EDUCATION 

Ph.D.   Literary and Cultural Studies, Carnegie Mellon University                2017

M.A.   Department of English, University of South Alabama                        2009

B.A.    Department of English, University of North Carolina, Asheville         2004

EMPLOYMENT

Visiting Assistant Professor of English                Wabash College              2017-2019

PUBLICATIONS 

Books

The Green Depression: American Eco-literature of the 1930s and 40s, University Press of Mississippi. (under review)

Articles

“‘…the people had lost their power’”: Excavating Salish Land and Culture in D’Arcy McNickle’s The Surrounded,” Western American Literature. (under review)

“The Self-Reflectivity of Silliness: Sullivan’s Travels’ Critique of the Classical Hollywood Film,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (Vol. 45, No. 3, 2017), pp. 165-171.

“‘That sonofabitch could cut your throat’: Bigger and the Black Rat in Richard Wright’s Native Son,” TheJournal of the Midwest Modern Language Association (Vol. 49, No. 1, Spring 2016), pp. 75-92.

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL AWARDS

Schaffer Dissertation Fellowship        Carnegie Mellon University                 2016-2017

Posner Center Fellow                         Carnegie Mellon University                2015

Lloyd Dendinger Scholarship              University of South Alabama             2007

Best English Dep. Graduate Essay      University of South Alabama             2007

SELECTED CONFERENCE PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS

Panels Organized

“Pastoral Cities.” Forty-eighth Annual Northeast Modern Language Association Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, 2017.

“The Future of Cities.”  Forty-seventh Annual Northeast Modern Language Association Conference in Hartford, Connecticut,  2016.

“Urban Pests, Ecology, and Social Justice.”  Forty-sixth Annual Northeast Modern Language Association Conference in Toronto, Ontario, 2015.

Papers Presented

“Solar Machines and Cyclotrons:  Technology in George Schuyler’s Black Empire.”  Pacific and Ancient Modern Language Association, Benningham, Washington, 2018.

“‘Lookin’ for a Home’: Animal ‘Pests’ in Zora Neal Hurston’s Mules and Menand Richard Wright’s Native Son.”  Society for the Study of Southern Literature, Austin, Texas, 2018.

“Mr. Smith Goes to Camp: Frank Capra’s Pastoralization of Washington, D.C.”  Northeast Modern Language Association, Baltimore, Maryland, 2017.

“Projections of Black Criminality: Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Stationand the African American Crime Genre.”  Cultural Studies Association.  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2016.

“Turner’s Palimpsest and Native American National Identity in D’Arcy McNickle’s The Surrounded.”  Northeast Modern Language Association. Hartford, Connecticut, 2016.

“‘That sonofabitch could cut your throat’: Bigger and the Black Rat in Richard Wright’s Native Son.”  Northeast Modern Language Association.  Toronto, Ontario, 2015.

“Do Operating Systems Dream of Urban Gardens?: The Urban Pastoral in Spike Jonze Her.”  Midwest Modern Language Association.  Detroit, Michigan, 2014.

“Empty Lots, Parks, and Pigeon Coups: The American Urban Pastoral of the 1930s.”  Northeast Modern Language Association, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 2014.

“The Pastoral Utopia: Rethinking Beauty as a Progressive Cultural and Political Force through Alex Proyas’s Dark City.”  The Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present.  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2011.

CAMPUS TALKS

 “Washington Irving: Sketches of an Emerging Author and Nation,” Posner Center, Carnegie Mellon University, May 2015.

UNIVERSITY TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Taught at Wabash College

Literature Courses

ENG-108: History and Literature: Literature and the Development of Environmental Thought

BLS-201: Introduction to Black Studies

ENG-220:  Introduction to American Literature: After 1900

ENG-106: Intro to Short Fiction

ENG-105: Intro to Poetry

Writing Courses  

ENG-101: Composition

ENG-202/211: Creative Nonfiction: The Crawfordsville Monster and Other Tales from Montgomery County 

ENG-202:  Writing with Power and Grace 

Taught at Carnegie Mellon University 

Literature Courses

76-336: African American Literature: The African American Crime Novel

Film Courses

76-339: Advanced Media & Film Studies: The American Road Film

Writing Courses

76-101: Interpretation & Argument

Taught at the University of South Alabama

Literature Courses

Survey of British Literature I.

Writing Courses

ENG-101:  English Composition I

ENG-102:  English Composition II

COMMITTEE AND ACADEMIC SERVICE

Sigma Tau Delta Faculty Advisor, Department of English, Wabash College, 2018-2019

Environmental Concerns Committee, Department of English, Wabash College, 2017-2019.

Graduate Representative to Faculty, Department of English, Carnegie Mellon University.  2016-2017.

Literary and Cultural Studies Colloquium Committee, Department of English, Carnegie Mellon University, 2012-2015.

Representative to the Graduate Committee, Department of English, Carnegie Mellon University, 2015-2016.

Summer Teaching Representative, Department of English, Carnegie Mellon University, 2014-2015.

OTHER RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE

Graduate Assistant.  The Fellowships and Scholarships Office (FSO) and the Undergraduate Research Office (URO). Carnegie Mellon University.  2014-2015

Instructor.  “The Personal Essay.”  The Summer Academy for Math and Sciences (SAMS).  Carnegie Mellon Advising Resource Center (CMARC). Carnegie Mellon University. 2011 – 2013 (summers).

Workshop Leader.  “Self-Portraiture.”  Odyssey Program.  The Undergraduate Research Office (URO).  Carnegie Mellon University.  Jan. 2011-2015.

LANGUAGES

French:  Intermediate (Reading), Beginner (Speaking)

Spanish:  Intermediate (Reading), Beginner (Speaking)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, Pacific and Ancient Modern Language Association, Modern Language Association, Society for the Study of Southern Literature