My Story
I’m a professor of English at Clayton State University, a state university on the southeastern tip of the Atlanta metro area. Every day I interact with young adults and adults who are young at heart. I’m passionate about college students because everyday they choose to engage ideas that will impact the rest of their lives. I am also a passionate follower of Jesus Christ. My Christian identity is infused in my teaching and writing. I am holistic in my approach to writing, focusing on academic, professional, and personal reasons and strategies for writing. Writing is a skill that we have to engage every day. It is an advanced critical thinking process that shows human uniqueness when we are compared to animals. For me, writing is also witnessing, testimony, and the road to triumph. One of my favorite scriptures, one that grounded my dissertation is Revelations 12:11 “They overcame him [the enemy] by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony…”
Teaching Women's Studies in Conservative Contexts
Academic Work
My English teaching and scholarship are influenced by my studies in intercultural communication, linguistics, professional writing, and women’s studies. Here is a sample of my academic writing addressing the lack of religious voices in the teaching of Women’s Studies. This edited collection was one of my first book-length editing projects. You can also see a sample of some of my academic chapters and articles by downloading my CV. You can read more about my academic experience on my Clayton State faculty page.
Devotionals
My devotional essay, “Just a Branch” begins this way: “This past year I’ve been reminded that Christ is the vine, and I am just a branch. I can do nothing apart from him. So, as I make it my focus to be a Christian professor, God is teaching me that only if I stay connected to him—really hidden in him—will I be able to participate in his work of drawing people to him on the college campus…”