Degrees

PhD  English (2001) Oklahoma State University (Creative Writing & Critical Theory)
MA   English (1996) Northern Arizona University (Creative Writing)
BA    Telecommunications & Film (1991) University of Oregon

CERTIFICATIONS

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Experiential & Project-Based Learning
  • Higher Education Curriculum Development
  • Creative Writing, Screen Studies, Semiotics
  • Creativity & Innovation
  • Educational Technology

ADMINISTRATIVE Experience

DIRECTOR OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING| Southern Utah University (2014 to Present)

  • Director of SUU's campus-wide EDGE Project-Based learning program 
  • Design curriculum, IT infrastructure, communication strategy, and general operations
  • Plan assessment, program goals, and learning objectives
  • Align program to NSEE and LEAP standards
  • Promote program on campus, with employers, and in the community
  • Oversee operations of on-campus peer mentoring center

CREATIVITY & INNOVATION CENTER DIRECTOR | SUU (2010 to Present)

  • Set direction, priorities, and curriculum for creativity-based engaged learning center
  • Facilitate innovation in curriculum, workflows, and technology use on campus
  • Advocate for creativity as a key learning outcome
  • Catalog and optimize creative activities and opportunities on campus
  • Assist with change management strategies.
  • Curate annual TEDx event.

INTERIM COMPOSITION DIRECTOR | SUU (Jan-Aug 2003)

  • Administered composition program consisting of 10 faculty, 2 adjuncts, and four interns during a search for full-time replacement.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COMPOSITION | Oklahoma State University (1997-1999)

  • Trained and evaluated graduate teaching instructors
  • Facilitated peer mentoring groups
  • Assisted in day-to-day operations of 90+ section composition program
  • Developed on-line resources for students and instructors

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF TUTORING CENTER | Student Support Services, Northern Arizona University (1995-1996)

  • Hired, trained, and evaluated peer tutors in all subjects
  • Maintained tutor schedules | Approved and verified tutor payroll
  • Assisted in day-to-day operations of campus wide tutoring center
  • Assisted in study skills workshops and GRE workshops
  • Assisted in Student Support Services outreach activities.

INTERNSHIP & CURRICULUM DIRECTOR | YMCA Camp Orkila Environmental Education Facility, Orcas Island, WA (1993-1994)

  • Developed ecological and experiential education curriculum for grade school students
  • Trained, hired, and evaluated staff
  • Facilitated outreach, promotional, and recruiting programs on college campuses
  • Participated in national accreditation (American Camping Association reviews
  • Ran day-to-day operations of 109 acre outdoor learning facility
  • Trained high ropes course facilitators.

Faculty Experience

PROFESSOR | English Department | SUU (2003-2016)

Courses Taught:

  • Screen Aesthetics
  • Theory of Visual Narratives
  • Intermediate Fiction Writing
  • Advanced Fiction Writing
  • Intro. to Creative Writing
  • Science Fiction Literature
  • Literature  & Film

LECTURER | English Department | SUU  (2001-2002)

Courses Taught:

  • Introduction to Academic Writing
  • Intermediate Academic Writing 
  • Introduction to Literature and Culture

Books

  • It Needs to Look Like We Tried (Spring 2018) novel, Counterpoint Press. 
  • Dispensation (2010) the short story “Quietly” appears in this anthology.
  • Rift (2009) novel, Zarahemla Books.
  • Long After Dark (2006) short stories and a novella, Zarahemla Books.

Awards and Grants

  • SUU Trustee's Award of Excellence (2015) Southern Utah University
  • Experiential Education Program of the Year (2016) NSEE
  • Novel of the Year for Rift (2009) AML, Utah Valley University
  • SUU Outstanding Scholar (2008) Southern Utah University
  • $1000 Prize for Novel Rift (2008) Marilyn Brown Unpublished Novel Award
  • $68,000 Centennial Initiatives Grant (2008) National Parks Service
  • Artys Award (2007) Salt Lake Weekly for story collection Long After Dark
  • SUU Distinguished Educator (2007) Southern Utah University
  • OSU Fiction Award (2001) for the short story “Everyone Else”
  • AWP Intro Award (1998) for the poem “The Cost of Angular Momentum”

Fiction Publications

  • “Speculationizing” Sunstone (September 2010) pp. 45-47
  • “Saved” Hobart Online (March 2005) unpaginated 
  • “Camouflage,” Wisconsin Review (Fall 2003) pp. 34-37
  • “Now and at The Hour of Our Death,” Dialogue (Summer 2003 36.2) pp. 134-141
  • “Redeeming the Dead,” Sunstone (December 2002) pp. 50-53
  • “The Sad Truth of His Desire,” Sunstone (July 2002) pp. 48-51
  • “Parables From the New World” Tailwind (2002) pp. 16-38
  • “Socorro, NM,” Weber Studies (Spring 2002) pp. 100-103
  • “Plymouth, UT,” Weber Studies (Spring 2002) pp. 104-105
  • “Thorsen’s Angle,” Sunstone (November 2001) pp. 44-45
  • “The Tonto Drive-in Theater,” Cream City Review (Summer 2001) pp. 26-27
  • “Long After Dark,” Irreantum (Summer 2000) pp. 24-29
  • “The Charity of Silence,” Dialogue (Spring 2000) pp. 171-180

Poetry Publications

  • “Still Life with Unwashed Dishes,” Broadsheet, Iron County Poets Folio (Jan 2005)
  • “Ode to the Incredible Hulk,” Third Coast (Spring 1999) p. 36
  • “Ode to the Human Torch,” Third Coast (Spring 1999) pp. 37-38
  • “One Method of Hope,” Dialogue (Fall 1998) p. 123
  • “The Cost of Angular Momentum,” Mid-American Review (Fall 1998) p. 126
  • “Omak Before the Thunder,” The Climber’s Art (Fall 1995) p. 77

Collaborations AND EXPERIMENTS

  • Book Chapter with Dr. Kyle Bishop “From the Earth to Poe to the Moon” Adapting Poe: Re-Imaginings in International and Popular Culture. Eds. Dennis Perry and Carl Sederholm. Palgrave/Macmillan (Aug 2012).
  • Gallery Show with painter Jennifer Rasmusson at A-Gallery Salt Lake City, Utah (Oct 2009).
  • Illustrated Short Story with designer Paula Airth “The Train is Coming to Town” Hobart (Issue 7 2007) pp. 115-133.
  • Interactive New Media Piece with designer David Richardson “The Girl Next Door” (2006).

Book REVIEWS

  • "Contract With God Trilogy," Rain Taxi (Fall 2006)
  • "Wimbledon Green: World Greatest Comic Collector," Rain Taxi 11:1 (Spring 2006)
  • "Lost Dogs," Rain Taxi 11:1 (Spring 2006)
  • "Epileptic," Rain Taxi 10:2 (Summer 2005)
  • "You Can’t Get There From Here," Rain Taxi 10:1 (Spring 2005)

EVENTS AND PERFORMANCES

  • Local Writer’s Series The King’s English, Salt Lake City, Utah (April, 2009)
  • Brigham Young University Writer’s Series, Provo, Utah (March 2008)
  • Northern Arizona Festival of the Book, Flagstaff, Arizona (April 2007)
  • City Arts Reading Series, Salt Lake City Main Library (Sept 13, 2006) 
  • SUU’s Writing Conference for Teachers and Students, Cedar City, UT (Oct. 2005)
  • Utah Arts Council-Sponsored Reading, Cedar City, UT (Feb. 2003)

ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS

  • "From the iPhone to the Cinématographe: The Non-Narrative Origins of Digital Video" Popular Culture Association of the South (October 2014)
  • “Flat Screens and Full Characters: World Building in Battlestar Galactica and Lost.” RMMLA Alburquerque, NM (October 2010)
  • “From Robin Hood to Danny Ocean: Theft as Restorative Transgression” RMMLA Salt Lake (October 2009)
  • “Fidelity, Blending, and Effacement: Three Theories of TransformingSource Texts into Cinematic Adaptations” ACA/PCA Boston (April 2007)
  • “Powers and Potency: The Resurrection of the Superhero Film In a Post-9/11 Cultural Economy” Annual Meeting of the American and Popular Culture Associations (ACA/PCA), Atlanta, GA (April, 2006)
  • “Toward Closing the Rift: Teaching Writing & Graphic Design through Collaborative, Interactive Projects,” Co-Authored with Dave Richardson (SUU), 2005 Design Educator’s Summit, Nashville, TN (Aug. 2005)
  • Narratology and the New ‘Rhetoric of Fiction’,” Associated Writing Programs (AWP), Vancouver, BC, Canada (Apr. 2005)
  • “Celluloid Orphans: A Survey of Three Genres Endemic to Cinema,” Far West Popular Culture & American Culture Association Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV (Feb. 2005) 
  • “Avant Noir: Crime and Hipsterism in Pacific Northwest Film and Television,” Western Literature Association (WLA),  Big Sky, MT (Oct. 2004)
  • “Service Learning in Creative Writing Instruction,” AWP, Chicago, Ill (Mar. 2004)
  • “Talking About the Weather, or Why Don’t We: An Informal Session on Weather, Culture, and ASLE,” Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE), Flagstaff, AZ (Jun. 2001)
  • “Philosophical Discourse in Cormac McCarthy’s Narratives,” Cormac McCarthy Society Annual Conference, Austin, TX (Nov. 2000)
  • “Drizzle: Representations of Weatherscape in Pacific Northwest Literature,” WLA, Norman, OK (Oct. 2000)

editorial experience

Co-Creator Satirical Web Zine (2002-2004) The Sugar Beet 

  • On-line and print satire monthly, independent humor magazine.
  • Art direction and Illustration | Coding of site and maintenance of archive | Managed 10 staff writers and 2 illustrators | Approximately 11,000 unique online sessions per month

Associate Editor Literary Quarterly (1999-2001) The Cimarron Review, Oklahoma State University

  • Art direction, design, and typography
  • Managed financials, submissions, subscriptions, and distribution
  • Created subscription, submission, and income ACCESS Database
  • Earned the designation as one of Writers Digest’s 2001 “Fiction 50” selections

Founding/Managing Editor Literary Semi-Annual (1994-1996) Thin Air Magazine, Northern Arizona University

  • Art Direction, design, and typography
  • Created editorial framework and submission tracking structures
  • Filed for and gained 501 (c) 3 non-profit status
  • Raised and managed funds for launch of the magazine
  • This magazine is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this year.

Hard Skills

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS  Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, MS Office, iWork
COMMUNICATION Writing, Media Releases, Public Speaking, Editing, Research, Document Design
MEDIA PRODUCTION Basic Audio/Video Production, Whiteboard Animation, Social Media, Blogging
CREATIVE Photography, Digital Imaging, Design, Illustration/Cartooning.