Welcome to my website

Hello, Reader! My name is Zoë and I currently live in Central Texas with my husband of 16 years, our three children (12, 9, and 4), three dogs, two cats, and a partridge in a pear tree (not really about the partridge, and TX is too hot for pear trees, but the rest of my circus is real). I am entering my fourth year of a PhD program in English at the University of Arkansas and my area of specialty is the “Trans-Reformation” period from 1380-1680 in England, so think Chaucer to Milton and everyone in between. Before moving to TX two years ago, we lived in Northwest Arkansas for nine years. Before that, we lived in Los Angeles, where I worked as the Special Assistant to the President at the Pacific Council on International Policy. Part of my background that I am most proud of is that when I was 16, my parents moved us from our small town in Northern California to an even smaller town in West Wales, where I did my A-Levels in English, History and Spanish before earning my BA in English and Theology at Durham University and my MA in Jewish – Christian Relations at the University of Cambridge. I have very fond memories of those years and they instilled in me a deep and abiding respect for engaging and challenging models of education in gorgeous settings, as well as a nostalgic love of vintage bicycles. In 2018 I was hired as an adjunct instructor at Northwest Arkansas Community College to teach sections of College Reading and Intermediate Writing to new college freshman who required additional support to succeed in Composition I. During the first week of classes in August, even though I was nervous, hivey, and sweaty with anxiety, I had what can only be called an epiphany of self: I was a teacher. It was like a lightbulb had been switched on inside of me, and I experienced the unique joy of knowing I was precisely where I was meant to be. I loved teaching and working with these students and knew that I had found my vocation. I took a break to have my third (and final!) baby, and then began a PhD program in 2021 to further develop my skills as an educator and consumer of literature. The program allowed me to return to my beloved classroom, where I had the privilege of teaching Composition I and II. In 2022, my husband’s work unexpectedly required us to move to the Austin area, and my program (love you, guys!) allowed me to finish my coursework remotely and teach online; I’ve now been the instructor of record for four sections of Composition II and four sections of upper-level literature courses called the Bible as Literature and Rethinking Literature. While I miss being in-person in the classroom, teaching on-line has helped me to hone new skills and find ways to connect with students virtually, which has been a fun and rewarding endeavor. I have passed my written qualifying exam and aim to pass my oral exam so to achieve ABD status by August 2024. My dissertation project uses the theoretical lens of “allosemitism” to explore the legacy of the ambivalent treatment of Jews in British literature and the effect of these “allosemitic” themes, characters, and language on contemporary Jewish – Christian relations in the UK. I am passionate about improving interfaith relations and particularly the relationship between Jews and Christians, especially given the current rise of global anti-Semitism. Thanks for reading through this section! I’d love to connect to discuss teaching opportunities in either 9-12 or college settings.