Academic Experience

Schools

  • Georgetown University, Master of Arts – Communication, Culture, and Technology (2019-2022)
    • Before enrolling in this MA program, I had always thought that I would end up continuing my education exclusively in the study of literature. When I saw this program, and its merge of communication-culture-technology, I instantly knew that in actuality, this was the kind of program I wanted to be in. I still study literature to an extent, but here, I’ve been able to develop an expansive skillset that’s transferable between the professional environment and the academic one. Here, I’ve been able to really focus on my desire to merge the entirety of my experiences into a single cohesive whole.
  • George Mason, Master of Arts – English Literature (2016-2017, Incomplete)
  • California Baptist University, Certificate – Disability Sensitivity (2015)
  • Advanced Studies in England, Study Abroad (2014)
  • University of Mary Washington, Bachelor of Science – Economics & English Literature (2011-2014)
  • Fork Union Military Academy, Advanced Studies Diploma (2009-2011)

Conference Papers

  • “Your Message Here: Guts Glory Copy Paste,” The Douglas Coupland Conference, Online, April 23rd-24th, 2021
    • This paper, which was truly a labor of love, began as a blog post that I wrote for Professor Martin Irvine’s CCTP-802 course “Art and Media Interfaced.” That blog simultaneously shrunk and grew into what I ultimately presented at the first Douglas Coupland Conference. Having my work selected for presentation meant a great deal to me, so I blogged about it here.

Panels

  • “Aesthetics” with Dr. Andrew Tate (Chair), Dr. Joseph Kickasola, Dr. Linda Levitt, and Dr. Declan Lloyd, The Douglas Coupland Conference, Online, April 23rd-24th, 2021

The Thematic Development of My Academic Work

Below you will find several projects that I worked on during my undergraduate and graduate school studies. As I read through some of my past papers and projects, I noticed that while some of my earlier writing was not of the highest quality, many of the ideas I wrestled with are the same ideas that I find myself wrestling with today. Specifically, I’ve found that while I am technically a “literature” student in a sense, I am far more interested in the stories behind great literature: who wrote it, what was the context surrounding their writing, and how has the reception of literary works changed over time.

I see myself preferring the question “how did this come to be?” over “what is this?” The Tamagotchi project below highlights this in a rather fun and unique way. If you look through the site, you will see that my colleagues and I spent equal time discussing how Tamagotchi became an icon of ’90s childhood and culture, and what the physical device actually is.

Georgetown University

  • CCTP-“506: Fundamentals of Technology,” Final: The Tamagotchi Project
    • This project was completed with fellow students Reed Piernock, Chelsea Sanchez, Wei Zou, and Hassan Beydoun. It was a fascinating exercise as it encouraged us all to figure out how are unique backgrounds, our education and our career history could come together and produce a fun webpage that “dissected,” both literally and figuratively, the Tamagotchi toy. It must be said that a majority of the coding and design was performed by Reed, a web designer by trade; they were an integral part to bringing the project together as a final cohesive whole.

George Mason University

  • ENGH-“660: Contemporary American Novel,” Final: D.F.W: From Myth to Man
    • I am adding this paper here to show my development as a writer, highlight the kind of work I did at George Mason, and to keep a record of how I have historically written about my primary academic concerns: contemporary literature, postmodernism, ethics/morality, and cultural reception.

University of Mary Washington

  • ENGL-“470: Seminar, The Art of Gravity’s Rainbow,” Final: Thomas Pynchon’s Trash Heap: The Pile of Comic Books in Gravity’s Rainbow
    • This paper is far from my best work (full disclosure: it earned a B) but I wanted to add it for public viewing to show where I started when I began my post-graduate studies. I certainly had a long way to go, but I think it showcases a kind of thematic consistency that runs through my work.