AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
2019 Initiated and will lead panel workshop at 2019 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference
“How to Interview Military Members:
An Interactive Session”
2019 Old Dominion University Graduate Grant
To attend 2019 Association of Writers
and Writing Programs Conference
2018 Old Dominion University Graduate Summer Grant Program
U.S. Navy Women Line Officers:
Trailblazers in Uniform (Text & display)
​
2018 Old Dominion University Graduate Travel Grant Program (Conference travel)
2018 Old Dominion University Graduate Research Achievement Day (poster competition) English Department support to finalize and print over-size poster Poster titled “U.S. Navy Women Line Officers: Trailblazers in Uniform”
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
2019 Initiated and will lead panel workshop at 2019 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference
“How to Interview Military Members:
An Interactive Session”
2019 Old Dominion University Graduate Grant
To attend 2019 Association of Writers
and Writing Programs Conference
2018 Old Dominion University Graduate Summer Grant Program
U.S. Navy Women Line Officers:
Trailblazers in Uniform (Text & display)
​
2018 Old Dominion University Graduate Travel Grant Program (Conference travel)
2018 Old Dominion University Graduate Research Achievement Day (poster competition) English Department support to finalize and print over-size poster Poster titled “U.S. Navy Women Line Officers: Trailblazers in Uniform”
About CaptainVan
Van creates from a lifetime of work, travel and family experiences across genres and functionality. She served as an analyst and historian during her naval career, retiring as a captain. Her major focus is researching and writing hybrid text about women Naval line officers progressing from support to war fighter roles. Van has presented on this topic in public forums and readings.
As a versatile writer and creator, she has also taught at university, opened a retail business and worked on Ford Motor Company’s assembly line. Van holds a MS from the University of Southern California. After growing up in New Jersey, living overseas three times and visiting thirty countries, Van now calls Hampton Roads, Virginia home.
Research Interests
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Contemporary & historical study of women across societies
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Study of women in the military
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Addictive behaviors
Past Events
27-30 Mar 2019
Captain Van lead this panel workshop at the 2019 Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference & Bookfair:
“How to Interview Military Members:
An Interactive Session”
Thursday 28MAR2019 4:30 pm to 5:45 pm
F152, Oregon Convention Center, Level 1/R314.
Panel Members: R. Van, Jerri Bell,
This technique-focused, interactive and jargon-free panel will explore how to interview those in the Armed Services with respect, candor—and results. These multi-media-savvy authors will draw from their eighty years of service, much of it researching, collecting and editing interviews from and about the military.
While not “Interviewing 101,” new writers or those with limited military exposure will benefit from this. Attendees may critique video-clips or participate in a mock interview. Hand-outs will be provided.
Awards & Distinctions
Education
1983
University of Southern California
Masters of Science, Systems Management:
Research & Development
1979
Allegheny College
Bachelors of Arts: Literature & Sociology
1978
St. Andrews University
Junior Year Abroad
The Writing Life
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Writing Retreats/Residencies
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Participant, "WE-3" Willoughby Women Writers Retreat, Jan 2019
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Participant, “100 Years of American Women in Uniform,” National Endowment Humanities,weekend programs at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, 2016, 2017
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Participant, DARE County Arts Council Outer Banks Veterans Writing Project, memoir/Nov 2017
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Participant, DARE County Arts Council Outer Banks Veterans Writing Project, fiction/Nov 2016
Writing Community
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Initiated writing group for Old Dominion University Master of Fine Arts/Creative Writing candidates, 2018 to present, Tunnel Crash
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Participant, full day satire seminar by Paul Szoldra, creator of The Duffle Blog, the military version of The Onion, Alexandria, Virginia, 8 Dec 2018
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Editorial Board, Barely South Review, 2017-2018
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Hampton Roads Veterans Writing Group, Armed Services Arts Partnership, 2014 to present. Participated in workshops on interviewing, poetry, prose, the long sentence seminar
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Mighty Pen Project, Virginia War Memorial, six-week writing program for veterans, 2015
Readings & Speaking Engagements
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"Amazing Grace and Five GURLS," presentation and panel discussion for the Petersburg National Parks Women’s Month Celebration at the Prince George County Regional Heritage Center, 25 Mar 2018
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"Dangerous Tools," a nonfiction memoir was read by voice actress Kim Durfee. I participatedin the Q/A session that followed the group's readings. Parot of WHRO's Special: "Cloaked in Invisibility," 15 Nov 2017
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“GURLS to Warriors: The Story of America’s Female Naval Officers,” National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Williamsburg Chapter, 1 Nov 2016
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“My Perspective on a Navy Career as a GURL,” Association of Women in Defense, Hampton Roads Chapter, Aug 2011
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“Public Affairs & Marketing Key,” Center for Naval Leadership Program, Sep 2006
Publications
Nota Bene: Text produced for the military may not be available on the Internet or accessible to the public. Please contact Captain Van at waves2warriors@gmail.com if you're interested in obtaining a copy.
Articles & Book Chapters
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"Making History: Sailors Sued the Navy for Sea Time,” Association of United States Navy’s
Navy Magazine, Summer 2017, Vol. 64, No. 2,
pp. 32-33
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Monteiro, Luis Nuno Sardinha, "Fernando Oliveira's Art of War at Sea (1555) - A Pioneering
Treatise on Naval Strategy," Naval War College Review, 2015, Vol. 68, No. 4, [editor]
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“The Submarine: NATO’s Maritime Force Multiplier,” Association of the United States Navy’s Navy Magazine, Jun 2013
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Schedule Leadership,” The Navy Reservist Magazine, Aug 2006 (penned for G. Mark Hardy III, Captain, U.S. Navy)
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“Logistics is Commander's Business," NATO Newsletter, Jun 2003
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NATO Expansion Analysis in Preparation of Prague Summit 2002, ACT NATO, Oct 2001
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“Maritime Interoperability and the Future of NATO: Supreme Allied Command Atlantic Partnership for Peace Initiative at the U.S. Navy’s Surface Warfare Officers School Command,” accepted for publication U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Mar 2000
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“Training at the Top,” Naval Reserve Association News, Dec 1995
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“The Principles of Logistics: The Seoul-Inchon Operation,” Naval Doctrine Publication (NDP) 4, Naval Logistics, Jan 1995
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Udono, Masako U., et. al, “Visualization of Ultraviolet Light-induced Thymine Dimers in DNA,” Mutation Research/Fundamental and Molecular, Dec 1988
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“The Subject was Training.... Training in the Computer Performance Evaluation Arena,” International CMG (Computer Measurement Group) Conference Proceedings 1985: 493-495
Books: From Manuscripts to Published Work
Navy Town, Norfolk Chapbook
Work-in-progress; 24,000-word hybrid exploration of my relationship with the City of Norfolk, Virginia as a service member, woman, friend, mother, foster parent, including being in uniform at NATO HQ in Norfolk on 9/11
One Veteran’s Experience: Tales about Navy GURLS
Work-in-progress, 11,000-hybrid exploration of military topics, including a braided essay about a woman line officer who was one of the first to train and qualify for a complex watch-standing position; this was also produced as a dramatic reading
WAVES to Warriors: U.S. Navy Women Line Officers: From Support to Speartip
Work-in-progress; under contract with McFarland & Company
Tiger Cruise: A Hampton Roads Adventure
Manuscript; a middle-grade realistic fictional novel about a Navy family in Norfolk, Virginia
Armed Forces Staff College Fifty-Year Commemorative History, U.S. Navy, 1996
Other
“Nothing Special,” poem published in A Common Bond: A Veterans Chapbook, Armed Services Arts Partnership, 2016​
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Analysis and guides written for the U.S. Navy, 2002-2012; not available for distribution