Ph.D. in English Literature | Department of English | Rice University
As most allegorical tales of triumph conclude, mine began with passing through some imposing iron gates. Arriving at those austere and figurative portae to knowledge at Columbia University was a surreal experience on the afternoon of Sunday, February 16.
In the time since my virtual defense in April, I've been returning to research and literature on pedagogy, writing studies, and the combination of the two—a field of study that I'm returning to after a long hiatus. It's been a pleasure to return to this work as I rethink my goals and values as a …
Continue reading "Reclaiming the Blank Page: Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom’s writing strategies"
Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels.com As COVID-19 continues to disrupt our lives, I've frequently returned to Neil Gaiman's post about imposter syndrome that originally began making the rounds in 2017. Gaiman describes running into Neil Armstrong and having the following conversation: I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment …
Like so many significant events throughout the history of the Western world, my humanities moment begins on the banks of the River Tiber in Rome.
"The emotional side is something that first-generation students have to deal with by themselves because there might not be someone that can understand them."
In a literature classroom it can be easy to lose sight of the "so what" of the course's broader impact within not only students' undergraduate experience, but also the trajectory of their professional careers. But as instructors in literary studies are acutely aware, a student's exposure to reading literature in class has real-world impact: it may be the …
