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Teaching and Speaking

Cris has taught creative writing at Columbia University, NYU, the New School, William Paterson University, the 92 Street Y, and Bayview Women’s Correctional. She currently teaches in the MFA programs at Columbia and NYU.

 Sample Lecture Topics and Invited Talks

Child Welfare: Cris can speak about everything from the history of foster care to emerging, hopeful trends. She has personal experience with the system and can connect it to other social movements. Some recent talks below:

  • Foster Teens and Permanency: A Keynote Address to the State of Maine Child Protective Stakeholders Conference

  •  Aging Out: What’s Next: Keynote Address to the Hilton Foundation, Los Angeles

  • A Brief History of Child Welfare. Presented at Hunter School of Social Work

  • What Judges Don't Know. A Master Class for all Family Court Judges in New York City

Writing: Cris has been writing professionally for twenty years and can speak on everything from finding inspiration to the nuts and bolts of getting published. She's also available to teach small workshops. Examples of talks below:

  • Blended Forms: Successfully Merging Journalism and Memoir. Presented at CalArts, Los Angeles

  • Writing Your Childhood. Presented at True Colors, Queer Youth Conference

  • Writing the Memoir Book. Presented in the course, “Memoir Writing,” 92nd Street Y

  • Get More Out of Freelancing. Presented at the Newswomen’s Club of New York

  • Hacks and Flacks: The tricky relationship between publicists and reporters. Presented at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association conference

Empathy: Cris has written a deeply-researched book on current theories and practices of empathy, and can speak about the ways it’s used and misused as well as its expansive creative potential. Recent talks below:

  • Millennials versus the World: Cultivating Intergenerational Empathy. Presented at the University of North Carolina, Asheville

  • Empathy: The Gaping Fault Line in American Culture. Presented at The Society for Ethical Culture 

Gender: Cris has written two books on trans communities (for teenagers and adults) and can speak about cultural history, a range of contemporary issues, as well as "transgender 101" for those looking to expand their understanding. Recent talks below:

  • Policing Bodies and Body Politics: Transgender Movements Then and Now: Presented at University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

  • Transgender Street Kids and the U.S. Response. Keynote Address at the Ciclo Rosa Conference in Bogotá, Colombia

  • Trangender 101: Presented at Columbia University School of Social Work

  • Writing Transgender Lives. Presented at Princeton University

  • Writing the Feminist and Transgender perspective. Presented at Bowling Green State University