I am currently a Faculty Specialist in the Department of World Religions and Cultures at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. I accepted this academic appointment in the summer of 2025 and formally assumed instructional and administrative responsibilities in early August while completing the terminal phase of my doctoral dissertation in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Iowa. At Western Michigan University, my assigned duties encompass undergraduate instruction as well as the coordination and academic administration of the online graduate certificate program in Religion, Culture, and Health.

The concurrent processes of geographic relocation and dissertation completion constituted a complex professional undertaking, requiring the sustained negotiation of teaching obligations, programmatic oversight, and advanced research productivity. Despite these demands, I successfully defended my dissertation on November 12, thereby fulfilling all degree requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy. My doctoral training at the University of Iowa provided robust preparation for the integration of pedagogical practice and scholarly research, emphasizing methodological rigor, curriculum delivery, and academic labor management.

This preparation was materially realized through extensive instructional experience, including appointment as a graduate teaching assistant for nine courses across multiple curricular levels and chronological stages of my graduate program. These appointments facilitated the development of competencies in course facilitation, student assessment, and instructional design. In addition, the Department of Religious Studies and the Graduate College provided institutional support through competitively awarded research funding and conference travel grants, enabling sustained participation in national and international scholarly forums. Collectively, these experiences contributed to my professional socialization as a teacher-scholar and established a durable foundation for continued contributions to undergraduate education, graduate program administration, and interdisciplinary research within the study of religion and health.