Teaching Assistant Professor
English
My primary fields of research are gender and sexualities studies, late-Victorian romance, Tolkien studies, and fantasy literature. I am fascinated by the intersections of Victorian and modern popular culture, as well as by the shifting stakes of their production, distribution, and cultural capital.
I am currently working on two projects. The first is a co-authored book chapter exploring the ways in which HBO鈥檚 Watchman (2019) television series renegotiates the racial and gender politics of Alan Moore鈥檚 landmark comic and of Zack Snyder鈥檚 film adaptation thereof. The second is my book-length doctoral dissertation examining the thematic continuities between Bram Stoker鈥檚 Dracula and J.R.R. Tolkien鈥檚 The Lord of the Rings. My aim is to complicate conventionalized discussions of gender in both works, to鈥攊n feminist visionary Adrienne Rich鈥檚 words鈥斺渞e-vision鈥 them by seeking out long-submerged feminist possibilities latent within each text.
I have been teaching at the university level for the past nine years. I have taught everything from freshman writing courses to World Literature, Mythology, Literary Theory, and Introduction to Gender and Sexualities Studies. Regardless of subject matter, I strive to create an inclusive classroom in which students feel safe exploring new ideas and methodologies. My courses promote discussion and reflective writing, fostering a learning community in which my students and I can mutually grow. I aim to help students find connections between our class and their 鈥渞eal鈥 lives and to put into practice the social justice we read and write about. I encourage my students to recognize the power of words鈥攖heirs and others鈥欌攁nd to wield them precisely and responsibly. Because effective writing and analysis arises through a process of ideation and revision, I encourage students to re-submit work until they are happy with it. Speaking from my own experience, I believe it鈥檚 more important to keep working through an idea and learn along the way than to get it 鈥渞ight鈥 on the first try.
Courses Taught
- Foundations in Rhetoric
- Introduction to Gender and Sexualities Studies
Research Interests
- Tolkien Studies
- Gender and Sexualities Studies
- 19th and 20th Century British Literature
- Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Genre Fiction
- New Media and Videogames Studies
- Film and Television Studies
- Adaptation Theory
Publications
- Co-published with David Stanley, 鈥淩einscribing Racial Power Within HBO鈥檚 Watchmen.鈥 After Midnight: Watchmen after Watchmen. University Press of Mississippi, 2022.
- "The Many Faces of Moriarty: A Critical Examination of the Arch-Villain's Evolution Across the Landscape of the Popular Imagination." Popular Culture Review 23.1 (2012) : 29-38 Print.
Presentations
- 鈥淪ubversively Performing Femininity in Bram Stoker's Dracula.鈥 Midwest Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. February 2019.
- 鈥淲orking Together, Laboring Alone: Socio-Occupational Hierarchies in Fin de Si猫cle Romance, Tolkien鈥檚 Novels, & their Cinematic Afterlives.鈥 Midwest Popular Culture Association/American Popular Culture Association Conference. Indianapolis, IN. October 2018.
- 鈥淛ourneys Eastward Out of the 鈥楥omfortable West鈥: The Orientalized Landscape of Tolkien鈥檚 Middle-earth.鈥 Far Western Regional Popular Culture Conference. Las Vegas, NV. February 2017.
- 鈥淣o Living Man am I鈥: 脡owyn鈥檚 Specifically-Female Power in The Return of the King.鈥 Far Western Regional Popular Culture Conference. Las Vegas, NV. February 2016.
- 鈥淭he Two Tolkienian Texts: The [False] Opposition Between Pacing on Page and on Screen.鈥 RMMLA Annual Conference. Santa Fe, NM. October 2015.
Additional Information
Office Hours
Fall 2024
- Wed 1:00-2:30
- Fri 1:00-2:30
Teaching Schedule
Fall 2024
- 1001/139 MWF 9:00-9:50 向日葵视频Hall 105
- 1001/140 MWF 10:00-10:50 向日葵视频Hall 105