Because I believe that learning happens through non-formulaic, idiosyncratic pathways, I ask that students engage with course materials through formal, informal, and reflective writing assignments; close readings of texts; collaborative projects; multimedia projects; kinesthetic and experiential methods; and oral presentations. My hope is that this variety creates some sparks, facilitating student connection with material while also acknowledging and valuing different modes of learning. In addition, the following basic principles inform my teaching:

• Students learn especially well from one another; my job is to facilitate that learning through course design and organization.
• Learning is progressive and cumulative, so, for instance, students do not learn how to write in one or two college classes.
• Student work, regardless of course theme, should be central texts in any writing class; it is both subject and evidence of learning.
• Instructional modes should vary to address different learning styles and to keep everyone (including oneself) awake, attentive, and, from time-to-time, surprised.
• Writing is an intellectual and emotional process.
• Writing is incredibly hard and joyfully rewarding.
• Writing and learning are social activities that should include, in no special order, play, collaboration, discussion, tension, frustration, discovery, and wonder.

Myself a student of language and communication, I continually learn from students, whose feedback—along with that of my peers, research I’m doing, and life experiences—prompts me to reflect on and often revise my courses and pedagogical strategies. I hope that my own active relationship to the courses I teach encourages students to actively participate in their own educational process.

Selected syllabi (click on titles below for full course descriptions):

Undergraduate Courses Digital Composing Writing for English Majors Advanced Composition Intro to Rhetoric & Writing Writing & Emotion (honors) Culture of Eating Disorders (honors)

Graduate Courses Digital Humanities On Voice Rhetoric II Theorizing Publics Teaching College Writing Theories of Composing Critical Writing in English Studies Rhetorics of Emotion Feminism & Writing