I write about cultural narratives, gender politics, and change. I’m interested in how storytelling—both telling one’s own story and listening to stories told by others—can be an important tool in the work of personal growth, building communities, and reimagining what’s possible, both at the current moment and in the future.

My personal essays have appeared in literary magazines such as Kaleidoscope, Minerva Rising, and Motherwell as well as anthologies, including The Good Mother Myth: Redefining Motherhood to Fit Reality (Seal Press). My opinion essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in a variety of publications, including Allergic Living, Boston Review, CNN.com, Inside Higher Ed, LIBER: A Feminist Review, Ms. Magazine, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, plus some wonderful publications that are no longer with us (Sports Illustrated for Women, Women’s Review of Books). I especially enjoy writing longform book criticism and essays that blend memoir with research. I’m currently working on a series of essays about transgender and gender-expansive kids.

My literary and book criticism focuses on bringing attention to authors often excluded from traditional English-language literary canons, or whose work may be seen as activist and not “literary” enough. I’m particularly drawn to stories about experiences historically deemed outside the borders of what “counts” as worthy of literature—for example, motherhood—as well as the writing and testimony of those who have been silenced and disbelieved, including survivors of gender-based violence. In 2021, I coedited an essay collection, #MeToo and Literary Studies: Reading, Writing, and Teaching about Sexual Violence and Rape Culture (Bloomsbury).

I also write about education and teaching. Several of my scholarly articles examine intersectional feminist approaches to teaching undergraduates in literary and gender studies classrooms. My thinking about higher education more broadly is influenced by my experience advancing the humanities and working on change initiatives across academia at the American Council of Learned Societies. For more about my teaching, advocacy, and work in higher education, please visit my LinkedIn profile.

I’m an associate professor of gender studies at SUNY New Paltz, a regional public university, where I teach classes in gender and literary studies as well as creative nonfiction. I grew up in Oklahoma City and make the lower Hudson Valley in New York my home.

Elsewhere:
SUNY New Paltz »
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