UKIAH – Although most college and university instructors assign textbooks in which they have no direct input, Mendocino College professors Roger Hock and Holly Brackmann each use textbooks they have written.
Hock has been a psychology professor at Mendocino College for the past 10 years and has published several books. His latest, Human Sexuality (2007), is currently being used in Psychology 206, Human Sexuality.
The book hit the shelves in late 2006 and is being used at both the Ukiah campus and Lake County center.
Many colleges and universities have adopted the text for courses this past spring and beginning next fall.
In the Bookbinders’ Guild of New York’s 2007 annual book show, Human Sexuality placed third out of several hundred entries for overall content and design.
Hock’s first book, Forty Studies that changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of Psychological Research originally published in1991, will be released in its 6th edition in January of 2008.
His second book, Insights-Human Sexuality (2005), is a compilation of over 150 professional journal articles, edited and annotated by Hock and is available from Pearson Custom Publishing for individual instructors to adapt and customize to fit their classes.
Hock co-authored his third book, It’s my life now: Starting Over After an Abusive Relationship or Domestic Violence (2006), along with Meg Kennedy Dugan, Director of the AmeriCorps Victim Assistance Program. Rather than a textbook, this is a self-help book aimed to help survivors of domestic violence.
“Our main goal in writing this book was to guide victims of domestic violence in the difficult and painful process of recovery and rebuilding their lives once they have freed themselves for the abusive relationship,” Hock said.
Although writing keeps him busy during the breaks and summers, Hock makes it clear that his first priority is the teaching and learning process with his students. He believes that both faculty and students benefit if professors are professionally active and stay current in their fields.
“When faculty are professionally beyond the classroom, their teaching, their work with students, and the overall reputation of the college are all enhanced,” Hock said.
Hock mentions, in addition to research and writing, professors often stay active in their fields by attending professional conferences and keeping up to date on the latest literature, research advances and creative endeavors in their areas of expertise.
Before Hock came to Mendocino College, he was professor of psychology at New England College in New Hampshire. Hock began teaching at San Diego State University in the early 1980’s and has also taught at Palomar College near San Diego, the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University.
Hock received his M.S. in Organizational Psychology from San Diego State University in 1984 and his Ph.D. in Experimental Social Psychology from the University of California San Diego in 1989.
His books are available on amazon.com, in most major bookstores and at the Mendocino College bookstore. For additional information, Professor Hock can be contacted at www.mendocino.edu.
When Brackmann was approached by an editor for Handwoven Magazine in 2003 about writing a book, she jumped at the opportunity.
“There are not many books in print about fabric printing and dyeing. I had the opportunity to bring together all my knowledge in a text book. Basically, it is a culmination of 30 years of teaching dyeing and weaving,” Brackmann said.
Brackmann began writing The Surface Designer’s Handbook: Dyeing, Printing, Painting and Creating Resists on Fabric in 2004, and it was released in October of 2006. It is used in her Art 176 and Art 177 Fabric Printing and Dyeing I and II classes.
Former students, local artists and international textile artists all contributed artwork for the book.
Local commercial photographer Tom Liden did a two-day photo shoot for the book, while the rest of the photos were submitted by the artists or taken by the publisher’s photographer.
Brackmann’s book received two glowing reviews from Shuttle Spindle and Dyepot (2007) and Textile Forum by European Textile Network (2007) and won the award for the “Best How-To Textile Book of 2006” by the Library Journal Editors.
At a surface design conference in Kansas City, MO last month, Brackmann was informed by many college professors that they are using her text in their classes.
Brackmann has led study tours to Europe, Peru, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Australia and India, while also contributing to exhibits, workshops, and been a guest lecturer in the U.S., Korea and Australia.
With Mendocino College ceramics instructor Doug Browe, Holly has co-curated two Mendocino County craft exhibits at the Grace Hudson Museum, where she is now on the Sun House Guild Board of Trustees.
In 1983, Holly chaired the Conference of Northern California Handweavers (CNCH), which brought 3,000 people to Ukiah for their annual meeting. She has won the Award of Excellence and Teacher’s Award from CNCH in 2002. Brackmann had her textiles published in numerous publications, as well as written articles in Handwoven Surface Design Newsletter, Weavers and Fabrics that Go Bump.
Brackmann, who was the first art instructor hired at Mendocino College in 1973, first developed her interest in textiles while taking a weaving class as a college student.
“While at San Jose State, I took a summer school weaving class and I got hooked. I started learning about textiles and have never stopped,” Brackmann said.
Her passion for art history and weaving has led her to study weaving techniques in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Central and South America.
Brackmann received her BA in Art History from San Jose State University in 1969 and her MA in Art History from the University of California Los Angeles in 1972.
Brackmann began her teaching career as an Art History instructor at Ohlone College in Fremont in 1972 and, before arriving at Mendocino College, she was an art instructor at College of the Sequoias in Visalia from 1972-1973.
For more information about her book, visit The Mendocino Book Co. or www.fiberartsmagazine.com/books/surface_handbook.asp.
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