My research interests stem from a number of related but sometimes incongruous sources: my on-going discovery of the "secret" cultural history of the U.S. brought about by the work of multicultural and feminist scholars; my experiences as a teacher and the introduction to critical pedagogical theory I received as grad student while training to teach English composition classes; the various revolutions within the field of critical theory over the last thirty years; my committment to education as a form of progressive political action; my love of popular culture, particularly pop music, TV and the movies, that is the heritage of my suburban upbringing; the sense of otherness, both good and bad, that comes from being a working class kid entering the world of academia. In a way, my work as a scholar has been to create a coherent world view out of the mix of these interests.

During my time at Northern Kentucky University, I have focused on issues related to the development of a multicultural pedagogy for the study of American literature, one that borrows insights and theories from cultural studies and compositon theory to come up with a more holistic, student-centered approach to the study of how language has worked and works in American social, cultural and poltical history. I hope these interests are reflected both in the classes I teach and the writing and editing I do. Here are some of my current projects:

Editing the Instructor's Guide to the Heath Anthology of American Literature

Writing a composition textbook forHoughton Mifflin entitled Text Messaging

Writing about The Simpsons and political satire in the new media age

Media Me

Radio Sound Bites

Here are examples of me in my alter ego as media expert:

Newspaper Stories

I have been consulted as a media expert several times by Misty Harris, a writer for the CanWest news service. Some examples:

 

This page last modified July 2, 2008