I have previously served as Faculty Chair of Teaching & Learning for four years and created the LTCC Teaching & Learning Website (https://ltccteachingandlearning.com) and spearheaded the position for these four years, as reflected in the four annual reports (https://ltccteachingandlearning.com/reports).
In terms of teaching, I have been recognized with the AAA/McGraw-Hill Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching of Anthropology (American Anthropological Association, 2005), the statewide Hayward Award for Excellence in Education (California Community Colleges, 2003), and the local Lake Lake Tahoe Community College Distinguished Faculty Member (2013), Lake Tahoe Community College/NISOD award (2008), and the Lake Tahoe Community College Associated Student Council teaching award (2004). I am also an expert in teaching face-to-face (since 1992, at various institutions) and RSP (having created the first degree and all classes for the Sociology program in ISP, now RSP).
In terms of DE/online education, I was interim Director of Distance Education (Spring 2019 and Summer 2021) and am the longest serving DE instructor at LTCC, going back to 2004. I was a statewide @ONE Carnegie Scholar for the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and wrote the monograph, “An Analysis of Student Success in Reflexive Online Classroom Assignments” (2005-2006), served on the CVC-OEI LTCC DE grant team, participated in the OETW, Online Excellence in Teaching Workshop (2018), completed the statewide OEI, Online Education Initiative review for SOC 101 (Summer 2018), have served as a local POCR reviewer, and have completed OER/ZTC projects for 6 courses (2017-2019, 2023). I also served as a Faculty Digital Consultant for McGraw-Hill Higher Education, involving digital and online Anthropology resource trainings (including training anthropologists on the Connect digital platform and facilitating a seminar for CSU and CCC anthropologists at CSU Sacramento).
Additionally, I served for many years as one of the master faculty trainers for new faculty who attended the AAA (American Anthropological Association meetings), and I was the co-editor of the volume Strategies in Teaching Anthropology (Prentice-Hall, 2010). I have also been a contributor to previous multiple editions of Strategies in Teaching Anthropology, the volume The Joys of Teaching Anthropology (Prentice-Hall, 2007), and wrote “The Role of Women’s and Gender Studies” and “Improving Gender Equity in Postsecondary Education” (Handbook for Achieving Gender Equity through Education, Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, 2007), as well as “The Actors Behind the Curtain: Representation of Women Faculty in Community College Institutional Decision-making” (Gendered Perspectives on Community Colleges, Jossey-Bass, 2008). I have also been a presenter/organizer of multiple pedagogical sessions at regional and national conferences, including:
Panelist for Teaching Anthropology (two workshops). American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2010.
Discussant for Strategies in Teaching Anthropology. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2010.
Anthropology and Critical Pedagogy. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2008.
Reflexivity in the Classroom. Workshop leader, NISOD International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence, Austin, Texas, 2008.
Strategies in Teaching Anthropology. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., 2007
Ideas in Teaching Anthropology (two workshops). American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., 2007.
Teaching Anthropology. Invited presidential panel, American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2006.
The Gender Ads Project. Invited workshop for conference participants, National Women’s Studies Association Conference, Orlando, Florida, 2005.
Anthropology: Statewide Initiatives. Anthropology Teaching Conference, San Luis Obispo, CA, 2004.
Empowering Classrooms and Community: The Internet as Public Pedagogy. Paper and Internet demonstration, NISOD International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence, Austin, Texas, 2004.
Cultural Transgression: Ethnography, Critical Methods and the Classroom. California American Studies Association and Rocky Mountain American Studies Association Meetings, Reno, Nevada, 2001.
At the corporate level, I have worked as an employee onboarding and training coordinator for Six Flags AstroWorld and as a consultant for major corporations, including a two-day facilitation retreat for Walt Disney Imagineering.
Additional non-teaching positions have further developed my CCC and faculty expertise, including: Faculty on Special Assignment (responsibilities for Interim Dean of Instruction,
Lake Tahoe Community College, Winter 2018), LTCC Special Projects (University Center, Strategic Enrollment Management, SLOs, Guided Pathways, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019), Participant in the Strategic Enrollment Management Project (Lake Tahoe Community College, 2018-2019), and a number of statewide efforts, including, Nominee (not appointed, California Community College Board of Governors, 2006), Lead Coordinator, California Statewide IMPAC Project in Anthropology (2003-2005), Chair of the Statewide Disciplines List Hearings (Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, 2002), and Community College Representative in Anthropology (California State University Lower Division Transfer Initiative, 2005).
Locally, I have maintained an active role in the community of South and North Lake Tahoe, including the keynote “Poverty: A Cultural Problem” (Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe, 2013), the keynote for the Poverty to Prosperity Forum (South Lake Tahoe, 2010), and the facilitation retreat “Cultural Change and Social Environment” (Western Aerosol Information Bureau conference, North Lake Tahoe, 2012). I also organized three The People Speak civic community events (United Nations small grant, LTCC), and coordinated multiple civic events in South Shore, including Civics, Civil Liberties, and You; The Patriot Act; and Understanding Iraq. I also submitted testimony from LTCC staff to the Library of Congress oral project in soliciting reactions to the 911 terrorist attacks in 2001.
I am an expert-level user of pedagogical technology, including expertise in audio, video, and many other technological use areas and won the Bastl DIY Challenge (Audio & Video – Best International Music Video) in 2021. I also created the LTCC Foundation Student Success Grant – Coyote Student Technology Scholars Program (CSTS) that focused on benefiting LTCC faculty and students in terms of online teaching and related technology.
Finally, I am an international expert on immersive spaces, popular culture, technology, and gender, having provided interviews or being quoted in To the Best of Our Knowledge, The Wondery, The New York Times, Washington Post, CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company), Chicago Tribune, The Independent, The Financial Times (London), Slate, The Daily Beast, KOLO-8 Reno, and The Huffington Post UK.