Kia Jane Richmond - NMU English

B.A., English and Psychology, Texas Christian University
M.A., English, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Ph.D., English Studies, Composition and Pedagogy, Illinois
State University
krichmon@nmu.edu

Dr. Kia Jane Richmond is in her nineteenth year as an English department faculty member. She earned her Ph.D. in English Studies at Illinois State University in 2001. While a longtime resident of Texas, she earned an M.A. in English (1997), a B.A. in English and Psychology (1986), and a Lifetime Teaching Certificate in Secondary English and Psychology (1989). Kia earned NBPTS certification in Early Adolescence/English Language Arts (1995).

Serving as the Director of the English Education program at NMU, Kia primarily teaches courses in English methods and young adult literature, and serves as the university supervisor for student teachers across the Upper Peninsula and northeastern Wisconsin.

Kia has received multiple awards for her scholarship and teaching including

• MCTE’s Charles Carpenter Fries Award for Excellence in Teaching/Mentoring, 2015
• NMU’s Excellence in Teaching Award, 2013-14
• NMU’s Distinguished Team Award – Academic Service Learning Board, 2009
• NMU’s Excellence in Professional Development Award, 2006-2007

Additionally, Kia has been awarded several grants including a Michigan Campus Compact Venture Grant (2013), a MEEMIC Foundation for the Future of Education Grant (2011), an NMU Wildcat Innovation Grant (2009), and a Learn and Serve America: Investing in College Futures/Brighter Futures Grant (2007).

Kia has presented regularly at conferences sponsored by NCTE, ALAN, CCCC, CEE, CEA, and MCTE. Her publications can be found in the Journal of Language & Literacy Education, English Education, English Leadership Quarterly, The ALAN Review, Language Arts Journal of Michigan, Wisconsin English Teacher, Composition Studies, and Issues in Writing, among others. In 2017, Kia, along with coauthor Elsie L. Olan, received the CEL English Leadership Quarterly Best Article Award for "Conversations, Connections, and Culturally Responsive Teaching: Young Adult Literature in the Methods Class" (Vol. 39, No. 2, October 2016).

Thanks to an NMU Faculty Research Grant and sabbatical leave from NMU in 2017-18, Kia has written a new book, Mental Illness in Young Adult Literature: Exploring Real Struggles through Fictional Characters, published by ABC-CLIO/Libraries Unlimited in early 2019.

Kia and her husband, David Neumann, share their home in Marquette with two black-and-white (tuxedo) cats.

• Composition Studies
• English Education
• Psychology and Writing