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ETTA C. ABRAHAMS
Professor
Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures
517/353-0644 (office); 517/353-5250 (fax)
Etta Abrahams began her teaching career at Michigan State University in the Department of American Thought and Language while completing her Ph.D. in English at MSU under the direction of Distinguished University Professor Russel B. Nye. Her work on the hard-boiled detective novel is the earliest popular culture studies doctorate of its kind. A native New Yorker (downtown Manhattan), she received all her degrees in English from MSU and considers East Lansing her home. During her 33-year tenure at MSU, Abrahams taught many ATL courses as well as classes in film genres, arts and humanities, and mystery and detective fiction. She hopes her students will remember her for her personal attention, relaxed yet rigorous classroom practices, enthusiasm and sense of humor.
From 1974-1988, Professor Abrahams was Director of the Undergraduate University Division Office in Brody Complex. She has been on many committees, including the ATL department Advisory Council, the Arts and Letters College Advisory Council, and the University Committees on Student Affairs, Faculty Tenure and Academic Governance. She chaired the Anti-Discrimination Judicial Board, served on or presided over many faculty and student judiciaries, was a presiding officer for the Faculty Grievance Office and a member of the University Student Appeals Board. A strong advocate of affirmative action and equal opportunity, Abrahams developed courses in minority and women's studies, and was president of the Faculty and Professional Women's Association. She also served on the GLSB Task Force. She is spending her consulting year in the Office of the Provost, developing a faculty mediation program.
Abrahams presented and published many papers in popular culture, was twice first-place winner for fiction in the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature, has read her fiction widely, and was a Danforth Associate. Abrahams has also been active in the community as a volunteer and trainer at the Listening Ear Crisis Center, the Hospice of Lansing, and the Capitol Area Humane Society. She is a past-president of the Zonta Club of East Lansing. She has one son, Jonas Greenberg; two step-children, Denise and Jeff Greenberg; daughter-in-law Alison Krupnick; and two granddaughters, Melanie and Maya. Etta and her husband, Herbert Greenberg, are remodeling their home in Jonesport, Maine, and will live there full-time with their dogs and cat. Their many friends and colleagues are invited to visit them.
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