What did you study at NYU?
I studied English and American
Literature.
What interests you about studying literature?
In high school, I devoured a lot
of classic literature and took AP classes that meant a lot to me and figured I
would do something with English.
What drew you to a career in
academia?
An important question! Honestly, I'm not sure there's much of an
answer, but what I can say is that even as an undergrad, I
knew very well that I was made to be some sort of educator, yet when I tried my
hand at secondary education I found myself wanting something more. In the end, I might have been a high school
English teacher—and a very happy one!—but my PhD program gave me the chance to
try on a number of different hats before making a final decision, and I quickly
realized that my obsessions tended in one direction and one direction only...