Experience

Boston University Academy

• United States
• Primary and Secondary Education
• 1 - 100 Employee

• English Teacher

  • Aug 2019 - Present

  BUA is one of those places teachers dream of finding. I can empathize a little more now with what those travelers in Hilton’s novel must have felt when they got through the mountain to their oasis. It’s apt, then, that I’m teaching mainly Ancient Greek and British texts (myth), Shakespeare (things aren’t what they seem), and Romantic and Dark Romantic Victorian (practically fantasy) texts here. It’s surreal. What makes it so extraordinary is that everyone there, the students, the faculty, the administration, are incredibly excited to do and facilitate rigorous academic work. I mean really, genuinely excited to find where students can push an extra limit in their understanding, where schedules can better allow for students to run wild with their club interests and curiosity, and where faculty look to one another as resources while respecting and appreciating the multitude of teaching styles being brought to the table. I know. It sounds fake. But it’s what’s happening here. I’ve delayed describing it here for fear I’d sound like I was gloating. I hope I’m not. I’m just really happy to be a part of this. Show less



Newbury College

• United States
• Higher Education
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Assistant Professor

  • Aug 2015 - May 2019

  Teaching at Newbury College has been an absolute joy. The welcome I received from the faculty and administration will probably go unmatched in my career. The school's mission, which you should read online, and the fact that faculty and administration believe in it and fight daily to accomplish it, makes this a very special place to teach, develop classes, and participate in the very influential faculty senate. But what perhaps makes working here so enjoyable is the way students relish their liberal arts education. For a school so focused on and accomplished in the more instrumentalist benefits of a higher education, the passion for the humanities on both the students' and faculty's parts is refreshing. The work here is indeed demanding, since the heart of the school's mission is to provide an education to as diverse a student body as possible. This means that skills will vary greatly in the classroom. But the challenge is also what makes this job so much fun. I feel I have been training my entire career for this position. Show less



Framingham State University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 500 - 600 Employee

• Visiting Assistant Professor

  • Aug 2013 - Aug 2015

  I was a Visiting Assistant Professor and an Academic Diversity Fellow in the English department. In this dual position, I taught American literature courses that emphasized cultural and identity politics as well as courses on transnational literature of the Americas. I also worked extensively with the English Department's first-year writing committee to implement crucial changes to goals, objectives, and requirements for the writing program and to continue developing an in-house writing placement exam for incoming students and assessing student artifacts. My focus outside of the department was on two projects: working with various committees and student groups to bring renowned Latino speakers to campus and working with the Center for Academic Student Advising (CASA) on developing a university-wide plagiarism module on Blackboard that fulfills a variety of needs and functions for all disciplines. I was also part of a sub-committee formed and funded by the then Committee for Diversity and Inclusion (now the Council for Diversity and Inclusion) that inaugurated Framingham State's Academic Diversity Institute, a year-long workshop for professors centered on developing intercultural and inclusive pedagogy and curriculum. During my final summer, I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the Assessment Office to rate and report on student artifacts as part of an ongoing initiative to chart writing, critical thinking, and diversity and inclusion outcomes across the university. It was a wonderful experience to work so closely with faculty and administration who are as passionate about developing curriculum on such a broad range of levels. Show less



Wheelock College

• United States
• Higher Education
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Adjunct Faculty

  • Aug 2012 - Aug 2013

  My experience in Wheelock College's writing program, first in the College's program (2005-06) and then in the OnCampus Boston contingent (2012-13), allowed me to hone my writing courses for developing writers and English Language Learners at the college level. My work teaching, mentoring, and tutoring students through the English department's required grammar exam was an essential counterpart to my development of curricula at Upward Bound. Teaching core writing principles is something all instructors of writing should do, since it makes very clear how to assess and develop students' writing skills at a fundamental level. My work with OnCampus Boston was particularly useful in helping me develop the English Language Learning curriculum I had begun at Upward Bound. Teaching students who are new to American culture and writing practices demands a particular framing and scaffolding of assignments and class discussions. It was there that I began having students turn in essays piecemeal in a process that gradually led up to the finished essay. My work here helped me focus my day lecture notes on essential goals and objectives for developing students' confidence. The opportunity also allowed me to experiment with teaching creative fiction and non-fiction as a way of engaging students in intercultural dialogue with differing norms and customs. The support from staff and the inventiveness the students brought to the classes made this a very enjoyable experience. Show less

• Visiting Lecturer

  • Aug 2005 - May 2013

  My experience designing and teaching Expository Writing and American literature classes at Framingham State was my real pedagogical education. I worked in this position while completing my dissertation at Brandeis, and, in retrospect, it was difficult to split my time between the two positions. However, I would not change how I approached funding myself through the dissertation because what I learned through teaching at FSU helped my dissertation toward a pedagogical discussion of texts. I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to experiment with a multitude of assignments and classroom activities while developing my professorial persona. The gratitude and effort I have received from students has been an incredible source of support and encouragement. Show less



Upward Bound at Boston University

• Writing Instructor

  • 2005 - 2013

  It was a joy to work at Upward Bound for those eight years, and I hope to be able to return to that work soon. I have had to forgo working there the last two summers as I travel compiling research for my manuscript. At Upward Bound, I designed and led writing classes for advanced, intermediate, and developing writers. But Upward Bound is so much more than the classes, and I participated in student development outside of the classroom as much as I was physically able, since part of the fun was playing an end of the summer much-revered basketball game against the students. I am amazed at the work they do at Upward Bound and consider myself privileged to have been able to partake. Show less



Brandeis University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Adjunct Faculty

  • Aug 2005 - May 2012

  My work designing and developing University Writing Seminars at Brandeis was one of the most challenging and creative experiences I have encountered so far. It was a joy to let my theoretical whimsy fly in courses like Existential Cinema in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and Novel to Film, where I was able to have students engage texts dear to me by Benjamin and Camus and by film critics and theorists like Sontag, Sarris, Chatman and Wollen. It is the kind of course that graduate students dream of teaching. Students rise to the challenge, and the semesters often play out in a fevered rush of brainstorming excitement. Show less