Leah M. Van Vaerenewyck | Lesley University

Leah M. Van Vaerenewyck has been teaching literature and writing courses at Lesley since 2014. Her course credits include: Essentials of English, English Composition, Writing & the Literary Arts, Writing Workshop, World Literature I, World Literature II, Short Fiction & the Novella, and South African Literature.

Leah holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University. She was a 2019-2020 Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation Fellow for Higher Education, a 2016 Education Pioneers Summer Fellow, and has received numerous awards for her scholarship, volunteer work, and creative writing, including an Alpha Kappa Alpha Merit Award (2015), Lesley University’s Dean’s Merit Scholarship (2017), Harvard Medical School’s Community Service Award (2012), a Vermont Studio Center Residency Grant (2015), and a finalist award for her very short fiction from Glimmer Train (2012).

Selected Publications

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M., Clark, S., & Pasinella, A. (2022). “Inquiry-based Learning in the Context of a Common Read Program Encourages Desired Learning Outcomes in First-Year Writing Courses.” Journal of College Reading & Learning, (52)1, 23-41. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10790195.2021.1980452

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M. (2021). “The Devil’s Interval.” Thimble Literary Magazine, 4(3).

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M. (2018). “Athenian Terrace.” IthacaLit. Winter 2018.

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M. (2017). Aesthetic Readings of Diverse Global Literary Narratives for Social Justice. English Journal, 106(6), 61–65.

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M. (2017). Review: “Most Likely to Succeed.” Comparative Education Review, 61(2), 455-457. doi: https://doi.org/10.1086/691179.

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M., Shinas, V.H., & Steckel, B. (2017). One Teacher’s Enactment of TPACK+ in the History Classroom. Literacy Research and Instruction, 56(2), 158-175.

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M. (2016). “Writing Again.” Still Point Arts Quarterly, Summer (22), 42-47.

Steckel, B., Shinas, V. H., & Van Vaerenewyck, L.M. (2015). Artistic Technology Integration: Stories from Primary/Elementary Classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 69(1), 41-49.

Selected Presentations

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M. (2019). Toxic Masculinity in Alejo Carpentier’s The Kingdom of this World. Modern Language Association’s 2019 International Symposium, Catholic University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M., Clark, S., & Pasinella, A. (2019). Creating Community on and Beyond Campuses: Leveraging the Common Reads Program in First-Year Writing, Action Research Network of the Americas 7th Annual Conference, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M., Clark, S., Wauhkonen, R., & Pasinella, A. (2019). Integrating Common Read Texts into Themed First-Year Writing Courses. Focused discussion presented at the 38^th First Year Experience Conference, Las Vegas, NV.

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M. (2016). Literary Text Selection in Massachusetts’ 9-12 ELA Classrooms. Roundtable presentation at Literacy Research Association Conference, Nashville, TN.

Van Vaerenewyck, L.M. (2016). Pedagogy of world literature: Reconnecting with the aesthetic. Paper presentation at Action Research Network of the Americas Conference, Knoxville, TN.