CORE COMPETENCIES

EXPERIENCE

Center Chair, Integrated Humanities & Professor of English, Chestnut Hill College 2005-present

center chair

Lead and manage the Center for Integrated Humanities since 2019, which includes 6 departments, 19 full-time faculty, 20+ part-time faculty, and a budget > $2M.

Responsibilities include:

Manage a center that represents 1/3 of the college’s faculty and is responsible for 35% of undergraduate course offerings
Set and maintain budget for all departments
Coordinate course schedules across departments
Conduct annual performance reviews of faculty
Conduct annual center program review and assessment
Develop and achieve center-level strategic initiatives
Recruit and retain faculty, staff, and students
Mentor faculty, staff, and students
Manage and maintain center-designated classroom, gallery, and studio spaces
Cultivate interdisciplinary, cross-unit, and community partnerships
Develop and grow the center’s online course offerings
Assist faculty applying for grants and secure grants to assist with projects in Arts and Humanities

Selected accomplishments:

Oversaw the successful merger of 6 departments (English, World Language and Literature, History, Media and Communication, Music and Art, and Religious Studies and Philosophy) into 1 interdisciplinary center.

Increased the number of majors in center programs by 35% from Spring 2022 to Spring 2023.
Oversaw the acquisition and implementation of a student career readiness self-assessment tool.
Created interdisciplinary minors in Health Humanities and Environmental Studies.
Developed extensive technology trainings for faculty during COVID-19 that were pivotal in assisting over 70 faculty prepare for emergency online teaching.
Assisted with four center faculty’s successful grant applications to the Connolly Foundation to work with a local grammar school around writing and integrating our location in the Wissahickon Valley into educational programming.
Worked as part of a team that secured and implemented two NetVUE grants from the Council of Independent Colleges: the first, for ongoing, mission-based faculty and staff development; the second, for telling the story of the college to connect our history and mission to our current student population.
Created an alum/current student art exhibit and special issue of the literary magazine to celebrate the college’s 100th anniversary.

Administrative Roles and Service

Serve and often lead a wide variety of college committees, including Faculty Senate, Faculty Development, Promotion and Tenure, Academic Technology, Academic Assessment, Program Review, Strategic Planning, Academic Standards, Middle States Design and Delivery of Student Learning (2023) and Finance Committee (2012), Student Life Appeals, and Honors.

Selected accomplishments:

Chair, Promotion & Tenure Committee (2022-present)
Led the committee 7 faculty in review of and response to third-year and promotion and tenure portfolios. The committee works to re-establish best practices, including the development of a communication plan and master calendar for all levels of review (annual to post-tenure), organize and run workshops on the promotion and tenure process and criteria, re-establish a mentorship program, and develop new 360-degree teaching evaluation model.
Co-chair, Core Review (2019-2021)
Led a major review and redesign of the core curriculum to enhance student engagement and retention by creating relevant learning experiences, tracking fundamental and twenty-first-century skill development, fostering cross-cultural awareness, providing opportunities for interdisciplinary and project-based course experiences, and reflecting more fully the college’s mission and core values.
Chair, Middle States Working Group for Standard III: Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience (2021-2023)
Oversaw a cross-functional working group of 15 members to research and write Standard III for Middle States reaccreditation.
Assessment Support Committee (2020-2022; Chair 2020-2022)
Worked with the Director of Assessment and Vice President of Academic Affairs to create an institutional program of assessment that is predictable and comprehensive and that uses assessment information to prioritize academic resources.
Faculty Development Committee (Fall 2022-present; Fall 2013-2019)
Worked as a consistent member (and often chair) of the Faculty Development Committee responsible for Teaching and Learning workshops across all departments, sample topics: creating inclusive teaching environments, teaching first-generation students, embedding career readiness into coursework, designing project-based learning experiences, experimenting with ungrading, implementing Universal Design for Learning, and using Design Thinking in the classroom.
Faculty Senate Executive Board with terms as President (2018-2019 and 2014) and Vice President (2017-2018 and 2012-2014)
Represented the faculty and faculty-related issues in regular meetings with the college president and VPAA; involved in committee appointments; oversaw a review of Senate committees to increase efficiency; oversaw elections and ballots related to faculty governance; served as the primary liaison between faculty and administration during a college-wide program review that resulted in the restructuring of academic programs.
External Program Reviewer for Delaware Valley University’s English Department (December 2020)
Led a team of 3 that reviewed the department’s self-study of its programs in English and Media and Communication, included a virtual visit with the department and related staff and administrators and writing a comprehensive report that addressed all aspects of the programs from mission alignment and objectives to student advising and enrollment trends, a SWOT analysis, and a list of commendations, suggestions, and recommendations.

Teaching

Design and teach courses in the core and in areas of expertise, oversee student internships for The Hemingway Review, advise students in the English department, organize and participate in pedagogical development activities, and plan and execute ongoing assessment of courses.

Courses include:

Liberal Arts Discovery Seminar; College Writing; Introduction to Literature; Literature into Film; Gender and Literature; American Romanticism & Transcendentalism; Modern American Literature; Contemporary American Literature; American Poetry; American Novel; Literature & Medicine

Scholarship

Researched and wrote more than thirty articles and book reviews, edit a scholarly journal, edited books, accept invitations to speak at scholarly and public venues, attend and present at scholarly conferences.

Selected accomplishments:

Edited Books

The New Hemingway Studies. Edited with Kirk Curnutt (Cambridge UP, 2020).
Ernest Hemingway in Context. Edited with Debra A. Moddelmog (Cambridge UP, 2013).
Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden: 25 Years of Criticism. Edited with Frederic J. Svoboda (Kent State UP, 2012).

Recent Articles and Chapters

Teaching The Garden of Eden 2008 Film Adaptation. Teaching Hemingway and Film. Edited by Cam Cobb and Marc K. Dudley. (Kent State UP. Forthcoming 2024).
“Annotation of ‘God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen.’” Reading Men Without Women. Edited by Mark Cirino and Susan Vandagriff. (Kent State UP, 2021)
“The Old Author and the Young Bullfighter: What’s So Dangerous about The Dangerous Summer.” Hemingway’s Spain: Imagining the Spanish World. Edited by Carl Eby and Mark Cirino (Kent State UP, 2015).
“F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ethnographic Stereotyping.” F. Scott Fitzgerald in Context. Edited by Bryant Mangum (Cambridge UP, 2013).

Recent Presentations and Appearances

Annual Holiday Interview about Hemingway’s holiday-themed writings for One True Podcast. Topics include: “A North of Italy Christmas” (2023), “The Christmas Gift” (2022), “Christmas on the Roof of the World” (2021), and “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen” (2020).
“Is The Garden of Eden Inaccroachable?: Intimacy, Sex, Elephants, and Icebergs.” The Hemingway Society Biennial Conference. Sheridan, WY. July 2022.
“Transformative, Holistic Education Now.” Chestnut Hill College. Philadelphia, PA. November 2021.
“What is Africa to Me? Hemingway’s Lifelong Fascination with the ‘Dark Continent.’” Ketchum Community Library Hemingway Festival. Ketchum, ID. September 2021.
Advisor and creator for PBS theme pages and teaching resources for Hemingway, a documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
Panelist, “Dehumanizing Language in the Classroom.” Chestnut Hill College. Philadelphia, PA. May 2019.

Scholarship Service

Executive Board member, The Hemingway Society and Foundation (2007- present; ex officio since 2014)
Editorial Advisory Board member, Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts (2022-present)

**Editor & Media Committee Chair, The Hemingway Review/ Hemingway Foundation**

2014-present
Lead cross-functional team for the Hemingway Society’s Media outlets (journal, newsletter, website, blog, podcast, and social media) in planning and executing the Society’s media presence, edit and manage operations and budget for the Society’s biannual journal: print circulation 800.

Selected accomplishments:

Responsible for the journal, website and blog, newsletter, social media presence, and webinar events.
Oversaw a major redesign of the Hemingway Society website, which resulted in a site that serves as a hub for member services with over 3000 unique visitors/month.
Executed the move to Society’s direct publication of the journal resulting in $60K revenue/year.
Created and conducted a membership survey to collect insights about member profiles and media offerings that resulted in more deliberate planning of webinars and activities at conferences based on targeted populations.

education

Ph.D. in English Literature, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Dissertation Title: “Negotiating the Self: Recreation, Identity, and Hemingway”
M.A. in English Language and Literature, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Thesis Title: “Meta-geographies in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence”
B.A. in English Literature and Philosophy, New York University, New York, NY
Honors Thesis Title: “Hair and Androgyny in Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden”

CERTIFICATIONS

Project Management Professional Certification Training (in progress)
Certified External Review for Association of Departments of English (2024)
Learning Design and Technologies – Micro-Masters, University of Maryland, Global Campus (May 2023)
Leading Online Programs – Magna (2022)
Teaching Practice: Practices in Digital Pedagogy – Course Hero (2023)

skills