Work: Becker Library L-16, Springfield College in Illinois, 1500 North Fifth Street, Springfield, Illinois 62702. Telephone: (217) 525-1420, ext. 519. Fax: (217) 525-1497. E-mail: ellertsen@sci.edu. Home address: 545 South Feldkamp Avenue, Springfield, Illinois 62704. Telephone/fax: (217) 793-2587. E-mail: ellertsen@sci.edu.

Performances, papers and presentations

• Volunteer interpreter and front-bench tenor with the New Salem Shape Note Singers at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site, Route 1, Petersburg. I demonstrate the Appalachian dulcimer and interpret a log schoolhouse in the historic village, interacting with individuals, families and groups of children as large as 25 or 30. 1996-present.
• "Ballads, Bobby Burns, Folk Hymns and Show Tunes: Popular Music of the 1800s" and "Shape-Note Singing Schools in Frontier Illinois." I developed these talks for the Road Scholars program of the Illinois Humanities Council, from 2001 to 2004; I have performed on a free-lance basis at the Southern Illinois Celtic Festival in Carbondale, the Jacksonville Chatauqua and New Salem, and I continue to offer the talks on a freelance basis.
• "Closing the Loop: Assessment in the Springfield College English Department" [with Judi Anderson and Lynette D. Shaw-Smith]." Presentation at the Allerton Community College and University English Articulation Conference, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, April 26, 2001.
• "American Folk Hymnody in Illinois, 1800-1850." Paper read at Conference on Illinois History, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Springfield, October 14, 2000. An article based on this presentation was published in the Winter 2002 issue of the Journal of Illinois History.
• "Faith, Hope and Poetry: (Pre-)Postmodern Ways of Knowing in the Poetry of Kathleen Norris." Paper read at Last Lecture Series, Springfield College in Illinois, March 9, 2000. Available on line at http://www.sci.edu/classes/ellertsen/norris.html.
• "Grammar and Proofreading." Workshop at Support Staff Conference sponsored by the Division of Specialized Care for Children, University of Illinois at Chicago, in Springfield, October 25, 1999.

Professional experience

• Language and literature instructor. 1995-present. Springfield College in Illinois. Teach English, journalism and Native American history. As faculty adviser to SCI's literary magazine, The Sleepy Weasel, I serve as production manager for our World Wide Web and print editions. I also chair SCI's Assessment Committee.
• Desktop publisher. 1992-present. Rosehill Press, 545 South Feldkamp, Springfield. Sole proprietor, with wife Debi S. Edmund, of home-based desktop publishing business specializing in short-run literary titles including the chinkapin oak: poems, 1993-1995 by John Knoepfle and Tramping Across America (1999), a reissue of Vachel Lindsay's travel writing.
• Administrative assistant. 1991-1993. Office of the Treasurer, Illinois Capitol, Springfield 62706. Researched banking, taxation and administrative issues assigned by the state Treasurer; assisted with downstate news media advance.
• Political reporter and columnist. 1985-91. The State Journal Register, One Copley Plaza, Springfield 62701. Covered city, county, state and federal elections and politics. Wrote op-ed column, spoke to civic groups and served on candidate debate panels.
• Courthouse reporter. 1984-1985. The Rock Island Argus, 1724 Fourth Avenue, Rock Island, Illinois 61201. Covered county government, political and economic news. As weekend city editor, assigned spot news stories, sized photographs, edited copy, wrote headlines and laid out inside pages.
• Reporter and state editor. 1975-1982. The Oak Ridger, 785 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37828. Covered government, schools, politics, environmental and nuclear industry issues, labor relations, courts and police news in a four-county area. Supervised and edited regional correspondents, helped train beginning reporters.
• Member of National Council of Teachers of English, Modern Language Association, Society of Professional Journalists, New Salem Shape-Note Singers and Prairie Land Dulcimer Strings. Volunteer interpreter at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site, Route 1, Petersburg. Sing in choir at Atonement Lutheran Church, Springfield.

Publications

In addition to editing The Sleepy Weasel, I have had freelance articles in Gateway (published by the Missouri Historical Society), Illinois Heritage, The Journal of Illinois History, The Illinois School Board Journal, Illinois Times, Civil War Regiments, Illinois Issues and Christian Century. I also maintain on my faculty website at SCI: "Pick'n Noter Page: Being a Compendium of Dulcimer and Scheitholt Lore, Pre-Folk Revival Style"; "Sacred Harp Singing in Downstate Illinois" and "Shape-note Singing in the Sangamon River Country." Available on line at http://www.sci.edu/classes/ellertsen/welcome.html.

Education

• Workshops in Appalachian dulcimer, ballad and folk hymn traditions at Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina; John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, N.C.; Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C; and Swannanoa Gathering, Warren Wilson College, Asheville.
• Dip. TEFL (Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language), 1997. International Learning Centres, Edinburgh, Scotland. Distance learning course.
• M.A., journalism, 1983. Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
• Ph.D., English, 1975. University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
• M.A., history, 1967. University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
• Studied Norwegian language and history, 1966. International Summer School, University of Oslo, Norway.
• B.A., history, 1964. Albion College, Albion, Michigan.