As Director of The Citadel Distinguished Scholars Program, my goal is to empower Citadel students to aim higher. I am also a Professor of English and author of _Romantic Revisions in Novels from the Americas_, published in the Purdue University Press Comparative Cultural Studies Series. I teach American and contemporary literature as well as advanced composition, professional writing, and communications. When teaching, I try to create real-world learning experiences that motivate students to do their best work and foster communication and critical thinking skills.In May 2023, The Citadel School of Humanities and Social Sciences named me the inaugural recipient of the Emery-Mathis Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2013, I received The Citadel Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Teaching, and Research. I served as the Director of the Master of Arts in Teaching English Program from 2012 to 2014, creating assessments to secure accreditation for the program, and in 2017 designed the Professional Communications curriculum that most students now take under The Citadel’s new General Education Program. Because of my commitment to empowerment through writing, I served from 2017 to 2022 as director of the Lowcountry Writing Project, a local site of the National Writing Project that fosters professional development of Charleston-area educators and helps them use writing more effectively in their classrooms. I am a former President of the Margaret Atwood Society and am editing the MLA's upcoming volume on approaches to teaching Atwood's works. My next book project is "Facing the Civil War: Contemporary Poems about Civil War Monuments."