Faculty & Staff

Ph.D. Classical Philology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2015)
Teaching Certification in Latin, grades K-12, Illinois Council on Teacher Education (2012)
M.A. Classics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009)
B.A. Classical Languages, Marquette University (2007)

Since coming to Truman in 2015, I have taught a range of classes in the Latin and Greek languages, and Classical mythology, literature, and culture. I serve as co-advisor to Truman's chapter of Eta Sigma Phi, the undergraduate Classics Honors Society, and led our chapter as we hosted the virtual national convention in Spring 2021. I have overseen student research in Classics that has been presented at national venues and recently advised a student paper published in the undergraduate research journal, Philomathes. My research interests include Augustan Age literature, Roman satire, reception and film studies (particularly sci-fi and cinematic horror), and game studies.

I recently published an article on how narratives from mythology can help unpack the complex relationships between humans and AI in Star Trek (androids, supercomputers, and holograms). This is part of a larger book project that is just getting underway on Star Trek's engagement with the ancient, Classical past, a collaboration with Dr. Natalie Swain from Acadia University. I am also writing a chapter for an edited volume that observes how kids' animated film and TV reimagine ancient fantasy worlds, particularly Cloud Cuckoo Land, to interrogate the interplay between escapism and coming-of-age. And I have two new projects in the realm of game studies, one that analyzes warrior women in table-top and RPG games, and another that observes the mechanics and playability of divine powers and representations of the gods in table-top games.

I am currently collaborating with Truman faculty in Computer Science and Art Design to develop an interdisciplinary Game Design minor. I am also developing an elementary Latin curriculum based on Neo-Latin science and education texts from the Enlightenment to attract students in STEM fields to the study of Latin. This sequence of courses will be taught in Summer 2024.

At Truman, I am the Latin disciplinary liaison for Truman's new Latin MAE program. I am a member of the Film Studies Minor Committee and the First-Year Experience Committee. I currently serve as Missouri's state representative for the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, and as of January 2024 I am the president of the organization Antiquity in Media Studies. 

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Publications

"Artificial Life, Divinity, and Mythology in Star Trek" in Religions 15.4, Special Issue: "The Digital and the Divine: Cyber-Spirituality in Contemporary Science Fiction Film and Television" (2024) - Open Access 

"Bloody Brides: Helen, Iphigenia, and Ritual Exchange" in Screening Love and War in Troy: Fall of a City  (2022)

"Bringing Down the Divine Patriarchy through Deicide in Apotheon" in Women in Classical Video Games (2022) 

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Courses Taught at Truman:

CLAS 310: Classical Antiquity on Screen (currently teaching - Spring 2024)

CLAS 311: Ancient Medicine (NEW - currently teaching - Spring 2024)

CLAS 352: Roman Civilization

CLAS 361: Greek and Roman Mythology

CLAS 461: Classics Capstone Experience

CML 200: Service Learning - Latin

GREK 302: Greek Prose - New Testament

JINS 320: Development of the Book

LATN 150: Elementary Latin I

LATN 151: Elementary Latin II

LATN 250: Intermediate Latin I

LATN 251: Intermediate Latin II (currently teaching - Spring 2024)

LATN 350: Readings in Latin Prose: Petronius and Apuleius

LATN 351: Vergil, Aeneid: Book 6

LATN 354: Readings in Latin Poetry: Horace's Satires

LATN 450: Latin Prose Composition

TRU 110/111: Classical Foundations of Self & Society

TRU 310: Transfer Self & Society Seminar: You've Entered the Twilight Zone