AB, Univ of Michigan Ann Arbor
MA, University of Chicago
PHD, Michigan State University
Education
Ph.D., English Literature, Michigan State University, 1994
Dissertation: "The Reinvention of the Eighteenth-Century Novel in Contemporary British and American Fiction"
Director: James McClintock
M.A., English Language and Literature, University of Chicago, 1986
Thesis: "Swift and Stella"
Supervisor: Gwin Kolb
B.A., English and French, University of Michigan, 1984
Fields of specialization: contemporary British literature, contemporary American literature, eighteenth-century British literature, and the novel
Awards
Sara A. Ridenour Endowed Chair, College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio Northern University, 2002-03 and 2015-16
Departmental Outstanding Teacher Award, College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio Northern University, 2011 and 2012
Sabbatical Leave, College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Spring 2002 and Spring 2009
Outstanding Sponsor Award, Sigma Tau Delta, 2006
Excellence in Teaching Award, Sigma Alpha Lambda, Ohio Northern University, 2005
Faculty Development Grant, College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Summers 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005
Outstanding Teacher Award, College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio Northern University, 1995 and 1998
Teaching Experience
Professor, Department of English, Ohio Northern University, 1994-present
Teach courses in contemporary British and American literature, eighteenth-century British literature, non-Western literature, multi-cultural literature, Great Works, editing, and composition
Selected Professional Presentations
“It’s Showtime: Teaching Today’s Media-Obsessed Students,” Annual Meeting, Pacific Ancient and Modern Languages Association, Bellingham, Washington, November 2018
“Beating the Odds: Keys to a Successful Academic Job Interview” Annual Meeting, Northeast Modern Language Association, Baltimore, Maryland, March 2017
“Fear and (Black Self-) Loathing: Teaching The Bluest Eye” Annual Meeting, Midwest Modern Language Association, St. Louis, Missouri, November 2016
"It’s A Small World After All: Assessing the Contemporary Campus Novel" Annual Meeting, Anglo-American Conference for Academic Disciplines, University of London, England, November 2014
“Floods and Forging Ahead: Why It's Important to Have a Plan B”
Spring Conference, College English Association of Ohio, Ohio Northern University, May 2012
“And We’ll Have Fun, Fun, Fun: Serious Strategies for Promoting Classroom Play”
Annual Meeting, Midwest Modern Language Association, St. Louis, Missouri, November 2011
"Assessing the Uneasy Use of Adjunct Faculty at One Small College"
Fall Conference, Michigan College English Association, Eastern Michigan University, October 2009
"Navigating Newbies: Effectively Steering New Faculty Through the Waters of Academia"
Annual Meeting, South Central Modern Language Association, Memphis, Tennessee, November 2007
"Sassy Spoof or Sorry Spectacle?: Teaching Bridget Jones’s Diary"
Annual Meeting, Michigan College English Association, Kalamazoo, Michigan, October 2004
"Mungo Park and Sooloo Beer: Water Music and the Debunking of the Intrepid Explorer"
Annual Meeting, Northeast Modern Language Association, Boston, Massachusetts, March 2003
"'Dizzy With the Beauty of the Possible': The Sot-Weed Factor and the Narrative Exhaustion of the Eighteenth-Century Novel"
Annual Meeting, East-Central American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Norfolk, Virginia, October 2000
"'But hey, this is Africa, man': Water Music and the Postmodernization of the Eighteenth-Century Novel"
Twentieth-Century Literature Conference, University of Louisville, February 1998
"'Sweets and Bitters': Fanny and the Feminization of the Eighteenth-Century Novel"
Twenty-Second Annual Colloquium on Modern Film and Literature, West Virginia University, October 1997
Publications
"'Dizzy With the Beauty of the Possible': The Sot-Weed Factor and the Narrative Exhaustion of the Eighteenth-Century Novel," On Second Thought: Updating the Eighteenth-Century Text, eds. Debra Taylor Bourdeau and Elizabeth Kraft, University of Delaware Press, 2007
"'But hey, this is Africa, man': Water Music and the Postmodernization of the Eighteenth-Century Novel," LaRevue LISA/ LISA E-Journal, Spring 2004
"It’s A Small World After All: Assessing the Contemporary Campus Novel," The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association, Spring 2004
"Sassy Spoof or Sorry Spectacle?: Teaching Bridget Jones’s Diary," Modern Language Studies, Spring/Fall 2003
"'Sweets and Bitters': Fanny and the Feminization of the Eighteenth-Century Novel," The Midwest Quarterly, Autumn 2001