I am engaged with the following works in progress, which include my dissertation and other books I’m writing as well as related organizations I’m actively involved with.  I welcome any questions or comments about any of the projects.

Working title is:  A Power of One’s Own: Archaeology, Magic, and the Gendered Control of Domestic Boundaries in 17th Century New England

I’m interesting in discovering through historical archaeology how women may have used threshold magic and countermagic to construct empowered identities amidst social structures that narrowly defined “woman-ness” and permeated even the most private of boundaries.

I’m close to publication of this dictionary of literary themes that analyzes 700 literary works and 1,600 themes.  A colleague, Melanie Knadler, is collaborating on this and the following project.

This is an introductory guide to themes in 200 classic novels, short stories, and plays most commonly taught in high school and college literature courses.  It will be published as a complement to the Compendium of Themes.

I’m writing a book based on the paper I presented at Aston University with the same title, Crossing the Threshold: Passageways in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Words and Images

Ph.D. Dissertation

Introduction to Themes in Literature

Compendium of Themes in Literature

J.R.R. Tolkien Scholarship

Project List

I’m on the planning committee for the hosting of the 2009 VAF conference to be held in Butte, Montana.  The VAF is a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to the study and preservation of vernacular architecture and landscapes around the world.  To find out more about the VAF, you can find a link to their website under Related Links.

2009 Vernacular Architecture Forum Conference