I teach for The Madwomen in the Attic Writing Workshops at Carlow University. Madwomen workshops are creative writing workshops led by working writers that are open to women and gender expansive writers, ages 18 and up. These workshops are rigorous, supportive, and diverse. Writers study the work of established writers while developing their own, and are bonded by a shared love of writing and a desire to push their craft forward, as well as a belief that their stories matter.

In January 2026, I will return to the Bennington Writing Seminars as the Poetry Alumni Fellow, where I will serve as a teaching assistant, give a reading of new work, and teach a class titled, “Attention (and Distraction) in Poetry.”

Over the last many years, I’ve taught creative and academic writing at the college, high school, and middle school levels, most recently at Winchester Thurston School, Chatham University, and in the Humanities Scholars Program and the First-Year Writing Program at Carnegie Mellon University. I’m also committed to teaching writing in the community. I’ve led writing workshops for teens in Pittsburgh with Write Pittsburgh, for high school students in India with Avanti Fellows, and for adults at East Liberty Presbyterian Church.

At Winchester Thurston School, I taught writing and literature courses and served as the Faculty Advisor of the award-winning literary and art magazine, Plaid. At Chatham, my creative writing courses, Special Topics: Poetry, Special Topics: Fiction, and Creative Writing I and II, used contemporary literary works as models from which to generate writing. These courses operated on the assumption that to improve as a writer, one must read widely and deeply, and just keep writing. I ask my students to take real risks in their writing — to push themselves to find their unique voices, and to say the things they are afraid to say.

I have also taught a practicum course to support the publication of Chatham’s undergraduate literary journal, The Minor Bird. All phases of the publishing process were addressed, especially reviewing, copyediting, curation, design, and marketing. The course is designed to allow students to gain experience and knowledge of the creative, technical, and professional aspects of publishing a literary journal.

At Carnegie Mellon, my Humanities Scholars course, Poetry and Power, asks: Does poetry have power in our society? What is its social function? How is poetry distinct from other modes of writing? Students read and discuss poetry both on and off the page, as well as explore arguments about poetry, poetics, and power via essays, literature, performance, media, and community engagement.

My first-year writing course, Gender and Popular Culture, helps students learn to interpret texts and write critically. We read, watch, and discuss academic and popular essays, poems, film and other media. We ask: in what ways do gender narratives affect our lives and behaviors, and what assumptions underlie these narratives?

I also co-directed the Social Change Semester with Nico Slate, which brought Carnegie Mellon students from Pittsburgh to Qatar and India in 2013. Our goal: to create a sustainable model of service-based global education. By engaging directly in the challenges and opportunities facing Qatar and India, we learned with our partners how to mobilize social innovation in pursuit of social justice. Together, we leveraged CMU’s resources to advance the work of our community partners in Qatar and India. The students on the first Social Change Semester created a blog that explores their experiences in their own words. You can read their stories here.