Mission and Vision of The Feminist Folklorist

Every scholar begins with a story. Mine has been written across healing rooms, classrooms, and libraries.

Before I was a student of folklore and religion, I spent decades as a massage therapist and educator — listening to the stories carried in bodies, and teaching others how to recognize them. That work shaped my understanding that narrative is never abstract; it is lived, embodied, and often marked by pain, resilience, and transformation.

At The Ohio State University, I returned to the classroom to study Comparative Studies with a focus in Folklore and Religious Studies. My research traces the entanglements of myth and misogyny, trauma and tradition. I have examined Old Norse texts through the lens of gendered violence, led community conversations on banned books, and built bridges between scholarship and public engagement through my project, The Hearth & Page.

I write as a folklorist, a feminist, and a scholar of religion — but also as a nontraditional student, a small business owner, and a lifelong advocate for voices often left at the margins. My page is still being written, but it is grounded in one conviction: that stories are not just what we inherit, but what we choose to create, challenge, and pass on.