Teaching

Philosophy

Nothing I do as an academic matters more to me than teaching. I see the classroom as a place where students learn not only new material, but new ways of paying attention—to language, to texts, and to the world around them.

In the language classroom, I take a proficiency-based approach that invites students to begin using Spanish from the start. Very quickly, they realize that the language is not confined to the classroom. It becomes a way of engaging with other people, cultures, and contexts—both locally and beyond. I aim to give them the tools and the confidence to carry what they learn into real situations.

In literature courses, my goal is to slow students down. I ask them to read carefully, to notice more, and to sit with difficult questions. We work to understand texts in their historical contexts, but also to see how they speak to broader human concerns. Literature becomes not just something to analyze, but something to think with.

Across all of my courses, I try to connect academic work to lived experience. Whether through study abroad, writing, or conversation, students are asked to apply what they are learning beyond the classroom. My aim is that they leave not only with knowledge, but with habits of attention and engagement that continue to shape how they move through the world.

Courses Taught

Hillsdale College (2017-Present)

  • SPN 101: Beginning Spanish I

  • SPN 102: Beginning Spanish II

  • SPN 201: Intermediate Spanish I

  • SPN 202: Intermediate Spanish II

  • SPN 302: Iberian History and Culture

  • SPN 304: Introduction to Iberian and Latin American Literature

  • SPN 306: Advanced Grammar and Writing

  • SPN 310/350: Study Abroad Costa Rica

  • SPN 350: Study Abroad Puerto Rico

  • SPN 350: Study Abroad Spain

  • SPN 393: Advanced Grammar and Writing

  • SPN 393: Spanish Conversation and Film

  • SPN 414: Spanish Literature 1700-1910

  • SPN 415: Spanish Literature 1910-Present

  • SPN 493: The Hero's Journey in Modern Iberian Literature

  • SPN 493: Fortunata y Jacinta

  • SPN 493: Philosophy and Fiction in Modern Iberian Narrative

  • CSP 101: The Liberal Arts Tradition

  • CSP 251: The Hero's Journey in Masterpieces of Film

  • CSP 254: Beauty in Don Quixote

  • CSP 255: Beauty in Masterpieces of Film

  • CSP 254: Don Quixote

  • CSP 258: Fortunata y Jacinta

Southern Utah University (2013-2017)

  • SPAN 1010: Beginning Spanish 1

  • SPAN 1020: Beginning Spanish 2

  • SPAN 3210: Advanced Grammar and Composition

  • SPAN 3510: Iberian History and Culture

  • SPAN 4000: Introduction to Hispanic Literature

  • SPAN 4210: Iberian literature 1100-1800

  • SPAN 4212: Modern Iberian Literature

  • SPAN 4510: Intro to Spanish Translation (Independent Study)

  • SPAN 4610: Open Wounds: Literature, Memory, and Space in Rural Iberia

  • SPAN 4610: Film Noir and Contemporary Iberian Narrative

  • SPAN 4920: Study Abroad

  • HU 1010: Monuments of Western Culture

Brigham Young University (2012-2013)

  • IHUM 202: Western Humanities 1500-Present

  • IHUM 260: Latin American Humanities

  • SPAN 339: Survey of Hispanic Literature

  • SPAN 441: Survey of Spanish Peninsular Literature

  • SPAN 451: Survey of Latin American Literature

Stanford University (2010)

  • ILAC 119: El cine negro y la literatura contemporánea ibérica