The interwoven subjects I research and teach about—the Internet and other media, performance, especially dance, and popular culture—are often undervalued in society, economically, and in the academy, in no small part due to their often marginalized creators and their connection to youth culture. However, they are extremely important as complex sites of inequality as well as resistance and innovation; without considering them, we cannot accurately understand the power systems within which they operate. Given this, I believe the inclusion of these practices in curricula is essential to an inclusive and comprehensive academy.

When I teach, I aim to create an accessible and inclusive environment where students learn from each other as well as from me, and gain critical tools and empathy along with the factual information that undergird them. Through my teaching career I have learned the importance of helping students to recognize the knowledges and competencies they already possess, in addition to cultivating new literacies, and providing tools for political analysis and critique.

In addition to its inherent value, the study of media, performance, and their creators is a way to engage students in understanding and critiquing the larger systems of power within which all human actions operate, and the ways that power is communicated and disrupted. I believe working at the levels of formal, contextual, and political analysis together can disrupt established narratives, make clear the politics of representation and economics, and help students imagine the world and the people in it more complexly.

Teaching Experience

The Ohio State University Department of Dance

Instructor

2015           “Dance in Global Contexts.” Two terms. Undergraduate cultural analysis.

2011-2014 “Dance in American Popular Culture.” Eight terms. Undergraduate history.

Course Development

2014           Development of online course and textbook for “Dance in American Popular Culture” with Kelly Klein, under Dr. Harmony Bench.

2012           Adaptation of “Dance in American Popular Culture” to semester format from quarters, addition of 21st century practices, critical theoretical readings.

Teaching Assistant

2016           “Writing about Dance”; “Dance in American Popular Culture” Online

2014           “Dance in Global Contexts”

Trainings

2015           The Ohio State University Teaching Orientation Facilitator “Designing Assignments and Exams” University Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

2015           The Ohio State University Teaching Orientation Facilitator “Designing Assignments and Exams” University Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Invited Lectures/Guest Teaching

2020           “Internet (Popular) Screendance.” Dance in Film course. Department of Dance, Barnard University, New York, NY, 23 April. Zoom.

2018           “Commercial Use of Web-Native Dance and Video Genres.“ Hip-Hop Dance course, Department of Dance. Hunter College, New York, NY, 29 Nov.

2015           “The Flapper (1920) and Twenties Teenage Culture” in Women, Hollywood, and Film course, Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 29 January.

2013           Workshop on the Madison Line Dance, After-school program, Arts and College Preparatory Academy, Columbus OH, 25 Oct.

2013           “B-boying and the Birth of Hip-Hop Culture, South Bronx 1975-1985.” In Music History course, Capital University. Bexley, OH, 5 April.

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