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
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
Discussant
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)
St. Louis Community College, Department of English
Jackson College, Prison Education Initiative (all courses taught in state prisons)
Jackson College, Department of Liberal Arts
Davenport University, Department of English & Communications
Spring Arbor University, Department of English
Michigan State University, Department of English (Teaching Assistant)
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