UW-Whitewater
Assistant Professor
English
I received my MFA in writing from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and contribute to Cemetery Dance Magazine on a monthly basis. These past few years, my Creative Writing focus has centered on genre fiction. I’ve had short stories published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and the Portland Review. This year, my first novel, THE BEYOND, was published by Timber Ghost Press. I have two short stories that will be published and performed on fiction podcasts.
Teaching and Learning Philosophy
For the past six years, I’ve taught a combination of English courses at UW-Whitewater. During this time, my passion for research has grown to include not only Creative Writing (my specialty), but also the core composition courses that all underclassmen must take. Through my research—and with the help of mentors in my department—each of my courses has undergone revision in order to better improve retention of Learning Outcomes. In the process, I collected significant research on pedagogy—both in composition and creative writing—that I still reference today.
I strongly believe my experiences with course design, redesign, and applied research are what turned me into an exceptional professor. I have a passion for improvement, which is why innovation is so important to my pedagogical approach. I always ensure that I’m implementing new activities based on the most recent research on the topics of critical reading, writing, and creative writing. Students change, and great professors change with them. Learning Outcomes can be met in a variety of ways, but our goal as teachers doesn’t: we want our students to retain their knowledge beyond their college career.
I want to participate in the WTFS program to continue building on these essential pedagogical skills and elevate my teaching to the next level. I believe my ability to apply research has been very useful, and I’m excited to learn more through WTFS and learn from the diverse perspectives of my colleagues through collaboration. Teaching doesn’t have an end game; the best teachers continue to build on their skills, learn from mistakes, and develop new and innovative ways to make students successful.
