About the person this website is about
Since these biographic sketches feel so artificial and awkward anyway, I'll do my best to keep this one short and I will begin in the middle of things...
While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy at the University of Utah, I worked at Hansen Planetarium as a guide, instructor, and star-theater lecturer for several years before leaving the state to play lead guitar for the progressive rock band 23rd Hour. After brief sojourns in New Mexico and North Carolina, I decided that such was not the life for me, and I returned to school and the wilds of Utah to complete a masters degree in Philosophy (focus on Environmental Philosophy). I then worked for three years in the non-profit environmental field as assistant ecological restoration coordinator for TreeUtah. I ultimately decided to further my education by completing an M.A. and PhD in English (British and American Literature), with a focus on the intersections between nature and virtuality in narrative.
I now work as Associate Professor (Lecturer) in the Department of English at the University of Utah, where I enjoy teaching courses in Nature and Virtuality, Enchantment, an online introduction to Critical Theory, Video Game Storytelling, and Fantasy: The Lord of the Rings. I miss teaching Intellectual Traditions courses for the Honors College as well. In what spare time I can find, I design Euro-style strategy games (internationally published and distributed) which are (so far) themed on things like trolls and The Canterbury Tales.
To stay sane in an ecologically and politically dismaying reality, I have convinced myself that teaching and designing board games and walking my dog actually matter.
I live in Salt Lake City with my wife (singular) and cats (plural) plus the kindest dog I know. My favorite novels include Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart, David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces, Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood, and Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves. My favorite writers include David Mitchell, Ken Liu, Neil Gaiman, Paolo Bacigalupi, and Algernon Blackwood. I especially recommend the works of philosophers David Abram and Patrick Curry and critifiction writer Lance Olsen.
You can contact me here.
While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy at the University of Utah, I worked at Hansen Planetarium as a guide, instructor, and star-theater lecturer for several years before leaving the state to play lead guitar for the progressive rock band 23rd Hour. After brief sojourns in New Mexico and North Carolina, I decided that such was not the life for me, and I returned to school and the wilds of Utah to complete a masters degree in Philosophy (focus on Environmental Philosophy). I then worked for three years in the non-profit environmental field as assistant ecological restoration coordinator for TreeUtah. I ultimately decided to further my education by completing an M.A. and PhD in English (British and American Literature), with a focus on the intersections between nature and virtuality in narrative.
I now work as Associate Professor (Lecturer) in the Department of English at the University of Utah, where I enjoy teaching courses in Nature and Virtuality, Enchantment, an online introduction to Critical Theory, Video Game Storytelling, and Fantasy: The Lord of the Rings. I miss teaching Intellectual Traditions courses for the Honors College as well. In what spare time I can find, I design Euro-style strategy games (internationally published and distributed) which are (so far) themed on things like trolls and The Canterbury Tales.
To stay sane in an ecologically and politically dismaying reality, I have convinced myself that teaching and designing board games and walking my dog actually matter.
I live in Salt Lake City with my wife (singular) and cats (plural) plus the kindest dog I know. My favorite novels include Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart, David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces, Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood, and Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves. My favorite writers include David Mitchell, Ken Liu, Neil Gaiman, Paolo Bacigalupi, and Algernon Blackwood. I especially recommend the works of philosophers David Abram and Patrick Curry and critifiction writer Lance Olsen.
You can contact me here.