Category: 2023 New Faculty

Where did you live/work before coming to Western? 
Before Western I worked at UNLV in Las Vegas, Nevada. To quote Sheryl Crow, “Nowhere is far enough away.”

What is your area of specialty?
Some people call it creative nonfiction. I call it “the essay.” Most of them are Latin Americans making lives for themselves in a hemisphere decimated by the United States. 

What do you like so far about being at Western?
I love campus. I’ve held class or had students do writing exercises on some large concrete blocks overgrown with moss next to a community garden, in the arboretum, and in the art museum. I love being able to quickly dip into woods that feel like you’re really far out, while being a 10-minute walk from my office.

What stirs joy within you outside of your work?
Running around Bellingham, and when my kids (2 and 4) think out loud or talk to each other within earshot.

What is your secret “superpower”?  Tell us something that others may not know about you. 
I don’t know if it’s a superpower, but maybe it’s the closest quality to it that I have. I really “go for it,” in pieces of writing. Sometimes that means I go to Ciudad Juárez because I heard about a weird play, or I go into the Sonoran Desert to see our horrendously violent empire at work, or it could mean I try to write an essay that spans 500 years and covers things from the conquest of Mexico to the legal philosophy of intellectual property rights.

Where did you live/work before coming to Western? 
I lived right on the banks of the Mississippi River and taught at Southeast Missouri State University. And before the Midwest, I lived in the desert, growing up and teaching in Mesa, Arizona. 

What is your area of specialty?
I love being in English Education because I get to explore topics in a variety fields from literacy to young adult literature to writing studies. But at the core of my work, I am interested in how teachers can design classrooms and curriculum to be inclusive and sustaining for all students, especially students from underrepresented cultures and communities. 

What do you like so far about being at Western?
Where to begin? I enjoy commuting by the bay, walking on red bricks, and hiking the arboretum. I’m grateful for all the encouragement and support from amazing colleagues. And, it’s been a privilege to work with so many curious and hardworking students. 

What stirs joy within you outside of your work?
Definitely my little one. Even though she has more energy than I can ever possibly match, I love when she helps me make dinner and when we explore new places. She’s the reason I wake up in the morning, figuratively and literally. 

What is your secret “superpower”?  Tell us something that others may not know about you. 
If you were to ask my wife, she’d say my superpower is my memory. I have knack for remembering people, details, and moments. I’m also good at games like Monikers in which players have to remember specific cards. However, I always remember the times where I couldn’t remember something, so I’d say my superpower is cooking.