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 language, 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 cinematic horror), gaming studies, and Classical pedagogy.

My recent publications include a chapter in edited volume Screening Love and War in Troy: Fall of a City  entitled "Bloody Brides: Helen, Iphigenia, and Ritual Exchange" which explores an innovative presentation of the commodification of ancient women in the BBC/Netflix series Troy: Fall of a City (2022). And I published another chapter in the volume Women in Classical Video Games entitled "Bringing Down the Divine Patriarchy through Deicide in Apotheon" which analyzes how the 2D platformer game Apotheon (Alientrap Inc.) makes strides in gaming to magnify the voices of women from myth (2022). I also presented at Truman's Faculty Forum with a reserach talk entitled "Playing with the Ancient World: Rewriting the Classics through Video Games." I am a staunch proponent of Living Latin and often attend Latin immersion events, where I work to develop my spoken Latin skills. 

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 2023.

At Truman, I am the Latin disciplinary liaison for Truman's new Latin MAE program. I am the acting Chair of the Film Studies Minor Committee (Fall 2022) and I serve as a member of the First-Year Experience Committee and on a working group that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion for the Classical and Modern Languages Department. I currently serve as Missouri's state representative for the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, and I am a member on the Membership and Outreach committee for the organization Antiquity in Media Studies. 

In my free time, I compose Latin prose, practice English secretary hand, and watch lots of Star Trek. Here's a sample Latin composition, for your amusement and entertainment:

astra. iter ultimum.

hae fabulae navis astrorum Enterprisis sunt.

legatione perpetua, terras novas hospitas explorato; novas animas gentesque petito; audentior ito quo numquam itum est.

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Courses Taught at Truman:

CLAS 310: Classical Antiquity on Screen

CLAS 352: Roman Civilization

CLAS 361: Greek and Roman Mythology

CLAS 461: Classics Capstone Experience

CML 200: Service Learning - Latin

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

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