Areas of study: American Literature and Native American Literature/Great Plains Studies
Degree: doctorate
Graduation year: 2003
Current occupation
Full professor, Northeastern State University.
What sparked your interest in your areas of study?
An interest in the Great Plains, Mari Sandoz, and American Indian Literatures.
What is the value of your areas of study?
Although it was awhile ago, I had excellent professors while I did my PhD work at UNL. My research assistant appointment put me in the Sandoz archives, and I wrote my dissertation from her letters. That has since been revised and was published as a book about Sandoz's letters and activism on behalf of the Northern Cheyennes, Lakotas, and other tribal peoples.
Tell us about the path you took to get to where you are today. How did you apply your education to get there?
Although I was an older returning student when I started my doctoral studies, I pushed through. After graduation, I became a Visiting Professor at Michigan State University, and five years later, took a position in Tahlequah, Oklahoma at Northeastern State University. My years at UNL helped to prepare me to do research, apply it, and teach.
