^nd yr)

2003/'04 Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC; senior lecturer

Introduction to Poetry (1^st yr)

17^th- and 18^th-Century British Literatures (2^nd yr)
Studies in 18^th-Century Literature (3^rd yr)

Eighteenth-Century British Novel (3^rd yr)
Children’s Literature (3^rd yr, 2 sections)
Chaucer (3^rd yr)
Intro to Drama (1^st yr)

plus supervision of Distance Education Medieval and Renaissance (2^nd yr)

2002/'03 Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC; senior lecturer
Nineteenth-Century British Literatures (2nd yr, 2 sections)
Eighteenth-Century British Novel (3rd yr, 2 sections)
Children’s Literature (3rd yr)
Popular Culture: Women Writers of Detective Fiction (3^rd yr, 2 sections)

2001/'02 Mt. Allison University, Sackville NB; part-time term appointment
Introduction to Principles of Literary Analysis (1st yr, 1 term course, 2 sections)
Introduction to Poetry (2nd yr, 1 term course, 2 sections)

2000/'01 St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish NS; Assistant Professor, term appointment
Introductory Survey of Literature in English (1st year course, 2 sections)
Restoration and 18th-Century Drama and Prose (1 term course, 3rd yr)
18th-Century Novel and Poetry (1 term course, 3rd yr)

1999/'00 University of Windsor, Windsor ON; Instructor
Drama of the Western World: the Tragic Vision (1 term, 1st yr, 2 sections)
Drama of the Western World: the Comic Vision (1 term, 1st yr, 2 sections)
Writing about Literature (1 term, 1st year course)

1998/'99 University of Windsor; Instructor
Restoration and Early Eighteenth-Century Literature (1 term, 2nd year)
Later Eighteenth-Century Literature (1 term, 2nd year course)
Eighteenth-Century Fiction (1 term, 3rd year course)
Women in Restoration Drama (1 term, MA & honours seminar, co-taught K. Quinsey)
Topics in Literature: Female British Mystery Writers (intersession, 1st yr)

1997/'98 University of Minnesota Morris; Assistant Professor, term appointment
English Literature 1660-1798 (1 term, upper level course)
The English Novel (1 term, upper level course)
Advanced Composition (1 term, upper level course)
College Writing I (1 term, freshman course, 2 sections)
College Writing II (1 term, freshman course, 1 section)

1997 McMaster University, Hamilton ON; Instructor
Topics in Prose: Science Fiction (summer term, 3rd year course)

1995/'96 University of Windsor; Instructor
Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Drama (1 term, 3rd year course)
Critical Analysis (1 term, 2nd year course)
Women Writing in English 1660-1800 (MA & honours seminar)
Utopias and Dystopias (1 term, 3rd year course)
Children's Literature (intersession, 2nd year course)

1994/'95 University of Windsor; Instructor
Restoration and Early Eighteenth-Century Literature (1 term, 2nd year)
Images of Women (1 term, 1st year course)
Theory of Composition: Pedagogy (MA seminar)
Comparative Literature (1 term, 3rd year course)
Later Eighteenth-Century Literature (1 term, 2nd year course)
Honours Seminar in Eighteenth-Century Literature (honours seminar)

1994 Woodsworth College, University of Toronto, Toronto ON; Instructor
Children's Literature (1 term, 2nd year, summer course)

1993/'94 Erindale College, University of Toronto; Assistant Professor, limited contract
Fiction before 1832 (3rd year course)
Poetry and Prose 1660-1800 (3rd year course)
Effective Writing (1 term, 1st year course)
Satire, Burlesque, and Parody (honours seminar)

1992/'93 Erindale College, University of Toronto; Assistant Professor, limited contract
Fiction before 1832 (3rd year course)
Major Women Writers (2nd year course)
Effective Writing (1 term, 1st year course, 2 sections)

1990/'91 Concordia University, Montréal QB; Assistant Professor (limited appointment)
Restoration and Eighteenth-Century English (3rd year course)
Seventeenth-Century English Literature (3rd year course)
Satire (2nd year course)

1989/'90 University of Western Ontario, London ON; Instructor
Restoration & Early 18th-Century English Literature (upper level, 3  sections)
Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Romance (1st year, summer correspondence)

1984﷓'89 Queen's University, Kingston ON; Teaching Assistant
five teaching assistantships, with survey courses, expository writing, Shakespeare, and fantasy

Academic Supervision:

Supervisor of two undergraduate directed readings, SFU 2005/’06, on children’s literature

Supervisor of undergraduate honours paper, SFU 2004/’05, on Rochester

Examining committee for a Ph.D. field exam, SFU 2004/’05, on children’s/young adult literature

Supervisor of undergraduate directed reading, SFU 2004/’05, in children’s literature

Supervisor of four undergraduate directed readings, SFU 2003/’04, three in children’s literature and one on Swift and rhetoric

Supervisor of two graduate directed readings, SFU 2003/’04, in children’s literature

Second reader on undergraduate honours paper: at Mt. Allison in 2001/'02 on Goldsmith
Supervisor of undergraduate honours papers: one at St. FX in 2000/'01 on Behn's poetry; one at U of T Erindale in 1982/'83 on women's voices in narration

Other Academic Activities:

·   participant in Re-Thinking Teaching, 3-day curriculum design workshop organized by Cheryl Amundsen; Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC, May 2006

·   panel chair at SFU Graduate Student Conference, Sept. 2005 and 2004

·   participant in workshops on W and Q courses 2004-2006

·    participant in “Teaching Enhancement Workshops,” organized by the Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning, Mt. Allison University, 2001
·    participant in three different public readings of Paradise Lost: Mt. Allison U, 2002; U of Windsor, 2000; Queen’s U 1989
·    participant in public reading of Moby Dick , U of Minnesota Morris, 1997
·    participant colloquium series on student evaluation techniques, organized by Instructional Development Office, University of Windsor, 1995
·    participant in seminar series “Alternatives to the Lecture” and “More than Memory,” organized by the Teaching and Learning Community Network, Concordia University, 1990/'91

Service to Simon Fraser University:

2004/’05 Tenure & Promotion Committee, Dept. of English, for lecturer positions only

2004-’06 Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Dept. of English (and sub-committee to plan Open House events)

2003-’06 Senate Committee on University Teaching and Learning (and sub-committee to explore new student evaluations for the university)

2003/’04 Action Committee, Dept. of English

2002/’03 Tenure & Promotion Committee, Dept. of English, for lecturer positions only

volunteer at 40^th Anniversary Open House

volunteer help at convocation and for United Way

Education:
1990 Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario; PhD

1985 Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario; MA

1983 University of Guelph, Ontario; Honours BA




PhD Thesis:
Title: “Goldsmith in the Context of Parody”

Supervisors: Peter Sabor and H. Grant Sampson

Dept. of English, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario




Academic Awards and Honours as a Student:
1986 R.S. McLaughlin Fellowship, Queen's

1985 Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Queen's

1984 Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Queen's

1983 R.S. McLaughlin Fellowship, Queen's

1979-83 Named to Dean's Honours List, all eight semesters, University of Guelph

1983 Winegard Medal (most prestigious award offered by the University of Guelph)

1983 College of Arts Medal, Guelph

1983 Gold Medal in English, Guelph
1981 Ross Prize in English, Guelph
1981 Alma Mater In-Course Scholarship, Guelph
1980 Early In-Course Scholarship, Guelph
1979 Alma Mater Scholarship, Guelph
1979 Entrance Scholarship, Guelph

Examples of Extra-Curricular Activities:

·    volunteer work at a wildlife sanctuary in Mississauga, 1994

·    volunteer tutor with Kingston Literacy, 1987/'88; tutor ESL

·   certification CPR 2003

·    church activities: choir and solo work, Bible study, some lay ministry, volunteer church work
·    hathayoga, around 15 years of study and practice; volunteer teacher of a beginners’ class at Mt. Allison University 2001/’02; volunteer teacher of “Yoga in a Christian Context” Shiloh-Sixth Ave. United Church, New Westminster, 2004 on
·    choral music: five years with University of Guelph Choir (one Canadian tour, one European tour, second place in CBC Choral Competition 1982), four years with Queen's Choral Ensemble, one year with Queen's Chamber Singers, one year with University of  Minnesota Morris University Chorus, one year with St. Francis Xavier Concert Choir, one year with Mt. Allison Chamber Choir
·    guest soloist, United Latinos Association annual dinner, University of Minnesota Morris, 1998

·    member University of Windsor Collegium Musicum, 1994﷓'96, 1998﷓2000

·    other music: I play folk guitar, recorder, and a bit of bodhran drum