Instructor of Record (University of Chicago)

Forgeries & Flippanices (Winter 2023)

A course on forgeries and hoaxes, primarily literary and artistic, with an emphasis on theory, diagnostic detection, and asking questions about the ethics of originality and fictionality. 

Melville Fore and Aft: Typee and The Confidence-Man (Winter 2023)

Close-reading based course covering Melville’s first and last novels. Offered as part of the Fundamentals Major. 

Mythologies of Labor (Winter 2022)

In this course we read premodern mythological and religious texts (including Genesis, Gilgamesh, Hesiod, Setubandha, Popol Vuh) in translation, focusing on how each defines the role of human and non-human labor.

Affect at the Close: Capitalism, Climate Change, Creating Alternatives (Winter 2022)

This theory course centered on the affects of modernity as a state of consistent crisis, exploring techniques for thinking beyond the saturating pessimism of the present. Students were asked to think how the gambits of literary fiction, predicated on the construction of worlds, may offer routes into rethinking our world. 

Readings in World Literature – Epic (Fall 2021 & Fall 2022)

Two sections of the first portion of the RWL core sequence. Students read the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Odyssey, and parts of the Mahabharata in translation, as well as a text chosen by the instructor–in this case, Moby Dick. 

Against Interpretation: Philology at the Crossroads (Winter 2021)

Self-designed course. Looks at the history of philology from the perspective of Susan Sontag’s polemic “Against Interpretation,” and offers alternative histories of philology so as to inspire students to think critically about texts in innovative ways.

Greek 201: Diotima and Aspasia (Fall 2020)

This course is part of the regular intermediate sequence, but I have transformed the syllabus for remote teaching and to create an emphasis on gender. I will be leading students through Diotima’s speech in Plato’s Symposium, and through Aspasia’s in the Menexenus. 

Greek 10123 (Summer 2020)

Teaching an intensive 8-week summer course designed to provide the equivalent of one year of regular Greek. Taught through the University of Chicago’s Summer Language Institute (SLI). The first four weeks will be dedicated to active-learning environment activities. Students will read Plato’s Apology in the last two weeks, after a module on Proclus’ Summary of the Cypria in the previous weeks, continuing on the emphasis of active learning through an emphasis on composing their own Ancient Greek responses to the readings. 

Latin 103 (Spring 2020)

I designed a new syllabus for Latin 103 in order to teach the class remotely (due to COVID-19). The course relied heavily on group composition projects; the students composed an “Odyssey” and “anti-Odyssey” (bits Homer left out) in Latin. Students were also asked to develop etymology projects and personal composition in Latin based on images.

Comparative Mythology: Methods and Madness (Winter 2020)

Self-designed course. We explored the history of Comparative Mythology as a discipline that has been founded and re-founded at different historical moments with ranging aims. Ultimately, the class converged naturally on the topic of what gets excluded from most schools of mythic analysis: emotion. We ended with an experimental, experiential module on Louise Gluck’s Meadowlands, and also dedicated a final session to the history of the study of mythology at the University of Chicago. Click Here for Course Poster.

Preceptor, Comparative Literature Department B.A. Thesis Seminar (AY 19-20)

I helped oversee 6 theses on diverse topics, ranging from Pasolini to Manga, and from the Bible to Baudelaire, stopping by Martial Arts films and Old Norse-inspired Video Art. My task was to run workshop sessions and help students bring their first long-term paper project to completion effectively.

Preceptor, Classics Department B.A. Thesis Seminar (AY 17-18)

I oversaw 11 theses on topics as wide-ranging as gender in Greek poetry and the early history of Roman coinage. I ran workshop sessions throughout the year and focused on writing skills and taught students’ different ways of developing constructive criticism, and how to build on the criticism they receive. I acted as a bridge between the students and faculty advisors for grading, but also for guidance purposes.

Teaching Assistant / Course Assistant / Language Assistant

Latin 101, 102 (Fall 2019, Winter 2020)

Every week I designed and delivered 30-50minutes of instruction. My focus was on prose composition, reinforcing grammar through short but difficult reading (e.g. Propertius), and etymology (and derivational morphology). 

Greek 201: Plato’s Republic I (Fall 2019)

I designed and delivered 50 minutes of instruction per week covering grammatical topics, both reviewing first-year Greek and introducing nuances and idioms pertinent to Attic Greek. I complemented the grammatical instruction with sight-readings from advanced texts so as to reinforce certain points of syntax, but also to prepare students for 202: Sophocles, which would have been their first class on poetry. [Faculty Instructor: Mark Payne]

Translation and Translation Theory / Advanced Translation Workshop (Spring 2017)

I designed and delivered 50 minutes of instruction per week on topics complementing the course—essentially running a parallel set of mini-seminars, on topics that included: avant-garde translations of Latin poetry; translating Italian dialects; and the problem of language and script intersection in the Ancient Near East. [Faculty Instructors: Haun Saussy and Jennifer Scappettone]

Italian 101, 201, 204 (Fall 2016)

I met with students individually every week in 15-minute sessions designed to develop their spoken language skills. I was also charged with running the Italian movie night every week, and chose a wide selection of films and offered the students the opportunity to stay after the movie to discuss it or ask question in Italian.

Other Relevant Experience

Rhetoric & Poetics (AY 19-20, 20-21)

As Assistant Coordinator of R&P I did three things: (1) Developed our website; (2) Built a Social Media presence (@rhetpoet on Twitter); (3) Organized two workshop series. The first series is Lyric (s)Paces, and emphasizes creative and collaborative reading of fragmentary lyric poetry; the aim is to produce creative translations in an interdisciplinary environment. The second is Homeric Disputations, which meets weekly over Zoom for a virtual discussion of Homeric topics, usually with an emphasis on contemporary issues. The latter is well-attended by scholars from across the world.

Tutoring (2020-)

I have been tutoring several grade school students in Latin and Greek. Learning to work with 6-15 year old children poses important challenges. I emphasize an intuitive and immersive approach centered on composition and language games. 

UofChicago Finnegans Wake Reading Group (AY 16-17)

In a period of about two years I founded and convened this group, moderating sessions, assigning readings, and developing a website where participants might share their reflections on their reading. You can visit the old website here.

Reading Poetry (AY 13-14)

While finishing my undergraduate at Trinity College Dublin I designed and ran an evening course, offered by the Trinity Literary Society, which I chaired. The course was open to students and the general public. It focused on “reading” poetry, i.e. “performing” poetry out loud. Topics covered included enunciation, accent, voicing, prosodic nuance, and intonation. We reflected on how these techniques change interpretations of famous poems by the likes of T. S. Eliot and Dylan Thomas, as well as less known contemporary Irish poets. Organized several guest lectures.