With a broad range of professional, scholarly, and creative interests, I am thrilled to work and teach at Liberal Studies, where I have the opportunity to draw on each of them. Currently, my creative work is focused on food writing—in particular, how identity and culture are shaped by and expressed through food. Related courses I offer include Food, Culture, & Identity (Global Topics) and Food Writing (Advanced Writing Studio). My forthcoming cookbook, which I co-wrote with my sister, is called (Serious) New Cook and will be published by Rizzoli USA.
As a professor of writing, my goal is for students to use writing to understand and to transform themselves and the world—falling under the spell of language as they do so. Along the way, I put equally heavy emphases on three areas: deep, complex thinking; aesthetics and style; and technical skills.
As an education researcher with a background in pedagogy studies, my work focuses on the teaching of writing and literature. My research writing has appeared in numerous academic journals and edited volumes. Related professional interests include secondary education, public education, queer pedagogy, young adult literature, and global coming-of-age narratives. I also have a background in critical theory and social justice education, and interests in critical mixed race studies and critical multiculturalism—fields that inform my work as the faculty advisor to the Liberal Studies Service Ambassadors and the Critical Service Learning Seminar (LS Elective) that I teach.