Biography

I currently teach at Red Cloud High School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of the Oglala Lakota people. I am originally from the Philadelphia area and attended St. Joseph's Prep High School in North Philadelphia. I then attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, graduating in 2006 as an English/Classics double major. I spent my junior year abroad at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, where I studied literature, the classics, and Irish culture. Since my graduation from Holy Cross, I have participated in the Red Cloud Volunteer Program. The 2008-2009 school year will be my last year as a Red Cloud volunteer. At Red Cloud, I teach 11th grade English, coach the JV boy's basketball team, and assist the varsity team. My favorite writers include Gary Snyder, W.B. Yeats, Joseph Campbell, D.T. Suzuki, Joseph Marshall III, James Joyce, and Tom Robbins. I have played baseball, basketball, and rugby competitively.

You can contact me at mfsunderland@gmail.com

 

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professors Todd Lewis and Leonard van der Kuijp for organizing and leading our Institute. I would like to especially thank Professor Lewis, who taught me at Holy Cross a number of times previously. I would also like to thank the Holy Cross Library and Computer staff for their help. I would also like to thank NEH and Holy Cross.

Unless otherwise noted, the Himalayan/Buddhist images are courtesy of Todd Lewis and the Lakota/ South Dakota images are courtesy of Emily Fischer.