Work
Building things when the existing institutions aren't doing the job
Alongside the scholarly and intellectual work, a parallel record of responding to institutional and political crises by building organizations, communities, and campaigns.
Building communities
Institutions built in response to need
There is a pattern across these projects: something happened, the existing infrastructure wasn't adequate to it, and the right response was to build something. That is also, not coincidentally, a description of what good education does — and why the organizing work and the intellectual work feel continuous rather than separate.
Teaching in the Aftermath
Co-founded (with David Albertson, University of Southern California) the week after the 2016 election as a resource-sharing community for humanities educators navigating the political crisis in their classrooms. The group grew rapidly to approximately 1,500 members across institutions and disciplines.
In 2022, after the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, founded a spinoff group, Teaching After Roe, for educators navigating that specific crisis with their students.
The original impulse for Teaching in the Aftermath is described in the Craft of Teaching piece "Teaching in the Aftermath" (November 2016).
Teaching in the Aftermath →Visiting Experts' Network
Conceptualized and built a network of 700 academics willing to make Zoom guest appearances in each other's classes — developed during the pandemic to give isolated students access to scholars they would not otherwise encounter, and continuing beyond it as a permanent resource.
The network operates as a searchable database of scholars by field and availability, allowing faculty to find and invite guest lecturers without the logistical burden of traditional speaker arrangements.
Visiting Experts' Network →Oxford University Writing Workshop
Founded and ran a volunteer-based peer-tutoring writing workshop at Oxford in response to the university's program to accept students from all educational backgrounds — providing writing support for students whose preparation for Oxford's essay-based assessment had been uneven.
Political organizing
Campaigns and civic action
Operation Make Lemonade
Conceived, actualized, and promoted a series of events running adjacent to white supremacist marches, soliciting donations to anti-racist causes for each white supremacist who marched. Partnering with Union Capital Bank, the campaign raised nearly $100,000 for anti-racist causes in Massachusetts and California.
The campaign received national coverage — the model (making white supremacist marches fundraisers for anti-racist organizations) inverted the political logic of the marches themselves and galvanized counter-organizing without direct confrontation.
ThinkProgress coverage →The Daily Constitutional
Conceived and promoted a national activism group that recommended one specific intervention per day to defend constitutional governance against the assaults of the Trump administration — addressing the travel ban, voting rights, unconstitutional interference with the Mueller investigation, and other specific threats.
At its peak, the group had more than 3,000 members writing and calling relevant government officials on coordinated daily actions.
The Daily Constitutional →Shaheen Gubernatorial Campaign
Statewide Youth Vote Coordinator, Jeanne Shaheen gubernatorial campaign, New Hampshire, 1996.
Institutional leadership
Inside the institution
Chair, Teaching-Track Faculty Caucus (AAUP)
Led the Teaching-Track Faculty Caucus during the institution's declaration of financial exigency and the elimination of approximately 25% of full-time faculty. Coordinated a student letter-writing campaign in support of liberal-arts education and DEI commitments, eliciting dozens of letters from students and alumni.
Secretary, Faculty Senate
Major Senate initiatives during this period included codifying policies for recruiting and retaining faculty of color, enumerating shared governance procedures, and advancing budget transparency. Administered the annual faculty satisfaction survey; arranged ASL translation for all Senate events; kept detailed minutes of all Senate and Executive Committee meetings.
Coordinator, Gender Studies Minor
Advised students on course selection; collaborated with faculty peers on curriculum and scheduling decisions; coordinated transfer credits; planned supplemental programming. Increased the size of the program by 100% over two years.