About Me
I have worked with students of all ages for the past thirty years. My unique experience of teaching in both public schools and private universities, in corporate conference rooms and retirement recreational centers, has offered me the opportunity to work with many student populations.
I was a first-generation college student at Penn State where I did honors work in English and French. After teaching high school senior English for eight years, I returned to graduate school at Lehigh University to complete my Ph.D. in English literatures and Women’s Studies. I am now professor of Non-Western Literatures and Director of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. Because I have worked with students on each side of the “college bridge,” I am able to help students create their best college applications. I have helped many high school students write their best essays and can also help students and their parents navigate the confusing world of applying to college.
I am an eager writer. My work has appeared many types of spaces: magazines, academic journals. teaching manuals, anthologies, and creative spaces. My academic work has been published in Feminist Formations, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Routledge Companion to Pakistani Anglophone Writing, South Asian Review, and NCTE’s English Journal and online at World Literature Today. I have served as an academic consultant for the Contemporary Literary Criticism series, where I focused on postcolonial writing by women.
I have worked closely with Norton Publishing and Oxford University Press’s Gender Studies department. I wrote the teaching materials for Norton’s six-volume world literature anthology and several of Oxford’s introduction textbooks. Because I want information to be accessible to all, I have also written an open educational resource through the PA-Adopt grant, Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies.
I review novels by postcolonial authors and blog for World Literature Today . My interests in teaching, world literature, and social justice issues come together in her blogging for Learning for Justice, a publication I admired since my undergraduate days. My articles on masculinity still have some of the highest unique visits for the entire blog site.
I have worked with both those working in classrooms and in corporations to facilitate discussions about privilege, equity, and inclusion. My entire thirty-year teaching career has been dedicated to ensuring all students are heard and valued.
I am the co-editor of several non-fiction books including Philadelphia Reflections: Stories from the Delaware to the Schuylkill and have published short essays in various collections including Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists. My work on miscarriage and infertility has been published in many outlets including here at TRIVIA, in the collection Three Minus One, and in Chatter House Press’s Biting the Bullet collection, where I won honorable mention for her essay “Breath by Breath.”
In my community, I am eager to participate in dialogues on important issues. I have been a regular contributor to WFMZ’s Business Matters. I was also the co-creator of the podcast Inside 254 that ran bi-weekly for four years. I am now a contributor to the monthly podcast Nothing Is Wrong With You Book Podcast.
My book, E=mc2, will be published by Atmosphere Press in 2025.
Engaged
I know the importance of knowing a person’s story and how it informs their goals.
Enthusiastic
My passion for writing, teaching, reading, and learning shines through every encounter with students and clients.
Experienced
For the past thirty years, I have taught in a variety of settings and understand how to meet students and clients where they are.