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Lisa Smith Faculty Profile

Lisa Smith

Assistant Professor of Teaching of English
Humanities/Teacher Education Division, Seaver College
PLC 117

Biography

Lisa Smith earned her PhD in early American literature at the University of Delaware. She taught at the University of Delaware and now teaches a variety of courses in early American literature and writing at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Her courses focus on the First Great Awakening, gender and spirituality in early American writings, and spiritual autobiography. Dr. Smith has published an academic monograph on how the First Great Awakening appeared in colonial American newspapers, a book on lesser-known women in the Bible, and a book on the eighteenth-century revivalist George Whitefield. Dr. Smith also has presented at Comic-Con International.

Education

  • PhD in English, University of Delaware
  • MA in English, University of Delaware
  • BA in English and Psychology, University of Delaware

 

  • Hammer & Fire: Lessons on Spiritual Passion from the Writings and Life of George Whitefield. Square Halo Books, 2024.
  • “Using Comics to Teach Analytical Writing,” in Teaching Comedy, edited by Bev Hogue, MLA Options for Teaching series, Modern Language Association, 2023, pp. 193-200.

  • Godly Character(s): Insights for Spiritual Passion from the Lives of 8 Women in the Bible. Square Halo Books, 2018.
  • "Engaging the Non-Major with Early American Literature." Society of Early Americanists Panel on Teaching Early American Literature, American Literature Association Conference, May 2016.
  • The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers: A Shifting Story. Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield's Lexington Books, 2012.
  • Howard A. White Award for Teaching Excellence 2023, Pepperdine University
  • Brett J. Love Award for Teaching Excellence, Pepperdine University April 2010, Humanities and Teacher Education Division
  • Teacher of Influence, Pepperdine University October 2009, Women's Basketball Team

Topics

  • Early American Literature
  • First Great Awakening
  • Gender and Spirituality
  • Spiritual and Creative Writing

Courses

  • Gender and Spirituality in Early American Literature
  • Documents of the First Great Awakening
  • Early American Women Writers
  • First-Year Seminar: Spiritual Autobiography