I earned my M.A. from  Middlebury College and my Ph.D. from the University of Wisonsin-Madison. I have taught all levels of Spanish at Wright State University since 2003, including courses such as Spanish as a World Language, The Cultures of Spain, Travel Literature, Hispanic Cinema, and Spanish for Law Enforcement Personnel.  I am particularly interested in community-based learning and have collaborated with a number of local Hispanic-serving organizations, including El Puente Tutoring Center and the local Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia. I coordinate internships for the Department of Modern Languages and have volunteered to teach Spanish at a local elementary school. I have co-authored, with Cecilia McGinniss Kennedy, a community-based textbook titled Sitios (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 2012).

My research interests involve medieval Iberian chronicles, legal texts, and Mediterranean Studies. I am the author of Visions of Unity after the Visigoths: Early Iberian Latin Chronicles and the Mediterranean World (Turnhout: Brepols, 2016) and editor of Text and Concordances of the Setenario of Alfonso El Sabio (Madison: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 1999). My articles appeared in journals Viator, Romance Quarterly, and Mediterranean Studies. My current research projects involve uses of the medieval past in Renaissance, Counter-Reformation, and Twentieth-Century Spain. 

I enjoy hiking and trekking, occasional kayaking, travel in the US and abroad, ballroom dancing, cooking international dishes, and always learning another language.