Maria Judnick is a writer, reader, teacher, thinker, and mother.
She holds an MA in English and Comparative Literature from San Jose State University and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from St. Mary’s College of California. She works as a renewable-term lecturer in the Santa Clara University English Department where she teaches Engineering Communications courses as well as writing classes with sustainability and California themes. Maria co-developed and teaches an interdisciplinary course in the Environmental Studies and Sciences Department, for which she co-won a campus-wide sustainability award. At SJSU, Maria serves as the Coordinator of Digital Initiatives for the Writing Center where she oversees the online tutoring program, blog, social media, and faculty writing workshops. She freelances as an editor helping graduate students at SJSU and beyond write their thesis projects.
Maria has coordinated six National Endowment for the Humanities summer institutes for teachers - three on the writer John Steinbeck and three on the California Immigrant Experience. For several years, she served on the board of the Young Rhetoricians Conference held in Monterey, CA and freelanced for publications such as KQED Pop! and The Santa Clara Weekly. In addition to other academic and literary publications, she is currently working on a young adult novel and picture books.
Maria lives in San Jose with her husband and young son.