Welcome to my homepage.  Here is an overview of my academic, professional, and personal journeys in the last 15 + years.  I have been teaching at WSC since the Fall of 1999.  Prior to my tenure at the college, I pursued my Ph.D. and M.A. at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where I taught a variety of courses for seven years.  In addition to teaching and studying, I served as the Associate Director of the Five College Summer Institute in Media Literacy for four years.  The project was funded by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities with in kind contributions and participation from UMass, Hampshire, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and Amherst Colleges.  The week-long institute provided community members and teachers with professional development opportunities through learned analytical skills and training in media literacy and production.  

 

Since that time, I have been an active member of the college.  My primary responsibilities are in the Communication Department, where I have been teaching over the last eight years.  I teach a variety of courses and have led a series of projects with my colleagues, including teaching video production and media literacy to youth at the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester, leading media literacy workshops in schools within the greater community, organizing speakers series and film screenings, and assessing the program as the author of the last program review.  I am currently serving as the Director of the Center for Community Media, where I am collaborating with department members and students to engage in community outreach and development through media literacy and production.  My scholarship includes a variety of publications, including a book, several book chapters, and journals.  I was recently invited to share my research as a guest lecturer at the University of Bergen, Norway.

 

In addition to my departmental responsibilities, I co-founded and co-directed the Center for Teaching and Learning on campus as a means to assist the pedagogical and curricular needs of faculty.  I worked with a college team to obtain a $143,000 grant from the George Alden Foundation to support a faculty fellowship program, as well as to assist with the Teaching Excellence Award, both of which I helped establish.  Knowing how much support new faculty need upon beginning their careers at a new institution, I helped create the college’s Mentoring Program which pairs faculty for transitional needs and scholarly collaboration.  

 

In addition to my teaching responsibilities and involvement in the Communication Department, I have applied my graduate concentration in Women’s Studies to the Women’s Studies Program at WSC.  Since 2000, I have organized a series of events, including the annual Month Without Violence programming in conjunction with the YWCA Daybreak Center.  From 2004 to 2006, I served as the Program Director of Women’s Studies, where I collaborated with other dedicated faculty to offer interdisciplinary courses and expand programming.  Currently, I teach Introduction to Women’s Studies, as well as the cross-listed Communication course Gender & Media.

 

I hope this provides you with a summary of some of the energies and commitment I bring to my profession, and other interests.  I look forward to continued collaboration with students, faculty, administrators, and all of the dedicated members of the campus and community in the coming years.