Course Credits and References

Course Developer Patricia Meador (BS, M.Ed.) has over 30 years of experience as an educator, writer, and librarian. She has an impressive body of work that spans all genres and styles of writing. Ms. Meador is also experienced at writing academic papers, course curricula, articles, short stories, and grants. Her areas of expertise include education, medicine, law, psychology, sociology, and public health. She has also co-written text books about geography, sociology, and has updated portions of the DSM-5 encyclopedia.

Course Instructor

Dana Kristan (BA, MA) has a BA in sociology and an MA in public policy and education. She is a passionate writer as well as a dedicated and attentive writing instructor with over 20 years of online teaching experience. She also completed related coursework in special education covering the use of needs assessments and systematic instructional designs to match teaching practices and learning objectives with learner needs, a core component of the systematic instructional methodologies that dominate special education practice today. She also monitored the educational programs for adults with severe disabilities in New York City before joining Universal Class in managing, developing, writing, and instructing online classes to better serve students' basic needs. Her passions include writing, journaling, music, cultural studies, and history.