Barbara Kroboth Burch was a fashion icon until 1968, when she learned to read. This event, along with her father's admonition that "buying a book is never a waste of money" diverted her energies to matters of reading and writing. Seventeen years later, after earning a BA in English and Political Science at the University of Kentucky, she began teaching composition and training for a career as a literature professor. In 1997 she received a PhD in English Literature from the University of Michigan. Dr. Burch began teaching at Georgetown College in 1993. She teaches English 111 and 112, British Literature Survey I and II, and classes in 19th and 20th century British Literature. Her research interests include composition theory, Victorian Poetry, Victorian attitudes toward history, Yeats, Joyce and contemporary Irish Poetry. She is also the coach of the highly successful Georgetown College Academic Team. In 1999, Dr. Burch was awarded the John Walker Manning Distinguished Mentor and Teacher Award. She was named Alpha Lambda Delta "Favorite Professor" in 1995 and 2001. Dr. Burch lives in Frankfort with her husband, Stewart Burch, an attorney. The Burch's have two cats, Ezra and Dorothy Pound, and one dog, Molly Bloom.