Welcome statement (teaching/research/personal interests): Towards the end of my time in graduate school, I made a decision to pursue my interests in comparative cultural expression outside the usual academic framework, a choice that led to the abandonment of my doctoral studies and the beginning of a period of many years traveling and residing in various parts of Europe and Asia. In that sense, I have been something of an intellectual outrider, learning and teaching where opportunities presented themselves, but seeing the relative rootlessness of my professional life as an invitation to explore some of the aspects of my interest in different cultures more directly. It is this experience that I hope informs my approach to the study of literature and my encouragement of students’ own efforts to “find their way” across cultural boundaries in what they read.

Current and Recent Courses: English 110, English 120

Dream or Future Courses: Understanding and Misunderstanding in East-West Literary Portrayals (comparative readings from Asian and European literature); Satire as Social Rite (comparative readings from Aristophanes to Günter Grass); The Fable through Time.