TEACHING

I’m a dynamic instructor with nearly a decade of experience teaching in secondary education, as well as extensive experience teaching undergraduate courses in British literature, children’s literature, new media studies & rhetoric, and genre studies.

To help provide some understanding of my general approach to teaching, here’s how I developed two of my favorite courses.

TWO EXAMPLE COURSES

Image: A Child's World (1886) by Sir John Everett Millais

“Weaponizing the Child: The Politics & Social Power of Children’s Literature” (English 2250)

This course engaged the recent discourse surrounding education and library collections by providing students historical context for the complex relationship between works of children’s literature and political movements. We read texts from the Golden Age of Children’s Literature, exploring educational practices, colonial expansion, social norms, and industrial labor movements of the time. To support that historical approach, I brought in extensive archival explorations, even creating an exhibit for my students within the Rare Books Division at Saint Louis University.

Link to the full syllabus here.

“Dreamscapes, Nightmares, and the Imagination” (English 2750/FSTD 2700)

I designed this course to introduce students to the aesthetic qualities of literary dreamscapes and fantasy realms in order to explore one of my favorite novels, Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea (2019). As a cross-listed course, we viewed films throughout the semester alongside works from classic fantasy literature. The final unit then asked students to consider The Starless Sea in relation to the techniques and medium of film to answer the question: could this novel ever be adapted into a movie?

Link to the reading & viewing schedule.

John Tenniel illustration of Alice with the deck of cards from 'Alice in Wonderland' (1865)

COURSES AT DAVIS & ELKINS COLLEGE

  • English 414: Literary & Rhetorical Theory (Senior Seminar Course)
  • English 362: Highland Dales & the Emerald Isle (18th-20th Century Scottish & Irish Literature)
  • English 326: Writing for the Community (A Public Digital Humanities Course)
  • English 324: Writing in New Media
  • English 225: “Literary Studies”: General Education Literature Course: Multiple Sections & Themes (2025-Present) A few examples listed below:
    • Madness & The Monsters Within (19c British Literature & Genre Studies Course)
  • English 219: British Literature I (British Literature to 1800)
  • English 204: Professional & Technical Writing
  • English 102: College Writing II (Multiple Sections Each Semester)

COURSES AT SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY

  • English 4000: Business & Professional Writing
  • English 3740: Introduction to Shakespeare
  • English 3250: British Literary Traditions to 1800: Consumption, Material Culture, & The Transatlantic Trade in 17th & 18th Century British Literature
  • English 2930: Film, Culture, Literature: Wonder-ous Worlds & Alternate [Un]Realities
  • English 2750/FSTD 2700: Dreamscapes, Nightmares, and the Imagination
  • English 2350: The Bad, The Brooding, & The Byronic Hero
  • English 2250: Weaponizing the Child: The Politics & Social Power of Children’s Literature
  • English 1900: Advanced Strategies of Rhetoric: Multiple Sections & Themes (2017-2023). A few example themes listed below:
    • Faith, Doubt, & Religion in Contemporary Political Discourse
    • Contemporary Rhetorical Discourses in Technology & New Media
    • Faith, Doubt, & Religion in Medicine
    • Social Justice & Advocacy Writing (Service-Learning Course)
  • English 1500: The Process of Composition: First-year Introduction Course to Academic Writing