I didn't know early in my career that I would fall in love with teaching, but when I left my PhD program in Comparative Literature and became a teacher, it was clear that teaching was where I wanted t... o spend my life. For the past 12 years, I have been the senior teacher in a nationally-recognized college preparatory school, where I taught Honors English, both AP English courses, and Post-AP/Capstone Philosophy. I began my own course of study at New York University, where I completed BAs in Comparative Literature and Politics, and later an MA in Comparative Literature. My expertise in philosophy derives from the fact that NYU houses Continental Philosophy in the Comparative Literature department, while applied Political Theory is housed in the Politics Department. After finishing my MA, I became an instructor at Hebei University in China, where I taught high-level literature to students with limited English language experience. I then pursued a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine, which offered the foremost program in Literary Theory (the integration of philosophy and literary study) in the US. Since becoming a secondary-level teacher, I have ALWAYS combined literary and philosophical study, as well as arts criticism instruction, to help students develop not only exemplary reading, research and writing skills, but also their broader understanding of the history of ideas and the real-life applications of philosophical perspectives. I am proud to have helped countless students use literary and philosophical study as an avenue to open opportunities and life experiences (of course, I'm also proud of how many of my students have continued their literary and philosophical studies at university, including at prestigious schools such as Harvard and Stanford.) Helping students thrive intellectually and personally remains a joy to me every single day!read more

Hi, future scholars, innovators and intellectuals! I hope that that headline tells you all you need to know about how we will work together: that you already have the ability to see the world and yo... ur studies in deeper ways, you just need someone to help you understand how to use the resources we have, and to think through what those resources mean for your studies and life. The terrific about studying the humanities is that we can and should take the things that you already like and are curious about and make them as meaningful as they can be. In one-on-one tutoring, we can do that more deeply than in a classroom, because we can study your individual interest and needs in greater detail. We will talk through and nurture your ideas and learn to express them in your own voice. My belief that thinking makes for a fuller life comes from my own experience. I'm an artist (Please! Ask me about my work!) and an avid consumer of arts and literature in general. My husband and I run a film club, and I'm proud every time we put up our 5m screen and projector and show people art they might not otherwise get to see. I lived in Sweden when I was a kid and in France in high school (I speak French and pretty good Spanish, but the only Swedish I remember are the words for "hedgehog" and "stockings.") I moved to NYC for university and later to Irvine, CA for my PhD, but I moved back to my hometown of Tucson 13 years ago, and I now live in my childhood neighborhood (!!!) I have two dogs, one of whom is a crash-landed Space Princess; she's pretty saucy and keeps us in line. I especially love working with teenagers, who are really able to use new ideas to figure out who they are and what they want to be. I hope we can work together to open up our thinking and experiences!read more