Teaching

Literary History, Interpretation, and Theory

Drawing on her doctoral work in English and American Literature, Dr. Lawson has taught courses in literary appreciation and analysis, the history of literary forms and movements, and the evolution of literary theory. These classes have served students in and beyond the English departments that housed them, both equipping committed English students with the critical background for upper level undergraduate training and introducing non-majors to modes of literary engagement they’d not yet had a chance to consider.

  • ENGL 3060: Modern/Contemporary Lit (University of Colorado: CU)

  • ENGL 2112: Introduction to Literary Theory (CU)

  • ENGL 1200 8G:1 Interpretation of Literature (University of Iowa: UI)

  • ENGL 1600: Masterpieces of American Literature (19th century) (CU)

  • ENGL-LGBT 2707: Intro to LGBT Literature (CU)

  • ENGL/WGST 1250: Introduction to Global Women’s Literature (CU)

Creative Writing

Across her work in physical classrooms and online, Dr. Lawson has introduced new writers to multiple genres of creative writing and the tools needed to develop them, as well as guided intermediate and advanced writers in sharpening their voice and building their portfolio.

  • ENGL 1191: Introduction to Creative Writing (CU)

  • ENGL 3081: Intermediate Nonfiction (online) (CU)

  • ENGL 3021: Intermediate Poetry (CU)

  • ENGL 4021:Advanced Poetry Workshop (CU)

Interdisciplinary: Gender and Sexuality Studies

Dr. Lawson has designed and taught elective courses in the study of literature through the lens of gender and sexuality, blending an approachable study of literary art with the historical context of the cultural norms to which literature responds. Students emerged from these courses with an expanded vocabulary for understanding gender and sexuality as well as insight into works of literature that are often overlooked or incompletely described.

  • ENGL-LGBT 2707: Intro to LGBT Literature (CU)  

  • ENGL 1200 8G:11 Literature and Sexualities (UI)

  • ENGL/WGST 1250: Introduction to Global Women’s Literature (CU)

Rhetoric, Writing, and Composition

Dr. Lawson has taught thirteen separate undergraduate classes in writing and argumentation. In these courses, she equipped students with the analysis and communication tools needed to build success in their future coursework. Through scaffolded assignments in genre conventions, rhetorical strategy, and argumentation, her students sharpened their ability to actively interpret and engage their personal and professional worlds. These courses served a diverse body of students, including Honors students, ESL students, first-generation college students, students with learning disabilities, and students concurrently enrolled in other schools and programs.

  • ENGL 1001: Freshman Writing Seminar (CU)

  • ENGL 121: Composition I (Red Rocks Community College: RRCC)

  • ENGL 122: Composition II (RRCC)  

  • CCR 094: Studio 121 (RRCC)

  • RHET 1030 Rhetoric (UI)

Scholarship

Book Chapters

Against the Grain: Reading Pynchon’s Counternarratives . Sascha Pöhlmann, ed. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2010. 231-249

Conference Presentations

  • Writings of Intimacy Conference, University of Loughborough, United Kingdom. September 11-13, 2010

  • Northeast Modern Language Association, Boston. February 26-March 1, 2009

  • International Pynchon Week, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Munich. June 11-14, 2008

  • Craft Critique Culture 7th Annual Conference, “Sex in Public / Sex in Private” University of Iowa, 2007