Professor Bonnie Sunstein is the link that connects the College of Education to the University’s reputation as a premier “writing university.”

Sunstein, considered an expert on writing pedagogy, holds a joint appointment with the English Department. She directs undergraduate nonfiction writing courses and oversees the graduate students who teach many of those courses.

“I’m passionately committed to the idea that writing can, in fact, be taught,” Sunstein said.

Sunstein is quick to point out that her work bridging writing and the College is not unique; she’s part of a rich history of the College of Education contributing to writing at The University of Iowa.

A 1963 research study published by two UI English professors and one education professor—Lowell Schoer (MA ‘59/PhD ’61)—is still considered one of the most important articles on the relationship between grammar and teaching writing, Sunstein said. And in the 1970s, the UI was home to the well-respected, nationally known National Endowment for the Humanities Institute on Writing, which brought together teachers from across the country.

“Understanding how to teach writing and what kinds of things are important in order for people to get their ideas on the page is something deeply connected to what we know as people in education. The University has never lost sight of that,” she said.

Sunstein’s course, “Approaches to Teaching Writing,” forges connections between the College and writers from across campus.

“This is the only course on campus that focuses on the teaching of writing,” she said.

Through that course and her work with teaching assistants, Sunstein has prepared students to teach writing around the world. Her former students work in Finland , Taiwan , Venezuela , The Netherlands, Norway , China , Australia , and beyond. Hundreds more have gone on to teach writing in the United States .

Kai-Lin Wu (MA ’95/PhD ’99) teaches writing at Tunghai University in Taiwan .

“The education I received at the UI helped me to realize my dream to be a writer and develop my potential to be a writing teacher,” she said. “I was writing and getting training to be a writing teacher at the same time.”

Cindy Lovell (PhD ’99) and Linda Bendorf (MAT ’78) are two more education alumni making a difference as writing teachers and coaches.

Bendorf has led workshops at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival since 1992. She recently started her own company, Blue Sage Writing, which offers workshops, coaching, and consulting to writers in the Chicago area, where Bendorf also works as a communications specialist.

Julie Kaiser, a columnist in Illinois , has taken two workshops with Bendorf and said she appreciated Bendorf’s background in education as well as her writing experience.

“She is accomplished in how she treated us individually and as part of a group. She initiated dialog amongst the class and knew when to take the lead again,” Kaiser said.

Bendorf said she also benefits from leading the workshops. “As instructors, we’re invigorated year after year by working with experienced writers, blocked writers, new writers, even people who do not consider themselves writers at all,” she said.

As the education coordinator at the Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal , Missouri , Lovell leads workshops for gifted young writers, which can be viewed at www.stetson.edu/hats/MarkTwainYoungAuthors.

“I thought about the Iowa Writers’ Workshop’s application process, and the obvious emerged: there should be such a workshop for young writers!” Lovell said. “I envisioned young authors submitting their writing samples and spending a week exploring Twain’s literature through Twain’s Hannibal .”

The first Mark Twain Young Authors Workshop took place last summer. Twelve students (grades 5-8) received full scholarships including airfare and lodging.

Jonathan Agvent, a sixth grader who loves to read and write fantasy fiction said he learned about writing techniques, observation, and even became a Mark Twain fan at the workshop.

“But the best part was the chance to be with people who really like to write,” he said.

Sunstein’s confident the strong connection between the College of Education and the UI English and writing programs will continue. Rossina Liu (MFA ‘07) was so moved by her teaching experiences and interactions with Sunstein, she’s decided to pursue a Ph.D. in education at The University of Iowa.

“I was always interested in teaching,” Liu said. “After teaching writing in the nonfiction writing program, it became more evident to me that I should be a teacher, a writing teacher. Now, I can combine the two things I love best.”