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Curriculum Vitae

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EDUCATION
  • ​Ph.D.   English and American Literature, Washington University in St. Louis (in progress)
    • Dissertation: "Pragmatic Ambiguities: Aphoristic Thinking in the American Nineteenth Century"
  • M.A.    English Literature, Michigan State University, May 2015
    • Thesis: "'I Was a Creature of Environment': Jamesian Habit in Jack London's The Iron Heel"
  • B.A.    English and Biblical Studies, summa cum laude, Welch College, May 2012

PUBLICATIONS 
Peer-Reviewed Articles
  • "Thoreau's Radicle Empiricism: Arboreal Encounters and Speculative Forest Thinking," Green Letters: Studies in Ecocriticism​, vol. 25, no. 2 (2021): forthcoming.

AWARDS, GRANTS, & FELLOWSHIPS
  • ​Fulbright Research Grant, Germany (hosted by JFK Institute for North American Studies, Freie Universität Berlin), 2020-2021
  • Cornelison English Prize, 1st Place, Washington University in St. Louis, 2020
  • University Summer Course Grant, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service), 2019
  • Somers Excellence in Teaching Award, Michigan State University, 2015
  • Summer Support Fellowship, Michigan State University, 2014​
  • Best Graduate Essay Award, Michigan College English Association, 2012
  • Picirilli-Outlaw Koine Greek Award, Welch College, 2011

CONFERENCE ACTIVITY
Papers Presented
  • “Thinking Like a Tree: Human Cognition and Speculative Forest Thinking,” European Association for the Study of Literature, Culture and Environment, Granada, Spain, November 2021.
  • “Thoreau’s Arboreal Encounters: A Transatlantic Re-Vision,” British Association for American Studies, virtual due to COVID-19, April 7-11, 2021.
  • “Thoreau’s Radicle Empiricism: Arboreal Encounters and the Posthuman Forest,” European Society for Literature, Science & the Arts, Bergen, Norway, March 4-7.
  • “‘These Brainless, Stationary Trunks Are Protecting Each Other’: Speculative Forest Thinking in the Anthropocene,” European Society for Literature, Science & the Arts, Katowice, Poland, June 17-20, 2020.
  • “‘Experience Is Forever in Motion’: The Divided Brain and Experimental Thinking,” Society for Literature, Science & the Arts, Irvine, CA, November 7-9, 2019.
  • ​“Crossing the Border between Reason and Intoxication: William James on Nitrous Oxide,” Crossing the Borders of Creation and Critique Conference, St. Louis, MO, March 1, 2019.
  • “Literature as ‘Out of Mind’ Experience,” Society for Literature, Science & the Arts, Toronto, Canada, November 15-18, 2018.
  • “‘Creatures of Habit’: The Role of Habits in Short Story Character Creation,” American Literature Association Symposium, Savannah, GA, October 20-22, 2016.
  • “‘A Collective Murmur Goes Up from Us’: Vicarious Trauma as Motivation in The Handmaid’s Tale,” American Literature Association, Boston, MA, May 20-24, 2015.
  • “William James Visits Roderick Usher: Literature as Translation of American Psychology,” Midwest Conference on Christianity and Literature, Wheaton, IL, March 20-21, 2014.
  • “‘Give Me My Leg!’: The Point of Tension in O’Connor’s ‘Good Country People,’” Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900, Louisville, KY, February 21-23, 2013.
  • “‘The World Will Burn Green’: Survival of Morality in Grendel,” Michigan College English Association, Grand Rapids, MI, October 26, 2012.

Discussant
  • “Supporting Learning on the Inside: Library Services for Jackson College Students in Prison,” National Conference on Higher Education in Prison, Nashville, TN, November 3-6, 2016.

DEPARTMENTAL/UNIVERSITY SERVICE
  • WashU Graduate Student Senate
    • Co-President, 2019-2020
    • Department Senator, 2018-2019
    • Legislative Concerns Committee, 2018-2019
  • WashU Professional and Graduate Student Coordinating Committee, 2019-2020
  • WashU Graduate Professional Council, 2018-2020
  • WashU Graduate School of Arts & Science Graduate Council, 2018-2020
  • Executive Board Member, MSU College of Arts & Letters Alumni Association, 2014-2016
  • MSU Council of Graduate Students
    • Department Representative, 2014-2015
    • University Committee on Curriculum, 2014-2015
  • Chair, University Student Commission, City of East Lansing, 2014-2015
  • Executive Board Member, MSU Association of English Graduate Students, 2014-2015

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Washington University in St. Louis, Department of English (Teaching Assistant)
  • Writing 1: Technology & Selfhood (Instructor of Record, Fall 2020)
  • Morality and Markets (Spring 2020)
  • Making it New: Emerson and the American Renaissance, 1836-1860 (Fall 2019)

St. Louis Community College, Department of English
  • College Composition I (Fall 2019)
  • College Composition II (Spring 2020, Fall 2019)

Jackson College, Prison Education Initiative (all courses taught in state prisons)
  • Writing Experience I (Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Fall 2015)
  • Cultural Connections (Summer 2017, Winter 2017, Fall 2016)
  • Poetry and Drama (Winter 2017, Winter 2016)
  • Technical & Business Communication (Summer 2017)
  • World Literature (Summer 2017)  

Jackson College, Department of Liberal Arts
  • Introduction to College Writing (Fall 2016, Winter 2016)
  • Writing Experience I (Fall 2016, Winter 2016)
  • Writing Experience II (Summer 2017, Winter 2016, Fall 2015)
  • Cultural Connections (Winter 2017)

Davenport University, Department of English & Communications
  • Composition (Fall 2016, Fall 2015)
  • Advanced Composition (Winter 2017, Fall 2016, Winter 2016, Fall 2015)
  • Professional Writing (Fall 2016, Summer 2016)

Spring Arbor University, Department of English
  • College Writing (Fall 2016)

Michigan State University, Department of English (Teaching Assistant)
  • Michigan: The Life and Times of Where You Are (Winter 2015)
  • “Race” and “Culture” in U.S. Literature and Film (Fall 2014)
  • Popular Culture in Global Perspective (Winter 2014)
  • The Literature and Culture of Sports (Fall 2013)

LANGUAGES
  • German: advanced (CEFR C1)
  • Ancient Greek: reading knowledge

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND AFFILIATIONS
  • Modern Language Association
  • William James Society
  • Society for Literature, Science & the Arts
  • ​European Society for Literature, Science & the Arts