Meet the Faculty

Resident Faculty

Laurie Hatch, PhD

Chair, Associate Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: the intersection of science, religion, and literature in the 19^th century, literary theory, detective fiction, medieval literature, Lewis and Tolkien

Biography
Recent Creative, Scholarly Work + Publications

Biography

Early in her career, Dr. Hatch was delighted to learn that she could combine her interests in science and religion with her love of literature. Her research into the development of physiological optics in the 19^th century allowed her to explore issues of perception in the poetry of Roman Catholic poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. Fascinated by how knowledge is developed, and truth is confirmed in a variety of disciplines, Dr. Hatch is passionate about introducing students to how literature allows new ideas in all areas to be explored through the medium of story.

During her graduate studies, Dr. Hatch also taught courses in writing and the English language to students from many different countries. After this experience, she has become even more convinced that writing is an important tool in clarifying thought, critically processing ideas, and communicating across borders and cultures.

After teaching at several Christian higher education institutions, Dr. Hatch is pleased to call Vanguard her home. She is happily married with two sons, two cats, and one snake (she isn’t particularly happy about the snake).

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work + Publications

Publications

Editor of The Lamp-Post: A Literary Review of C.S. Lewis Studies

“Cultural Synesthesia and Transcending Temporal Identities: Teaching (Mis)Reading in Endō Shūsaku’s Silence” Teaching Postwar Japanese Fiction, edited by Alex Bates, Modern Language Association of American, 2023, pp. 322-335.

“Gerard Manley Hopkins and Victorian Approaches to the Problems of Perception: Affirming the Metaphysical in the Physical.” Christianity and Literature, volume 65, number 2, 2016, pp. 170-194.

“What Does it Mean to Lose Your Life to Christ?” in ebook to accompany Martin Scorsese’s film Silence (Paramount). Ebook produced and distributed by Cave Pictures, an investor in the film.

Selected Presentations

“‘. . .that white light couldn’t do a thing for you. It was jes’ wasted.’: Interrogation and Identity in Rudolph Fisher’s The Conjure-man Dies.” Part of a Panel on the Responsibility of the Writer in Identity Discourse: Authenticity in Identity and Assimilation in American, Latin American, Asian, and African Literature. Western Regional Conference of Christianity and Literature, Azusa Pacific University, 2023.

“We walk without looking back”: Serving the Work in Sofía Segovia’s The Murmur of Bees.“ Literary Geographies: Space, Place, and Environments.” Western Regional Conference of Christianity and Literature, Biola University, 2022.

“Re-enchanting Science in Detective Fiction: Imagination, Detective Fiction and Rudolph Fisher’s A Conjure Man Dies.” Virtual Workshop, Conference of Christianity and Literature, 2020.

“Exploring the Boundaries of Culture within the Imagery of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence.” Crossing Borders/Exploring Boundaries. Western Regional Conference of Christianity and Literature, Point Loma Nazarene University, 2017.

“The (Re) Education of Daniel Deronda: Newman, Eliot and the Education of the Gentleman.” Part of a Collaborative Panel Presentation with Cheri Larson Hoeckley (Westmont), and Maria Wang (Biola) on Gender, Social Context, and Theoretical Turns in the Victorian Novel.

The Religious Turn: Secular and Sacred Engagements in Literature and Theory. Western Regional Conference of Christianity and Literature.Westmont College, May 2014.

“Recovering the Scientific in Hopkins’ Idiosyncratic Terminology: An Analysis of Pitch.” Victorian Poetry: Forms and Fashions, A Conference to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Victorian Poetry. West Virginia University, April 2013.

Ona La Motte, MA

Associate Director of the Writing Center, Assistant Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), English as a Second Language (ESL), generation 1.5 learners, writing pedagogy, diversity literature, Asian-American literature, identity discourse, ethnic studies, multi-cultural literature, refugee literature, creative nonfiction, poetry

Biography
Recent Creative, Scholarly Work + Publications

Biography

Professor Ona La Motte is the Associate Director of the Writing Center and Assistant Professor of English at Vanguard University of Southern California. She currently teaches for the English department while overseeing the Writing Center’s programs, curriculum, services, activities, and outreach efforts. Professor La Motte holds an MA in English and TESOL from Oklahoma State University and has worked in academic institutions across Southern California, Oklahoma, and abroad.

She is the lead faculty for the first-year composition courses. Professor La Motte has experience teaching foundational writing courses, Literature and the Human Experience, Contemporary Literature, American Diversity, Creative Nonfiction, and has written ESL curriculum for diverse student populations. She has designed various training workshops for ESL teachers and writing centers around the world. She is passionate about writing pedagogy, multicultural literature, and identity discourse.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work + Publications

Presentations

Immersion Projects: Facilitating Students' Learning Outside the Classroom. CATESOL 2015.

The Writing Needs of International Students, Higher Order to Lower Order Concerns. Co-presenter. Southern California Writing Centers 2016, 2017, 2018.

Developing Trust for Cross Cultural Ministry, and Culturally Responsive Teaching; The Bible Tells Me So. Saddleback Valley Christian School, 2018

The Responsibility of the Writer in Identity Discourse: Authenticity in Identity and Assimilation in American, Latin American, Asian, and African Literature. Co-presenter. Conference on Christianity and Literature, 2023.

Authentic/Inauthentic: The Burden of Representation as Viet Thanh Nguyen Writes About Refugees. Conference on Christianity and Literature, 2023.

Jessica Danger, MFA, MA

Assistant Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: American literature, creative writing, creative nonfiction, memoir, the personal essay, publishing, editing, composition, digital media, literature, contemporary literature, pedagogy, literary fiction, and genre fiction

Biography
Recent Creative, Scholarly Work + Publications

Biography

Professor Jessica Danger is an Assistant Professor of English at Vanguard University, the Director of Education at Dead Reckoning Collective, and Joshua Tree Writers Retreat Co-Founder. She holds an MFA from Bennington College where she was also awarded the Nonfiction Alumni Fellowship in 2025. She was nominated for the Lucy Grealy Nonfiction Prize, a finalist for the Iowa Review Nonfiction Prize and also the 2024 Literary Awards. Her work has been published widely, with forthcoming publications in The Sun Magazine and in Oh, Reader and her memoir, No Heroic Measures, is out in Spring 2026 with the Santa Fe Writers Project. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Keith Dow, and their family. She is online at Jessica-Danger.com and on Instagram at @MamaDanger.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work + Publications

Warren Doody, MFA

Professor Emeritus

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: Shakespeare, dramatic literature, American literature, creative writing, playwriting, screenwriting, travel writing, creative nonfiction

Biography
Recent Creative, Scholarly Work + Publications

Biography

Warren Doody is a professor of English and the current hair of the English department at Vanguard University, where he has taught for the last twenty-five years. His range of classes runs from Shakespeare to American literature to a variety of creative writing courses, including Playwriting, Travel Writing and the Short Story.

Professor Doody is also a working playwright, and his original scripts include Life Without Parole, Development, and Enlightenment.com. His most recent effort, Angels in Disguise, received its World Premiere in December 2019. His plays have received productions in New York, Los Angeles, and Canada, and throughout the United States.

Professor Doody is grateful for the opportunity to teach at Vanguard University and impart his knowledge and experience about literature and writing to his many wonderful students.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work + Publications

“How to Say Goodbye, with Warren Doody,” Teaching in Higher Ed, May 26, 2022.

Angels in Disguise, an original full-length play. Produced by Theatrikos Theater Company, Flagstaff, AZ, December 2019.

Pandora’s Box, an original ten-minute play. Produced by the Northern Arizona Playwriting Showcase, Flagstaff, AZ, September 2019.

Life Without Parole, an original full-length play. Produced by Edgemar Center for the Arts, October 2016.

Life Without Parole, an original full-length play. Produced by the New York Fringe Festival, New York, NY, August 2014.

Enlightenment.com, an original full-length play. Produced by American Coast Theatre Company, Costa Mesa, CA, July 2012.

Development, an original full-length play. Produced by Theatrikos Theatre Company and Canyon Moon Theatre, Flagstaff and Sedona, AZ, August 2012.

Adjunct Faculty

Rachel Austring, PhD

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: literature, Flannery O'Connor, composition

Robert Campbell, MA

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: literature, poetry, constitutional law

Crystal Couch, MA

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: researched writing, English

Kyle Durham, MA

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: persuasive writing, literature

Mary Frandson

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: publishing, rhetoric, composition, digital media, journalism, literature, contemporary literature, pedagogy, creative writing

Jazmin Huang, MA

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: literature, writing, British literature

Annie Jackson, MFA

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: genre fiction, young adult novels

Sarah Jay Timmerman, MA

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: research methods, academic writing, communication

Karrie Preasmyer, MA

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: the memoir, children’s literature

James Prothero, PhD

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: C.S. Lewis, essay writing

Chase Seely, MFA

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: creative writing, the memoir

Katelyn Spurgin, MFA

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English; Theatre Arts

Expertise: Shakespeare, performance

Matt Walker

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: publishing, rhetoric, composition, digital media, journalism, literature, contemporary literature, pedagogy, creative writing

Amanda White, MA

Adjunct Professor

College of Arts & Sciences; English

Expertise: publishing, rhetoric, composition, digital media, journalism, literature, contemporary literature, pedagogy, creative writing