Maggie McDowell joined NCSSM in July 2023 as an Instructor of American Studies and Humanities on our Morganton campus. Originally from Indiana, she has called North Carolina home from mountains to sea since 2016. She has also lived for stints in France and Ireland, where she cultivated a taste for good bread, cheese, and tea. A longstanding fascination with the way the stories we tell reflect what makes us human led her to a Great Books program in undergrad and then to the Duke English and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies departments. Her dissertation on asexual representation in American pop culture reflects her concern with inclusive representation and storytelling in a range of media forms blogs, film, TV, podcasts, etc. Prior to NCSSM she has worked as a writing tutor, college advisor, and community college instructor. Maggie earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal studies at the University of Notre Dame, and her master’s and doctorate degrees in English and GSF at Duke University. When she’s not teaching she loves running, hiking, local produce, and spending time with her cats.