Professor, Special Purpose
Writing, Lang and Lit, School of
Hemphill Hall 4107
PO Box 6935
Hi! As a Radford University alumna from long ago and faculty for more than two decades, RU is a second home for me. I love working with all students, from those in my first-year composition courses to students pursuing their master's degrees. In my composition courses, I spend time talking with students about what makes good writing and how to write for academic audiences. In the rest of my courses, my students and I talk a lot about gender issues, especially those that intersect and overlap with issues of race, class and LGBTQ+ identities. When I am not on campus, I love to travel. To keep up with my office hours each semester or to make an appointment, click here: https://sites.google.com/view/dr-ren/home.
Principles of College Composition (ENGL 111): In this workshop course, I help students develop their own author's voice and start to learn how to write for an academic audience.
Critical Reading and Writing in the Digital Age (ENGL 112): In this follow-up to ENGL 111, students practice finding, evaluating and using readable, reliable, relevant and recent sources in order to further skills in writing for an academic audience. If you take this course with me, you will learn how to break up a longer researched writing assignment into smaller chunks that make "The Research Paper" less scary!
Women in the World - Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies (WGST 200): In this class, we talk about gender expectations for women and men, along with issues that impact women both in the United States and around the world.
Senior Portfolio in Women's and Gender Studies (WGST 400): In this capstone course for minors in the Women's and Gender Studies program, students create ePortfolios to showcase their experiences learning some fo the key concepts of the discipline.
The Female Literary Tradition (ENGL 453): If you've always wanted to join a feminist book club, take this course! We trace a fictional documentation of the women's movement from 19th century England to 21st century North America and have lots of laughs and tears along the way.
Studies in Women's Literature (ENGL 653): This is my advanced feminist book club for graduate students! In this class, we historicize both "The Female Literary Tradition" and the literary criticism that helped to create it. Over the course of the semester, students uncovers, study and then enter a scholarly conversation about one or more of our texts.
First-Year Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Mentor: Each year, I am fortunate to work with two new graduate students in the Department of English, as they learn how to teach our first-year composition courses. We work closely together to design and teach the ENGL 111 and ENGL 112 courses. I like to think that my GTAs are well prepared to teach their own courses when they leave me to become Graduate Teaching Fellows (GTFs) in their second year.
Realizing Inclusive Student Excellence (RISE) Faculty Fellow: I have been honored to be a part of the second class of faculty to complete the RISE Institute. Finding ways to make sure that all of my students feel like they belong in my classroom and at Radford University has been at the heart of my teaching for many years. It is something I will continue to work on for as long as RU will have me.
Safe Zone Trainer / Safe Zone Office Coordinator: In these roles, I help to train the campus community to understand some of the issues that our LGBTQ+ students and colleagues may face.
Senior Thesis Advisor: English majors looking for a senior thesis advisor, let's chat! I have supervised and/or graded nearly 30 senior theses.
Graduate Thesis / Comprehensive Exam Reader: Comps exams and theses are a big deal and cause a lot of anxiety for graduate students. Come talk with me about yours, and maybe we can make it all a little less scary? Of course, I will make sure that your work is also pretty darn good!
Cats. Books. Coffee. Social Justice. Travel.