The Kate Chopin International Society
Our mission
The mission of The Kate Chopin International Society is to provide a network and forum for the study of American author Kate Chopin (1850-1904). The society encourages and supports scholarship and activities that illuminate Chopin’s contribution to the American literary tradition, and it seeks to preserve her literary significance for future generations.
Our history--we are almost six years old now!
The Society was formed in 2004 by Heather Ostman and Avis Hewitt, both English professors at American universities, after the conference of the American Literature Association, an organization made up of scholarly societies devoted to the study of American authors. Most better-known American authors have a society of their own, and Heather and Avis thought Kate Chopin deserved a scholarly society focused on her work, even though the Kate Chopin Society of North America, with a different emphasis, already existed in St. Louis.
The Kate Chopin International Society sponsored a panel at the 2005 ALA conference and created an advisory board made up mostly of Chopin specialists. It sponsored panels at the 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 ALA conferences and will sponsor one at the 2010 conference. It also sponsors panels at other conferences. You can learn about those through the links on the left.
To comment about the Kate Chopin International Society, write to Heather Ostman here or at Heather.Ostman@sunywcc.edu
To comment about this web site, write to Bernard Koloski here or at bkoloski@katechopin.org
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Our officers
Heather Ostman continues as president of the society and Avis Hewitt acts as secretary.
On the advisory board are Heather (State University of New York: Westchester Community College) and Avis (Grand Valley State University), Thomas Bonner (Xavier University of Louisiana), Barbara Ewell (Loyola University of New Orleans), Bernard Koloski (Mansfield University of Pennsylvania), John May (Louisiana State University), Kathleen Butterly Nigro (University of Missouri--St. Louis), Mary Papke (University of Tennessee), John Staunton (University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Helen Taylor (Exeter University, UK), and Emily Toth (Louisiana State University).
Kelli O'Brien is our conference coordinator.
Our members, 2009
Melanie M. Austin
Seattle University
Thomas Bonner, Jr.
KCIS Board Member
Xavier University of Louisiana
tbonner@xula.edu
Christina G. Bucher
Berry College
cbucher@berry.edu
Vickie Burns
Lord Fairfax Community College
vlb2037@email.vccs.edu
P. K. Collier
Author; Niantic, CT
PKcollier@yahoo.com
Suzanne L. Disheroon
Cedar Valley College, Lancaster, Texas
drsusiedish@gmail.com
sdisheroon@dcccd.edu
Miranda Elkins-Livingston
Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas
melkins@twu.edu, lilymae2@hotmail.com
Kate S. Flynn
English Teacher, Roosevelt High School, Saint Louis
KateSFlynn@gmail.com
Meredith Frederich
Northern Illinios University
mfrederi@niu.edu
Avis Hewitt
KCIS Board Member
Grand Valley University
Avis.Hewitt@gmail.com
Lenora Hobbs
Kate Chopin Society of North America
Trece Jordan-Larsen
Slidell High School, Slidell, Louisiana
trece.jordan-larsen@stpsb.org
Bernard Koloski
KCIS Board Member
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania
bkoloski@katechopin.org
Sonja Lynch
Wartburg College, Waverly, IA
sonja.lynch@wartburg.edu
John R. May
KCIS Board Member
Louisiana State University
jmay2@lsu.edu
Kerry Meehan McCann
Northern Regional College, Northern Ireland
Kerry@mccannfamily.plus.com
Crescida McCue
Humble High School
Houston Baptist University
crescida.mccue@humble.k12.tx.us
Tom Morgan
University of Dayton
morgantz@notes.udayton.edu
Cindy Murillo
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
ccmur@unm.edu
Jennifer Nader
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
jennader@unm.edu
Kathleen Butterly Nigro
KCIS Board Member
University of Missouri--St. Louis
Kelli Purcell O’Brien
Conference Coordinator
University of Memphis
Kobrien1@memphis.edu
Kathryn O’Donoghue
CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY
kathryn.erin.odonoghue@gmail.com
Heather Ostman
KCIS President
Westchester Community College, SUNY; Valhalla, NY
Heather.Ostman@sunywcc.edu
Mary Papke
KCIS Board Member
University of Tennessee
papke@utk.edu
Kyllikki Persson
Belmont University
Nashville, Tenn.
kyllikki.persson@gmail.com
Josh Privett
Bob Jones University
jpriv491@students.bju.edu
Verna B. Robinson
Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold, Maryland
vbrobinson@aacc.edu
Debby Rosenthal
John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH
Aparecido Donizete Rossi
São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil
adrossi@terra.com.br
lordhydden@hotmail.com
Meg Sempreora
Webster University, St. Louis, MO
Reinaldo Silva
University of Aveiro, Portugal
reinaldosilva@ua.pt
Nikki Singh
Yale University
nikki.singh@yale.edu
Martha Sledge
Marymount Manhattan College, New York, NY
msledge@mmm.edu
John Staunton
Eastern Michigan University
jstaunto@emich.edu
Helen Taylor
KCIS Board Member
University of Exeter, UK
helen.taylor@exeter.ac.uk
Emily Toth
KCIS Board Member
Louisiana State University
etoth@lsu.edu
emtoth14@yahoo.com
Karen Walker
University of Arkansas
kaw10@uark.edu
Join us? Become a member?
We would be happy to have you as a member of The Kate Chopin International Society. We welcome scholars, teachers, graduate and undergraduate students, and anyone else who is interested in Chopin.
You can join us by email. Simply send us your name and your institutional affiliation or profession (or write to Heather.Ostman@sunywcc.edu). And tell us if you would like us to include your email address on our listing.
We have no dues, but a donation of $10 or more, sent to Heather Ostman, would help us with our work:
Heather Ostman, English Department, Westchester Community College, 75 Grasslands Rd., Valhalla, NY 10509
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Other scholarly organizations
ALA: American Literature Association
MLA: Modern Language Association
SSAWW: Society for the Study of American Women Writers
SSSL: Society for the Study of Southern Literature
PCA/ACA: Popular Culture & American Culture Associations | 
