Teaching, Creativity, and Collaboration

I am particularly interested in portraiture and self-representation and how we use art to learn about ourselves and others. In my courses, workshops, and consultation sessions, I encourage exploration and contemplation as part of the process of art-making. When relevant, I encourage students to incorporate interests that may not seem obvious or even art-oriented, to collaborate with musicians, scientists, poets, educators, children, friends, and family. In classes with retirees, I encourage revisiting their collections of personal photography and cherished historical family portraits to produce a body of work that will be their legacy. With a background in Special Education, I work with schools and organizations to incorporate art, photography, video, and creative dramatics into programs that focus on self-exploration and leadership development for children and youth

Previous Teaching Experiences

Teaching Advanced Level Special Projects and Creative Portrait-making Workshops with Duke University: I currently serve on the teaching staff of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University
Photography Workshops in the Swimming Pool: While in Maryland, I developed a series of workshops with the area Aquatics Centers teaching couples and families to produce photographic imagery in the water. I am currently designing a curriculum for the Park and Recreation Programs at local aquatic centers and private residences.
Leadership Workshops for Youth at Elon University: Elon Academy at Elon University
University of Maryland: During the transitional period of the 90's digital evolution, I served on the studio art department faculty of the University of Maryland, teaching lens-based critical theory, wet darkroom, and digital imaging techniques at the university's Computer Science Center Information Technology Classroom Lab. There I developed a curriculum integrating the transition of film and wet darkroom into the digital capture and printmaking arena.

Teaching Photography Gallery
Collaborative Interdisciplinary Teaching at the University of Maryland and the Center for Young Children: Partnering with University of Maryland adjunct faculty member Maria Salvadore, we produced an undergraduate course through the school of education. The course combined digital technology with the creation of children's books and paired college students with preschoolers at the Center for Young Children on Campus. The work was presented at the University's Institute for Technology in Teaching.

See Video Here

See Photo Gallery Here Childhood, Imagination, and Visualizaton, Photography and Creative Expression in Children's Literature.
Internship Programs for College Students: As a master's level educator, I served on the faculty of the University of Maryland Art Department where I taught darkroom and digital photography. With the support of the department, in conjunction with the Computer Science Center, we founded the digital printing curriculum. As director and founder of the Family Arts Enrichment program, we provided arts and leadership opportunities for the families of the university community. We created the Photo Outreach Experiential Learning Program to provide internship opportunities for my students, taking advantage of the rich political and cultural resources in the DC Metro community. Over the past years I have contracted with the University of North Carolina to supervise independent study and field placement credits in photographic studies.