I've been teaching writing since 1983, and my main goal has always been to show students how to read accurately and write clearly. So my courses are marked by structured writing assignments (with lots of instructor suggestions for planning and revision) and responding to reading.
My Ph.D. research focused on "The Transgressive and Subversive Female Character in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Fiction," as well as recent memoirs, multicultural literature, and novels of the 1700s. For my dissertation, I wrote a novel based on the life of my grandmother who grew up in Virginia's western mountains and led a life filled with family conflicts and struggles with women's roles during and after World War II. Currently I'm working on a fictionalized memoir of the four identity-forming years I spent in Germany, attending a British secondary school during the Vietnam War.
Other activities include attending creative writing workshops, writing Vacation Bible School dramas, leading workshops on journaling and dream interpretation, studying Zen Buddhism, and teaching adults and youth at Wauwatosa Presbyterian Church. Also, I'm proud of my two children one in college in Iowa and one in graduate school in California.
Teaching Fields
- Composition and Creative Writing
- Fiction Survey
- Drama Survey
- British Literature
Office Hours
SPRING 2011
- MWF 11:00-11:50
Teaching Schedule
SPRING 2011
- 1002 MWF 10-11
Research Interests
Selected Publications
Honors/Awards
English Department
