EDUCATION
(in process) PhD in Writing and Rhetoric. University of Utah, expected graduation 2026.
MA in American Literature. Brigham Young University, 2003
Thesis: “A Woman’s Place in the West: Searching for the Ranch Woman in Literature and Life”
BA in English. Brigham Young University, 1998
Magna Cum Laude
EXPERIENCE
Assistant Writing Program Administrator: Writing 2010. University of Utah 2023 -
Course Coordinator: English 311 Writing About the Arts and Humanities. Brigham Young University 2019 - 2023
Adjunct Faculty – BYU English Department, 2006-2023
Instructor – BYU Continuing Education/ Test Prep 2013-Present
ACT English, Reading Comprehension, Science, and Essay Teacher
Author of English, RC, and Essay Content - BYU Independent Study / ACT 036 Online Course
Adjunct Faculty – UVU English Department, 2005-2006
Adjunct Faculty – BYU Honors Department 2003-2004
Graduate Instructor – BYU English Department, 2000-2002 English Department
Staff Assistant--BYU Development Communications, April 1999--April 2001
Assistant Editor--Executive Excellence, Dec.1998--April 1999
Communications Intern—BYU Development Communications, May 1998--Dec. l998
PUBLICATIONS: BOOKS
“Measuring My Days: Coffee Spoons and Conjunctions” Seasons of Change: Stories of Transition from the Writers of Segullah. Ed. Sandra Clark Jergensen and Shelah Mastny Miner. El Cerrito, CA: Peculiar Pages Press, 2017. 17-21.
“Why I Don’t Hide My Freckles Anymore.” Why I Don’t Hide My Freckles Anymore: Perspectives on True Beauty. Ed. LaNae Valentine and Lisa Tensmeyer Hansen. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2013. 43-47.
The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume. Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2012.
PUBLICATIONS: REVIEWS, ESSAYS, POEMS, SHORT STORIES, AND ARTICLES
“Densely Witnessed." Honorable Mention: The Richard H. Cracroft Personal Essay Contest. 2020.
"The Color of Sunshine.” Segullah Blog, 14 Nov. 2017. Web
"Invisible Men / Invincible Women: Review of Invisible Men: Stories by Eric Freeze." Dialogue: A Journal for Mormon Thought. Winter 2016. 225-228.
“On Being a Specialist.” Segullah Blog, 1 Dec. 2012. Web.
“The Custodian of My Emotional Suitcase.” Segullah Blog, 7 Nov. 2010. Web.
“The Resurrection of the Bobcat.” Sunstone, July 2008: 60-66. Print
“I Look Like My Sister.” Segullah, Spring 2008: 2-4. Print.
“Honor in the Ordinary.” Segullah, Summer 2007: 14-16. Print.
“Saving Al” CowboyPoetry.com, 2007. Web.
“Topless in Elko.” Sunstone, May 2005: 50-57. Print.
“Whiskey Women.” CowboyPoetry.com, 2005. Web.
“The Words in Cowboy.” CowboyPoetry.com, 2005. Web.
“Two Windows.” CowboyPoetry.com, 2005. Web.
“Negotiating the Gender Barrier: the Female Instructor’s Role in the Composition Classroom.” A Guide to Teaching English 115. University Writing Office at Brigham Young University: (2001). Print.
HONORS, AWARDS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Course Coordinator, English 311, 2019
Final Judge, Personal Narratives, Writing 150 Contest, 2016 -- 2018.
Final Judge, Personal Narratives, Writing 150 Contest, 2013.
Coordinator, Writing 150H Contest , 2011 and 2012.
Recipient, BYU Honors 150 JoAnn Britsch Teaching Excellence Award, 2010.
Participant, First-Year Writing and Third-Year Writing University Wide Writing Assessments, 2006 to 2012.
Representative to CCCC, March 2009 and March 2011.
First Place Winner, Heather Campbell Personal Essay Contest, Segullah 2006: “Honor in the Ordinary.”
Second-Place Winner of Moonstone Award, Brookie and D.K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest 2005: “The Resurrection of the Bobcat.”
Judge, Brookie and D.K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest 2003.
First Place Winner of Sunstone Award, Brookie and D.K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest 2002: “Topless in Elko.”
Second-Place Winner, A Guide to Teaching English 115 Essay Contest 2001: “Negotiating the Gender Barrier: the Female Instructor’s Role in the Composition Classroom.”
PRESENTATIONS
Excerpt from "Measuring My Days" performed as part of "Thorns and Thistles: A Concert of Latter-day Saint Literature" read by James Goldberg and Nicole Wilkes Goldberg at the Center for Latter-day Saints Art Festival in New York, June 29, 2019.
"Fostering Peer-Support Groups for Writing the Review of Literature Paper in English 311." BYU Biennial Writing Teacher Conference, April 2019.
"The Writing Process: Revision and Receiving Feedback." BYU Teen Writing Camp. June 28, 2017
"Eat, Pray, Peer Review." BYU Biennial Writing Teacher Conference, April 2017.
"Words and Punctuation: The Building Blocks of Your Story." Storymakers Conference, May 2016.
"Throwing Pots: Quality vs. Quantity in Producing Research Papers." BYU Biennial Writing Teacher Conference, April 2015.
"A Woman’s Place in the West: Exposing the Broodmare Metaphor.” Hawaiian International Conference on the Arts and Humanities, January 2008.
“The Young Man and the Sea: The Effect of Tragic Shipwrecks on the Poetry of Walt Whitman.” Hawaiian International Conference on the Arts and Humanities, January 2008.
“Topless in Elko” Winner of Brookie and D.K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest, English Department Reading Series, Graduate Student Readings, Brigham Young University, November 2002.
“A Woman’s Place in the West: Recasting the Broodmare Metaphor” English Graduate Student Association, Brigham Young University, April 2002.
RESEARCH & WRITING INTERESTS
I am particularly interested in folklore and auto-ethnography, and how stories shape identity, specifically in the literature of the American West. I also write novels (Women's Fiction, YA, and Middle-Grade), short fiction, personal essays, and cowboy poetry. I’m also interested in the rhetorical value of humor.
(in process) PhD in Writing and Rhetoric. University of Utah, expected graduation 2026.
MA in American Literature. Brigham Young University, 2003
Thesis: “A Woman’s Place in the West: Searching for the Ranch Woman in Literature and Life”
BA in English. Brigham Young University, 1998
Magna Cum Laude
EXPERIENCE
Assistant Writing Program Administrator: Writing 2010. University of Utah 2023 -
- Assist in training incoming graduate student instructors
- Assist in developing new curriculum for writing 2010
Course Coordinator: English 311 Writing About the Arts and Humanities. Brigham Young University 2019 - 2023
- Communicate with Advanced Writing Leadership about curriculum for 311
- Coordinate training, support, and resources for current 311 teachers
- Mentor and train graduate student interns
Adjunct Faculty – BYU English Department, 2006-2023
- English 311: Writing About the Arts and Humanities
- Writing 150: Writing and Rhetoric
Instructor – BYU Continuing Education/ Test Prep 2013-Present
ACT English, Reading Comprehension, Science, and Essay Teacher
- Teach Six-week Course Year Round at BYU
- Teach Week-long Intensive Camps Each Summer at BYU
- Teach Traveling ACT Intensives in California, Arizona, etc.
- Train New Teachers
- Author New Content
Author of English, RC, and Essay Content - BYU Independent Study / ACT 036 Online Course
- Created Content for English, Reading Comprehension, and Essay Portions, including Quizzes and Exams
- Recorded Video Clips and Screencasts for the Course.
Adjunct Faculty – UVU English Department, 2005-2006
- English 2010: Intermediate Writing
Adjunct Faculty – BYU Honors Department 2003-2004
- H200: Honors Intensive Writing
Graduate Instructor – BYU English Department, 2000-2002 English Department
- English 115
- Weekly Instructor Meeting (WIM) Leader
- English 311: Advanced Writing Internship with Lisa Hale
Staff Assistant--BYU Development Communications, April 1999--April 2001
Assistant Editor--Executive Excellence, Dec.1998--April 1999
Communications Intern—BYU Development Communications, May 1998--Dec. l998
PUBLICATIONS: BOOKS
“Measuring My Days: Coffee Spoons and Conjunctions” Seasons of Change: Stories of Transition from the Writers of Segullah. Ed. Sandra Clark Jergensen and Shelah Mastny Miner. El Cerrito, CA: Peculiar Pages Press, 2017. 17-21.
“Why I Don’t Hide My Freckles Anymore.” Why I Don’t Hide My Freckles Anymore: Perspectives on True Beauty. Ed. LaNae Valentine and Lisa Tensmeyer Hansen. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2013. 43-47.
The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume. Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2012.
PUBLICATIONS: REVIEWS, ESSAYS, POEMS, SHORT STORIES, AND ARTICLES
“Densely Witnessed." Honorable Mention: The Richard H. Cracroft Personal Essay Contest. 2020.
"The Color of Sunshine.” Segullah Blog, 14 Nov. 2017. Web
"Invisible Men / Invincible Women: Review of Invisible Men: Stories by Eric Freeze." Dialogue: A Journal for Mormon Thought. Winter 2016. 225-228.
“On Being a Specialist.” Segullah Blog, 1 Dec. 2012. Web.
“The Custodian of My Emotional Suitcase.” Segullah Blog, 7 Nov. 2010. Web.
“The Resurrection of the Bobcat.” Sunstone, July 2008: 60-66. Print
“I Look Like My Sister.” Segullah, Spring 2008: 2-4. Print.
“Honor in the Ordinary.” Segullah, Summer 2007: 14-16. Print.
“Saving Al” CowboyPoetry.com, 2007. Web.
“Topless in Elko.” Sunstone, May 2005: 50-57. Print.
“Whiskey Women.” CowboyPoetry.com, 2005. Web.
“The Words in Cowboy.” CowboyPoetry.com, 2005. Web.
“Two Windows.” CowboyPoetry.com, 2005. Web.
“Negotiating the Gender Barrier: the Female Instructor’s Role in the Composition Classroom.” A Guide to Teaching English 115. University Writing Office at Brigham Young University: (2001). Print.
HONORS, AWARDS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Course Coordinator, English 311, 2019
Final Judge, Personal Narratives, Writing 150 Contest, 2016 -- 2018.
Final Judge, Personal Narratives, Writing 150 Contest, 2013.
Coordinator, Writing 150H Contest , 2011 and 2012.
Recipient, BYU Honors 150 JoAnn Britsch Teaching Excellence Award, 2010.
Participant, First-Year Writing and Third-Year Writing University Wide Writing Assessments, 2006 to 2012.
Representative to CCCC, March 2009 and March 2011.
First Place Winner, Heather Campbell Personal Essay Contest, Segullah 2006: “Honor in the Ordinary.”
Second-Place Winner of Moonstone Award, Brookie and D.K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest 2005: “The Resurrection of the Bobcat.”
Judge, Brookie and D.K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest 2003.
First Place Winner of Sunstone Award, Brookie and D.K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest 2002: “Topless in Elko.”
Second-Place Winner, A Guide to Teaching English 115 Essay Contest 2001: “Negotiating the Gender Barrier: the Female Instructor’s Role in the Composition Classroom.”
PRESENTATIONS
Excerpt from "Measuring My Days" performed as part of "Thorns and Thistles: A Concert of Latter-day Saint Literature" read by James Goldberg and Nicole Wilkes Goldberg at the Center for Latter-day Saints Art Festival in New York, June 29, 2019.
"Fostering Peer-Support Groups for Writing the Review of Literature Paper in English 311." BYU Biennial Writing Teacher Conference, April 2019.
"The Writing Process: Revision and Receiving Feedback." BYU Teen Writing Camp. June 28, 2017
"Eat, Pray, Peer Review." BYU Biennial Writing Teacher Conference, April 2017.
"Words and Punctuation: The Building Blocks of Your Story." Storymakers Conference, May 2016.
"Throwing Pots: Quality vs. Quantity in Producing Research Papers." BYU Biennial Writing Teacher Conference, April 2015.
"A Woman’s Place in the West: Exposing the Broodmare Metaphor.” Hawaiian International Conference on the Arts and Humanities, January 2008.
“The Young Man and the Sea: The Effect of Tragic Shipwrecks on the Poetry of Walt Whitman.” Hawaiian International Conference on the Arts and Humanities, January 2008.
“Topless in Elko” Winner of Brookie and D.K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest, English Department Reading Series, Graduate Student Readings, Brigham Young University, November 2002.
“A Woman’s Place in the West: Recasting the Broodmare Metaphor” English Graduate Student Association, Brigham Young University, April 2002.
RESEARCH & WRITING INTERESTS
I am particularly interested in folklore and auto-ethnography, and how stories shape identity, specifically in the literature of the American West. I also write novels (Women's Fiction, YA, and Middle-Grade), short fiction, personal essays, and cowboy poetry. I’m also interested in the rhetorical value of humor.