T. Wesley PhD

T. Wesley, PhD, has her doctorate in English and literary arts specializing in transnational American cultural productions and disability studies. Over the past ten years, she has taught literature and creative writing, served as a managing editor and co-editor for literary journals, led workshops on accessible pedagogy and classroom design, and developed disability arts activism and community programming. Currently, T. teaches in the social justice program at the University of Denver, where she has also worked as the graduate assistant director of the writing center. She has extensive experience helping students and jobseekers develop dynamic and well-supported application materials for competitive awards and scholarships, graduate programs, and target employment positions.

As an undergraduate, T. Wesley studied English with an emphasis in creative writing as well as art history. Her family's background sparked my interest in the arts. Active within Jewish writing communities in Chicago and New York City, her great-grandfather was a fiction writer who published several novels and short story collections in Yiddish. Many of his short works were also published in prominent Jewish newspapers, and her great uncle (his oldest son) followed a similar path as a feature photographer for the Chicago Tribune. Though not an artist, her grandfather was also involved in the local community. Born deaf, he taught ASL to nurses on the South Side, where T. Wesley's family lived, so that they could better care for and communicate with d/Deaf patients. Many of the poems T. Wesley wrote while working toward her MFA in creative writing foregrounded this aspect of her family's history, including Deaf culture and disability.

While earning her MFA and PhD, T. Wesley held several editorial positions for literary journals, including managing editor, and began publishing her own creative and critical works. The writing she accomplished during this time created the foundation for her current projects, which explore relationships between disability, war, labor, and education as well as speculative fiction and social justice. She also helped launch and expand a local community outreach program that facilitates creative writing workshops for organizations serving disabled people, at risk youth experiencing homelessness, seniors in assisted living, and queer and non-binary folx. While working for her university's writing center as a PhD student, she designed and facilitated partner programs with the honors department to guide advanced students applying for fellowships, awards, and admission to prestigious graduate schools. Additionally, she collaborated with center directors to re-design the training process for undergraduate and graduate tutors. Her contributions focused on creating, implementing, and teaching units on accessibility and universal design for learning.

Fun Fact

T. Wesley once worked as a dog walker for Jennifer Hudson, but her real claim to fame is the shoutout she received from her brother when he was a kid scientist on the Late Show with David Letterman.