Kathleen Stephens

Kathleen Sullivan Stephens holds the B.A. and M.A. in English from Baylor University and the Ph.D. in English from Arizona State University, where she specialized in twentieth-century American sport literature and baseball fiction. She began her teaching career in 1992 at Central Texas College in Killeen and has taught composition and literature, including sport literature and film, at numerous two- and four-year institutions. She was named the NACADA (National Academic Advising Association) Outstanding New Faculty Advisor (2006), a Phi Theta Kappa Distinguished College Administrator (2021), and the Dallas College (Richland Campus) Employee of the Year (2020-21), where she directed the Honors Program from 2014-2021. She is the author of Women Characters in Baseball Literature: A Critical Study (McFarland 2005), Our White Boy with Jerry Craft (Texas Tech UP 2010) and Pitching for the Stars: My Seasons Across the Color Line with Jerry Craft (Texas Tech UP 2013). Kathleen is also certified in English Language Arts and is currently teaching 9th grade English 1, Advanced Academics, and Gifted and Talented in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD. For her, sport is a way to interest students in the study of literature while exploring larger issues such as race, class, gender, economics, equity, and inclusion.