Introduction
Courses 2020-2021
Teaching awards
Supervisions / Courses taught in the past
Introduction
I teach in a small undergraduate English department where each faculty member covers a range of courses. As you can see in the listing below, I teach courses in Old English, Middle English literature, studies in medievalism (primarily Tolkien’s fiction), writing, women’s literature, poetry, and classical literature as well as a range of texts in introductory courses. Occasionally, I have the opportunity to supervise students writing an Honours thesis or to conduct directed study (independent study) courses. Below you will find links to the courses that I will be teaching in the 2019-2020 academic year.
As an adjunct in the graduate English program at Dalhousie University, I have had a few opportunities to teach graduate courses there or to serve on dissertation committees. These activities are also listed below.
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Fall 2020 – Winter 2021 courses
- ENGL 1170 Introduction to Literature: Literary Genres (Fall 2020)
- ENGL/WRIT 2223 History of Writing, Reading, and the Book (Online, Winter 2021)
- ENGL/WRIT 3377 Old English: Translation Theory & Practice (Fall 2020)
- ENGL 3378 Old English: Beowulf, Then & Now (Winter 2021)
Teaching awards
- Recipient of the 2011 Mount Saint Vincent University Instructional Leadership Award
- Recipient of the 1993 Mount Saint Vincent University Alumnae Award for Teaching Excellence
- Shortlisted for the 2004 Alumnae Award for Teaching Excellence
Supervisions / Courses taught in the past
Undergraduate level
- ENGL 4475: Studies in Medievalism: Tolkien and Myth-making
- ENGL 3361: Old English Literature (no longer offered. Now ENGL/WRIT 3377 and ENGL 3378)
— Chaucer and Medieval Literature (no longer offered)
— Renaissance Literature (no longer offered)
— Sixteenth-Century Poetry and Prose (no longer offered)
- ENGL/WRIT 2223: History of Writing, Reading, and the Book
- Women’s Literary Tradition I (now revised as ENGL 2242: Themes in Women’s Writing)
- Women’s Literary Tradition II (now revised as ENGL 2242: Themes in Women’s Writing)
- Poetry (ENGL 2260)
- ENGL 2270: Classical Traditions in English Literature
- ENGL 1170: Introduction to Literature: Literary Genres
- ENGL 1171: Introduction to Literature: Literary Transformations
— Introduction to Literature: Gender and Form (ENGL 1155)
— WRIT 1120 The Writing Process: Theory and Practice (WRIT 1120)
— Literature for Children and Young Adults (ENGL 105: no longer offered at this level)
Directed Studies
on Old Norse Language and Literature; Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; J.R.R. Tolkien’s work; Beowulf; Translation and Old English Literature; Gender in Medieval Literature
Honours thesis supervisions
on Old English translation; on John Gardner’s Grendel; on Malory and Arthurian romances; Harry Potter novels; Tolkien’s poetry; Tolkien’s fiction; Beowulf films; fan fiction and gender theory; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; Julian of Norwich; Chaucer; Robin Hood
Graduate level teaching
English 5000.01A: Boethius and Medieval Literature
Dalhousie University reading course, Fall 2001
English 5000.03B: Old English Translation
Dalhousie University reading course, Winter 2001
English 5131.03A: The First Millennium, and Beyond
Dalhousie University, Fall 2000
English 5130.03B: Sex and Gender in Medieval Literature
Dalhousie University, Winter 1998
Supervisor, M.A. thesis, Dalhousie University
“From a Corpse to a Life: The Body in Old English Hagiography.” 2001. M. Fast.
Reader of M.A. theses, Dalhousie University
“‘May Saracens Be Saved’: The Conversion of the Saracens in Chaucer and Langland.” 2007. C. Bailey.
“‘Woman, why weepest thou?’: The Influence of Mary Magdalene on The Book of Margery Kempe.” 1999. K. Berrigan.
“Noisy Links and Narrative Energy in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.” 1995. V. Creelman.
External reader, M.A. thesis, Acadia University
“Forging Faërie: Sub-creation, Depth and Mythic Otherworldliness in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Conception of the Fairy-Story.” 2011. J. Deschenes.
Image: The image on this page is a detail from J.R.R.Tolkien’s painting Halls of Manwë (Taniquetil), published in J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. It is also widely available online.
