Publications 2011-Present
The Clepsydra (2018, forthcoming)My first novel, begun in October 2015, is a "mystical-realism time-travel adventure." In this work, my characters explore the history and mysticism of Islam in Spain. I will wait until the novel is published before giving specific details, though I will say that I write through the lens of New Thought philosophy, since that is my background. The novel is mystical, in the sense that I take the reader into a space where Islamic spirituality goes beyond the religion itself. It is realism, in the sense that the characters come from our world and struggle to find the true, peaceful Islam in the face of the warped ideologies that have produced violent extremism. It is historical in that the characters travel to 11th-century Seville to learn how Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities coexisted under the rule of the Moors. And it is an adventure, in the sense that for these characters the threat of terrorism is real and personal, and they must follow the clues and act quickly in order to locate an ancient spiritual technology--the Clepsydra--which is their only hope for restoring all human hearts to their eternal state of peace.
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Above are photos from Spain (2016 and 2017) that have inspired scenes from The Clepsydra.
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Charles Webber in the Civil War (2016)
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In May 2016, I took a short trip to New Bern, North Carolina to research my great-great-great-grandfather Charles Webber's involvement in the Civil War. Webber served as a drummer boy between the ages of 16 and 19 in the Massachusetts 23rd regiment, which occupied New Bern for nearly the whole conflict. My research also involved the study of some 200 letters written to and from young Charles during his service in the war, as well as historical print sources detailing the regiment's involvement. The report I wrote, detailing some of my findings, was published in my family's 2016 reunion book in July.
Photos (including some of CHW's original sketches) can be found on my New Bern travel page. |
Webber-Endicott Family History in Massachusetts (2013)
In April 2013, I spent one week in Massachusetts researching family history from the time period of about 1861 to 1901. The ancestors in question, the Webber and Endicott families, lived in Salem and Beverly during this time. I wrote this report as an extended summary of my historical and genealogical findings, including the thoughts these findings provoked. It was published in my family's 2013 reunion book in July.
Photos from my trip (with a narration of genealogical findings) can be found on my Boston/North Shore travel page.
Eventually, in addition to publishing an online archive of family letters, photographs, and historical descriptions, I plan to write a novel based closely on the life of my great-great-great-grandfather Charles H. Webber (1845-1923). He was a man of many talents: an actor, musician, playwright, poet, astrologer, newspaper writer, and orator. The 1800's were quite an interesting time to be alive!
The Endicott family also has a website: www.endecott-endicott.com
Photos from my trip (with a narration of genealogical findings) can be found on my Boston/North Shore travel page.
Eventually, in addition to publishing an online archive of family letters, photographs, and historical descriptions, I plan to write a novel based closely on the life of my great-great-great-grandfather Charles H. Webber (1845-1923). He was a man of many talents: an actor, musician, playwright, poet, astrologer, newspaper writer, and orator. The 1800's were quite an interesting time to be alive!
The Endicott family also has a website: www.endecott-endicott.com
Master of Arts in Teaching Capstone (2011)
This is my master's thesis, titled Applying Sheltered Instruction Principles to Content-Based Spanish Language Teaching, written to obtain a M.A.T. degree at the University of Portland. I was able to conduct the research in the classroom in which I did my student teaching. The abstract is copied below:
Sheltered instruction is a method traditionally used to teach academic content to English language learners while simultaneously building their language proficiency. Recognizing the potential usefulness of this method in second-language teaching, I applied sheltered instruction principles toward the content-based teaching of Spanish to native English-speaking high school students. I taught a six-week unit of content-focused lessons in Spanish and assessed students' ability to comprehend both written and spoken Spanish on pre- and post-assessments. Assessment scores were tabulated quantitatively, and qualitative observations were incorporated into the discussion of findings as per the QUAN-Qual model of mixed-methods research. The results of this study indicate that students significantly improved in their comprehension ability as measured by their increased knowledge of the course content that was taught in Spanish. Furthermore, students finished the unit with a heightened ability to follow directions given in Spanish and a reduced reliance on translating to English.
Sheltered instruction is a method traditionally used to teach academic content to English language learners while simultaneously building their language proficiency. Recognizing the potential usefulness of this method in second-language teaching, I applied sheltered instruction principles toward the content-based teaching of Spanish to native English-speaking high school students. I taught a six-week unit of content-focused lessons in Spanish and assessed students' ability to comprehend both written and spoken Spanish on pre- and post-assessments. Assessment scores were tabulated quantitatively, and qualitative observations were incorporated into the discussion of findings as per the QUAN-Qual model of mixed-methods research. The results of this study indicate that students significantly improved in their comprehension ability as measured by their increased knowledge of the course content that was taught in Spanish. Furthermore, students finished the unit with a heightened ability to follow directions given in Spanish and a reduced reliance on translating to English.
