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Education

Ph.D. in English.  Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, 2006

Dissertation: “Net Work: Social Networks, Disruptive Agency, and Innovation in Howells, Fitzgerald, Heller, Pynchon, and Gibson”  Committee: Dr. Kecia Driver McBride (director), Dr. Robert D. Habich, Dr. Joseph F. Trimmer, Dr. Patrick Collier, and Dr. Melinda Messineo

Specialization: Twentieth-century and contemporary American literature and culture
Exams in: American and British Literature, Literary Theory, Composition and Rhetoric

M.A. in Literature.   Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, 1998

Thesis: “Fascination Machine: A Study of Pop Music, Mass Mediation, and Cultural
Iconography”  Committee: Dr. Patti White (director), Dr. Lauren Onkey, and Dr. Lee Papa

B.S.Ed. Taylor University, University, Upland, Indiana, 1996; summa cum laude

Secondary education/English (major)
Communication arts education (minor/teaching endorsement)
State of Indiana Teacher’s License (secondary level) 

Dissertation Abstract

My dissertation analyzes the agency of outsider characters in American literature who cause disruption without necessarily securing economic or political power.  Network science (as theorized by thinkers like Duncan Watts and Albert-László Barabási) explains social networking structures: clusters of people, bridges between them, pathways through them.  I theorize such structures as what Michel Foucault calls “surfaces of emergence,” on and through which new notions may enter awareness.  To analyze the influence of characters like Howells’s Silas Lapham and Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby, I show how network surfaces of emergence provide space for what Michel de Certeau calls “secondary production”— inventive repurposing and redeployment of cultural ideas and products.  Besides Howells and Fitzgerald, I consider Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49, Heller's Catch-22, and Gibson's Pattern Recognition.

Teaching

Assistant Professor, Whitworth University.  (July 2008 – Present)
Instructor/GA, Ball State University.  (Aug. 2000 – 2002, Aug. 2004 – May 2008)
Instructor, Ivy Tech State College.  (Summer 2000, Summer 2001)

          Introduction to English Studies (5 sections, 2004 – 2007)
          Reading Literature (2 sections, 2006 – 2009)

          20th-Century American Literature (1 section, 2008)
          American Literature Survey: All (1 section, 2009)
          American Literature Survey, 1865 to Present (2 sections, 2002 – 2008)

          Digital Storytelling (1 Section, 2009)
          English Studies and Technology (1 Section, 2008)
           Film Studies (2 sections, 2006 – 2007)

          Writing 1 (13 sections, 2000 – 2009)
          Writing 2 (2 sections, 2001 – 2005)
          Basic Writing 1 (1 section, 2001)
          Basic Writing 2 (2 sections, 2000 – 2001)

Under Development:
          American Immigrant Literature (Coming Fall 2009)
          Postmodern Literature and Culture (Coming Spring 2009)
          American Film (Coming Spring 2009)

Administration

Writing Program Assistant Director for Technology / Laptop Classroom Coordinator, Ball State University.  Coordination of renovations and technology purchases; writing annual technology proposals; troubleshooting and teacher support for laptop-based classrooms; development and implementation of new ideas for laptop-oriented teaching and learning, based on teacher and student feedback; offering, organizing, and running workshops for teachers.  (Aug. 2005 – May 2008) 

Director of the “Tell-a-Vision” Program, Ball State University; sponsored by the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry and the BSU Center for Media Design.  Funding and guidance of team-based, student-driven, new/digital media projects.  (July 2002 – Dec. 2004)

Graduate Assistant for Study Abroad Programs, Ball State University Center for International Programs.  Promotion of study abroad programs on campus; management/direction of team of five undergraduate classroom presenters.  (Aug. 1996 – May 1998)

Publications and Professional Presentations

Academic Publications

“A Portable Ecology: Supporting New Media Writing and Laptop-Ready Pedagogy at Ball State University.” 19 pages. With Kristie S. Fleckenstein and Jackie Grutsch McKinney. Technological Ecologies and Sustainability: Methods, Modes, and Assessment. Ed. Dŕnielle Nicole DeVoss, Heidi A. McKee, and Richard Selfe. Logan, UT: Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State UP, 2009.

“About Those Loops.” Technological Ecologies and Sustainability: Methods, Modes, and Assessment. Ed. Dŕnielle Nicole DeVoss, Heidi A. McKee, and Richard Selfe. 10 Minute Video. Logan, UT: Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State UP, 2009.

“Weak Ties and Academic Community.”  Forum: Newsletter of the Committee on Contingent, Adjunct, and Part-Time Faculty.  Special Section in College Composition and Communication 60.1 (2008): A9-A11.  

“Surviving a Plague of Blogs: Strategies for Understanding and Managing Online News and Opinion Environments.”  Reformation: The Teaching and Learning of English in Electronic Environments.  Ed. Richard N. Matzen, Jr., and Jia-yi Cheng-Levine.  Taiwan: Bookman Books, 2007.  167-84.

“U2, Mythology, and Mass Mediated Survival.”  Popular Music and Society 27.1 (2004): 79-99.  Article based on MA thesis; explores identity formation and manipulation in mass media environments.


Selected Presentations (Click Here for Complete List)

“Starting with Bad PowerPoint: Slideware Instruction and the New Media Composition Course” at the Computers and Writing Conference, UC Davis, Davis, CA (June 2009).

“The Awe of Arrival: The Devil in the White City and ‘End of the Road’ Stories” at the Indiana College English Association Annual Conference, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, IN (Oct. 2007).

"A Portable Ecology: Planning Your Next Move" (workshop session), as part of the "Technological Ecologies: Methods, Modes and Assessment" workshop chaired by Dickie Selfe at the Computers and Writing Conference, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI (May 2007). 

“How to Refuse Friendship and Irritate People: The Formation, Fracturing, and Control of Social Networks in Flannery O'Connor's The Violent Bear It Away” at the Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture Since 1900, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (Feb. 2007).

“Help Me Find It: Teaching Research as a ‘Long Tail’ Conversation” at the Indiana College English Association Annual Conference, Indiana University East, Richmond, IN (Sep. 2006).

“From the ‘Long Tail’ to the Center: How Blogging and the Internet Make Little Things Big” at the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, IL (Mar. 2006).  (Reviewed here.)

“Exploiting the Apopheniac: How Power Circumvents Itself in William F. Gibson’s Pattern Recogniton.” at the Twentieth Century Literature Conference, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (Feb. 2006). 

“Innovators and Manipulators: Sci-Fi Social Networks in Ender’s Game and Pattern Recognition” at the Indiana College English Association Annual Conference, Manchester College, N. Manchester, IN (Sep. 2005).

“Access at the Hubs: The Pedagogical Potential of ‘Weblogs’ and Other News Hubs” at the Conference on College Composition and Communication, San Francisco, CA (Mar. 2005).

“Nets with Disabilities: A Network Science Approach to Motherless Brooklyn, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and The Pleasure of My Company” at the Twentieth Century Literature Conference, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (Feb. 2005).

“Collaborative Learning at $20,000 a Team: What We Learned about Teaching, Teamwork, English Majors, and Pragmatic University Politics by Spending $116,000 on 40 Students and Six Interactive Multimedia Projects” at the National Council of Teachers of English National Convention, Indianapolis, IN (Nov. 2004).

"Tom Corey in the Court of the Paint King: The Unstable Social Network in W. D. Howells's The Rise of Silas Lapham" at the Indiana College English Association Annual Conference, Ball State University, Muncie, IN (Oct. 2004).

“How They Play the Kevin Bacon Game in West Egg (and at Fangoso Lagoons): Approaching Literary Criticism Through Network Science” at the Twentieth Century Literature Conference, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (Feb. 2004).

“Michel Foucault Plays the Kevin Bacon Game: The Science of Networks in Literature Classrooms and Literary Criticism” at the Indiana College English Association Annual Conference, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN (Sep. 2003).

"Revenge of the Flukeman: Agents, Scenes, Subversions, and Darrin Morgan’s X-Files” at the Twentieth Century Literature Conference, Louisville, KY (Feb. 2003).

“A Tour of the Panoptic(online)” at the Conference on College Composition and Communications, Chicago, IL (Mar. 2002).

“Good Glitch, Bad Glitch: Aspects of Resistance and Control in the Postmodern” at the Twentieth Century Literature Conference, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (Feb. 2001).

Poetry Readings

“Punch Blindly Like Children” (poetry reading) at the Twentieth Century Literature Conference, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (Feb. 2002).

"The Stinkeye Rhymes" (poetry reading) at the Twentieth Century Literature Conference, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (Feb. 2000).

Special Events

“Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry National Showcase” (co-coordinator, with Joseph F. Trimmer and James W. Miles) in conjunction with the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention, Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis, IN (Nov. 2004).  Event featured multimedia projects from the Tell-a-Vision program and from the Virginia Ball Center’s many “creative inquiry” seminars.

Fellowships, Honors, and Grants

Distinguished Dissertation Award, Ball State Alumni Association.  Single BSU dissertation selected annually by an intra-university committee of faculty scholars on the basis of originality, significant contribution to knowledge, quality of writing, and potential for publication. (2007)

Professional Equity Project Grant, Conference on College Composition and Communication. Nominated by department chair to receive this grant funding attendance of the CCCC Convention in 2006. $250. (2006)

Grant to bring Dr. Stephen Watt (Indiana U.) to campus as a “UniverCity” speaker. UniverCity is a week-long academic festival featuring “world-class artists, scholars, innovators and leaders.” $500. (2002)

Voss Scholarship for Graduate Research. Competitive annual award funding graduate-level research in literature. $500. (2002)

Ball State University Graduate Fellowship. Awarded annually to approximately 8 of more than 2000 graduate students at BSU. Full tuition and stipend. (Aug. 1998 – Summer 2000)

Selected Professional Service

Elected Member, Contract Faculty Merit Committee, Department of English, Ball State University (2007/08).

“Teaching with Laptops.”  Two workshop sessions for Writing Program faculty, Ball State University, Muncie, IN (May 2007).

“Simple Tactics for Efficient Web Design.”  Workshops for Dr. Carole Papper's undergraduate course on public discourse (2 sessions) and graduate seminar on teaching in higher education (3 sessions), Ball State University, Muncie, IN (Apr. 2007).

Undergraduate Studies Committee, Contract Faculty Representative, Department of English, Ball State University (2006/07, 2007/08).

“Teaching in Laptop Classrooms.”  Ball State Writing Program orientation session/workshop, Ball State University, Muncie, IN (Aug. 2006).

Judge, Frog Baby Film Festival 2006.  Annual student film festival sponsored by Cardinal Filmworks, Ball State University's student-run film production company (Apr. 2006).  (Click here to see the winning film.)

Elected Member, Contract Faculty Steering Committee, Department of English, Ball State University (2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08).

Freshman Connections Faculty, First Year Undergraduate Experience Program, Ball State University. (2005 - 2007).

“How to Write a Dissertation.”  Roundtable discussion sponsored by graduate student organization.  Ball State University, Muncie, IN (Dec. 2005).

“Getting Organized for Graduate Study.”  Panel discussion on graduate studies and research for Dr. Patrick Collier’s graduate research methods course, Ball State University, Muncie, IN (Sep. 2004).

“What I Wish I’d Known about Graduate School.” Panel discussion on graduate studies and research for Dr. Lauren Onkey’s graduate research methods course, Ball State University, Muncie, IN (Sep. 2003).

“A Few ‘Do’s’ for Post-Graduate Work.”  Panel discussion on careers in English for Taylor University senior English majors, E.B. Ball Center, Muncie, IN (Jan. 2003, Jan. 2004).

Editorial Board, Country Feedback Literary Magazine.  Muncie and Midwestern art, poetry, stories, and essays, sponsored by a grant from the Indiana Arts Commission; featured here and here (2001).

Co-organizer, 3rd Annual English Department Marathon Reading.  Public reading raising funds for graduate student conference travel (2001).

Ivy Tech State College, Evaluator.  Evaluation of student essays for the Ivy Tech State English Assessment Committee (2000, 2001).

Organizer, Penscape, bi-annual graduate poetry/prose readings, Ball State University Department of English (1999/00, 2000/01).

Elected Member, Graduate Student Advisory Board.  Group addresses graduate student concerns and ideas to the department (1999/00).

Conference committee, Practical Criticism Midwest VIII, Ball State University.  In-house conference at BSU (1998.).

Membership in Professional Organizations

Modern Language Association.  (2002 to present)

Indiana College English Association.  (2003 to present)

National Council of Teachers of English.  (2004 to present)

Other Publications

e-Ball Point: Writing Program Handbook.  20th ed. of Ball Point, 2nd electronic edition. Editor/Co-writer.  Muncie, IN: Ball State University Department of English, 2002.  BSU’s in-house writing handbook.  (Click here for current edition.)

“Feedback in Muncie.”  jar.  Nov. 2000.  Publication of the Muncie Star Press.  Feature on a local literary magazine and interview with editor.

“Circvs People.”  jar.  Jan. 2000.  Publication of the Muncie Star Press.  Feature on local arts and community development.

“America in Art at the Ball State University Museum of Art.”  Writer and Editor.  Muncie, IN: Ball State University Museum of Art, 2000.  Educational materials and activities for elementary classrooms, based on works in the BSU museum of art.  104 pages.

“Native Art of North America in the Ball State University Museum of Art.”  Writer and Editor. Muncie, IN: Ball State University Museum of Art, 1999.  Educational materials and activities for elementary classrooms, based on works in the BSU museum of art.  43 pages.

“African Art at the Ball State University Museum of Art.”  Writer and Editor.  Muncie, IN: Ball State University Museum of Art, 1998.  Educational materials and activities for elementary classrooms, based on works in the BSU museum of art.  50 pages.

Community Service

Coordinator, Gallery Stage, Circvs 1999 and Circvs 2000.  Regional independent music festival (1999, 2000).

Coordinator, Guido’s Coffeehouse series.  Readings, musical performances, art exhibits (1998 – 2000).

Updated 5/2009