MORGAN KAYSER

EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts in Fiction August 2013-April 2016
University of Pittsburgh
• Also earned Certificate in Composition, Literacy, Pedagogy and Rhetoric

Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing August 2009- April 2012

Florida State University
• Psychology minor
• Graduated magna cum laude with honors a year early due to high course load

TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATION

Visiting Lecturer August 2017-present

University of Pittsburgh
• Teach 18 course credits a year as full-time faculty
• Courses taught:
o Seminar in Composition (Fall ‘17, Spring ‘18, Fall ’18, Spring ’19, Fall
‘19)
o Written Professional Communication (Spring ’18, Spring ’19, Fall ‘19)
o Persuasive Writing in Advertising (Fall ’18, Fall ‘19)
o Introduction to Fiction Writing (Fall ’19)
• Serve on Writing Awards committee and judge the Taube Undergraduate Fiction
Award (’18, ’19)
• Participate in Seminar in Composition Assessment (’18, ’19)
• Have also assisted with social media (‘18), participated in assignment workshops for
Seminar in Composition and Written Professional Communication (‘18)

Assistant Director of Public and Professional Writing August 2019-present

University of Pittsburgh
• Plan events, marketing, and outreach to promote Public and Professional Writing
courses and major
• Assist Director in other tasks as assigned

Residential Program Director January 2017-present

University of Virginia Young Writers Workshop
• Over the summers: supervise a team of 16 counselors/teachers and an Assistant
Residential Program Director at an intensive high school residential writing
workshop, observe classes and workshop teaching strategies, mediate conflict among
staff and around 100 students, ensure welfare of workshop participants, organize and
schedule programming, communicate with parents, facilitate day-to-day operations,
teach 2-4 elective courses a summer
• Year-round: manage all social media, write monthly newsletters and other
communications, perform alumni outreach, interview and hire residential staff, create
 and implement Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign

Instructor February-March 2018

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Pittsburgh
• Taught a five-session introductory fiction course called “So you want to write a
story?” to a group of 28 students age 55+

Part-Time Instructor August 2016- April 2017

University of Pittsburgh
• Taught two sections (Fall 2016) and one section (Spring 2017) of Seminar in
Composition as part-time faculty
• Focused on underrepresented voices to inspire creative composition both in essay and
digital media

Assistant Residential Program Director Summer 2015, 2016

University of Virginia Young Writers Workshop
• Lead team of 16 counselors/teachers in instructing, supervising, entertaining, and
maintaining welfare of around 100 high school students at a time at an intensive
residential writing workshop
• Assisted Residential Program Director and other administrators with office work and
general management of programming (coursework, readings, slam poetry contests,
socials, etc.) and mediation of any conflicts between students or staff
• Managed social media and photographed all events, gained 100 new Facebook
followers and increased page/post views up to 500%

Student-Athlete Tutor August 2013- June 2016

ASSSA at University of Pittsburgh
• Proofread student work for grammar, helped students with reading comprehension,
conducted conferences about improving essay structure and content

Instructor/Teaching Assistantship August 2014-April 2016

University of Pittsburgh
• Instructor of record for one course a semester under a teaching assistantship
• Courses taught: Seminar in Composition (Fall 2014, Spring 2015) and Introduction to
Fiction (Fall 2015, Spring 2016)
• As a first-year teacher, I received pedagogical training through Pitt’s Committee for
the Evaluation and Advancement of Teaching (CEAT)

Visiting Writer January 2015

Malone University
• Read and discussed a piece of my work, participated in two Q&A sessions, taught
Master Class on characterization to undergraduates

Residential Teacher-Counselor Summer 2012, 2013, 2014

University of Virginia Young Writers Workshop
• Taught a writing lab to around 15 fiction students every morning, taught a fun
 elective class (for example, children’s writing) six times a summer, workshopped
student work and conferenced as necessary, assisted the lead instructor in the
afternoon workshop, monitored the well-being of 7-11 girls in my “suite”
• Received conflict-resolution and emergency-management training, as well as
education training that earned me graduate credit in teaching young writers

EDITING, COPYWRITING, AND OTHER WORK

Freelance Copywriter Summer 2015, 2018

Accelerate Education
• Provided creative nonfiction, flash fiction, speeches, and literary analysis for online
high school English courses according to a set curriculum

Part-time Nanny August 2016 – June 2018

Various Pittsburgh families
• Typically responsible for babies aged newborn to 18 months 2-3 days a week

Freelance Copywriter July 2016-October 2016

Wellspring Whole Health—Pittsburgh, PA
• Wrote copy for website, blogs, social media

Freelance Copywriter January 2016-October 2016

INHABIT Real Estate Collective—Pittsburgh, PA
• Wrote copy for website, MLS listings, e-mail campaigns, newsletters, press releases,
job postings, etc.
• Conducted interviews with and photographed members of the community (investors,
developers, interesting homeowners, etc.) and created blog content
• Conferenced with brokerage founder on team’s message, mission, and how to
translate those ideas into copy

Publicity Assistant/Intern September 2015-December 2015

KTK Publicity—Pittsburgh, PA
• Researched best media fits for our clients’ publicity and pitched coverage to those
media outlets
• Ghost wrote and edited content (mostly interior design focused) for Huffington Post
blogs

Speakeasy Reading Series Organizer August 2014-April 2015

University of Pittsburgh
• Managed social media presence, scheduled and communicated with readers,
organized events

Honors in the Major Thesis program January 2011-April 2012

Florida State University
• Worked under poet Barbara Hamby, novelist Elizabeth Stuckey-French, and religion
in fantasy literature professor Sonya Cronin to write three short stories, mostly magic
 realism, heavily influenced by Southern setting and tradition of Southern writers

Editor in Chief August 2010- April 2012

The Yeti at Florida State University
• Published progressive newsmagazine both online and in two 32-page print editions a
semester with a print run of 2,500.
• Edited all stories/design, lead meetings, pitched story ideas, made budget decisions,
oversaw and sold advertising, organized distribution, taught journalism workshops,
served as liaison with Campus Progress (national sponsoring organization)

News Editor August 2009-May 2010

The Yeti at Florida State University
• Edited stories, pitched story ideas, wrote high-priority articles, conferenced with
writers

PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

“Hallowed and Hollow” — Hippocampus Magazine March 2017

“A Little Bird Told Me” — TriQuarterly Review — Issue 151 January 2017

“Kudzu” — Outlook Springs — Issue 2 November 2016

“Maybe I Need This” — Turow-Kinder Award — First Place April 2015

“How to Build a Dresser” — The Yearbook Office February 2015

“Unzipped Skin” — The Molotov Cocktail – Vol. 4, Issue 11 September 2013

George M. Harper Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Writing April 2012

CONFERENCE READINGS/PRESENTATIONS

Association of Writers and Writing Programs March 2017

Tampa, Florida
• Read at TriQuarterly Magazine’s 59th Anniversary Reading

English Department Graduate Exchange October 2014

University of Pittsburgh
• Read/took questions on story “Into the Deep” for anthropomorphic/horror themed
presentation

ACC Meeting of the Minds Conference March 2012

Virginia Tech
• Read short story, “Due West,” and answered questions in panel discussion between
ACC colleges
Undergraduate Research Symposium March 2012
Florida State University
• Read short story, “Due West,” and answered questions in panel discussion

Campus Progress Journalism Training Summit January 2012

Washington, D.C.
• Attended workshops and lectures at summit of Campus Progress-funded publications

Student at University of Virginia Young Writer’s Workshop July 2008

• Spent three weeks studying fiction as a student of a selective summer program

TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE

• Microsoft Word, Google Docs • Google Sheets, Excel (moderate)

(excellent) • InDesign, Publisher (moderate)
• Microsoft Powerpoint, Prezi • Audacity, Garage Band (moderate)
(excellent) • Photography and photo editing
• Wordpress, Blogger, Google Sites (moderate)
(excellent) • Videography and video editing
• Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite (moderate)
(excellent)