Biography
Hired in 1998 as an instructor of English, over the last 22 years, my primary focus is teaching writing, including first-year composition, and other literature courses. From 2003-2011, I served as the Assistant Director of Academic Affairs, and I was recently promoted to Teaching Professor of English. Recent activities connected to my scholarly work includes directing the Willa Cather International Seminar in 2017 and serving as a member of the Willa Cather Foundation's Board of Governors. Currently, I am developing the Western Pennsylvania Art, Literature, and Culture Project, a center devoted to the study of art and literature in Western Pennsylvania.
Teaching Interests: Willa Cather; Western Pennsylvania Literature and Art; Pulitzer Prize Winning Fiction
Area(s) of Expertise: Willa Cather and Pittsburgh; Pultizer Prize Winning Fiction; Western Pennsylvania Literature and Art
Research Interests
Willa Cather, Pittsburgh literature and history, American comedy, The American Novel
Publications
Co-Editor, Cather Studies 13: Willa Cather and Pittsburgh, 2021
“Introduction to Cather Studies 13.” Cather Studies 13: Willa Cather and Pittsburgh, 2021.
“’Paul’s Case’ and Pittsburgh: Industry and Art in the Great Manufacturing Town.” Cather Studies 12: Willa Cather and the Arts, 2020, pp. 125-151.
“Willa Cather, E.L. Blumenschein, and the Painting of To-morrow.” Cather Studies 11: Willa Cather at the Modernist Crux, 2017, pp. 132-148.
Education
Ph.D. English, Duquesne University, 2003
M.A. English, Duquesne University, 1991
B.A. English, University of Dayton, 1989