Dorfeld, Natalie
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Natalie Dorfeld
Professor | College of Psychology and Liberal Arts: School of Arts and Communication
Contact Information
Expertise
Personal Overview
Dr. Natalie M. Dorfeld was born and raised in Greenville, Pennsylvania, home of the parachute.
She attended Slippery Rock University for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. At Indiana University of Pennsylvania, she obtained a Ph.D. in English, with a specialization in Composition & TESOL.
In 2012, while surfing in Cocoa Beach during Spring Break, an ad for an assistant professor at FIT popped up on her phone. She rented a fat tire bicycle, followed the shoreline south, and the rest is history.
Outside of the classroom, she enjoys getting lost in national parks, rescuing all types of animals, collecting two-dollar bills, watching documentaries, and extreme sports: skiing, marathons, ultramarathon swims, and bodybuilding.
She resides in the Space Coast with her wonderful husband and four-legged children.
Educational Background
Ph.D., English: Composition & TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2007
M.A., English, Slippery Rock University, 2002
B.S., English: Writing, Slippery Rock University, 1998
B.A., Philosophy, Slippery Rock University, 1998
Professional Experience
Prior to joining Florida Tech in 2012, she taught at several schools in northwestern Pennsylvania, including Pennsylvania State University (Shenango), Thiel College, and Clarion University (Venango).
She is currently a professor of English in the School of Arts and Communication at Florida Tech.
Freshman English (COM 1101 and 1102) is her forte, but she often branches out to Scientific & Technical Communication, Speech, Narrative Film, and Environmental Literature & Society, which is her all-time favorite.
Additionally, she serves as the turtle caretaker in the Joy & Gordon Patterson Botanical Garden. This entails gourmet food and dredging the pond.
Current Courses
ASC 1000 / University Experience
COM 1000 / First Year Writing
COM 1101 / Composition & Rhetoric
COM 1102 / Writing About Literature
COM 2223 / Scientific & Technical Communication
COM 2224 / Business and Professional Writing
COM 2370 / Speech
COM 3210 and 5530 / Editing
HUM 1001 / Environmental Writing
HUM 3273 / Environmental Literature & Society
HUM 3280 / Narrative Film
HUM 3285 / Environmental Literature
Selected Publications
Curriculum vitae available upon request.
Recognition & Awards
Most Valuable Panther (April), 2024
Strongest Female, Florida Tech's Bench Pressing Contest, 2023-2024
iTeachER Certification, Rothwell Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, 2022
Tenure, School of Arts and Communication, 2020
Professor of the Year: College of Psychology and Liberal Arts, 2020
Best in Section, 50th Annual College English Association Conference, 2019
Keynote, Contingent Faculty Caucus │ College English Association, 2018
Editorial Board, Forum: Issues about Part-Time and Contingent Faculty, 2017-2021
Travel Grant, Academic Information Technology Committee, 2015
East-West Center Asian Studies Development Program Grant, Summer Institute, 2015
Safe Zone Facilitator, Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education, 2011-2012
New Directions Grant, TLC (The Learning Commons), 2010-2011
Longfellow Grant, CLA (Center for Learning & Advising), 2009-2010
Distinguished Alumni, SRU's Philosophy Department, 2007
Academic Scholarship, The Borders Group Foundation, 2003
Outstanding Graduate Student Award, SRU's English Department, 2002-2003
Research
The bulk of her research focuses on contingent labor issues. It examines the growing and detrimental reliance on adjunct professors in the humanities, first-year composition classes in particular.
Her latest edited collection (The Invisible Professor: The Precarious Lives of the New Faculty Majority) can be found under WAC Clearinghouse and/or the University Press of Colorado.
Further interests include L2 pedagogies, writing studies, multiple intelligences in the classroom, vegetarianism / environmental issues in the media, and the mental health effects of COVID-19 on college campuses.
She also dabbles in poetry, which is often dark and sarcastic, much like her soul.
Additional Duties
Creative Writing Institute
Advanced Placement Reader, ETS
FITAST Committee (Asian Studies)
Academic Information Technology Committee (AITC)
People of Excellence Strategic Plan Management Team
Thesis, Dissertation, and DRP Committees (Outside Reader)
Advisor, Rainbow Alliance, Swing Dance Club, and Sigma Tau Gamma