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I began my scholarly career at Manchester Community College in Connecticut, eventually earning my PhD from UConn in 2019. I taught at UConn-Storrs, UConn-Hartford, and Connecticut College before joining the Sociology Dept. at Siena College. I write broadly on political economy, the state in its various forms, and the ways that both affect and are affected by identity categories. 

Degree Program University
Ph.D. Sociology University of Connecticut

My Siena Experience

My Teaching Philosophy

My main teaching objectives are to strengthen students’ critical thinking skills, help cultivate their sociological imaginations, and guide them toward discovering the joy in lifelong learning. Dominant ideologies in the U.S. tend to emphasize individual effort and achievement, with less understanding of the ways in which individual lives are intertwined, constrained, and enabled by structures beyond individual control; grasping this realtionship between structure and agency is a focal point in all my classes. It is also important to cultivate ambitions toward learning beyond formal education and beyond the instrumental needs of obtaining a credential. The continued progress of our society is dependent on the creativity of future generations; I strive for a learning environment that encourages dialogue and questioning.

 
I root my philosophy of teaching in feminist and critical pedagogical methods, critical theories of race, and antiauthoritarian ideals of social justice. I substantively practice those methods in the classroom by constructing material from the standpoints of students and asking them to consider perspectives outside of the mainstream of political and social thought. It is not enough to study racism, heterosexism, class society, or the many other forms of social domination; rather, we also actively seek to disrupt them, quit socially reproducing those relationships in our lives, and find alternatives for contemporary normative thinking and institutional organization.

What I Love About Siena

I enjoy Siena's small class sizes, engaged student body, and having the capacity to engage in creative teaching and course design. 

My Favorite Courses to Teach

Sociology of Science Fiction
Social Movements and the State
Social Theory Seminar
Sociological Perspective
Political Sociology
Gender, Power, and Society
Qualitative Methods


My Professional Experience

Year Title Organization
2025 - Now Teaching Professor of Sociology Siena University (formerly Siena College)
2019 - 2025 Teaching Assistant Professor of Sociology Siena University (formerly Siena College)
2014 - 2019 Adjunct Instructor Connecticut College
2011 - 2019 Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant University of Connecticut

Current Research

I write broadly on political economy, the state in its various forms, and the ways that both affect and are affected by identity categories.

Articles & Book Reviews

  • Theorizing State Power: The Multi-Sites of Power Approach, Race, and New York State's COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines
    Journal of Political Sociology, vol. 2
    2024
  • The State, the UDHR, and the Social Construction of Family in Human Rights: The Case of the Scarborough 11
    Societies Without Borders, vol. 16
    2022
  • "One Among Many"? Relational Panopticism and Negotiating Non-Monogamies
    Sexualities, vol. 22
    2019
  • Book Review: Growing Up Queer: Kids and the Remaking of LGBTQ Identity by Mary Robertson
    Gender and Society, vol. 34
    2019
  • Bringing Non-Human Animals Into Food Justice: Review Essay of Eating Animals
    Theory in Action, vol. 7
    2014
  • Loving and Teaching: Some Notes on Queering Anarchist Pedagogies
    Educational Studies, vol. 48
    2012
  • Some Thoughts on Synthesis and Political Identity: A Review of Wobblies and Zapatistas
    Theory in Action, vol. 3
    2010
  • Theoretical Polyamory: Some Thoughts on Loving, Thinking, and Queering Anarchism
    Sexualities, vol. 13
    2010

Books & Book Chapters

  • The State of State Theory: State Projects, Repression, and Multi-sites of Power
    Lexington Books
    2018
  • Interdisciplinary Approaches to Pedagogy and Place-Based Education
    Palgrave Macmillan
    2017
  • The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies
    Wiley-Blackwell
    2016
  • The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies
    Wiley-Blackwell
    2016
  • The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies
    Wiley-Blackwell
    2016
  • International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2e
    Elsevier
    2015