CURRICULUM VITAE

MARLANA PORTOLANO
English Department 12610 English Orchard Ct.
Towson University Silver Spring, MD 20906
Towson, MD 21252 (301) 949-2996
(410) 704-3770 mportolano@[Link]

EDUCATION
Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
Ph.D., English, May 1998; history of rhetoric, rhetorical theory
Dissertation: John Quincy Adams and the Rhetoric of the Smithsonian’s Inception
M.A., English, 1992, American literature

University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX

B.A., English, 1990, summa cum laude

EMPLOYMENT
2003-present Associate Professor, Towson University
Interim Director, Master of Arts in Humanities Program, 2011-present
Interim Director, Masters in Professional Writing Program, 2006-2007
1997- 2003 Visiting Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy,
Annapolis, MD
1994- 1997 Lecturer, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Monograph
John Quincy Adams’ Eloquence in the Service of Science, SUNY Press [Jan. 2009]

Book Manuscript under Consideration

The Woman Who Adopted Ukraine, a literary nonfiction account of my experiences adopting five
adolescents from the former Soviet Union

Peer Reviewed Publications

“John Quincy Adams’ Higher Learnings: Rhetoric, Science, and Intellectual History ,” chapter in A
Companion to John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and the Adamses, Wiley-Blackwell,
forthcoming 2011
“The Rhetorical Function of Utopia: An Exploration of the Concept of Utopia in Rhetorical
Theory,” Utopian Studies, forthcoming 2011
“Cued American English: A Variety in the Visual Mode,” World Englishes 27 [2008]:2, 196-
216.
“Lena’s Story,” essay in Choices in Deafness: A Parent’s Guide to Communication Options,
section on Cued Speech, Woodbine House, 2007
“The Experimental Psychology of Attitude Change and the Tradition of Classical Rhetoric,” co-
authored with Rand Evans (East Carolina University), Winter 2004 History of Psychology
“Deaf Adoption: A Rhetorician’s New Family,” Kairos 2002, vol. 7:1,
[Link] peer-reviewed web publication
“John Quincy Adams’s Promotion of Astronomy and His Neoclassical Rhetoric,” ISIS Spring
2000, 91:480-503
“Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge: The Rhetorics of Science and Education in the
Smithsonian’s Inception,” Rhetoric Review Fall 1999
Poems, Humanitas Winter 1999, [Link], 2:46-47
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Book Review Essays

“Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music (and Why We Should, Like,
Care), by John McWhorter” Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Fall 2005

Papers and Presentations

“Cued American English for Speech Language Professionals,” guest speaker for Speech
Language Hearing Association, graduate student chapter at East Stroudsburg University,
PA, March 23, 2011
“The Concept of Utopia in Rhetorical Theory,” Utopian Studies Society, 2010
“City Upon a Hill: American Utopian Rhetoric from Winthrop to Emerson,” McGill University,
Montreal, July 2009
“An Evening with Fahrenheit 451,” panel participant, program in the Big Read Campaign of
Baltimore County, Goucher College, Oct. 30, 2007.
“The Masters in Professional Writing: A Profile,” Association for Business Communication, in a
panel with Towson U. colleagues Linda Mahin, David Dayton & Harvey Lillywhite, “An
Update on Towson’s Professional Writing Program,” Washington, DC, Oct. 10, 2007.
“Fables of Civilization in Neoclassical Rhetoric,” International Society for the History of
Rhetoric Conference, Strasbourg, France, July 2007
“Discovering and Writing Our Stories,” invited presentation (three lectures and two writing
workshops) on narrative theories and human uses of narrative structure, Rolling Ridge
Study Retreat Center, Rolling Ridge, VWA, July 5, 2007
“Address to Masonic Lodge #23 on Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address,” invited presentation in a
series on the Seven Liberal Arts, Takoma Park, MD, May 16, 2007
“Modern Rhetorical Theory in the MS Program in Professional Writing,” panel presentation in
An Introduction to Towson’s Graduate Level Professional Writing Program, University
of Maryland Professional Writing Program Conference. August 28, 2006.
“Terri Schiavo’s Political Body: The Changing Definition of Human Nature in End of Life
Rhetoric,” Rhetoric Society of America, Memphis, Tennessee, May 2006
“One Family’s Multicultural Adoption Story,” Towson Multicultural Institute Conference,
March 2006
“Emotional Proof in John Quincy Adams’ Promotion of Science,” International Society for the
History of Rhetoric, Los Angeles, California, June 2005
“Utopian Ethos in 19th Century American Science and Education,” accepted for Rhetoric Society
of America, San Antonio, May 2004
Speaker for Inaugural CLA Book Review Panel on John McWhorter’s Doing Your Own Thing:
The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care, Towson
University, February 2004
“Raising a Deaf Child Using Cued Speech,” Deaf Education Speaker’s Series, Towson
University, October 2003 and February 2004
“Patriotism and Dissent in First Year English at the United States Naval Academy.”
Presentation for panel discussion. College English Association, St. Petersburg, Florida,
May 2003
“An Imperious and Indispensable Obligation: John Quincy Adams and the Smithsonian
Institution.” International Society for the History of Rhetoric, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands, July 1999
“John Quincy Adams’s Neoclassical Rhetoric and His Arguments for the Advancement of
Astronomy.” American Society for the History of Rhetoric, with Eastern
Communication Association, Baltimore, April 1997
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“Combining Rhetoric and Stylistics: An Analysis of Persuasion in John Quincy Adams’s

Smithsonian Rhetoric.” College English Association National Conference, Baltimore,
April 1997
“Using Rhetorical Causes in Peer Response Groups.” College English Association, Central
Eastern Division, Washington, DC, April 1996

AWARDS & HONORS

Towson Academy of Scholars Fellowship, for book project on John Quincy Adams’s rhetoric in
support of science, 2004
Teaching Fellowship, Catholic University of America, 1994-1996

COURSES TAUGHT
Towson University PRWR627 Modern Rhetoric
PRWR617 Editing
PRWR613 Expository Theory
PRWR611 Rhetoric: Pursuit of Eloquence
HUMA753 Master Author: Cicero (Fall 2011)
HUMA750 Master Topics: Utopia/Dystopia in Literature
HUMA750 Master Topics: Love in Western Literature
ENGL427 Semiotics
ENGL417 Topics in World Literature: Utopia/Dystopia
ENGL416 Editing
ENGL4—American Literature: Realist Period
ENGL313 Advanced Composition: Academic Essay
ENGL200 Introduction to English Studies
ENGL102 Writing for a Liberal Education

U.S. Naval Academy ENG328, America’s Literary Coming of Age: 1860-1920

ENG112, Rhetoric and Intro. to Literature (novels, poetry)
ENG111, Rhetoric and Intro. to Literature (essays, stories, drama)

Catholic University ENG327, Argumentative Writing (used networked computers)

COM301, Signs and Symbols in American Life
ENG205, Literature of Fantasy
ENG101/106, Rhetoric and Composition (networked computers)
ENG199, Freshman Seminar, Literature & Writing (basic writing)
Advanced ESL/business writing: to clergy, including the
Archbishop of Moscow

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ACADEMIC SERVICE
Towson University
Graduate Studies Committee, College of Graduate Studies, 2010-present
Scholarship and Research Committee, College of Liberal Arts, 2005-2006
English Dept. Hiring Committees, 2008-present
English Dept. Graduate Writing Committee, 2003-present
English Dept. Graduate Curriculum Committee, 2003-present
English Dept. Graduate Steering Committee, 2003-present

United States Naval Academy

Integrity Development Seminar, Program for education in moral reasoning, 1998-1999
Initiative for Oral Communication, curriculum project for first year English, 2002-2003
Freshman (Plebe) Curriculum Committee, 1999-2000

Catholic University of America

Fresh Start Program: Developed curriculum for mainstreaming underprepared writing and
literature students. 1995-1997.
Service Learning Coordinator: Coordinated teachers and students incorporating community
service into writing assignments. 1997-1998.
Placement Assessments: Evaluated freshman writing. 1994-1997.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
American Society for the History of Rhetoric
International Society for the History of Rhetoric
College English Association
Cued Speech Association of America
Utopian Studies Society

LANGUAGES
Reading knowledge of Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, and Ancient Greek
Beginner conversational Russian, American Sign Language
Fluent user of Cued Speech, a mode of communication for the deaf