Background

  • PhD in Social Justice, Literature, and Environment with emphasis in Indigenous Studies through the Department of English, Texas Tech University, Presidential Fellow, graduated 2020.
    Thesis: “Chasing the Wendigo: Contemporary Survivance and Sovereignty”
  • Graduate Certification in Women and Gender Studies, Texas Tech University, graduated 2020.
  • Master of Arts in English, Sam Houston State University, summa cu laude, graduated 2009.
    Thesis: ““Rippling Effects of Diaspora: (Dys)ease As a Function of Dislocation”
  • Master of Science in Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, 36 hours (incomplete)
    Thesis: “Capital Punishment Contains No Restorative Value: A Restorative Justice Linguistic Analysis of 274 Final Statements of Death Row Inmates”
  • Bachelor of Science, Northern Arizona University, magna cum laude, graduated 1998.
    Major: Criminal Justice; Minor: Anthropology

Teaching

For the current academic year (2026-2027), I will be teaching SOAN 2580 (Deviance) and SOAN 3582 (Law and Society) for the Department of Sociology/Anthropology. As I am temporarily cross-appointed, I will also be teaching three courses for the Cultural Studies Program this academic year.

My teaching emphasizes a diverse range of perspectives and methodologies, particularly those engaging with decolonial, feminist, disability, and social justice issues. I strive to create an inclusive and accessible learning community within each of my courses with a strong eye toward Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practices.

Research

As someone of mixed ancestry with a very varied background, my research focuses on the many areas within social justice. My current projects include my monograph, Chasing the Wiindigoo Cannibal Spirit: Two Tropes and a Neoliberal Twist, an article regarding food deserts and reserves (Canada)/reservations (US) as colonial sites of oppression, and an article regarding the decolonial effects of palimpsestic multilingual audio-layering within film.

Chasing the Wiindigoo Cannibal Spirit: Two Tropes and a Neoliberal Twist, under contract with the University of New Mexico Press.

“A Manifesto of Indigenous Feminism? Stephen Graham Jones’s The Only Good Indians,” under review with Studies in American Indian Literature.

Indigenous Cannibal Spirits: A Database. An open access collection of popular culture Indigenous creations involving Indigenous cannibal spirits, launched June 26, 2026. https://indigenouscannibalspirtdatabase.ca/

“Deconstructing the Master’s House with His Own Tools: Code Switching and Double-Voiced Discourse as Agency in Gerald Vizenor’s The Heirs of Columbus,” Studies in American Indian Literatures, Volume 29, Issue 4, 2017, pp. 58-75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5250/studamerindilite.29.4.0058

“Shackles of a Distant Self and the Damning Complicit,” appearing in Madness, Women and the Power of Art and Forgiveness, edited by Frances Davies and Laura Gonzalez, Oxford, Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2013, pp. 181-196. ISBN-13: 978-1848882478

Co-Editor for e-book Beyond These Walls: Confronting Madness in Society, Literature, and Art, Probing the Boundaries Series, Oxford Inter-Disciplinary 2013. http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/

 

Database Website, Book Reviews and Encyclopedia Entries

Review: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones accepted and will appear in the open access journal Transmotion in the Fall 2026 issue.

Review: Critical Indigenous Studies: Engagements in First World Locations edited by Aileen Moreton-Robinson appearing in American Indian Quarterly Volume 43, Issue 2, 2019, pp. 244-247.

Review: Other Country: Barry Lopez and the Community of Artists by James Perrin Warren appearing in Archivation Exploration, (Sowell Collection), volume 2, issue 1, 2017, online access. https://archivationexploration-ojs ttu.tdl.org/archivationexploration/index.php/ae/article/view/93/226

Review: Shaping America: The Supreme Court and American Society by Edward Mannino appearing in the Journal of American Culture, Volume 35, Issue 4, 2012, pp. 381-382. DOI:10.1111/jacc.12006_16

Encyclopedia Entry: “Historical Foundation of Parens Patriae” appearing in Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice, Sage Publications, Inc., 2003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412950640.n87