“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace” (Frederick Buechner, Now and Then).

One of my life’s key moments was the moment I first visited King University and met all the kind, soulful people there. Even though I hail from so very far away (born and raised in southern Idaho, attended university in Oregon, then lived in Colorado for over a decade), I found a unique and God-given kinship with the landscape, university, and people at King. Until King came into my life, I had never even been to Tennessee! Until Dale Brown (former English professor at King) came into my life, I had never even heard of Frederick Buechner! Thank God for his miracles, great and small. King University, Frederick Buechner, Dale Brown, Craig McDonald = large miracles in my life.

Books have always been my first and best friends. In my case, doing what I love and doing what I’m good at just happened to coalesce, and God has been so good in opening doors so I could always continue the next leg of my journey, both with Him and with literature. While I function quite well as a generalist (which means I love all forms of literature), my specialty is modernism, 20th century British and American literature, and women writers (chiefly Virginia Woolf). From the first time I stepped into the role of instructor in an undergraduate classroom, I was hooked. That day, I was amazed and humbled to find what I believe to be my vocational life calling: to engage the young and old alike in discussions about the most beautiful, compelling, enriching, and difficult words that have ever been written, and to mentor and uplift each other.

For the past ten years, I have taught both online and face-to-face courses at the University of Colorado at Boulder, then here at King University since Fall 2015. I have been married for 13 years to the best man currently in existence, Matthew, and we share a joy-suffused home (where nightly dance parties occur) with our two kids, Sylvia and Lucas. I love to read, watch movies, eat delicious food, travel, hang out in libraries and coffee shops, sleep, and take bubble baths. I look forward to digging deep with you all, exploring my new city and state, learning and rejoicing and “doing life” together.

Ph.D. in Literature, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2014

M.A. in Literary Studies, University of Colorado at Denver, 2006

B.A. in Literature, George Fox University, Newberg, OR, 2001

Articles:

“Birth-Giving and the Racialized Other in Jean Rhys’s Voyage in the Dark and Good Morning, Midnight.” Philological Quarterly 94.3 (Fall 2015): 291-312.

“Bloodless Birth: Reproduction and the Masculine Mind in Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.” Virginia Woolf Miscellany 86 (Fall 2014/Winter 2015): 39-41.

"'Nothing could be that grotesque and live': Mapping Abject Body Space in Robert Coover's Pinocchio in Venice." Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 55.1 (2014): 33-45.

Book Chapters:

“Beatrice Hastings and the Maternity War in The New Age.” In Beatrice Hastings: On the Life & Work of a Modern Master. Ed. Benjamin Johnson. Warrensburg, MO: Pleiades Press, 2016.

Review Essays:

Rev. of Alexandra Harris, Virginia Woolf, in Virginia Woolf Miscellany 88 (Fall 2015): 33-34.

Rev. of Mel Y. Chen, Animacies: Biopolitics, Racial Mattering, and Queer Affect, in H-Net Reviews (Dec. 2014).

Web-Based Publications:

“Surprised by Sorrow: Navigating Your First Semester as a Full-Time Faculty Member.” MLA Commons (Sept. 14, 2015): https://connect.commons.mla.org/surprised-by-sorrow-navigating-your-first-semester-as-a-full-time-faculty-member//

Works in Progress:

“Deviant Bodies in the 21^st Century Young Adult Novel” (article)

Flesh and Steel: Pregnancy and Birth in the British Modernist Novel (book manuscript)

Select Literature Presentations: 

“Flesh and Steel.” Seminar Roundtable. Modernist Studies Association Annual Convention. Pasadena, CA. (2016)

“‘black and fat’: Deviant Gendered Bodies in Patrick Ness’s More Than This.” Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Austin, TX. (2016)

“Masculine Reproduction in Virginia Woolf, Enid Bagnold, and Naomi Richardson.” 25^th Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf. Bloomsburg, PA. (2015)

“Flesh and Steel: Conceiving a Scientific and Literary Praxis of Pregnancy.” Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Chicago, Illinois. (2014)

“Dangerous Spaces: Modernist Women Writers and Alternative Landscapes.” The World We Have Imagined: Literature, Nature, and the Environment Conference. Winfield, Kansas. (2013)

“Birthing the Empire: Virginia Woolf and Metaphorical Reproduction.” The Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Conference. Boulder, Colorado. (2012)

 “Woman As Outsider: Olive Moore, Gestation, and Monstrous Birth.” National Women’s Studies Association Conference. Denver, Colorado. (2010)

“Gestation, Parturition, and the Spectacle of Displacement in Jean Rhys’s Good Morning, Midnight.” (Trans)nationalisms, Globalization, and Displacement Conference. Association for Research on Mothering. San Juan, Puerto Rico. (2010)

“Linguistic Imperialism: Refiguring the Land/Sea Dichotomy in Virginia Woolf’s The Voyage Out.” 18th Annual Conference on Virginia Woolf. Denver, Colorado. (2008)

Select Teaching and Pedagogy Presentations:

“On Faith and Learning.” King University Annual Faculty Development Seminar. Bristol, TN and Knoxville, TN. (2016)

“Improving Your Online Teaching.” King University Annual Faculty Development Seminar. Bristol, TN. (2015)

"Engaging Long-Distance Learners: Personalization, Communication, and Application Integration.” Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Chicago, Illinois. (2014)

“The Digital Dossier: Combining Effective Digital Pedagogy and Scholarship.” Colorado Learning and Teaching with Technology Conference. Boulder, Colorado. (2013)

“Inspiring Students to Succeed in Online Courses.” Co-presenter. Colorado Learning and Teaching with Technology Conference. Boulder, Colorado. (2012)

“Using Technology to Create a Paperless Classroom in the Arts and Humanities.” Graduate Teacher Program Fall Intensive Conference. Boulder, Colorado. (2011)

Invited Talks and Panels:

“Narratives of the Body.” Faculty Presenter. Snider Honors Seminar. King University. Bristol, TN. (2016)

“Teaching Multimedia Workshop.” Panelist. Institutional Technology Department. Boulder, CO. (2012)

“Incorporating Service Learning into Your Classroom.” Graduate Teacher Program Monday Workshop Series. Boulder, CO. (2012)

Certifications and Training:

OLC Online Teaching Certificate. Online Learning Consortium. (2016)

Applying the Quality Matters Rubric to Online Courses Certificate. Quality Matters. (2014)

Certificate in College Teaching. Graduate Teacher Program. University of Colorado at Boulder. (2011)

I am currently exploring the way early 20th century British science fiction texts represent the maternal body in light of the many scientific breakthroughs of the era. I am also writing an article on the representations of deviant (read: out of control, othered, unusual, strange) bodies in the 21st century American young adult novel.