Image courtesy of Barron Bixler

Note to Students

Over the past two decades, I have taught courses in the areas of American literature and culture, contemporary fiction, the environmental humanities, food studies and science and technology studies (STS). I strive to design courses that are academically rigorous; engage with diverse campus and public communities; and create contexts for students to mobilize their own expertise and experience.

Central to how I teach is a commitment to deliberate with students on the connections between course materials and pressing social and ecological problems. Inclusive and interactive, my courses foreground multidisciplinary research and project-based learning. Beyond the classroom, I mentor graduate and undergraduate research in American studies and the environmental humanities and involve students in creative projects and in the work of my environmental media lab.

Teaching Experience

Graduate Courses
  • American Environmental Narrative, 1980-present
  • The Biotech Imagination
  • Climate Science and Digital Culture
  • Contemporary American Literature
  • Environmental Narrative, Media and Art
  • Environmental Literature and Ecocriticism
  • Environmental Humanities: Materials and Methods
  • Environmental Studies: Materials and Methods
  • Food and the Avant-Garde, from Modernism to Bioart
  • Food Futures
  • Food Studies Colloquium
  • Science Communication and Environmental Media
Undergraduate Courses
  • American Literature, 1850-present
  • Bioart and Amateur Science
  • California Food Cultures
  • Contemporary American Fiction
  • Creative Ecologies: US Environmental Narrative and Art
  • Environmental Keywords
  • Environmental Literature and Culture
  • Food: A Lens on Environment and Sustainability
  • Food Writing and Food Politics in the Digital Age
  • High-Tech Environmentalism
  • Introduction to the Environmental Humanities
  • Introduction to Environmental Studies
  • Literature and Science
  • Wired City/Green City