When I teach, I aim to
help students make connections – those sparks of recognition that inspire
students to create links between the material they study in my classroom, their
courses in other disciplines, and their personal life experiences, knowledge, and
beliefs. A study of pre-modern literature uniquely positions students to make
these connections, since they often find the material surprising, ‘different,’
and even shocking. The intensity of this reaction often helps students take a
step back to reexamine the specific ideas, assumptions, and representations
that prompted their reactions. I help them discover that behind the shocking ‘difference’
of older literature lie even more surprising similarities between older and
modern cultures. I love helping students make these connections, and below I
have outlined many of the ways I accomplish this.
In my classes we delve into literary texts in
discussion-intensive class sessions. As a starting point, I demonstrate my own
methods of critical reading and analysis and encourage my students to learn to think
about the process of thinking. I assure them we all think in different
ways, and that we all have the capacity to be thoughtful, productive scholars,
provided we take the time to learn habits of thinking and working that are
tailored specifically to our temperaments and multiple intelligences. I
encourage each student to use her or his personal strengths as assets in class,
and to turn perceived academic weaknesses into strengths through a thoughtful
analysis of ways to develop more constructive work habits. I dedicate my energy
to cultivating a judgment-free environment where everyone is encouraged to
contribute to an organic process of discussion and discovery, and believe that
many minds working together on a specific textual problem is an exciting
experience. I certainly find that a diverse class with students from different
backgrounds and perspectives yields some of the best discussions of all.
More about me:
other blogs:
Come to Galway and study abroad with me! I am offering a
course on Medieval Irish literature in Ireland this summer at the University of
Galway. You can enroll anytime before
May 2013.
Scholarly interests:
Work with me! If you have a research project in mind, run
it by me. You’d be surprised at the breadth of my interests. As a member of the
Honors faculty who strive to enhance and broaden all aspects of undergraduate
education, I am always available to facilitate special projects, scholarship,
and research.
Reading Groups:
Old English Reading Group
Middle English Reading
Group
If you are interested in joining one of these weekly
groups, email me!
UMaine Projects:
If you are interested in collaborating with me on any of
these projects, just contact me.
Special project: “Greening the Honors Curriculum”, and
ongoing collaboration with current Honors undergraduates with the aim of
helping focus the diverse material in 111 and
112 by exploring the human interaction with the natural world in the
chosen texts for the curriculum
Special Project: Ballad swap and Workshop
Special Project: Folklife Variety show
Special Project: Reader’s Theater: The Canterbury Tales
I have advised/sat on the committee for research projects
on:
Moby Dick, Horror Movies, Travel Blogging, Translation
projects, Optics, and Medieval hunting literature, among others.
Links to my research:
Ongoing work:
I am currently working on a book manuscript about the
landscape of outlawry in medieval English literature. Other ongoing projects
include a study of performance in Chaucer’s Legend
of Good Women, a study of disaster ballads in the Maritimes, an exploration
of the role of whales in the Norse Sagas, and a new interpretation of King
Nebuchadnezzar’s metamorphosis in the Old English poem Daniel. I am always looking for research assistants and
collaborators for these projects, so if you are interested in earning a little
money and learning about, say, whale beaching in Iceland, don’t hesitate to
contact me.
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