Adjunct, Marylhurst University (Winter 2005 to 2018)
- Introduction to Film—devised and taught course that seeks to enhance the understanding of film as an artistic and ideological medium. Students focus on selected narrative films to develop the visual literacy of active viewers. To what extent can film be studied as a “text” to be read and reread rather than simply watched? Students address questions about film’s place in culture and ideology, its political and social relevance, and how, for better or worse, it can shape a sense of the world.
- Film Genre: The Western—devised and taught on-line course that examined the western genre in film. Perhaps more than any other genre in film history, the western reflects American cultural and ideological identity, from its early depiction of a largely “mythical” west – where the western reflects such ideological norms as rugged individualism (the self made man); the absolute confidence in the law and the lone “Western” hero figure and his narrow virtuous moral code, enforced with six gun violence; and “manifest destiny,” the idea that we were meant to expand our ideology within and without our borders, even if it meant assimilation or annihilation of indigenous peoples – to its epochal ruptures, the “revisionist” westerns of later periods, which go on to interrogate and question these “norms” especially in terms of exploring the role of ethnicity/race and gender in the history of the west.
- Film Genre: Science Fiction—devised and taught on-line course that examined the science fiction genre in film. More specifically, we examined the science fiction film as a historical-cultural mirror of society, a marker of societal anxieties and (unconscious) desires and as a signifier of cultural and ideological norms (and, in some cases, the radical potential to transgress these norms).
- Film Genre: Horror—devised and taught on-line course that examined the horror genre in film. More specifically, we examined the notion of the “return of the repressed,” the genre’s “revolutionary” potential, and the dominate issues and currents that run through its history, such as gender, class, and identity issues, sexual anxiety currents, and gay and lesbian representations.
- Masculinity Studies and Film—devised and taught on-line course that examined such issues and representations as the changing gender roles (and the severe anxieties that accompany these changes), sexual and homosexual anxieties, hyper-masculinity constructions, race and ethnic issues, class representations, and the part masculinity plays in shaping culture and ideology.
- Political Criticism in Film—devised and taught on-line course that examined a number of films that interrogate and investigate various political and ideological currents such as gender construction, American politics, global capitalism, class hierarchies, and the powerful influence of media discourse.
- Women’s Studies and Film—devised and taught on-line course that looked at issues and meditations central to women’s lives, such as identity formations and gender constructions, violence towards women, patriarchal hegemony, sexism, and sexuality. We also examined feminist work on empowerment and agency in a patriarchal ideology, as well as possible counter (subversive) representations and intersections of femininity with race/ethnicity and class.
- Contemporary Women Filmmakers—devised and taught course that focused on prominent women filmmakers.
- Social Alienation Cinema—devised and taught on-line course that focused on the psychological concept of social alienation; we studied such effects as social isolation, powerlessness, meaninglessness/purposelessness, cultural and work estrangement, and self-estrangement.
- Coming of Age in American Cinema—devised and taught on-line course that explored the formative years of identity formation, childhood and adolescence. We examined how young people experience the many different challenges of these formative years, including wrestling with such issues as gender identity, sexual orientation (and the intolerance that invariably comes from being an Other), peer pressure, teen angst, consumerism, sexual maturation, parental neglect/abuse, rape culture, self-determination (e.g., rebelliousness and transitioning to an independent agent), racism, sexism, and just confronting the general dark world of adults to name just a handful of the issues young people must deal with as they transition to adulthood.
- Film Director Series—devised and taught (and continue to teach every summer) on-line classes that apply the auteur theory to selected film directors.
- Introduction to Cultural Studies—participated in a team teaching curriculum with four other professors; devised two week section that situated film studies within an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the complex social, ethical and political phenomena of contemporary life and past experiences.
Educational Summer Instructor, Rosemont Residential Treatment Center and School (Summer 2006)
- Introduction to Film and Media Studies—devised and taught course that seeks to enhance the understanding of film and other mediums as an artistic and cultural/ideological medium. Students focused on selected films, TV shows, advertising, and other media discourses to develop the visual literacy of active viewers.
Adjunct, Mt. Hood Community College (Fall 2004 to Fall 2005)
- Technical Report Writing (WR 227)—devised and will teach course that covers a broad field of technical documents, including letters and memos, professional emails, case statements, bid specifications, descriptions of manufacturing processes, guidebooks, software user guides, instructions of many types, employee handbooks, environmental impact statements, and scientific studies.
- English Composition: Critical Thinking (WR 122)—devised and taught course that emphasized the power of words to shape opinions, attitudes, and behavior, and that explored the critical thinking skills necessary to recognize logical fallacies and manipulative communication through the analysis of political rhetoric, commercial media, and other materials.
- English Composition: The Research Paper (WR123)—devised and taught course that emphasized skills needed to write the research essay.
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Adjunct, University of Florida (Fall 1998 to Summer 2004)
- Film Analysis—devised and taught courses that focused on learning and interrogating methodological and theoretical approaches to film as well as producing critical texts about film.
- Writing Through Media—devised and taught courses in the NWE (network writing environment) that focused on web design and methodological approaches to examining mass media.
- Writing about the Political Didactic in Popular Cinema—devised and taught course that explored the viability of popular cinema as an oppositional aesthetic.
- Expository and Argumentative Writing—devised and taught courses about written exposition and persuasion.
- Writing about Literature—devised and taught courses that focused on producing argumentative and critical texts about literature.
- Modes of Inquiry (Summer Bridge Program)—taught courses for traditionally under-represented students that concentrated on reading and writing skills.
- Engineering Ethics—graded papers for engineering ethics course that applied ethics methodologies to professional engineering cases.
Graduate Teaching Assistant, San Francisco State University (Fall 1995 to Spring 1997)
- The Vietnam War Film—devised and taught film survey of the Vietnam War, films ranging from the pro-war The Green Berets to the 80s deluge, including Platoon and Full Metal Jacket.
- The Horror Film—devised and taught course that examined the horror genre, emphasizing the concept of the “return of the repressed.”
- Critical Studies—taught courses that teach students basic methodological approaches to analyzing and writing about film.