As one of this year’s brand new TA Consultants, I’m excited to plunge into the work of supporting other educators here at UC Davis. Teaching has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my graduate career both here at UC Davis and at the University of Montana. It has also been one of the most challenging. I have probably encountered (or caused) just about every classroom issue you could imagine. Fortunately, I have benefited from excellent teaching mentors who have helped me to learn from these experiences, and I’m constantly seeking ways to improve my teaching. The more I learn about teaching, the more I enjoy it. I look forward to sharing this enthusiasm with other graduate students.

In addition to being a TAC, I’m a PhD candidate in the department of English with a Designated Emphasis in Native American Studies. I’m particularly interested in nineteenth-century American literatures and Native American literatures. My dissertation explores literary expressions of alternative nationalisms in the nineteenth-century United States, focusing on some of the different ways that nineteenth-century writers imagined the future of the space now occupied by the United States.

When I’m not teaching, reading, or working on my dissertation, you can usually find me outside. I love to explore California’s mountains, valleys, and coastlines.