My Introduction

I thought I might write a few things about myself so you don't feel as if you're just writing to a stranger this semester. I'm in the fifth year of my PhD program in English, and I'm currently writing my dissertation on the nineteenth-century Irish novel. I've traveled extensively through Ireland, and I was even once a singer in a traditional Irish music band. I gave up my "rock-n-roll lifestyle" to become a professor of literature, and I see teaching as my true passion and calling.

My favorite novel is actually not an Irish novel, it's an English one--Jane Eyre. When I was about 12, my mom purchased a copy for me, and I'll never forget the intense feelings I experienced when I opened the novel and read the first few pages that spoke of Jane's poor, down-trodden circumstances. The "voice" of Charlotte Bronte penetrated my soul, and I felt that she was speaking directly to me from across time and space. Jane is more than a character in a book for me, but a soul mate of sorts. She's independent, outspoken, steadfast in her ideals, and always ready to speak up against injustice. I think this is what I look for in a novel above all things--real characters who help us articulate who we are and where we're going. As great as my love affair is for this novel, ironically it was also the first novel in college I remember thinking about with a critical eye in terms of theory. There are some in the field of literature who see "theory" as destructive to "great" literature, but in my case, I found theory to be an extension of what I love most about novels. Theory, such as postcolonial theory and feminism, for instance, allowed me to see Jane in a much more complex light and made my relationship to this novel, and consequently other novels, much richer.

Some places I frequent on the internet are The Huffington Post www.huffingtonpost.com and www.etsy.com. I love etsy! Etsy is a website for individual artists to sell their crafts, and I always seem to find something beautiful and very special there.

Like everyone else in the universe, I am on facebook. I tried twitter once, but couldn't get into it. I also frequent a chat forum for new moms (I'm expecting my first little one fairly soon!). I joined this chat forum a few months ago, and I'm glad I did as it helped me develop a certain degree of comfort with communicating online. I know this sounds cliche, but I really am a "people person"--I love talking and meeting new people (which is why I love teaching!), so for a long time I found it difficult to translate my personality to the internet. I often felt (and still do at times) self-conscious about how I was displaying myself, and even (I know this may come as a shock) my occasional accidental spelling and grammar errors! I love the blog set up for literature classes. I think it allows us our own "personal" space while at the same time allowing others a window into our thoughts and ideas. This will be my first time using blogs exclusively in a course, instead of D2L, so I'm hoping that it will be successful.

I would love to some day go to South America, specifically Machu Picchu (photo above). I love this essay by Mary Louise Pratt, "The Art of the Contact Zone" that analyzes the hybridity created by the mix of Spanish and Incan culture in the 16th century. I think this essay is especially applicable to Irish literature, which in many ways is a type of "contact zone" of several cultures and influences.

Here's a video of one of my favorite traditional Irish music bands, Dervish, doing a cover of Bob Dylan's "Boots of Spanish Leather":