Educational Background:
- Ph.D. Illinois State University (2012)
- M.A. Georgia State University (2008)
- B.A. University of Georgia (2004)
Selected Courses Taught:
- Literature for Young Readers
- Literature for Middle Grades
- Foundations in Children’s Literature
- Adolescent Literature
- Early American Literature
- Late American Literature
- Southern Literature
- Composition I
- Composition II
Selected Publications:
- “’The earth which had bred his bones’: Narrative Representations of Southern Identity.” Southern Studies 22.1 (2015): 72-99. Print.
- “The Rub between Fact and Fiction: Ideology in Lois Lenski’s Regional Maps.” Children’s Literature in Education 42.1 (2011): 44-55. Print.
- “A Story of the Exceptional: Fate and Free Will in the Harry Potter Series.” Children’s Literature 38.1 (2010): 181-206. Print.
- “A Transformative Biblical Encounter: The Garden of Eden in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The Looking Glass 14.1 (2010): Web.
Selected Academic Appointments:
- Assistant Professor, English Department
Shorter University, Rome, Georgia. August 2013-present. - Postdoctoral position, English Department
Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois. January 2013-May 2013. - Instructor, English Department
Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois. August 2008-December 2012. - Instructor, English Department
Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia. August 2007-May 2008. - Internship with South Atlantic Modern Language Association
Selected Conference Presentations:
- “No One Likes to Feel Like an Adolescent: Genre Resistance in Harper Lee’s Novels.”
Presenter and Moderator. Children’s Literature Association Annual Conference.
Columbus, Ohio, June 9-11, 2016. Session 16A. - “The All-White World of Contemporary Southern Adolescent Fiction.” Presenter.
Children’s Literature Association Annual Conference. Columbia, South Carolina,
June 18-21, 2014. Session 6G. - “Regional Identities Advertised through Adolescent Literature.” Presenter. Cultural
Studies Association Annual Conference. Chicago, Illinois, May 22-26, 2013. - “Moratorium and Morality: The Adolescent Character’s Search for Identity.” Presenter.
Ethics and Children’s Literature Symposium. Greencastle, Indiana, September 13-16, 2012. Session 8. - “Horatio Alger’s Slumdog Millionaire: American Capitalism and Nationalism Abroad.” Presenter. Children’s Literature Association 39th Annual Conference. Boston, Massachusetts, Jue 14-16, 2012. Session 12.4.
- “Reading the South: Teaching Adolescents to Identify with Regional Land.” Presenter.
127th Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Seattle, Washington,
January 5-8, 2012. Session 681. - “American Regional Identity: Acculturation in Southern Adolescent Literature.”
Presenter and Moderator. 38th Annual Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2011. Roanoke, Virginia, June 23-25, 2011. Session 10-C. - “Locating Southern Adolescent Fantasy: The Search for a Genre.” Presenter.
31st International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, 2010. Orlando, Florida,
March 18, 2010. Session 16.