Faculty Staff

Sarah Maitland

Associate Professor of English; Associate Provost; English Program Coordinator; Director of University Writing

Professor Sarah Maitland

“When I design a writing or literature class I do so with the understanding that if I want my class to come alive for my students I have to remember that my students have lives— with their own passions, unique perspectives, and roadblocks to learning. Students, like the texts I teach, are multiplicities. Part of what I do in the classroom is train students to tap into this multiplicity and leverage it to find ways into the academic conversation.”

Education

  • Ph.D. in English, University of Rhode Island, 2015
  • M.A. in English, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2007
  • B.A. in English, Women’s Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2001

Courses

  • English Major: Women Authors, The Romantics, Graphic Novels, Introduction to Composition, Advanced Composition, Introduction to Literary Studies

Teaching Positions & Professional Experience

  • Director of the Writing Center, 2020–23
  • Joined the Southern Virginia University faculty in 2017
  • Taught Writing Seminar, Intermediate Writing at Providence College, 2015–17
  • Lectured Writing Workshop, Introduction to Literary Studies at Bryant University, 2014–17
  • Taught Writing Workshop, English Composition I, Advanced Composition and Communication, and Communication Skills at Johnson and Wales University, 2013–17
  • Taught Introduction to College Writing, Writing to Inform and Explain, Introduction to Literature, The Short Story, British Seminar 1, Shakespeare, Marlowe and Milton, Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Rhode Island, 2007–15
  • Taught Introduction to Composition at the University of Massachusetts Boston, 2005–07

Scholarship & Creative Work

  • Research interests include 18th and 19th British literature, developmental writing, ELL studies, technological literacy, medical humanities, and popular culture and film
  • Presented work at the North American Society for the Study of Romanticism (2011), the 19th Century Studies Association, 2012, the International Conference on Romanticism, 2014, the Wordsworth Summer Conference, 2013, the Shakespeare Association of America, 2011, the International Conference on Popular Romantic Studies, 2011, the Popular Culture Association National Conference, 2009, 2011–14, and the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association Conference, 2015, 2017–19

Awards, Leadership & Service

  • Director of Academic Advising, 2018–present
  • Associate Director of University Writing, 2018–present
  • Associate English Program Director, 2018–present