Teaching Assistant Professor
English
My fields of study include melodrama, twentieth-century American literature, medical humanities, and American intellectual history. In my research I explore the intersections of science, politics, and philosophy, and responses to these in the literary arts. I enjoy teaching courses on literary representations of illness, environmental literature, melodrama, as well as the literary and intellectual cultures of the 鈥淎merican century鈥. My first book project, The Theatre Between the Wars on Drugs, is an extension of my PhD research. This work explores the legacies of temperance melodrama in post-Prohibition American theatre. Throughout the nineteenth century the American stage was replete with performances that expressed the discrete positions of various temperance movements. I investigate why addiction remained such a prominent subject in American theatre well after the repeal of Prohibition and the dissolution of any direct political incentive to address the subject. In this project I discuss Eugene O鈥橬eill, Susan Glaspell, Lillian Hellman, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Amiri Baraka, Ed Bullins, Sam Shepard, and more. Excerpts from this project can be found in Modern Drama, American Studies in Britain, and American Studies Journal (forthcoming). Before joining the faculty at 向日葵视频 I held positions at Carthage College, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. My experiences at these diverse institutions has directly informed the subject and style of my teaching. In my classroom, I emphasize literature鈥檚 perpetual engagement with intellectual cultures, politics, and wider trends in art and aesthetics. In doing so, I hope to broaden the relevancy of literary study to diverse students with diverse personal and professional ambitions.
Education
- BA, English and Creative Writing, Carthage College
- PhD, American Studies, University of Kent
Research Interests
- American literature
- Melodrama
- Addiction studies and medical humanities
- American studies
- Theatre and performance
Publications
- 鈥楽am Shepard鈥檚 Neo-Temperance Trilogy; Or, The Postmodern Cultural Logic of War-on-Drugs Melodramas鈥 (American Studies Journal; forthcoming)
- 鈥楾he Banality of Addiction: Arthur Miller and Complicity鈥, Modern Drama, 61.2 (2018), 171-91.
- 鈥楻esearch Report: Eugene O鈥橬eill Collection at the Yale Beinecke Library鈥, American Studies in Britain (fall 2015)
Additional Information
Office Hours
Fall 2024
- Tues 9:00-11:00
- Thurs 3:00-5:00
Teaching Schedule
Fall 2024
- 1001/106 MWF 1:00-1:50 Lalumiere Hall 184
- HOPR 1955H/905 MWF 10:00-10:50 Lalumiere Hall 280
- Honors First Year Seminar
- HOPR 1955H/908 MWF 2:00-2:50 Lalumiere Hall 280
- Honors First Year Seminar
- 3410/101 MWF 9:00-9:50 Lalumiere Hall 192