Teaching

I teach and serve as the Director of Graduate Programs in the Youth, Family, and Community Sciences program in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at NC State University.

Each summer, I teach our human sexuality summer course, where I work with students to investigate the diverse social, cultural, and political landscapes of sexuality in the U.S.  This course also can count towards the graduate minor in women’s and gender studies. Find out more about that graduate minor here.

I also teach family relationships over the lifecourse each fall, where we explore the ways family systems and dynamics are impacted by both developmental patterns and structural, cultural and systemic realities.

I’ve taught or co-taught (with Jessica Williams) our program’s internship course several times. I love working with students to find and harness their passions, to think critically about how what we learn shapes who we are and what we do, and to empower them in their world-changing work.

I advise both thesis and non-thesis masters students in our program, and serve on doctoral committees in my department.  Students I work with are focusing on topics like: religiosity and resilience among GLBTQ+ people of color, parenting children on the autism spectrum, grief and loss in parenting, intimate partner violence, and resilience and hope among families living in poverty.  In addition to working closely with my advisees, I also serve on doctoral committees for students across the university, in the areas of food and nutrition, sociology, gender studies, and adult education and leadership.