My research and publications have focused on biography and autobiography with an emphasis on folklore and storytelling. In a book, I discuss horsewomen in the American West focusing on their use of humor in relationship to tourism. I have published articles on culture and cuisine, most recently for a foodways exhibition sponsored by the Smithsonian entitled “Key Ingredients,” now traveling across the United States. I write book and article reviews for journals and encyclopedia entries. From January to June 2008, my abstract landscapes, After a Garden, were on display in the Kuykendall Gallery at the university. Also in 2008, I taught English in Paris and researched at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. In June 2008, I gave a presentation entitled “Prince Lot and G. P. Judd on the European Tour 1849-1850” at the International Auto/Biography Association meeting in Honolulu. As a rule, courses in composition as well as life writing, literature and folklore keep me busy.

Interests:
Folklore, American literature, humor studies, tourism

Education:
BA, University of Hawai`i at Manoa
MA, University of Hawai`i at Manoa
PhD, University of Hawai`i at Manoa

Awards
Best scholarly typography at the Book Jacket and Journal Show, the Association of American University Presses, 2007

Innovation in Teaching, American Library Association, 2001

Most Distinguished Dissertation, Department of English and Arts and Sciences, 1997