My work as an educator is driven by my commitment to equity and student empowerment. I have experience with and enjoy working with diverse student populations. As a Caribbean immigrant and a scholar, my teaching philosophy is characterized by both collaborative and individualized learning, inclusive practices, and care. My diverse educational background has shaped me into a strong advocate for interdisciplinary education. My research interests include morphology, creoles, sociolinguistics, and postcolonial theory.
Philosophy
Research Experience
Florida International University | Miami, FL | 2018 - 2019
MA Experimental Linguistics Project
Iconicity and semantic transparency in Jamaican Creole: Investigating speakers’ interpretations of reduplicated nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Designed and administered a picture-matching task to assess the range of interpretations of reduplicated forms allowed by Jamaican Creole speakers. The project included data collection, analysis, and presenting the study results.
Stockton University | Pomona, NJ | 2011 - 2012
Student Researcher
A Dream Deferred. Designed a digital humanities research project that combines literary analysis and postcolonial theory. The project explores 'otherness,’ the phenomenon of ‘inclusion by virtue of othering,’ and the politics of tolerance as they apply to race, gender, and citizenship in Malaysia. The project utilizes text, images, and video, and it is featured on the Stockton Postcolonial Studies Project blog.
Research Assistant
Compiled sources for Professor Adeline Koh’s co-authored book Women and the Politics of Representation in Southeast Asia: Engendering discourse in Singapore and Malaysia (2015). Co-hosted the Asian Film Series, presenting introductions to Orientalism and postcolonial studies prior to the screenings of the films Cowboys in Paradise, Sepet, and Eat, Pray, Love. Interviewed Cowboys in Paradise director Amit Virmani and facilitated a Q&A session.
Teaching, Tutoring, Event Planning
Florida International University | Miami, FL | 2018 - 2019
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Instructed and tutored undergraduate students in phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and grammar. Created study guides and other materials and served as a liaison between students and professors. Set up and operated the Canvas online course platform, recorded attendance, and proctored exams. Assisted the department director with coordinating and hosting department colloquia and conferences.
Vice President, Graduate Linguistics Association
Collaborated with the GLA executive board to develop, organize, and host student events to highlight current topics in the field of the linguistics to foster interactions between linguistics majors, and connect the linguistics department with the larger student body. Student-centered events were also vital to acquiring university funding for departmental colloquia and conferences.
Stockton University | Pomona, NJ | Spring 2010
Student Instructor
Instructed the residents of the Southern Residential juvenile facility in the mechanics of poetry while participating in the “Why Poetry Matters” service-learning project. Music and other prompts were incorporated to encourage student participation. The curriculum included revision sessions and a poetry event organized in collaboration with Southern Residential and Stockton University.