I was born and raised in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, south of coal country and north of Amish country, and attended Catholic school from kindergarten through high school, which I think was my first introduction to metaphor. After receiving my B.A. from Lycoming College, I did my master’s work at Florida State University, then returned to the northeast to study at Binghamton University, where I received my Ph.D. in the spring of 2007.
All writers have their obsessions, and mine is music. My first memory is of hearing a Willie Nelson song, and my taste today ranges from jazz to jam bands and many styles in between. My dissertation was a novel entitled "The Song For Leaving," which follows the crew of a fictional rock band during the band’s first major world tour. Currently, I'm at work on a nonfiction manuscript about music, memory, and travel, focusing on a summer when I followed several of my favorite bands, including the Nels Cline Singers and Wilco.
Here at IC, I've taught a variety of classes, including Academic Writing I and II, Introduction to Creative Writing, Argument, Personal Essay, and an Ithaca Seminar called Texts, Drafts, and Rock and Roll: Reading and Writing About Popular Music. I'm interested in applications of technology to writing pedagogy and in how studying popular culture can help students better understand themselves and their world.
In my spare time, I enjoy cooking, going to concerts near and far, and trying to train my cat, Jack Flash, to help me grade papers.
Areas of Specialization
- creative writing (fiction, nonfiction)
- first-year writing
- teaching with technology
Degrees
- Ph.D., English, Binghamton University, 2007
- M.A., English, Florida State University, 2003
- B.A., English, Lycoming College, 2001 (summa cum laude, departmental honors)
Selected Awards
- Faculty GOLD grant, Ithaca College, 2011
- Finalist, Narrative Magazine 30 Below Contest, 2008
- Marion J. Link Fellowship for Creative Writing, 2007
- Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Teaching, Binghamton University, 2007
- Partial fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, 2007
- Finalist, Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers, 2005
- Phi Kappa Phi Award of Excellence, 2001