I fell in love with theater and performance when I was in second grade, narrating my class Christmas play. Pursuing that, I earned my BA in Theater from Marquette University in Milwaukee, focusing on acting. I took a required course in Directing and fell in love with that. I went on to earn an MFA Directing for Theater from Northwestern University, where I was literally recruited to take their first ever storytelling class. I fell in love with Storytelling. I decided to never try to earn an official degree in Storytelling because I plan to stay a Storyteller. It took some detours but I found my true love. I've taught Storytelling at the university level since 1995. I came to ETSU in 2019 because it is the only university in the country with a storytelling program that includes undergraduate concentrations and minors in storytelling and an MA program that encompasses Storytelling. I stay because it is the one university where I can teach storytelling at a level of depth that I'm allowed to do here and because I cherish teaching the art form I love to students that surprise and delight me every day. I serve as the Storytelling Program Director guiding both the course offerings and extracurricular events that nurture our students' growth.

Teaching Focus

My teaching focus is on Storytelling both as a performance and an applied art, highlighting the various ways storytelling functions in our lives.

• • STOR 2500 - Introduction to Storytelling
  • STOR 4510 - Telling Personal Stories
  • STOR 4640 & 5640 - Applied Storytelling
  • STOR 5140 - Foundations of Storytelling Performance
  • STOR 5320 - Advanced Storytelling Performance

 

Scholarly Interests / Publications

Much of my performance and story coaching work has focused around telling difficult, trauma-informed stories--usually autobiographical, but at times also encompassing traditional stories. I also specialize in using humor to bring light into some of the darker areas of our life experiences. I strive in my hardest stories to model lack of shame for survivors, and to hold the paradox of the depth of our wounds alongside the possibility for ever deeper healing.

"Bump" by Nancy Donoval, Story Slam's First Ever National Winner

On A More Personal Note

I was born and lived my first 40 years in Chicago (with forays into nearby Evanston) before moving to Minneapolis-St. Paul for the next 19 years. If I was made to choose between being a Barbie person or being a Stuffed Animal person, I am most definitely a Stuffed Animal person. They are important members of my support team, which also includes a bounty of close, dear, friends. My nieces and nephew are the lights of my life. To relax I read--mostly detective or fantasy fiction--and binge watch a fine array of genre TV.