Dr. Emily Bobo believes in the power of stories to transform and transport us. Good ones. Bad ones. Scary ones. Rhyming ones. She believes stories have the power to save us from all sorts of monsters–even the ones we create ourselves. A Bloomington-based poetry and prose writer, Dr. Bobo is the author of three books (Fugue, Instrumental, and Tattle Tales) and the founder and editor of Bobo Books, a local, non-profit series that turned poems into public goods: sandwiches, bus tickets, books. You can read/view/hear her work at www.emilybobo.com.

Dr. Bobo began her career as a pianist and earned her BA in Creative Writing with a Music Minor and her MFA in Creative Writing from Wichita State University. She then earned her PhD in English from the University of Kansas. Currently, Dr. Bobo is Department Chair of Fine Arts & Humanities and Professor of English at Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington, where she received the President’s Award for her work teaching writing to single moms, ex-cons, military vets, and (non)traditional students.

Dr. Bobo frequently teaches these courses in face-to-face (TR), virtual (VI), and online formats (I):

• ENGL 111: English Composition

• ENGL 202: Introduction to Creative Writing

• ENGL 203: Advanced Creative Writing

• ENGL 211: Business and Technical Writing

• ENGL 214: Introduction to Poetry

Please check Course Search in MyIvy to find out which class she is teaching next. She can’t wait to read your story!

Dr. Eric Dalton is originally from Muncie, Indiana. He earned his BA in Philosophy from Ball State University. He earned his MA and PhD in Philosophy from Indiana University in Bloomington. He has taught many Philosophy courses at several universities in Indiana.

Dr. Dalton teaches these courses in face-to-face formats:

• PHIL 101: Introduction to Philosophy

• PHIL 102: Introduction to Ethics

Josh Farrington earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science in 2006 and later completed his Master of Arts in Philosophy in 2012 from Indiana University. Josh was an adjunct instructor for Ivy Tech from 2012-2016 and has been a full time instructor since 2016. Josh teaches the following classes in all learning modalities:

• PHIL-101 Introduction to Philosophy

• PHIL-102 Introduction to Ethics

Please check Course Search in MyIvy to find out which class he is teaching next.

Jerry Hansen III loves journeys. Countless cultures across time have highlighted through their myths and other stories that journeys have the power to transform. This power means journeys are not without peril. They confront us with the unfamiliar and challenge us to reconsider who we are, what we think, and what we fear. Yet, through our journeys—whether in new places or new ideas—we can also find meaning amidst the mundane, beauty in the face of the foreign, and our self while surrounded by that which is other.

Guides helped Jerry on his journeys as he earned AAs in International Studies and French at the two-year college in his Southeast Idaho hometown, a BA in International Studies (Diplomacy) and an MA in Comparative Studies (Humanities) from Brigham Young University, and MAs in Political Science from Utah State University and Indiana University (the latter after six years of doctoral work in political philosophy and comparative politics).

Now Associate Professor Hansen strives to help students with their journeys, together exploring different ideas and cultures in order to empower students with the confidence and skills they need to enjoy their own journeys and to enrich those of others they meet along the way.

As Director of Alternative Spring Break, Jerry also helps students, faculty, and staff explore other places and peoples onsite and learn how to support others’ journeys through service-learning projects like organizing donation drives in Bloomington, helping refugees in Northern France, or working with the homeless in South London. Because of his work with ASB and “Classics in the Classroom” (a program he created to improve reading comprehension for K-12 students), Jerry received the 2019 Excellence in Service-Learning Award.

Jerry regularly teaches the following courses in face-to-face (TR), virtual (VI), and online formats (I):

PHIL101: Introduction to Philosophy

PHIL102: Introduction to Ethics

PHIL220: Philosophy of Religion

HUMA201: Humanities: Prehistory to Renaissance

Please check Course Search in MyIvy to see which classes he is teaching next. He hopes you will consider journeying with him for a time!

Michael Reeves is a figurative painter and Art History Instructor. Michael explores modernist, formal paint application through contemporary pop-culture themes. He is a firm believer in form over content which allows his painting subjects to be less than serious at times. His paintings rotate between interiors of suburban homes and fantasy imagery. You may find the afternoon sun creeping across mismatched furniture or, a cloaked figure lurking outside a kitchen window. His work rides the line between illustration and high art purposefully to draw comparisons to both genres. For examples of Reeves’ work please visit www.michaeldreeves.com or Instagram @mikereevesart

Michael trained as a figure painter at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts where he received his BFA. Soon after, Reeves earned his Masters of Fine Arts in painting from Indiana University. Currently, Michael is teaching Art History and Art Appreciation at Ivy Tech Community College.

Michael Reeves frequently teaches these courses in face-to-face (TR), virtual (VI), and online formats (I):

• ARTH110: Art Appreciation

• ARTH102: Art History 2

Christina is currently a Ph.D. student in the Learning Sciences program at Indiana University's School of Education. A semi-professional game designer, her research uses board games to investigate the ability of play to foster equity and create culturally-sustaining learning environments and foster transformative resistance.

Christina has a Master’s degree in History and Philosophy of Science from Indiana University, where her foci were pragmatism, philosophy of technology, and cognition. Christina has taught philosophy at Virginia Tech, Indiana University, and the University of Calgary in addition to Ivy Tech, Bloomington. Her teaching philosophy is based in sociocultural learning theory which believes the goal of education is not to transfer facts but to further the learner's own personal and professional goals. As such, her courses do not assess learner's "knowledge" of facts and concepts, but their ability to apply concepts and tools.

Outside of the academy, Christina works as a game designer with a local Bloomington company. She is also an avid crafter and hobbyist farmer raising, among other things, tropical fruit trees and miniature diary goats.

Christina teaches the following courses primarily in an online format:

• PHIL 213 Logic

• PHIL 102 Ethics

Shelley Taylor, Adjunct Faculty at Ivy Tech, has worked in the Bloomington Community as a professional musician and yoga instructor for over 35 years. She has taught for Ivy Tech Bloomington and Ivy Online since 2018. Shelley received her Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance and her Master of Music degree in early music performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she also assisted in the Early Music Institute (now Historical Performance Institute), the Pre-College String Academy, and in the Jacobs School of Music Marketing and Publicity Department.

Shelley enjoys engaging with students, colleagues, and the public, and facilitating connections. She is a founding member of the board of Bloomington Early Music, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization: http://www.blemf.org/. In addition to teaching Music Appreciation at Ivy Tech, Shelley instructs yoga to college students at the IU kinesiology Department.

Shelley’s main goal of teaching students at Ivy Tech is to facilitate a deeper awareness of music and to inspire them to the music that she loves and has performed her whole life. Shelley takes students on a musical exploration of western European music through the ages to the present, also incorporating genres such as Jazz, and music from other cultural influences. In addition, she covers music professions such as performance, composition, music education, music therapy, film music, musical theater, recording and engineering.

Classes Shelley typically teaches at Ivy Tech in the face-to-face (TR), virtual (VI), and online formats (I):

• HUMA 118 Music Appreciation

A quote from Shelley: I like to have fun in my classes and help students understand and appreciate the music that I love and have performed throughout my life. I like to play lots of music in my classes. In place of the typical lecture format, I like to strike a balance of sharing educational information, music listening, and engaging my students in invigorating discussions during each class. I hope you’ll join me!