Biography

I have been officially engaged in instructional design work since 2012. I've worked in an instructional design capacity within the Washington State Community and Technical College System at Bellevue College, Seattle Central College, South Seattle College, and Bates Technical College. In January 2018, I joined the Innovative Instructional Design Team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I've taught at community colleges in Iowa and Nebraska, and have also worked in corporate training. I've been teaching with technology since 1997.

My academic background is in theatre (BA - Roanoke College, MFA - Dramaturgy, University of Iowa). My theatrical interests are in how power is distributed in channels of artistic production, and how that reflects the culture in which the art is situated. It's a short leap to asking those same questions about any system, e.g., a learning management system, any piece of software or hardware, the educational system as a whole.

My primary work as an instructor has been in English Composition and Literature, as well as Technical Writing. Lately, I've been teaching Introduction to Theatre as a fully online class, which is trippy, but fun. It is not, by any stretch, the weirdest job I've ever had. I once did corporate education about nutritionally-responsive dog and cat conditions--I've had more conversations about cat poo than anyone probably should.

I thrive on trying to figure out how things work, how the various pieces of a structure work together to produce an effect (or an affect, says the theatre geek). This has led to a conviction that open access to information and education should be a fundamental right, primarily because education and information are what make me feel most human.

One of my primary areas of interest in instructional design is accessibility. I was involved with Washington State Community and Technical College System accessibility initiatives from 2015-2018. I continue to engage accessibility and equity concerns in all of my design work.