Visiting Assistant Professor
Interim Director of the Ott Memorial Writing Center
The development and representation of identity in American literature is the focus of much of my scholarship. The primary pieces I work with are Colonial texts (mostly slave and captivity narratives), poetry and short fiction of the American Renaissance and 20th century African American fiction, particularly novels. What appeals to me most about these works is their discourse of self-creation. The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne and a novel by Chester Himes are all marked by a shared push toward self-actualization and identity.
These interests led me to my dissertation, "Not Just a Novel of 'Epic Proportions': Ralph Waldo Ellison's Invisible Man as Modern American Epic." The project discusses how Ralph Ellison re-envisions epic to offer a modern(ist) interpretation with his novel Invisible Man. It draws heavily on classical examples of the epic, the epic-like poetry of Walt Whitman, and African American literature to argue the need for more broadly-defined notions of what it means to be American.
In addition to teaching First-year English and American literature surveys, I am currently serving as Interim Director of the Ott Memorial Writing Center.
I earned my B.A. in History and my M.A. in English at Salisbury University and my Ph.D. in English at Marquette University.
Teaching Fields
- Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century American Literature
Office Hours
SPRING 2011
- MW 1:00-2:30
Teaching Schedule
SPRING 2011- 2520 - MWF - 11-12
Research Interests
Selected Publications
Honors/Awards
English Department
