Education
- Ph.D. English, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, 2001
- M.A. English, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana, 1996
- B.A. Communication Studies, English Minor, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 1994
Publications
- "Gaming Education: Some Examples of the Centrality of Computer Technology in the Teaching of Composition." In The SEM Imperative: Taking Enrollment Management Online. Eds. Craig Westman and Penny Bouman. 2007.
- Guest Editor, Special Issue of Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 62.1 (2006) "Folklore and Literature."
- "Gede's Horse: Ishmael Reed, Misogyny, and the Last Days of Louisiana Red." Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 62.1 (2006): 29-37.
- "The St. Louis Temple Open House: Toward A Rooted Ethnography." Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 61.1 (2005): 11-21.
- "Mormon Literature and the Irreducible Other: Writing the Unspeakable in Holocaust Literature." In Between Trauma and Redemption: Representations of the Holocaust and the Possibility of Pedagogy. Eds. Michael Bernard-Donals and Richard Glejzer. 2004.
- "God's Chosen People: Mormon Fictional Portrayals of the Jewish Holocaust." CLIO 31.2 (Winter 2002): 151-165. Selected for republication in Dimensions of Faith: A Mormon Studies Reader, ed. Stephen Taysom. Forthcoming.
- "These stories are not "real," but they are as "true" as I can make them:' Lee Smith's Literary Ethnography." Southern Folklore 57 (2000): 106-118.
- "Chapels, Baptismal Fonts, and the Curse of Cain: An Examination of the Obstacles to Conversion in Louisiana Mormon Conversion Narratives." Louisiana Folklore Miscellany 11 (1996): 53-66.
Honors
- Management Development Program, Harvard University Graduate School of Education, 2008
- Fulbright Fellowship, 2004
- Dean's Initiative Grant, Ferris State University, 2004
- Faculty Development Grant, Ferris State University, 2004
- Donald K. Anderson Graduate Student Teaching Award, 1997-98; 1999-2000
- Graduate Teaching Scholar, University of Missouri, 1999-2000
Presentations
- (With Roxanne Cullen) "Developing a Learner-Centered Syllabus and Course," Grand Rapids Community College Faculty Learning Day (January 2011).
- "The Iraq War in Personal Narrative, Folklore, and Literature," American Folklore Society Annual Meeting (October 2007).
- '"Is there an American folklore?': Teaching American Folklore and Religious Traditions in Hungary, Northeast Modern Language Association Annual Meeting (March 2007).
- "Family Tales: Genres of Folklore in Lee Smith's Fiction" Midwest Modern Language Association Annual Meeting (November 2006).
- "Lee Smith and the Authentic Folkloric Voice in Fiction," Modern Language Association Annual Meeting (December 2005).
- "Folk Religion, the Folk, and Religion in Lee Smith's Oral History" Modern Language Association Annual Meeting (December 2005).
- "Race, Class, and Gender in Lee Smith's Fiction", American Folklore Society Annual Meeting (October 2005).
- "The St. Louis Temple Open House: A Rooted Ethnography," Public Lecture, University of Szeged, Hungary (November 2004).
- "Rooted Ethnography," Public Lecture, University of Debrecen, Hungary (October 2004).
- Organizer and Chair, "New Directions in African American Folklore and Literature," Folklore and Literature Discussion Group, Modern Language Association Annual Meeting (December 2003).
- "Beyond Literature and the Arts: Integrating Folklore and Multicultural Literature into the Teaching of Math and Science," American Folklore Society (October 2003).
- Organizer and Chair of Panel, "Teaching Folks: Integrating Folklore into the Elementary and Secondary School," (October 2003).
- "Multicultural Cinderella," Conference on Children's and Young Adult Literature (April 2003).
- "Gendered Difference in Emic Research: Lessons from Research on Mormon Girls' Camp," American Folklore Society (October 2002).
- (With Steven Symmes) "Feeding Colleagues: The Meat and Potatoes of Peer-Clinical Response," Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association (October 2002).
- "Philology, Folklore, and Composition: A History of the Intersections of Marginalized Disciplines of Language," Conference on College Composition and Communication (March 2002).
- Discussant, "Is Seeing Believing? Reading Visual Representations of the Holocaust," Midwest Modern Language Association (November 2001).
- "'It's not our money; it's the people's money': Sound Bites, Politics and Pseudo-Proverbs," American Folklore Society (October 2001).
- "Teaching Trauma and the Holocaust in a Post-Millennial World," MMLA (November 2000).
- "Grounded Ethnology: Writing Culture from the Inside Out," American Folklore Society (October 2000).
- (With Dana Kinnison) "Neither This Nor That: New Contributors to Writing Program Administration," Writing Program Administrators Annual Conference (July 2000).
- "'These stories are not "Real," but they are as "true" as I can make them:' Lee Smith's Descriptions of People and Place," MLA (December 1999).
- "Mormon Literature and the Irreducible Other: Writing the Unspeakable in Holocaust Literature," MMLA (November 1999).
- "A Case for Literary Ethnography: Lee Smith's Oral History," American Folklore Society (October 1999).
Research
- Research Coordinator, Department of English, University of Missouri, 1999-2000. Coordinated research efforts for a group led by Douglas Hunt studying the developmental levels of first-year students at the University of Missouri and the influence of developmental levels on the teaching of writing; identified and purchased recording and video equipment; trained research assistants on the use of equipment; led norming sessions for developmental-level ratings.
- Continuous Quality Improvement Coordinator, Department of English, University of Missouri 1997-1998. Collaborated with statistician on analysis of results; collaborated with Composition Director on internal research; co-authored paper on class sizes for composition.
Service
- Administrative Bargaining Team, FSU/AFT Adjunct Contract Negotiations, 2011-present
- HLC Self-Study Subcommittee Criterion 1d, Ferris State University, 2008-present
- HLC Accreditation Visit Communication Commitee, FSU, 2009-present
- Threat Assessment Team, 2008-present
- Behavior Review Team, 2008-present
- Chairs, Chairs' Council, 2007-present
- Students of Concern Committee, 2007
- Advising Task Force, 2005-2007
- Transfer Student Task Force, 2005
- Chair, International Student Task Force, 2005
- Academic Senate, Ferris State University, 2004
- Ferris State University Distinguished Faculty Committee, 2001-2003
- Cultural Enrichment Assessment Committee, Ferris State University, 2001-2003
Professional Memberships
- Committee on Comprehensive Institutions, CCAS (Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences), 2010-present
- AQIP Peer Reviewer, Higher Learning Commission, 2008-present
- Executive Committee, AFS@MLA, 2001-2005
- Executive Committee, MLA Folklore and Literature Discussion Group, 2000-2004; (Chair 2004)
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