Associate Professor of English

Education

Ph.D., Bowling Green State University.
M.A., Marquette University.
B.A., Our Lady of Cincinnati College.

Recent Awards and Achievements

• Co-edited The Best American Catholic Short Stories (2007), Sheed & Ward.
• First place in Best Poetry category of Catholic Press Association (2000).
• “The Poet of the Return to God” (about Francis Thompson) in America, 2007.
• “Old Age” poem in America, 2008.

Teaching Philosophy

My philosophy of teaching is very simple: I want to share my English-related passions. One is the passion for works which contain “the best that has been thought and said,” in Matthew Arnold's phrase, but also lesser works that hold a mirror up to life and illumine it for us, that spur reflection and understanding, that amuse, stir, sadden, or inspire and, thus, help humanize us. I want my students to care about good literature, to become vitablized by it, to befriend it.

I also want them to become serious about writing well. It’s my goal to help them recognize that mastering the pen liberates them to say effectively who they are, what they believe in, and what they have learned, that being able to do so empowers them. I urge them to discover in the deliberate manipulation of language a playground filled with unexpected pleasure. I also want them to see language as a medium for their imaginations, to see an empty page as a keyboard for self-expression, whether the blues or opera.