Biography
Joan K. Peters has her Ph.D in Comparative Literature from the University of Chicago. She began her career with a focus on 17th Century European and British literature, then developed another on women´s fiction. She has taught English literature and women´s studies at Middlebury College, Rutgers University and The City College of New York. After publishing a novel and reviewing women´s fiction for The New York Times, The Nation, and Ms. Magazine, she taught fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College´s MFA program and Antioch College, Santa Barbara. Inspired by the life change at the birth of her daughter, she wrote two books about resolving the conflict between parenthood and work: When Mothers Work: Loving Our Children Without Sacrificing Our Selves and Work, Love and Family. Despite a near lifetime in New York City, she fell in love with southern California, moved here several years ago with her husband, daughter and dog and spends her free time hiking its mountains, exploring its splendors, and reading under its oak trees. Luckily, CSUCI opened at that time and she joined their English program. Now, she is Coordinator of The Creative Writing Program, teaching Creative Non-Fiction as well as other Creative Writing courses. In addition to teaching literature courses, she's been team teaching with Prof. Frank Barajas from the history program: "Narratives of Southern California" and "The Sixties and Seventies in America."