Ph.D. English, University of Washington, Seattle
M.A. English, University of Washington, Seattle
B.A. English and Ethnic Studies (minor), University of California, Berkeley

• BIS 206 Engaging Literary Arts
• BIS 313 Issues in Media Studies: Music, Media and Politics
• BIS 379 American Ethnic Literatures
• BIS 387 Women and American Literature
• BISAES 367 Race, Ethnicity and Immigration

Each of us approaches education from a unique social location, a personal history and context. I often teach through the rubric of popular culture because it’s one of those places where our understanding of the world may likely ‘overlap’ and intersect. I am not suggesting that we always agree on the definition and/or the merits of popular culture; quite the contrary. However, I believe culture becomes ‘popular’ because it speaks to something familiar in our understanding of ourselves as social beings – for better or for worse. The key is tracing out what that ‘something’ is and learning from it in a way that informs an active response to the present. I strongly believe that knowledge is made both inside and outside of the classroom, and for this reason, I encourage an ethics of mutual respect, difficult dialogue, and persistent, critical reflection about our practices in the university and in our various communities.