A

A. Camille Ziolek

English department

Orchard Ridge Campus

Oakland Community College

27055 Orchard Lake Road

Farmington Hills, MI

48334-4579

My office: G317

My Voice Mail: 248.522.3582

Email: acziolek@oaklandcc.edu

My Mailbox: G110

Department Secretary: 248.522.3576

This semester’s office hours are posted on my syllabus and office door.

Email or office hours are the best ways to contact me.

I regularly teach Academic Literacy I & II (Eng 1055, Eng 1060), Composition I & II (Eng 1510, Eng 1520), Contemporary Literature (Eng 2770) and Women in Literature (Eng 1610). In addition to these, I have taught a number of other courses including Introduction to Literature, Multi Cultural Literature, Introduction to Fiction, and Introduction to Philosophy. Several of my composition courses have had special topics, such as Campus Issues or Service Learning, and I am currently developing my Eng 1510 as an online, distance learning course for next year.

Because of daily lessons—taught and learned—in real classrooms with real students, I am committed to a student-centered philosophy of teaching. At the core of this is a strong belief in the ideals of community college education: open access and equal opportunity. My OCC students possess remarkable diversity—in age, background, economics, goals, ethnicity, education, geography and beliefs. This makes for an especially dynamic classroom with a constant exchange of ideas.

In my writing classes, students become more effective writers by working through equally intense periods of invention (idea generation), drafting, peer response, revision, and editing. The classroom atmosphere is supportive enough to give inexperienced writers opportunities to explore their emerging ideas, and challenging enough to allow more experienced writers space to develop their knowledge and skills.

In my literature classes, I choose a wide-ranging reading list so students have the opportunity to recognize themselves in literature and immerse themselves in an array of interesting new experiences. Literature classes are also great places for informed, engaged discussions of the big ideas.

My Bachelor’s degree is in Philosophy and English from Ohio University (not Ohio State), and my Master’s degree is in English from Wright State University. Before coming to Oakland CC in 2002, I was a full time instructor at Owens Community College in Toledo, OH.

I grew up in Ohio, moved to Michigan after grad school, and now have a family with 2 young children. When I’m not hanging out with my family or grading papers, I like to read (mostly novels and short stories), write (mostly essays and short fiction), and drink coffee (mostly triple lattes with skim).

This summer I read A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby, The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis, The Secret History by Donna Tart, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace, and lots of new short stuff to prepare for my Fall literature class.