Dr. Brian R. Donovan

Professor of English, Bemidji State University (BSU), Bemidji, Minnesota, USA
Director of Composition and of the Writing Resource Center

Office: Hagg-Sauer 374
E-mail (to use, replace asterisk with "@"): bdonovan*bemidjistate.edu
Office phone: (218) 755-2838
Fax: (218) 755-2822 (that’s for the entire building, so make sure my name is on it if it’s for me)

Photo ©2005 by Dan Carlson
of The Dive Depot, Bemidji, MN
used by permission

Office Hours for Fall 2009:

Mondays and Wednesdays: 9:00–9:50 & 11:00–11:50 A.M; 1:00–1:50 P.M.
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 1:00–1:50 & 2:00–2:50 P.M.
(I shall be out of town, attending a MnSCU committee meeting in St. Paul, on Wednesday 7 October, and so shall hold no office hours that day. On Wednesdays 2 September, 4 November, and 2 December I shall attend similar meetings only virtually; on those days the 9:00 office hour only will be held.)

Courses for Spring 2009 (course titles link to syllabi in MS-Word® format):

ENGL 1101, College Writing I, TR 10:00–11:15 A.M. in DH 116.
ENGL 3510, Tutoring Writing, 8:20–9:35 A.M. in HS 201.
ENGL 6500, Seminar in Composition Pedagogy, M 10:00–10:50 A.M. in HS 201.

Links and Materials for Teaching Graduate Assistants in English:

Departmental syllabus for College Writing I.
Lib Ed addendum to above.
Departmental syllabus for College Writing II.
Lib Ed addendum to above.
Syllabus Template (specifically constructed for on-line courses, but most parts are equally relevant to on-campus courses).
MnSCU advice/policy on copyright and fair use.
Hints and Practical Advice for First Year English Students, a page salvaged from an older version of the departmental Web site, containing a departmental grading rubric.

Advice to College Writers:

Some handouts I have prepared for my College Writing students and the Writing Resource Center, on a few types of errors I have found myself marking again and again:

Some other resources I keep on the Web:

My sabbatical journal, with pictures, covering travels and adventures with my family in Greece (also the British Isles, first, and Turkey last), during my sabbatical leave for the full academic year 2000–2001.
The Encomium of Helen by Gorgias of Leontini, my translation of an important sophistic text from ancient Greece, because there was a need for one to be more easily available;
Ojibwewanishinaabenaang, a set of 1350x975-pixel maps of southwestern Ojibwe territory, with Ojibwe place names, lest they be forgotten;
Ojibwe Story as taught in Prof. Earl Nyholm’s Advanced Ojibwe class. The Ojibwe text is specially encoded so that grammatical and lexical notes appear on your browser’s status bar as you move your mouse-cursor over the words. [Note 8/21/08: This special encoding no longer appears to work with today’s browsers. Suggestions for restoring functionality will be appreciated.]

This page last updated 26 August 2009.