Ph.D., Purdue University
M.A., Southern Oregon University
B.A., University of California at Berkeley

I was born in San Francisco into a large, multi-talented and highly theatrical family, attended the University of California at Berkeley where, as a journalism major, I experienced first hand and hands-on what my students like to call “The Day,” and then worked for a number of years as a free-lance writer and a journalist on alternative magazines and public radio with occasional forays into public relations and local theater. Eventually, I found my way back to academia.

I earned a joint Masters in English and history at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, a city which boasts an extraordinarily fine Shakespeare company. I then pursued my doctorate at Purdue University, delving into medieval and early modern British literature and history, Japanese film treatments of Shakespeare, and linguistics. My dissertation on late-fifteenth century British drama proved a fascinating exercise in studying transitional epochs in popular theater, political thought, and cultural mores.

Before coming to USI in August of 2004, I was an itinerant professor, teaching some unforgettable students at Purdue, Michigan State, and the University of Puget Sound. Today, with all this history behind me, and with my own two darling children graduated from Purdue and all grown up, I am happily ensconced here: encountering new faces, new ideas, new colleagues, new students. And trying to make sense of it all!

Phone:  465-1258

Office:  OC3042