Teaching

The instructors who inspired me all held two contradictory traits: intentions for my learning (preparation) and a willingness to pursue my learning when it differed from those intentions (improvisation). I strive for this balance between improvisation and preparation. As an instructor, I have intentions and outcomes, yet I must respond to the unpredictable learning that occurs.

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

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My students have ranged from undergraduates, military personnel in outreach programs, to retirees and seniors pursuing personal development. I enjoy this range. My primary areas of teaching interest include:

  • Nineteenth & Twentieth Century literature in English (British, Irish, American, & Canadian)
  • Opera and musical theatre (Restoration through Twentieth Century)
  • Editing, Typography, and Bibliography
  • Interdisciplinary studies (Media Studies, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, opera, & music)
  • The novel (18th century to contemporary)
  • Poetry (Modern American, British, Irish, and Canadian, as well as traditional survey)
  • Colonial, Postcolonial, Travel, & 'place' literature (fiction & creative non-fiction)
  • Digital Humanities
  • Essay writing, academic writing, creative writing, & composition (academic, creative, business, & professional)

In 2006, I was awarded the Faculty of Arts Graduate Student Teaching Award at the University of Alberta. I've also taught (and enjoy teaching) grammar, writing, and editing courses for university staff, including a major component on the University of Alberta's style guide and the Canadian Press Style Guide (the standard format for post-secondary and governmental administration).

Courses and Resources:

Selected Guest Lectures:

  • "'Oil for the Saint': Touring Corfu and Subverting the Colonial Landscape." Lecture. Durrell School of Corfu. Corfu, Greece, 23 Jun. 2003.

  • "Conrad's 'The Secret Sharer' & Durrell's 'Oil for the Saint': Colonial Landscapes." Guest Lecture. English 101. University of Alberta, Department of English. Edmonton, 29 May 2003.

  • "Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Uncertainty, Freud and Nietzsche." Guest Lecture. English 101. University of Alberta, Department of English. Edmonton, 23 Jul. 2002.

  • "Lawrence Durrell's Balthazar: Metaphysical Speculation and Sexual Curiosity in The Alexandria Quartet." Guest Lecture. English 366: British Literature from 1945. University of Alberta, Department of English. Edmonton, 3 Apr. 2001.

  • "Lawrence Durrell's 'Asylum in the Snow': The Move to Modernism." Guest Lecture. English 101. University of Alberta, Department of English. Edmonton, 16 Feb. 2001.

  • "Keats and Negative Capability: Letters and 'Ode to a Nightingale.'" Guest Lecture. English 101. University of Alberta, Department of English. Edmonton, 8 Jan. 2001.

  • "Deconstructing History: Relating the Medieval Romance to T.S. Eliot, Lawrence Durrell and Umberto Eco." Guest Lecture. Humanities 305: The Chivalric Ideal. Simon Fraser University, Department of Humanities. Burnaby, 26 May. 2000.

  • "Telemann and His Circle." Pre-concert Lecture. Le Ton Beau de Telemann. Kammermusik. Vancouver, 27 & 28 Feb. & 1 Mar. 1998.

  • "Music, Emotion and Meaning." Pre-concert Lecture. If On A Winters Night A Traveller. Kammermusik. Vancouver, 13, 14 & 19 Dec. 1997.

  • "The Business of Music: Creating Venues, Fundraising and Solicitation." Lecture. Kwantlen University College, Department of Music. Langley, 12 Nov. 1997.

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Page Created: December 17, 2001 | Last Updated: 17 February 2012