I am an assistant professor of Language and Literacy in the Teacher Education department at Michigan State University (MSU). I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in writing, discourse, and English education and coordinate the secondary English Education program. I am also affiliated with the Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures Program at MSU and am a principal investigator at the Literacy Achievement Research Center. I hold degrees in English from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (PhD), Middlebury College ( MA), and Wheaton College (BA). For six years, I worked as a middle and high school English teacher in a range of contexts including the Navajo Nation. My current work focuses on classroom discourse and English language arts instruction. Specific areas of expertise include narrative and rhetorical theory, writing theory and instruction, discussion in English classrooms, linguistic and cultural diversity in English classrooms, and Holocaust education. I received the National Council of Teachers of English Promising Research Award and was recognized for excellence in teaching by the Ghoddousi Mentor Award and the MSU College of Education Excellence in Teaching Award. My articles, essays, reviews, and commentaries have been published in journals including Across the Disciplines, Applied Linguistics, College Composition and Communication, Composition Studies,Educational Researcher, English Education, English Journal,Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, Linguistics and Education, Teachers College Record, and Written Communication. I have written a forthcoming book, The Rhetoric of Teaching: Understanding the Dynamics of Holocaust Narratives in an English Classroom, and am co-editing a second forthcoming book, Narrative Analysis for Teacher Education.
308 Erickson Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
USA
517.432.4840 (telephone)
517.432.5092 (fax)