As an M.A. in English and certified Teaching English as a
Foreign Language (TEFL) from Portland State University, Professor Derr spent
his two first post-graduate years in the Krygyz Republic working as a volunteer
in the U.S. Peace Corps, where he instructed university courses and trained
TEFL faculty. And has pursued a wide
array of similar English language and literature instructional opportunities
abroad and in the U.S.: Saudi Arabia,
Iowa, upstate New York, and Oregon, to name a few. In addition to directing courses in his
areas of expertise – second language learning and writing – Professor Derr is
well skilled in the art of teaching poetry and drama to second-language
learners.