Professor of English at Housatonic Community College, I currently advise both the journalism program and the student
newspaper and teach academic and creative writing, literature, and
journalism. I am the founder and former coordinator of HCC's Writing Across the Curriculum Center and co-founded and advised the Coffeehouse Club, a
bi-weekly poetry reading and performance venue. I have received a
number of awards for my teaching since beginning at HCC, including Who's Who Among American Teachers award, which I have won a number of consecutive times.
I am also a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT), having completed a 200-hour teacher training program through YogaSpirit Studios® in March 2009. In October of the same year, I began a 500-hour Para Yoga teacher training program.
A co-founder and
former editor of a college arts magazine, I have worked as a daily newspaper
reporter, magazine writer, and book editor. I have written and published
everything from horoscopes to hard news stories, in-depth features and
investigative articles, book and film reviews, and a variety of arts stories,
including in-depth profiles of performance artists Tim Miller and Karen
Findley, two of the artists singled out when National Endowment for the Arts grants were first challenged
by members of Congress.
I have also worked for the Connecticut Citizen Action Group and Greenpeace.
In fact, it was my commitment to environmental and social activism and my desire to return to school that spurred me to leave newspaper writing.
As an
undergraduate, I graduated with a B.A. in English and Journalism (a double
major) from Southern Connecticut State University, from which I also received
the "Outstanding Journalism Student" award. I went on to
complete a Master's in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing from
S.C.S.U., where my master's thesis, a novel entitled The Baseness to Speak,received commendation of Superior Quality, an honor extended to only two students in
the entire university. I was also the recipient of the
"Outstanding Graduate Student" award from Southern's English
Department.
In addition to fiction, I have written
poetry and essays and have been a featured reader at a number of New Haven-area
venues. In addition, I've presented scholarly work on teaching writing, literature,
and citizenship education at numerous conferences and taught poetry
workshops to developmentally disabled senior citizens.
Since 1998, I have been proud to serve on the staff of the Connecticut Great Teachers Seminar and have led a number of workshops for college faculty. I currently serve as the campus Teaching and Learning Consultant, leading the Center for Teaching and helping to plan and coordinate workshops and other professional development for faculty. In my own teaching, I am particularly interested in encouraging active learning and creative self-expression and using technology to enhance learning.
I have been active in a number of volunteer organizations, including AIDS Project New Haven and the Urban Resources Initiative (which works with Yale University to help residents to create community green spaces, gardens, and plant trees), and my neighborhood association, which focuses on the betterment of New Haven through partnerships between local businesses, residents, and city agencies. Since 1999, I have been a member of "These Boots," an MS Walk team that has raised over $150,000 for research into multiple sclerosis and support services for those who suffer from the disease.
In my free time, I enjoy yoga, hiking, biking, kayaking, and, of course, reading and writing, as well as films and flea markets. An unabashed Anglophile, I am somewhat addicted to BBC programs, including Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and Torchwood, especially.
I have been known to lose large blocks of time on the Internet and to purchase more music and books than I can find space for in the home I share with my partner of over 18 years.