I am a teacher, writer, scholar, advocate for the humanities, and Professor of English at The City University of New York (CUNY)—Lehman College and the Graduate Center. Archival research from the early twentieth century and ethnographic research from this century come together in my most recent book about American higher education, The Composition Commons: Writing A New Idea of the University. The Composition Commons illustrates how the college writing class once did and can again create shared knowledge and community across difference. I occasionally post short essays and bits of my next project, a memoir, on my blog. Thanks for visiting.
Recent Writing and Interviews
Interview about The Composition Commons: Published in Summer 2026
The Composition Commons. Book published in Feb 2024
Write More, Worry Less. Essay about reading and social media published in Campus News
Commonplacing Curricula and the University We Need Now. Essay published in Keats-Shelley Association of America
Humanities, Redefined. Letter published in The New Yorker
From Crisis to Composition. Essay published in InsideHigherEd
