People

House Professor

Melanie Benson Taylor

Professor of English & Creative Writing | Professor of Native American Studies

(she/her/hers)

Hometown: Bourne (Cape Cod), MA

Education: B.A. in English (Smith College); M.A. and Ph.D. in English (Boston University)

Areas of Research Specialty: Modern and Contemporary U.S. Southern Literature | Indigenous Literatures | Economics and Representations of Identity

Hobbies/Interests: When I’m not spending time with my family (husband Alan Taylor, who teaches first-year Writing at Dartmouth, and sons Abel (almost 9), Hayden (almost 6), and Amos (4 months old!), I enjoy reading and writing; cooking and baking; running and being active; meditation and mindfulness.

What drives my work in Residential Education?: I was a first-generation college student who didn’t naturally know how to navigate higher education and thrived on the small community atmosphere fostered by the residential environment at Smith College. I feel privileged to help create these opportunities here in North Park House, and to work together with an amazing team of dedicated students and professionals to serve in ways not typically available to faculty in the traditional classroom setting.

Assistant Director

Colin Roberts

Assistant Director of Residential Education

(he/him/his)

Hometown: Shreveport, LA and Chicago, IL

Education: Masters in Student Affairs

Areas of Specialty: Social research, organizational theory, developmental theory, economics

Hobbies/Interests: Hiking, hunting, reading, recreating the 1889 Paris Exposition in miniature scale model

What drives my work in Residential Education?: I'm what you call a true-believer. I've had the privilege of experiencing everything a college community can be for students, and I know in my heart such a community can exist anywhere there are people willing to work for it. Lifelong friendships and connections are born in residential spaces, and the memories that start here are instrumental in discovering who we are. These spaces are transformative, but more importantly, it's where we learn to take care of ourselves and each other. Beyond that, I'm a lifelong learner and love researching community and the residential model! And who knows, one day we might be building successful student communities on the moon or beyond. One can dream, right?

Program Coordinator

(currently vacant)