Geneva Chao
Professor, English
Sheng-Tai Chang received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Southern California (USC). He also holds an M.A. in English from the University of Calgary in Canada and a second M.A. in Asian Languages and cultures from USC. In addition to writing, his areas of interest include American literature, Chinese literature, and East Asian humanities. He has published scholarly articles and translations of Asian and Asian-American writers, the most recent being Book of Reincarnation, by Hsu Hui-chih (Green Integar 2002).
Berlyn Cobian
Professor, English
Berlyn Ortega Cobian specializes in teaching composition, rhetoric, 19th-century American literature, and Latino/Latina/Latinx literature. Further areas of interest and research include: indigenious literatures of North America, contemporary multicultural production, and theories of cognition and story-telling. Currently, Berlyn serves as the chair of Colegas, the Latinx-affinity organization for LBCC faculty and staff. At LBCC, Berlyn has organized several large campus-wide events with guest poets and authors.
Jeff Epley
Professor, English
Jeff Epley joined Long Beach City College as a full-time English instructor in 2003. He teaches composition, literature, and creative writing courses. He has also taught and presented writing workshops in the Writing and Reading Center.
Lisa Fitzgerald
Professor, English
Lisa Fitzgerald earned her M.A. in English and TESL Certificate from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Her teaching is usually focused toward composition and rhetoric, although she has taught classes ranging from developmental writing, critical thinking, and literature; Lisa has a new-found interest in accelerated pedagogy and online teaching, too.
Before joining the English Department at LBCC in 2004, Lisa taught at Orange Coast and Saddleback Colleges, as well as UC Irvine.
Brian Garcia
Professor, English
Having gotten his start at LBCC, Brian Garcia transferred to Cal State Fullerton and earned his B.A. in English in 2006. He continued his studies at UC Irvine, earning his M.A. in 2009 and his Ph.D. in 2015. His dissertation, titled “‘Everything Was Strange’: Regional Nationalisms and Ironic Identities in Early National American Fiction” examines the ironic treatment of nationalism found in works of fiction written and published in the Postrevolutionary United States.
Kathryn McMurray
Professor, English
Kathryn McMurray joined the English Department faculty at Long Beach City College in 2014. She teaches developmental and college-level composition and creative writing courses. Before coming to Long Beach City College, she taught creative writing at CSU Long Beach, composition courses at Orange Coast College, Cerritos College, and Cypress College and also taught for the SummerTIME summer bridge program at USC.
David Morse
Professor, English
David Morse has been a full-time faculty member at Long Beach City College since 1998. From 2014 to 2016, he served as president of the statewide Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. He is also a former member of the Board of Governors of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, a former president of the Long Beach City College Academic Senate, and a former chair of the Long Beach City College English Department. He speaks fluent Spanish and regularly vacations in Mexico, most often in Puerto Vallarta or Acapulco.
Velvet Pearson
Professor, English
Velvet Pearson first taught a college composition course in 1988 for San Diego State University as she was completing an M.A. in English with an emphasis in creative writing. She wrote a two-act play for her master’s thesis and continues to write short fiction. Her commitment to teaching led her to pursue a Ph.D. in English from the University of Southern California, where wrote her dissertation on the influence of works translated from French on 16th-century English culture and literature.
Karen Rose
Professor, English
Karen Rose joined the English Department at LBCC in August 2002. She teaches composition, argumentative writing, introduction to literature, and American literature. She has served as the faculty advisor for student clubs & honor societies (Ladies of Athena, Phi Theta Kappa, English Majors & Minors), technology committee chair, and Academic Senator.
Margaret Shannon
Professor, English
I was born and raised in San Pedro, that beautiful town over the bridge. I love the fact that the world backs up into our backyard here in Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles, and I am very proud to work in one of the most diverse cities in the United States of America. At this critical juncture of the 21st century, where Ray Kurzweil says we will see 20,000 years of change in the next 100 years, I think the harbor area is perfectly slated to create the kinds of leaders and thinkers we will need for sustainable futures across all disciplines.
Laura Scavuzzo Wheeler
Professor, English
Laura Scavuzzo Wheeler, originally from eastern Pennsylvania, earned her BA from the University of Virginia with a double major in English and Italian. Her MA and PhD in English are both from USC, where she wrote her dissertation on English Protestant impulses toward external marking of clothes, character, language, and faith during the English Renaissance. Before coming to LBCC and while pursuing her doctorate, she taught undergraduates in USC’s Writing Program for seven years and helped train incoming composition instructors.
Jeff Wheeler
Professor, English
Jeff Wheeler studied at the University of Southern California where he earned his doctorate by writing the dissertation Palpable Fictions: Popular Rhetoric, Religious Relics, and the English Reformation. His interest in English literature of the Reformation has led to his participation in two seminars on the subject sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In his English classes, students develop analytical writing skills by thinking through topics ranging from the art and literature of the Renaissance to the study of public space, from plagiarism to folk music.