Alan Altany (altany@marshall.edu)is a professor of religious studies at Marshall University with areas of interest that include the comparative study of religion, inter-religious dialogue, mysticism, science & religion, religion and art/poetry, and the problem of the meaning of the sacred in contemporary consciousness and culture. He has taught at a community college, an adult continuing education program, a state university, and mentor through virtual colleges. He has taught online, via satellite TV and interactive, T-1 TV in addition to classroom courses. In 1999, he received the annual Outstanding Faculty Award at his university. Besides having worked in factories, on a farm, in lawn maintenance, a plant nursery and at a hotel, he has published poetry, written novels, edited a magazine of poetry and essays, but is primarily a husband and father of two young and wonderful children.

Stephen L. Chew is a professor of psychology at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He received his Ph.D in cognitive psychology from the University of Minnesota. He was named a Carnegie Scholar in 1998 as part of the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL). He is a past recipient of Samford's highest teaching award and has made numerous presentations on the scholarship of teaching and learning. His research focuses on the use of examples for teaching and learning. He can be reached at slchew@samford.edu.

Jerry Drake received his M.Ed. in instructional technology from George Mason University in 1995 and is currently a doctoral student at Mason’s Graduate School of Education. He is employed as a faculty support analyst by the Instructional Resource Center at George Mason where he advises faculty on the application of instructional technologies to teaching. In a career that spans 26 years, Drake is also a writer and award-winning documentary filmmaker.

Dr. Robert Holt received his Ph.D. in social psychology with a minor in quantitative methods from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana campus, in 1977. He joined the GMU psychology faculty in 1977 and is currently a member of Human Factors section of the department. His research emphasizes applied human cognition. Current funded research focus is on airplane pilots using automation in the cockpit. Current unfunded research is on effects of technology interventions on student cognitions and performance. When not flying an airplane or walking Volksmarches, he can be found in the ARCH lab in Carroll Hall.

Anne Marchant (amarchan@gmu.edu) has been an instructor for the Computer Science Department at George Mason for the past 6 years. She specializes in introducing beginners to computer technology and programming. She won a GMU Teaching Excellence Award in 1999. Prior to coming to Mason, she was an instructor for the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley from 1990-1994. Her research interests include technology related ethical and social issues.

A George Mason University faculty member since 1975, Professor Christopher Thaiss (PhD, Northwestern) currently chairs the Department of English. He regularly teaches courses in advanced composition, the writing of nonfiction, the teaching of writing and literature, and theories of composition . Past administrative posts have included director of English composition and director of writing across the curriculum (WAC). He coordinates the National Network of Writing-across-the-Curriculum Programs and serves on the editorial boards of The Journal of Language and Learning across the Disciplines and the electronic journals Academic.Writing and inventio. Thaiss has authored or edited nine books, most recently The Harcourt Brace Guide to Writing across the Curriculum (1998) and a series of discipline-specific writing guides in psychology, theatre, and law enforcement (1999-2000) that he co-wrote with faculty in those fields.

Sharon Alayne Widmayer is an Instructional Designer/ Technologist and Adjunct Instructor at George Mason University. Her area of interest is the application of web-based multimedia to the teaching of languages, and she has given presentations on this topic at conferences such as TESOL, IALL, and CALL in the 21st Century. She is also working on her doctoral dissertation in Instructional Technology, focusing on faculty development in higher education. Prior to coming to George Mason, Sharon taught at the University of Maryland College Park, Montgomery College, and Northern Virginia Community College.

Ashley Taliaferro Williams, Visiting Assistant Professor of Integrative Studies, is a founding faculty member of New Century College (NCC). Before the creation of NCC, she taught in the English Department and in PAGE, BA/SIC, and the Core pilot. She was also a founding faculty member in the Linked Courses Program. Her interests include writing across the curriculum in interdisciplinary contexts and American literature, especially Appalachian literature, treating place and the environment. With Terry Zawacki, Director of Writing Across the Curriculum, she has written a chapter, "Is it Still WAC?: Writing within Interdisciplinary Learning Communities" for WAC For the New Millennium, ed. by Susan McLeod, Chris Thaiss, et al, forthcoming from NCTE Press (2001).

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