"Hi! I'm a historian and writer who loves to teach. I have over 20 years of experience teaching and tutoring students of all ages. A New York City native, I earned my B.A. in Social Studies at Harvard University and my Ph.D. in Ottoman history at the University of Chicago. Along the way, I learned a lot about how to think and write about history, how to organize and present ideas on the page, and how to have fun doing it. For college students, I've taught award-winning courses on Islamic history and political thought, as well as courses on academic and professional writing and world literature. For high schoolers, I've taught and tutored US and world history, and for middle schoolers, I've taught everything from English to botany.

In my work as a tutor, I enjoy helping students make real progress in their abilities as thinkers, writers, and researchers. I've had a great time working with history students to shape research projects that are meaningful and satisfying to them. I've also had a wonderful time helping students master both the Reading & Writing and Math sections of the SAT, SHSAT, and other standardized tests. I especially enjoy working with students with lopsided practice scores -- in my experience, these scores reflect a lot of room for potential on the "weaker" side, whether it's math or verbal. I have yet to meet a student who can't improve substantially with the help of an experienced tutor, and I love helping students discover what they're capable of, whether it's a 20-page research paper they enjoyed writing or a 750 on the math section from a kid who used to shrink from the sight of a quadratic equation.

I have found empathy to be key to effective tutoring and teaching, and it is at the heart of my approach. I have lots of experience working successfully with students who struggle with attention deficits and anxiety related to their academic work. In my free time, I love biking in the city, studying languages, and looking for traces of the past in the present." less...