teaching
serving as Siegel Middle History Day advisor in 2012
WHY I TEACH
I became a professor because we can all do better to understand, care for, respect, and communicate with one another, and developing effective critical thinking skills as adults is central to this pursuit.
I study and teach literature because humans seem overwhelmingly to be creatures of narrative. We live and love and even loathe with and through stories and storytelling. Literature is a means of presenting and contemplating self and world that feeds both head and heart: at its best it can make us both think and feel, deeply. That combination has the potential to encourage compassionate growth and to inspire change, positive change to make the world a better place for each and all of us.
I teach film and popular culture because understanding how the media shapes our world and worldview is vital to challenging negative impact and enhancing resistance, again to help us create positive change in the world.
Education is a slow process involving interaction with individuals at various stages of growth and self-awareness. I value my own ongoing education, which I strive to attain in various "classrooms" in my life, both formal and informal. Education is an adventure, a journey, and important work -- for all of us. Learning nourishes and frustrates, builds and tears down. I value the journey my students take with me and do all I can to help them value the the experience.
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION:
Gender, Feminist, and Queer Studies
Film and Popular Culture Studies
Jewish American and Holocaust Studies
RECENT COURSES & COMING SOON:
ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: Jewish American Identity in Literature and Culture & Holocaust Survivor Literature
ENGL 3815 Survey of Popular Culture
ENGL 3885 Topics in Gender and Film: Gender, Race, & Sexuality in Hollywood Film; Women and Film; Women Film Pioneers
ENGL 4780 War and Literature: The Holocaust
ENGL 4860 Special Topics in Film: Film Noir
ENGL 6/7310 Popular Culture Studies
ENGL 6/7760 Special Topics in Film: Women and Film (online)
JHS 3020 The Holocaust
WGST 2100 Introduction to Women's Studies (online)
WGST 3500 Women in the Media
Gender, Feminist, and Queer Studies
Film and Popular Culture Studies
Jewish American and Holocaust Studies
RECENT COURSES & COMING SOON:
ENGL 2020 Themes in Literature and Culture: Jewish American Identity in Literature and Culture & Holocaust Survivor Literature
ENGL 3815 Survey of Popular Culture
ENGL 3885 Topics in Gender and Film: Gender, Race, & Sexuality in Hollywood Film; Women and Film; Women Film Pioneers
ENGL 4780 War and Literature: The Holocaust
ENGL 4860 Special Topics in Film: Film Noir
ENGL 6/7310 Popular Culture Studies
ENGL 6/7760 Special Topics in Film: Women and Film (online)
JHS 3020 The Holocaust
WGST 2100 Introduction to Women's Studies (online)
WGST 3500 Women in the Media
