He received his Ph.D. in both Modern Thought & Literature and the Humanities, with a minor in political science, from Stanford University. Research and teaching interests include the interrelated histories of the development of classical, modern and contemporary fictional narrative and human rights discourses, and aesthetics as a response to and means for preventing and interrogating cultures of violence. In addition to his work at UC Merced, he has taught several literature, writing and journalism courses in the Prison University Project program at San Quentin State Prison. His graduate work at UC Berkeley analyzed black-on-black homicide in Oakland, California, through a global human rights framework in order to problematize and counter traditional methodologies marked by desensitization and dehumanization.