Academic Background
MFA, Creative Writing, Vermont College of Norwich University
MA, English Literature, Salem State College
JD, Suffolk University Law School
BA, History, Suffolk University
I am a writer who has taught composition, creative writing, literature and other courses at the college level for over twenty years, although I began my professional life as a trial attorney in 1981. After completing my M.A. in English Literature in 1989, a brief teaching experience convinced me that I preferred the classroom to the courtroom, and so I began to further prepare myself for a career in teaching and writing. While still maintaining my law practice, I completed an M.F.A. in creative writing at Vermont College in 1995, and turned to teaching as a full-time vocation.
My teaching experience ranges from composition courses at traditional American institutions, like the University of North Florida and the University of Idaho, to literature seminars at a Japanese institution, to creative workshops at a battered women’s shelter, to online and low-residency study programs at non-traditional institutions like Vermont College. Whether I meet my students face-to-face or online, my most important goal is to know them as fellow human beings first.
Here at Unity College, I have a number of roles: I'm married to our president, Stephen Mulkey, I serve on the editorial board of Unity's journal of creative sustainability, Hawk and Handsaw, and I work on public relations and development projects as a special assistant for college outreach. My poetry and prose are widely published and have won several awards; information about my most currently published work is available at www.michelejleavitt.com. And, finally, I blog about the people and events at Unity House, the president's residence.
