01 / Faculty
Thomas Hitchner
Also teaches English at UCLA
- Education
- Ph.D. in English, University of California, Irvine, 2010
- Education
- M.A. in English, University of California, Irvine, 2005
- Education
- B.A. in Liberal Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, 2003
Thomas HitchnerUCLA
02 / Meet Thomas
Meet Thomas
Dr. Thomas Hitchner is an Instructor in the Writing Program at UCLA.
He has taught writing for fifteen years in the UC system, working primarily with freshmen and beginning writers. He previously worked for five years as a Writing Center tutor at National University, and his work has been published in English Literature in Transition and British Politics Review.
Dr. Hitchner also has a background in stand-up comedy and humor writing, either of which would be his career of choice had he not been hooked on teaching as a grad student.
Dr. Hitchner builds his students' writing skills by asking them to approach shared cultural experiences — like food, a theme across many of his courses — and build a toolbox of writing skills around those experiences. His PhD dissertation covered British espionage literature, and his ongoing research interests include 19th- and 20th-century British literature, war literature, and narrative theory.
03 / Beyond the classroom
- 01Comedy Writer
- 02Traveler
- 03Poker Player
- 04Literature Buff
04 / Ask Thomas
Ask Thomas Hitchner
My sophomore English teacher, Mr. Valtz, was the first one who showed me how much craft goes into writing, whether it's writing a novel or poem or simply an ordinary descriptive sentence. Since then I've become a fanatic about good writing, which I believe in the right hands can change the world for the better.