Assistant Professor of Westover Honors/English
Director of the Wilmer Writing Center
434.544.8572
willis.r@lynchburg.edu
Education
- PhD, Rhetoric and Writing Studies — Old Dominion University
- MA, English — University of Lynchburg
- MEd — Liberty University
- BA, English — Liberty University
Rachel Willis has enjoyed teaching in the Westover Honors Community since 2016. Before joining Westover, she taught for the English departments at the University of Lynchburg and Liberty University. Since 2008, Willis has taught courses in composition, literature, and various interdisciplinary topics. Rachel Willis graduated from Liberty University with a bachelor’s degree in English. From there, she earned her Master of Education, specializing in Teaching and Learning. While completing her MEd, Willis focused her research on gifted education and non-traditional educational formats. She later earned a Master of English from the University of Lynchburg and her PhD from Old Dominion University. Her research in gifted education informs her role in the Westover Honors Program, where she enjoys using active learning techniques to introduce students to a wide range of ideas that will broaden their understanding of the world.
Outside of her work at the University of Lynchburg, Rachel Willis also plays beach volleyball and runs. She has three children in sports that keep the whole family busy!
When it comes to Westover Honors, Rachel Willis is grateful to be a part of such a smart, engaging, and passionate learning community. While she has always loved teaching, she has never enjoyed it so much as when she is with a class of interested, sharp, and hard-working Westover Fellows.
Publications
- Willis, R. (2020). From ‘Freak’ to ‘Good Man’: Homosocial Desire and Triangulation in the BBC’s Sherlock. The Best Murders are British: Essays on the International Appeal of English Crime Dramas, edited by Jim Daems, McFarland, 140.
- Willis, R. (2018). ’A man is nothing without the spice of the devil in him’: Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester navigate an imperially-inscribed masculinity.” Otherness: Essays and Studies, 6 (2). 243.
- Willis, R. (2017). Shattered Masculinity and Violence in Walker Percy’s Lancelot: Apocalypse Now. Pivot: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies and Thought, 6(1).
- Willis, R. (2014). The Prodigality of Sons and Fathers in Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead. Literature and Belief, 34(1).
- Willis, R. (2013). Masculinities and Murder: George Pemberton in Ron Rash’s Serena. The James Dickey Review, 29(2), 13.
Conference Presentations
- “Negotiating Traumatized Masculinities in Ezekal Alan’s Disposable People,” South Atlantic MLA Conference, Virtual, 13-15 November 2020.
- “‘“Where Have All the Women Gone?”: Rhetorical Circulation of Old Hits and the Missing Women of Country Music.” Words, Music, and Marginalization, University of St. Andrews, UK, 1-3 September 2020.
- Accepted but deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic, “Conspicuous Consumption and Social Capital on Instagram: The Case of Caroline Calloway.” Popular Culture Association, Philadelphia, PA, 15-18 April, 2020.
- “Podcasting in the Classroom,” with Jay Proffitt, Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy, Blacksburg, VA, 5-7 February 2020.
- “Podcasting as Composition: The Risks and Rewards,” with Alissa Keith, UNC Writing Studies Conference, UNC Charlotte, NC, 25 October 2019.
- “Instead of a Paper: Practical and Inclusive Teaching with Digital Tools,” with Julie Sorg Way, HASTAC Digital Fridays, 10 May 2019.
- “’I Wouldn’t Be a Man if I Didn’t Feel this Way’: Rhetorics of Masculinity in Country Radio Playlists,” Popular Culture Association National Conference, Washington D.C., 17-20 April 2019.
Awards
- Phi Kappa Phi: “Love of Learning Award,” $1000– 2023-2024
- Delta Kappa Gamma: “DKG International Award,” $10,000– 2022-2023
- Sigma Tau Delta: “Edwin L. Stockton, Jr. Graduate Scholarship,” $4,000– 2021-2022
- University of Lynchburg Westover Honors College: “Faculty Appreciation Award”– 2020-2021
