Why HSE
On top of having taught College Composition for the past fifteen years, I also have a high school teaching credential and background in linguistics and language acquisition. I like the fact that HSE allows me to draw from my full background to teach students the more foundational skills of writing college essays.
Themes
I use topics that would be of interest to students in sociology, psychology, anthropology, nursing, medicine, and even architecture, film, and anime. Generally, the categories are broad enough that students can bring their own interests to the topics themselves.
Writing Examples
In keeping with my emphasis on Writing Across the Curriculum, we write the kinds of texts that students will be asked to write for their other courses: thesis-driven papers, original analyses, annotated bibliographies, and literature reviews. Because I am also a librarian, I place a strong emphasis on students being able to write for their college disciplines by synthesizing multiple academic sources. Thus, I emphasize how the research process directly applies to the writing process.
Personal Interests
I joined a punk band when I worked at MiraCosta bookstore in the early 90s. My current project is an all-original 80s punk band that plays regularly in SD. I also love film, and have an extensive knowledge writer/directors, and have written a couple of screenplays myself (for fun). My academic interests include critical theory, trauma and narrative recollection, and the rhetorics of space/architecture.
