At Niagara University, I teach courses that range from the English department’s general education course (ENG110) to a survey of American literature (ENG201) to courses on literary methods like aesthetic theory (ENG260) and disability studies (ENG360). I also have more than a decade of experience teaching composition/first-year writing.
ENG110 (Literary Perspectives): "BODY POLITICS"
In this general education course students answer questions about how the body is politicized in relation to identity: how do identities mark bodies? How do bodies shape identities? Students explore this process of politicization by studying how contemporary literature and film represent the ways in which individual bodies identified as different come into conflict with institutions and larger structures. Topics include the policing of Black bodies, the medicalization of female bodies, and the incarceration of queer and ethnic bodies. Students leave this course with a better understanding of how the study of literature can contribute to the most pressing political issues of our times: from police brutality to reproductive rights to prison abolition.
In this general education course students answer questions about how the body is politicized in relation to identity: how do identities mark bodies? How do bodies shape identities? Students explore this process of politicization by studying how contemporary literature and film represent the ways in which individual bodies identified as different come into conflict with institutions and larger structures. Topics include the policing of Black bodies, the medicalization of female bodies, and the incarceration of queer and ethnic bodies. Students leave this course with a better understanding of how the study of literature can contribute to the most pressing political issues of our times: from police brutality to reproductive rights to prison abolition.
ENG201 (Studies in American Literature): "DISABILITY AND IDENTITY IN AMERICAN LITERATURE"
In this survey of American literature (1880s to present) students learn about the role that identity plays in the medical treatment of marginalized people with disabilities. Students begin by historicizing disability, drawing parallels between how Americans with disabilities have been treated in the past and present. They then explore the politics of disability, studying how Americans with disabilities have organized to oppose their stigmatization and segregation from medical treatment. Finally, they learn about the “social model” of disability to imagine ways to accommodate disability in their communities and the built environment. Students leave this course with a better understanding of how disability has been represented in literature, how those representations relate to the lives of actual people experiencing disability, and how those lives might be bettered through political action.
In this survey of American literature (1880s to present) students learn about the role that identity plays in the medical treatment of marginalized people with disabilities. Students begin by historicizing disability, drawing parallels between how Americans with disabilities have been treated in the past and present. They then explore the politics of disability, studying how Americans with disabilities have organized to oppose their stigmatization and segregation from medical treatment. Finally, they learn about the “social model” of disability to imagine ways to accommodate disability in their communities and the built environment. Students leave this course with a better understanding of how disability has been represented in literature, how those representations relate to the lives of actual people experiencing disability, and how those lives might be bettered through political action.
ENG260 (Methods of Literary Study): "AESTHETICS AND CAPITALISM"
In this literary methods course students learn how to read the relationship between aesthetics and capitalism. Students begin by considering foundational accounts of aesthetics and capitalism by Immanuel Kant and Karl Marx, respectively. They then turn to how capitalism has come to influence aesthetics, examining whether it is still possible for the avant-garde to oppose, what Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer refer to as, the "culture industry." They finally engage with theorizations of aesthetics during our time of too late capitalism, specifically Sianne Ngai's conceptualization of the "ugly feeling" of envy as allowing for a recognition of class inequality and Anna Kornbluh's theorization of art today as participating in capitalism's demand for "immediacy." Students leave this course with a better understanding of how aesthetics (and they) might yet (and most effectively) oppose participation in capitalism.
In this literary methods course students learn how to read the relationship between aesthetics and capitalism. Students begin by considering foundational accounts of aesthetics and capitalism by Immanuel Kant and Karl Marx, respectively. They then turn to how capitalism has come to influence aesthetics, examining whether it is still possible for the avant-garde to oppose, what Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer refer to as, the "culture industry." They finally engage with theorizations of aesthetics during our time of too late capitalism, specifically Sianne Ngai's conceptualization of the "ugly feeling" of envy as allowing for a recognition of class inequality and Anna Kornbluh's theorization of art today as participating in capitalism's demand for "immediacy." Students leave this course with a better understanding of how aesthetics (and they) might yet (and most effectively) oppose participation in capitalism.
ENG360 (Literary Criticism): "INTRODUCTION TO DISABILITY STUDIES"
In this literary methods course students are introduced to the field of disability studies. Students begin by reading foundational thinkers of disability and becoming familiar with key concepts in the field. They then learn how to theorize the intersectionality of disability: they are introduced to “feminist disability studies” before then studying how race has been integrated into this framework. They end by exploring the value and limits of understanding disability as socially constructed, considering how the representation and naming of disability relate to the material realities of being bodily and mentally disabled. Throughout the semester students place theoretical readings in conversation with American literature and art of various genres from the past century. Students leave this course with a better understanding of how attending to the representation of disability can inform political action in working toward a more justly structured world.
In this literary methods course students are introduced to the field of disability studies. Students begin by reading foundational thinkers of disability and becoming familiar with key concepts in the field. They then learn how to theorize the intersectionality of disability: they are introduced to “feminist disability studies” before then studying how race has been integrated into this framework. They end by exploring the value and limits of understanding disability as socially constructed, considering how the representation and naming of disability relate to the material realities of being bodily and mentally disabled. Throughout the semester students place theoretical readings in conversation with American literature and art of various genres from the past century. Students leave this course with a better understanding of how attending to the representation of disability can inform political action in working toward a more justly structured world.