
Alan-Michael (AM)
Certified Tutor
I'm from rural Southern Virginia, having grown up in a low-class family. As the first in my bio-fam to go on to not only college but to now nearly finish a PhD, I feel especially attuned to helping low-class folks gain access to higher education in ways that don't replicate the long-standing history of having systemically blocked them out. Moreover, I am openly queer and am attentive to the ways that educational spaces have been a complicated site for queer students as both havens and hells. Therefore, I love working with all students but especially queer and low-class students in helping them navigate a terrain that was simply not built for them. At base, I'm passionate about helping students get the educational resources they need to succeed while also addressing the historical power involved in their access to that knowledge.
My education has taken me from a double Bachelors in French and Spanish Languages and Literatures at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. all the way to the University of Washington-Seattle for a Masters in Comparative Literature and now a PhD in Comparative Literature, Cinema, and Media.
In terms of what I teach and tutor, my experience and expertise are varied. I generally teach undergraduates and adult learners; however, I'm interested in working with younger students. While I have taught and still love to teach French and Spanish language at various levels, my specialty is really working with cultural production (literary and filmic) and its relationship to the development of racial capitalism. In other words, I look at how cultural products have been critical sites of both resistance for minoritized folks and tools for those in power. Representation, after all, is so crucial to how one conceives of a group of people, their histories, and their struggles. Perhaps my favorite thing to teach is literary and filmic analysis as I love critically reading, watching, and analyzing narrative works. French and Spanish language are a definite second, because understanding another language helps to see how your own shapes your reality and has also been used to gain power.
Apart from my nerdiness in academia, I'm a huge social butterfly and all-around extrovert! I love being social with folks, either out a restaurant, bar, gathering etc. I love a good joke and well-timed, witty punextra points for great roasts. I also enjoy cooking, rpg video games on my PS4, and mainly quality time with those around me.
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Undergraduate Degree: Christopher Newport University - Bachelor in Arts, Foreign Languages and Literatures, General
Graduate Degree: University of Washington-Seattle Campus - Doctor of Philosophy, Foreign Languages and Literatures, General
My interests are as ranged as a curious child: I love learning about nearly anything. I'm an avid reader of philosophy (both natural and in metaphysics) as well as scholars that work in Queer of Color Critique. One of my all-time favorite things to do is watch great narrative shows with friends. Both Westworld and True Blood are definitely faves of mine. I also work out quite regularly and am currently tackling an intermittent fast.
- Academic Coaching
- AP French
- AP French Language and Culture
- AP Spanish Literature and Culture
- College English
- Conversational French
- Conversational Spanish
- English
- English Grammar and Syntax
- ESL/ELL
- Essay Editing
- French
- French 1
- French 2
- French 3
- French 4
- GED Prep
- GED Reasoning Through Language Arts
- Graduate Test Prep
- GRE Analytical Writing
- Languages
- Other
- Public Speaking
- Spanish
- Spanish 1
- Spanish 2
- Spanish 3
- Spanish 4
- Study Skills
- Study Skills and Organization
- Test Prep
- Writing