I lead multiple initiatives at the National Humanities Alliance which aim to strengthen undergraduate humanities education. These include: the Mellon-funded Study the Humanities initiative, which I have led since its inception in 2019 and includes the podcast, What Are You Going to Do with That?; Demonstrating the Value of Liberal Education through Integrative Learning, which began in September 2022 and is funded by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and a partnership with the Teagle Foundation to document the impact of their Knowledge for Freedom summer programs and support their continued funding. Through these projects and others, I work with my colleagues at the National Humanities Alliance and faculty and administrators across the country to forward innovation in undergraduate humanities education and attract a broader range of students to the humanities.

The National Humanities Alliance is a member-supported organization that advocates for the value of the humanities in communities and on campuses. I lead Study the Humanities, a Mellon Foundation-funded initiative that provide humanities faculty, administrators, and advocates with evidence-based resources and strategies to make the case for studying the humanities as an undergraduate.

The National Humanities Alliance is a coalition dedicated to advocating for the humanities. I work primarily on NEH for All, a Mellon Foundation-funded project that features notable NEH grant programs from all 50 states on our interactive website, NEHforall.org. I am developing new survey instruments to measure the impact of NEH-funded programs such as Dialogues on the Experience of War, the Johnny Cash Heritage Festival, and NEH summer workshops for K-12 teachers.

I taught several sections (in-person and online) of Western Religious Traditions at Western Carolina University over four years

I completed a PhD in Religious Studies in the American Religion track with minors in Social Psychology and Comparative Religion. My dissertation compares the historical interactions between Protestant, pluralist, and secular paradigms at Duke, Meredith College, North Carolina Central University, and UNC-Chapel Hill.

• Coordinate adult volunteers and facilitates consensus-based strategic committee action • Assist with program design, policy implementation, budget management and activity coordination • Manage communications, rosters, personal information, calendar and website for youth programs

• Co-led collaborative, multi-generational staff initiating adolescents into emerging adulthood• Helped design and implement new program integrating leadership training curriculum, wilderness adventure activities, community service, creative projects, affirming ritual and contemplative practice• Implemented daily contemplative exercises, stimulated reflection regarding human finitude, and facilitated open discussions concerning sensitive topics relevant to adolescent development,

• Guided over 100 young adults and adolescents through an interactive Life and Career Planning process• Mentored clients toward self-discovery, purpose identification, goal-setting and strategy implementation• Administered comprehensive battery of psychological assessment tools; interpreted and integrated results• Managed Life and Career Planning program at Whitefield Academy in concert with college counselor

• Managed staff of 3 adult counselors; supervised adolescents’ counseling, maintenance, & community service• Designed & implemented interactive leadership training & spiritual development curriculum for adolescents • Fostered reflection and growth through open, inclusive discussions relevant to adolescent development including faith, sex, drugs, family dynamics, social issues, gender paradigms, and models of a meaningful life

Worked as a counselor for four summers (took 2006 off). I mentored boys of all ages, from 7 to 17.