Christine is an award-winning educator with nearly 15 years of teaching experience, mainly at the college level.
Before starting Ink & Stem workshops and retreats, Christine was an Assistant Professor of English at Eastern University in St. Davids, PA, where she specialized in 18th- and 19th-century British literature, creative nonfiction, and contemporary multicultural fiction. As an academic scholar, she has presented her original research and writing at Yale University, the University of Iowa, the University of Louisiana, CUNY, and various other academic conferences. She has taught literature at the University of Baltimore, and she currently teaches at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.
Christine earned her Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Delaware, her M.A. in English Literature from The University of Virginia, and an honors B.A. in English Literature and Spanish from Eastern University.
Christine has taught, volunteered, and studied in Guatemala, Ecuador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and Spain—as well as Albania, Egypt, Scotland, Italy, and England. She speaks fluent Spanish.
This wide range of experience has made her particularly sensitive to the needs of diverse students. Her students tell her she is a warm, nurturing, and enthusiastic teacher.
Photo credit: Kate Rentz
“Truly ‘exemplary.’ Instructor goes above and beyond at every turn that students are receiving the best possible education. Feedback and discussion posts are consistently supportive, encouraging, and substantive. Absolutely fantastic work!”
“[Christine] has a wealth of knowledge to bestow upon her students and gives great feedback to ensure each student is as successful as possible. I really appreciated her love of literature. A class is always much more enjoyable when the instructors love of the material is evident. Who wants to take a class where the instructor doesn’t seem invested? This was not one of those classes. She did a terrific job of keeping the class engaged in the topic and materials used.”
“Christine is an extraordinary teacher who I believe in. She is truly a talented professional in her field. One who inspires!”
“Dr. Kortsch is one of the most captivating professors that I have had while at Eastern. Her passion for literature greatly helped me become interested in the subject matter. Her love of English overflowed into my learning. She is an incredible professor.”
“Christine is an amazing teacher. She brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the course and it showed. Her continuous feedback and guidance was invaluable.”
“I liked the energy that you brought into this class, and your constant engagement, encouragement and clear rules speaks out loud that you love what you do and passionately desire the students to learn something and excel in the subject. I have learnt a lot from you and my desire for you is to keep that spirit and inspire many more in your future endeavors. Thank you.”
“Dr. Kortsch is an amazing professor. I was not looking forward to taking yet another English course, but she made the class interesting and nice to be a part of. I could only imagine how much more interesting this class would have been if it were a face-to-face class with her as the instructor.”
“This teacher is a hard worker. She reads all of her students papers and she gives feed back. She is very organized and she communicates with the class on a regular basis. I never knew what a real professor was like until I took professor Kortsch class. ”
“She’s pretty amazing. Dr. Kortsch, you are a gem. Thanks for making reading fun.”
“very understanding, very encouraging, present in the forums, and shared as well as taught. She was very hands on and not only threw information out there but she shared her own work and favorite works as well.”
“I felt like I could go to Dr. Kortsch at any time throughout the semester. She was very open and relaxed while also showing her wealth of knowledge with us. She was like a friend who was a writing genius and really wanted to see me grow and become the best writer I could. ”
“She is very passionate about what she teaches, and she gets so excited you can’t help but get excited too. She’s engaging, and I like it.”
“This was one of the favorite classes I have ever taken, and Christine was one of the most challenging and encouraging teachers that I have ever had.”
“Your enthusiasm is evident and makes literature much more enjoyable. Thank you for all your creative teaching methods: acting, art, music, readings, papers, in class assignments, etc. I really liked the wide variety.”
“Dr. Kortsch has met a unique balance in her teachings. She manages to engage our minds as young writers while maintaining great respect for all of us. She is very personable and effective in practice. I thoroughly enjoyed this class.”
“Dr. Kortsch is the English teacher I want to be someday. She is incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about literature and the history behind it. I loved this class.”
“It was a pleasure to study under a professor who so clearly loves the subject matter. My writing got much better.”
“Dr. Kortsch is an embodiment of a great teacher. Articulate, knowledgeable, and compassionate.”