Education: B.A.,
Pennsylvania State University (1969, Summa Cum Laude); A.B.D., University
of Georgia (1980); Ph.D., Columbia Pacific University (1984); Teaching Certification
(K-12), Grand Valley State University (1996).
Expertise: Interdisciplinary Studies; World
Literature; Milton; Walter Wangerin, Jr.; Children/Adolescent Literature; Far
Eastern Religions.
Selected Works: The Adventure Mining Company
Since 1850 (Greenleaf-Witcop Press, 2005); Michigan's Copper (2005); Shaping
Our Lives with Words of Power: A Study of the Major Works of Walt Wangerin,
Jr. (1996); Articles on L'Engle and Wangerin.
Distinctions: H.O.P.E--Hope Outstanding Professor-Educator
(2006); Outstanding Hope Woman Award (2003).
Contact: Lubbers Hall 314
616.395.7119
portfleet@hope.edu
Publications:
|
 |
Walter Wangerin, Jr.: Artist, Poet, and Prophet (2007).
"Wangerin talks to us as his readers, and his words 'cause to be what
had not been before.' His words create. And 'although only God performs
this
creative function purely, yet dimly and in a mimic,' Wangerin as a poet
'causes to be what had not been before. He sings and there gathers under
the heart of his hearer the pressure of his music, the swelling of a new
word, like an infant. . .' And just as this 'creating power of language
is potent,' so Wangerin's writings are powerful, and we 'wince with wonder'
as his 'language stuns us with a name--and with being.'" ---Dianne
R. Portfleet
|
 |
A History of the Adventure Mining Company from the Ancient Miners
to the Present (2005).
The History of the Adventure Mine is one that is filled with mysteries.
This compilation begins with the ancient miners (whose identity is still
debated); it continues through the early attempts at mining by Europeans;
and it concludes with the discovery, establishment, and ongoing development
of the Adventure Mine in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from 1848 to the
present. Today there is more probably copper and silver in the mine than
has been extracted in all the preceeding years.
|
 |
Shaping Our Lives with Words of Power: A Study of the Major Works
of Walter Wangerin, Jr (1996).
Description Forthcoming.
|
