Brenda
Hardin Abbott
, MA
Assistant Professor of English; Director of the Bashevkin Academic Development Center
Department:
Liberal Studies
Location:
Catok
102
Degrees
BA, MA, Eastern Kentucky University
Contact
Phone: 413.565.1353
Email: bhardin@baypath.edu
Profile
An active member of the Bay Path College Community, Brenda Hardin Abbott, MA, has been the director of the Bashevkin Academic Development Center, coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities, and a faculty member in the Liberal Studies Department since 1999.
Abbott began her career as a teaching assistant at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in 1991, where her primary interest was developmental English. While at EKU, she received a bachelor’s degree in English and psychology in 1991, and a master’s degree in English in 1993. She gained additional experience in developmental English by working for the Jessamine County Adult Literacy Center as a GED (General Educational Development) instructor. Abbott then moved to Seattle, where she worked for Washington Human Development in adult literacy and at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as a research associate before returning to teaching adult students in a supportive role at Lake Washington Technical College. As the evening supervisor of The Learning Center, Abbott oversaw tutoring and testing services. In 1995, she served as a reading instructor at Everett Community College and was part of a team dedicated to improving adolescent and adult literacy skills, and in 1998, she accepted a position in developmental learning at Columbia-Greene Community College in Hudson, NY, where she taught developmental English and math.
Abbott and Lisa Ruch, PhD, attended the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW) at Penn State University in 2007 with five peer writing tutors. In 2005 and 2006, Abbott and three peer writing tutors presented papers at the NCPTW conference on cross-programmatic intersections for adult and traditional learners. In 2005, Abbott presented a paper at the Conference on College Composition and Communication, titled, “‘I’m not any good at English’: How Students with Language-Based Learning Disabilities Struggle in English Courses.”
Abbott primarily teaches first- and second-year English courses and is interested in disability studies, writing center work and English education.
