B.S., University of Florida; M.A., University of Maryland; Ph.D., University of Maryland
Expertise: Feminist Literature, African American Literature, Narrative Theory, Intergroup Dialogue, Theory and Practice of Social Justice
Research & Practice Areas: Narrative beginnings, African American literature and culture, American women writers, Intergroup Dialogue and pedagogy, narrative theory
In both my research and teaching, I emphasize the centrality of social identity to literary narratives. My research has focused primarily on narrative form, gender, race, and social justice. Most recently, I have been working on utilizing Intergroup Dialogue techniques in the classroom and community to bridge differences and move toward a more equitable society.
Grants:
2015—President’s Innovation Grant to explore Transdisciplinary Collective
2015—Colloquium Speaker Grant
2014—Colloquium Speaker Grant
2013—President’s Innovation Grant for Intergroup Dialogue Program
2011—Faculty Research Grant to conduct sabbatical research in Italy
Awards:
The Thomas Rhys Vickroy Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2011.
NOMA Notice of Multicultural Achievement Award, 2007 and 2008.
HyPE Teacher Appreciation Award, Lebanon Valley College, 2006.
James A. Robinson Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Maryland, Department of English, May 2000.
Distinguished Teaching Assistant for 1999-2000, University of Maryland, Center for Teaching Excellence, May 2000.
Distinguished Teaching Assistant for 1998-99, University of Maryland, Center for Teaching Excellence, May 1999.
Outstanding Teacher Award, The Panhellenic Association and Interfraternity Council, University of Maryland, Fall 1997.
Research book:
Opening Acts: Narrative Beginnings in Twentieth-Century Feminist Fiction, University of Nebraska Press, September 2015.
Publications:
“That Which Gets Reconstructed as Metaphor: Disidentification in Claudia Rankine’s Citizen and Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad” Contemporary African American and Black British Women Writers: Narrative, Race, Ethics, Routledge: eds. Jean Wyatt and Sheldon George, 2021.
“[Un]Natural Connections: Feminist Experimentation and Unnatural Narration in Nights at the Circus,”Unnatural Narratology: Extensions, Revisions, and Challenges, Ohio State University Press: eds. Jan Alber and Brian Richardson, 2020.
“Toward a Critical Race Narratology: Narrative Beginnings in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon,” Narrative Race and Ethnicity in the Americas eds. Jennifer Ho, James Donahue, and Shaun Morgan, Ohio University Press 2017.
“Naturally Flawed?: Gender, Race, and the Unnatural in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple” Storyworlds special edition, ed.Brian Richardson, winter 2016.
“Initiating Dialogue:Beginnings in Multicultural Narratives” New Horizons in the Analysis of World Narrative Fiction ed. Frederick Aldama, University of Texas Press January 2012.
“Recessive Origins in Alvarez’s Garcia Girls:A Feminist Theory of Narrative Beginnings” Narrative Beginnings ed., Brian Richardson, 2010.
Entries on “An Mei Hsu”, “Lindo Jong”, “Jing Mei Woo,” and “Ying Ying St. Clair,” characters from Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Students’ Companion to American Literary Characters, 2006.
“Narrative Beginnings in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club: A Feminist Study.”Studies in the Novel 35.1 (Spring 2003): 89-107.
