Students often note that my classes are lively, warm, and rigorous spaces, where they are allowed the opportunity to explore the richness of the world while seeking out answers to big questions about themselves.

Through craft lessons, readings, and regular writing prompts and exercises, I strive to help students articulate their experiences in ways that are emotionally convincing. We talk about place, identity, community, culture, art, and music.

We dive deep under the surface to explore things that are complicated, and what Donald Hall called the unsayable.

We talk about language and all that it gives us, and all that it makes possible.

We read a ton of excellent material, with a focus on contemporary and marginalized voices. We discuss choice, visibility, identity, and the inner self.

We make ourselves better writers, better communicators, and I encourage empathy, lifelong learning, and passionate debate.  

Students contribute to my syllabus, and provide input into the methods of learning we use. I treat them as fellow writers and take seriously their relationship to academic citizenship.

I prioritize their ideas, and interpretations of work. We talk about how great writing is situational. We discuss context, genre, and form and we think about the outside world as much as we consider our inner worlds, too.

We discuss missed opportunities, and ways to make writing evolve, and ways it might transfer into other courses and areas of study. We use experimentation, and seek to uncover what motivates us and think about how we might realize our full potential.

I illustrate to students that as literature, art, and poems nourish us, they also teach us to celebrate culture, language, the self, and the many dimensions of community. Literature provides.

Literature creates empathy and leads us into action. It links us to one another, and begs us to better understand ourselves as we think deeply about human experience.

Throughout my teaching career I have won numerous awards and been offered promotions at multiple institutions. I’ve served on committees, worked as an Instructional Mentor, and taught all ages, from kindergarten to adult.

While teaching university courses, I continue to mentor and provide case management to students with learning differences.

I teach both face to face and online courses, and am currently developing online curriculum for multiple organizations.