I’m a former English professor, currently working for a federal grant-making agency. My scholarly expertise is in Victorian literature and children’s literature and I recently published two books: British Children’s Literature of the 19th Century: A Companion and Animating the Victorians: Disney’s Literary History.

In May 2020 I forewent tenure at Fisk University and moved to the DC area to be closer to family. I work in the Division of Education Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities (this website represents my personal opinions and not those of the NEH or the federal government). My official title is “humanities administrator” but most people use the phrase “program officer.” I primarily work with grant programs for colleges and universities, and some professional development programs for K-12 educators and higher education faculty. I have been closely involved in creating and revising several grant programs, and my day-to-day work involves coordinating peer review for incoming applications; managing active awards; and doing outreach on behalf of the agency, including virtual and in-person presentations. My favorite part of the job is working with potential applicants: I get to read draft proposals (you can get feedback before you submit!), and it’s thrilling to see the kinds of humanities programs being developed all over the country.

NEH encourages us to be active in our fields. I still attend a conference or two a year, virtually or in person, and I’ve kept up some research projects, with the support of an internal, NEH research fellowship that let me devote some work ours to a book project. Animating the Victorians had its origins in a 2014 NEH summer seminar, so that book feels like it came full circle. It developed from a course, “Disney’s Victorians,” which I taught when I lived near Orlando. The book draws on materials in the Walt Disney Company Archives and examines how the Walt Disney Company mediates our modern understanding of Victorian literature and culture.

British Children’s Literature of the 19th Century is part of McFarland’s series of companions to 19th century literature series. It includes an introductory essay, and then individual entries covering about 100 authors, texts, and topics of relevance to teachers and scholars of Romanticism, Victorian studies, and children’s literature. My first book, The Legacy of the Moral Tale, was about how childhood reading influenced the history of the novel, and is available from the University of Tennessee Press. You can see my other publications on my CV.

Before joining the NEH I was an assistant professor of English at Fisk University in Nashville, TN, where I also directed the W. E. B. Du Bois General University Honors Program. At Fisk I taught courses in British literature, including surveys for majors and seminars on nineteenth-century literature, children’s literature, and the history of the novel. I also substantially revised the honors program, making it more open to students from all majors and encouraging applications to national and international fellowships and scholarships. When I started, the honors program had one graduating senior and students rarely applied for national awards. When I left, the honors program was an integral part of both recruitment and of the student experience. In my last two years at Fisk, honors students won a Goldwater, a Luard Morse, and a Fulbright (each a first for the university), among other smaller awards and several finalists for the Rhodes Scholarship. I miss teaching and working with students.

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my wife Kate and our two sons, Penn and Asa. When I’m not at a kids’ birthday party or track meet or play date or gymnastics practice or what-have-you, I enjoy ultimate frisbee, frisbee golf, taking walks, and riding my bike. Recently I repurposed an old wooden porch into raised garden beds, and I’m trying my hand at growing some vegetables.

I received my B.A. from Pomona College and my M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. In a past life I was an amateur ballroom dancer: some of my performances are still on YouTube (here and here), and I was featured in the short film Ballroom Boys, part of the Virginia Film Festival’s Adrenaline Film Project. Kate and I met through ballroom dancing, and though we don’t go out dancing as much as we used to, we still enjoy it when we get the chance.