I am glad to be a member of our new department of Literature, Culture, and Society!

I am a faculty member in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Point Park University.

I taught as a full-time faculty member in the Master's International Development Program in the School of International Service for four years.

I taught an undergraduate course on 'International Development' in the Department of Development Sociology at Cornell University. There are nearly 90 students in this 200-level required course for majors in the Department. Through a combination of lectures, discussions and films I cover such subjects as European colonialism, modernization, global governance and social movements.

Taught a Social Change -- Selected Topic course on 'Food, Ecology, and Society' in the Department of Sociology at Ithaca College. This was a seminar course with 10 students. Through lectures, group work, discussions and films I addressed such subjects as deforestation for animal feed, food poverty and obesity.

Assisted with three introductory, required courses for majors in the Department of Development Sociology: Introduction to Sociology, Theories of Society and Development, and International Development. I facilitated discussions and the grading of assessments. I also gave lectures on such topics as social theory and qualitative research methods.

Assisted a USDA-funded collaborative research initiative on local/sustainable food between universities, community members and extension agents in five US communities. I developed a research project and summary report on US under/graduate programs in local/sustainable food systems for a proposed undergraduate interdisciplinary minor in local food systems at Cornell University.

Served as an Environmental Policy Fellow with the Division of the National Observatory of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Moroccan Ministry of the Environment, Water, Mines and Energy. I facilitated a research project on the newly-formed national observatories to monitor environmental change and degradation.

Wrote technical summaries of IMF documents regarding revenue distribution in oil-rich countries. As a technical writer for CRS I summarized two 50+ page technical reports for use by in-country civil society organizations, and synthesized the reports into 10-12 page summaries, including user-friendly tables, within a three-day timeframe.

Provided support on curriculum development for an undergraduate course on “Comparative Social Inequalities,” by developing the students’ value chain studies for inclusion on the course website, designed for public awareness of global inequalities.

Co-facilitated a working group on farmer-migrant collaboration through a public-private partnership established to support the migrant laborers and farms of New York State (NYS). As a Project Assistant, I interviewed actors within the NYS apple industry regarding a farmer-migrant collaboration. I also prepared, wrote and presented three reports on the feasibility of a farmer-migrant collaboration.

Provided extension support in a rural village of thirty-five hundred. The extension support included: designing, implementing and re-evaluating a community-wide assessment of needs and development priorities; co-organizing the formation of a village women’s association, as well as the membership and activities of the association’s Board; and facilitating outreach projects such as home-based health education and continuing girls education.