Courses Taught at Umbra
Italy of the Imagination: Creative Non-Fiction
Contemporary Italian Literature in Translation
Credentials
B.A. in English, Goucher College, Baltimore, MD. M.A. in Creative Writing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. Ph.D in English and Writing, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.
Teaching Philosophy
I believe that through writing one has the opportunity to integrate all facets of experience and make it truly one’s own. At a certain point the inner light and inner force that guides the writing is the teacher and therefore my role in the classroom becomes privileged witness.
Positive Umbra Experience
There are no boring papers to read because there are no bored students, at least in this study abroad program: weekly essays seem the cliff-hanging next chapters in an incredible adventure story and, as we all gather in the classroom to share our stories, the writing itself takes on a life of its own.
Favorite Quote
“A writer is not so much someone who has something to say as he is someone who has found a process that will bring about new things he would not have thought of if he had started to say them” – William Stafford, Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart