Biography

I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. After high school I moved to New Mexico to attend college. After graduation I moved to Monterey, California, then to Illinois where I attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  

Interests

I competed in various sports including soccer, lacrosse, and martial arts. I gravitated to mountain biking and initially competed in the mid-Atlantic region with a regional team. I later competed in both road and mountain biking through collegiate cycling and regional teams. Some of my most fond memories are racing in Mexico, throughout the southwest, rocky mountain region, and the Pacific Northwest.  

 I ran the California International Marathon in Sacramento, and have competed in several triathlons; my favorite being the Polar Bear Triathlon held around Christmas in NM, and finished a 1/2 Ironman in Illinois.

In Illinois, I began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Jack McVicker. Since arriving in North Dakota, I started boxing, at Calavera Martial Arts & Boxing. 

Work

At the University of Illinois I worked as a research assistant, practicum supervisor, and taught several courses including advanced composition. 

I served on the editorial review board for Educational Theory and currently serve as an editor for Humanities & Social Sciences-Net.

I held a position in the Instructional Development Programs with The Center for Teaching Excellence where I worked on IDEALS, the creative commons at the University of Illinois.

I was a Crimson Scholar making the Dean’s List throughout college. I earned certification in ‘Criticism and Interpretive Theory’ through the English Department at the University of Illinois. I was awarded the 2005-2006 University Fellowship and received a Certificate of Achievement in Research from the Community of Scholars in 2006.

My research topics range from the impact of our conception of human intelligence, to new media, the emergence of the modern research university. My primary focus is philosophy and US history.

My work has been published in the World History Encyclopedia, Education Review, NEOAMERICANIST, The History of Education Quarterly, and The Journal of Curriculum Studies.

My current book manuscript titled, The Dawn of Idiocy: Abnormality as the Norm of Human Intelligence, centers on the science of human intelligence through psychiatric history to examine how this concept shaped notions of merit and ability. 

My academic affiliations include the Philosophy of Education Society, The John Dewey Society, Centre for Rhetorics & Hermeneutics, and International Association for the Study of Environment, Space, & Place.

I present at many conferences. I chaired the "Tangible Memory and Cognition" seesion for Thinking Affect - Memory, Language, and Cognition at the Beckman Institute and served as chair for the “Creating Identities through Education” session at the History of Education Society annual meeting.

My current position includes teaching, grant writing, and research.