EMAIL:
CAREER:
Professor of English and Chair of the Department of Humanities, Roosevelt University
HOMETOWN:
Louisville, KY
COLLEGE:
Bellarmine University
UG MAJOR/MINOR:
English and Journalism/Communications double major
WHY YOU CHOSE THE MAJOR/MINOR:
To be a writer
EXTRACURRICULARS DURING UG (CLUBS, ORGS, JOBS, INTERNSHIPS, VOLUNTEER WORK, ETC.):
I founded the campus chapter of Amnesty International and served as the news editor and subsequently editor in chief of the campus newspaper, The Concord.
WHY YOU CHOSE TO WORK AT ROOSEVELT:
It reminds me a great deal of Bellarmine, actually, and I had a wonderful educational experience there. The low student-faculty ratio is a similarity, as is the opportunity for faculty to work closely with students both in and out of the classroom. Finally, the really amazing opportunities to hear from and meet cutting-edge thinkers and writers offered at both institutions is a major draw. By my senior year, I had had the opportunity to meet and interview Joyce Carol Oates and Norman Mailer.
WHAT PROJECT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON:
I just finished copy editing an article on “marathon” productions of Shakespeare’s history plays for a new series called Cambridge Elements which will be published online by Cambridge University Press. Right now, I have a pile of books on my desk about Hamlet for a teacher workshop on the play at Chicago Shakespeare Theater where I will deliver the kick-off lecture. Next month, I start work as the dramaturg for The Shakespeare Project of Chicago’s production of Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker’s 17th-century play The Roaring Girl (based on a real cross dressing woman in 17th-century London, Mary Frith!).
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“Don’t dream it. Be it.” – The Rocky Horror Picture Show
PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT…:
I was painfully shy as a child. Now, if you walk into an elevator with me, I 100% guarantee that I will talk to you.
ADVICE FOR INCOMING/CURRENT STUDENTS:
The answer is “yes.” Take advantage of all of the incredible opportunities that will be offered to you at Roosevelt, and in the surrounding city.
FAVORITE SPOT AT ROOSEVELT:
The Sullivan Room
FAVORITE SPOT IN CHICAGO:
The lakefront – anywhere along the entire length of it. It is amazing to live next to an inland sea, with its own weather and eco-systems.
CAUSE YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT AND WHY:
Social justice which, for me, right now, means fighting for women’s rights to equal pay and to control of their own bodies, and working to address the effects of climate change, which will become catastrophic in our lifetimes if we do not take drastic action now.
LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED:
Christopher Strong (1933) – I have a thing for pre-code films, and this one stars a young Katherine Hepburn as a pioneering pilot who flies around the world.
WHAT I WISH I KNEW BEFORE GOING TO COLLEGE:
Incremental crises (like paper assignments or exams that don’t go as well as you’d hoped) fade very quickly into the background. Employers don’t really care what your GPA is. They care about what you know, the skill sets that you bring to the table, your level of commitment to the work that you do, and the generosity of spirit that you bring to the communities with which you interact. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Take care of figuring out who you are, what makes you tick, and what makes you happy. The rest will fall into place and come into focus around you.