Introductions

I'll start with some advice--there's no non-awkward way to break into a written introduction, so just start writing and know that I'm not grading you on readability. And as a writing trick for your essays: start with what you know; write your opening last.

But for the real introduction, I figure I might as well start with my credentials. I have a Bachelor's in English (Creative Writing) and Theology from Rockhurst University in Kansas City and a Master's in English (Rhetoric) from Creighton in Omaha. So I have a lot of experience with Midwestern Jesuit schools. I've been living in Saint Louis for nearly three years now, and I admit--I'm starting to come around on the city. It's a weird, insular place, but it feels old in a way you don't really get in a lot of American cities, especially not in the Midwest. The food culture, eh, I've got no love for Provel, and I'm too loyal to Boulevard to really get into the breweries, but it definitely contributes to the city's character.

As I mentioned, I'm currently working on my Ph.D., which means I'm as much a student here as I am an instructor. I have deadlines, assignments, and instructors of my own--and a particularly daunting one coming up the week of Spring Break, so I'm not as removed from the realities and hardships of student life as Professors can be. As I mentioned, my field of study is Media Ecology Rhetoric, specializing in Digital Media, most specifically, the internet. I'm interested in advancing Fr. Walter Ong, a former SLU Professor's, theories on the impact of oral-manuscript-print culture into the digital age. Mostly, this means I'm researching how using the internet changes us--for the better or for worse.

And also, my wife has requested that I mention we have two cats: Matches and Malarkey. They're alright.