Faculty
Deborah LaPorte
College Associate Professor
Email:
dlaporte@nmsu.edu
Office Address:
New Mexico State University
Department of English
P.O. Box 30001, MSC 3E
Las Cruces, NM 88003
Phone:
(575) 646-2344
Fax:
(575) 646-7726
Education
- M.A. in English, Creative Writing, New Mexico State University
- BA in Theatre Arts, New Mexico State University
Teaching Philosophy
I believe we learn best by doing. Instead of lecturing, I try to keep students actively searching, inventing, and contributing in and outside of class. I give as much individual instruction as possible in hopes that no matter what a student’s skills when s/he enters the course, they will be much improved by the end.
Courses Commonly Taught
Writing in the Humanities
- The American South in Literature and Film
- World Folklore
- Women and War
- Southern Women
Creative Writing
- Fiction and Playwriting
- Advanced Composition (Non Fiction)
- Children’s Literature
- Southwestern Literature
Departmental Projects
Puerto del Sol
—have served as fiction and nonfiction editor
The Teaching Academy
Head coach, “Peer Coaching” and “Publish and Flourish”
American Indian Programs Bridges
—work with creative writing students from Institute of American Indian Arts)
Creative Interests
Culture of the American South
Folklore—particularly southern and Appalachian
Publications
Have published short fiction and have had five of my plays produced: “Spearing Time,” “La Llorona” (Adaptation), The Flood of 1903, “Its Truest Friend,” and “Killing the Coyote.” Two others have received staged readings: Waitress Dreams and Will.