I spent my undergraduate years at Whitman College, where I focused on dramatic literature. I also have an MA in history from Portland State University, which I used as a stepping stone into a PhD program at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom. A few years after I obtained my doctorate in early modern history, I went through the teacher training program at Lewis and Clark College and earned an MA in teaching.
I am passionate about teaching the humanities, especially history, psychology and literature. I am equally passionate about teaching the skills each of these disciplines requires for mastery: critical thinking; reading and comprehension strategies; academic writing and effective research methods. My areas of expertise include American and European history (as well as historiography). I specialize in political and military history, and my interests touch upon issues such as conflict and warfare, colonialism, technology, social psychology and religion. I have taught a wide range of subjects, including British history, Reformation history and Western Civilization at the college level. My secondary education teaching experience includes AP European history, AP Psychology, AP US history, government, economics, global history and 9th-grade history for English Language Learners.
I am also fluent in Latin, both medieval and classical, and because of that, I was able to learn French very quickly. I have tutored Latin to both college and high school students, and I have taught French to first year students as well as AP students.
I believe that learning is an idiosyncratic process, and I believe every person has the right to an education that complements their individual needs. As such, I try to see my students as a whole picture, so I can cater to their strengths while helping them where they might struggle. With new students, I assess their initial basic knowledge so that together we can map where each student needs to go. This approach results in a plan that caters to each student's distinctive learning style.
When not teaching, I love to get out of the city and into the outdoors. You can often find me camping in the mountains, fishing the lakes of the central Oregon Cascades or hiking the trails of the Columbia River Gorge. The city dweller in me does like the occasional day in town, whether its perusing book stores or seeing live music.