I teach courses in a variety of fields within US literature, although I primarily focus on multiethnic US literature, US Latinx literature, and the literatures of migration; additional teaching areas are African American literature and Anglo American US literature. My most commonly taught courses for English majors are "Latinx Literature Now," ""American Migrant Communities," and "In Search of the Great American Novel."
My courses are highly conversant with current research in literary studies, and I love bringing recently gleaned insights into classes so that students can have a sense of how literary criticism continues to produce highly relevant commentary.
Over the course of 15+ years of teaching, I have developed syllabuses/syllabi for more than 20 distinct classes, and I rarely repeat a syllabus even with a class I have taught multiple times (such as a first year seminar for undergraduates at Notre Dame, entitled "On the Move: Migration in American Literature," which I have taught more than a dozen times). While I love reading current literary criticism and participating in broad scholarly conversations, I especially love teaching, which I consider the instantiation of research and scholarship.
COURSES TAUGHT
University of Notre Dame, Department of English (fa 2017 - )
Associate Professor (2025 - )
Assistant Professor (2017-2025)
Faculty Affiliate in the Institute for Latino Studies
Concurrent Faculty in Gender Studies
----American Literary Traditions II (sp 2019, '20, '25)
----American Migrant Communities (fa 2017, fa 2018, fa 2022, fa 2025)
----English One Credit Book Club (Moby-Dick: fa 2025)
----First Year University Seminar - On the Move: Migration in American Literature (fa 2017, '18, '19, '21, '22, '24, '25, '26; sp 2018, '20, '22, '23, '24, '26)
----In Search of the Great American Novel (fa 2024, fa2026)
----Latinx Literature Now! (sp 2022, '23, '25)
----Morrison, Silko, Cisneros, Yamashita [Graduate course] (sp 2026)
----Queer Migrations [Graduate course] (fa 2019, sp 2024)
----Rethinking Twentieth and Twenty-First Century U.S. Fiction [Graduate course] (sp 2018, fa 2021)
----Undocumented Literature Now - undergraduate independent study (sp 2023)
Connecticut College, Department of English (fa 2016 - sp 2017)
Visiting Assistant Professor
----Introduction to African American Literature (fa 2016)
----Race and Literary Criticism (fa 2016)
----Black Genre Fiction (fa 2016)
----Chicano/a/x Literature (sp 2017)
----Twentieth-Century U.S. Literature (sp 2017)
----Toni Morrison (sp 2017)
Princeton University, Department of English (sp 2012 – sp 2016)
Head Assistant Instructor:
----Graduate Pedagogy Seminar (sp 2016)
Graduate Assistant Instructor:
----Topics in American Literature: American Jewish Writers (sp 2016)
----Growing Up Global: Novels and Memoirs of Transnational Childhood (fa 2015)
----Graphic Novels and Comics (fa 2015)
----American Literature: 1865-1930 (sp 2013)
----American Cinema (fa 2012)
----Modern Evil (sp 2012)
Wesleyan University (fa 2014)
at York Correctional Institute
Lecturer:
----American Migrant Communities
Warrior-Scholar Project (su 2015, su 2016, su 2017)
at Yale University
Co-Instructor:
----Writing Seminar
York Correctional Institution (su 2014)
Center for Prison Education at Wesleyan University
Instructor:
----Summer Writing Workshop
Cheshire Correctional Institution (su 2014)
Center for Prison Education at Wesleyan University
Instructor:
----Summer Writing Workshops
Albert C. Wagner Correctional Facility/Princeton Prison Teaching Initiative (fa 2010, sp 2013, sp 2015)
Instructor:
----English 101: Composition
Garden State Correctional Facility/Princeton Prison Teaching Initiative (sp 2011 – fa 2012)
Instructor:
----English 101: Composition