Academic Bio
I graduated from UCLA in 2002 with a Ph.D. in Medieval European History. I wrote my dissertation on contact between Britain/England and Gaul/Francia between the 4th and 7th centuries, mainly looking at individuals who crossed the British Channel and why they did so. This period of history is often referred to as the “Dark Ages” because we don’t have a lot of written sources. The most famous person from this region is King Arthur—who may or may not have been a real person, we just don’t have enough evidence to say one way or the other!
I’ve been teaching history at North Hennepin Community College since the Fall of 2002. At this point, I’ve taught nearly every course in our catalog, except for the second half of US History. Beginning Fall of 2018, I added a teaching credential in English, so I also occasionally teach College Writing in the English department.
In addition to teaching, I serve as Co-Editor In-Chief of The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe. I’m also the treasurer for the American Society for Medieval Irish Studies (ASIMS) and I maintain the backside of their website.
If you’d like to see my full academic bio (also known as a CV or curriculum vitae, I’ve posted it here). My Teaching Philosophy is here.
A Bit More Personal
My Background
I’m pretty much a first generation college graduate. My father did not finish high school and served in the Navy in Aviation Ordinance (so we moved around several times growing up). My mother earned her AA and AS in Dental Assisting when I was 11 or so. I’m the first person on either side of the family to have advanced degrees. I grew up working-class poor, but because my mother took me to the library a lot as a child, I developed a strong love of reading, which is where I learned how to speak and act white middle class—at least enough to do well in school.
I’ve been married since 1994, and I had both of my kids while I was a student. For a while, I worked as the administrative assistant at the daycare my kids attended (being an employee got me a 50% discount, which made minimal daycare affordable, just barely). My husband and I maxed out our student loans and worked multiple jobs in order to support a family of four.
Fast Forward to Now
I like to keep busy, and I have many different interests and hobbies. In 2017, I went back to school to work on a Masters in Educational Technology, which I completed Fall 2019. In 2018, I began working on a Certificate for Teaching Writing, which I completed Spring 2020, and a Masters in English Literature, which I completed Summer 2020. A lot of what I’ve learned in these programs is showing up in my teaching in exciting ways.
As for hobbies, I’m an avid reader of fantasy novels and Japanese manga. I dabble a bit in writing fan-fiction, and when I have time, I enjoy playing console RPGs (mainly the Final Fantasy series). For a while I was intensely into the MMORPG Guild Wars (I still log in once a week to complete a random quest and maintain my status as Guild Leader).
A somewhat related hobby to gaming is web coding. I enjoy creating websites from scratch or customizing WordPress, and I spend a lot of time playing with HTML and PHP. There’s a feeling of intense satisfaction when your code does exactly what you want it to do!
Completely unrelated to gaming and web coding, I also enjoy crocheting and knitting. It’s an activity that keeps my mind focused when I’m sitting in meetings or listening to speakers at conferences. I’m a big believer in keeping the hands engaged to keep the mind focused and attentive!
My final hobby is competitive ballroom dancing with my husband. We typically spend a couple hours at the studio five or six times a week, and we specialize in the nine competitive American ballroom dances: waltz, tango, foxtrot, Viennese waltz, cha cha, rumba, swing, bolero, and mambo. We perform in several exhibitions each year, and we typically compete in at least one competition a year. Because ballroom gowns are EXPENSIVE, I’ve also spent considerable time learning how to make my own. The actual sewing of the dress is pretty straight forward and quick. The thing that takes the most time is attaching all the embellishments! My daughter helps me design patterns for attaching rhinestones, as well as gluing them on. I have to confess, there’s something incredibly relaxing about gluing rhinestones onto spandex!