Faculty/Staff Detail
Laura J. Davies
Laura J. Davies is Associate Professor of English and Director of Campus Writing Programs at SUNY Cortland. Her research focuses on writing teacher pedagogy (K-12 and university-level), student composing and reading practices, theories and practices of writing program administration, and histories of composition and rhetoric. She teaches courses on writing pedagogy, composition history and theory, technical and professional writing, research methodologies, creative nonfiction, and first-year writing. As Director of Campus Writing Programs, she leads SUNY Cortland’s first-year writing program and writing across the curriculum program. Davies earned her Ph.D. in Composition and Cultural Rhetoric from Syracuse University.
Prior to teaching at SUNY Cortland, Davies taught in the Department of English and Fine Arts at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO.
Education
Ph.D., Composition and Cultural Rhetoric, Syracuse University, 2012
M.S.T., English, University of New Hampshire, 2005
B.A., History and English with Integral Honors, Le Moyne College, 2004
Teaching
Graduate
Seminar in the Composing Process
Professional Writing
Research in the Teaching of English
Master’s Project: Student Teaching Colloquia
Seminar in the Composing Process
Professional Writing
Research in the Teaching of English
Master’s Project: Student Teaching Colloquia
Undergraduate
Writing Studies I
Teaching Writing
Technical Writing
Professional Writing
Advanced Writing Workshop
Creative Nonfiction: Tiny Writing
Student Teaching Colloquium
Writing Studies I
Teaching Writing
Technical Writing
Professional Writing
Advanced Writing Workshop
Creative Nonfiction: Tiny Writing
Student Teaching Colloquium
Publications
Selected Peer-Reviewed Articles and Essays:
“Grief and the New WPA.” WPA: Writing Program Administration 40.2 (Spring 2017): 40-51.
“Polymorphic Frames of Pre-tenure WPAs: Seven Accounts of Hybridity and Pronoia.” Co-authored with Derek Mueller, Kate Pantelides, Matthew Dowell, Alanna Frost, Mike Garcia, and Rik Hunter. Kairos 21.1. 15 August 2016.
“Popcorn and Peter Elbow: Ways to Help Your Kids with Their Writing.” Teachers, Profs, Parents: Writers Who Care. Commission on Writing Teacher Education. National Council of Teachers of English. Web. 2 May 2016.
“Teaching with Love.” Composition Studies 42.2 (Fall 2014): 30-32.
“Taking the Long View: Investigating the History of a Writing Program’s Teacher Evaluation System.” WPA: Writing Program Administration 37.1 (Fall 2013): 81-111.
“Plagiarism in the Internet Age.” Co-authored with Rebecca Moore Howard. Educational Leadership 66.6 (March 2009): 64-67.
Chapters in Peer-Reviewed Collections:
“Command and Collaboration: Leading as a New WPA.” WPAs in Transition: Navigating Educational Leadership Positions. Eds. Courtney Adams Wooten, Jacob Babb, and Brian Ray. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 2018, pp. 188-203.
“Getting to the Root of the Problem: Preventing Plagiarism by Teaching Reading as a Process.” What Is College Reading? Exploring Reading in Every Discipline. Eds. Alice Horning, Cynthia Haller, and Deb Gollnitz. WAC Clearinghouse/University Press of Colorado, 2017, pp. 161-182.
“Not Just Teachers: The Long-Term Effects of Placing Instructors in Administrative Roles in an Independent Writing Program.” A Minefield of Dreams: Triumphs and Travails of Independent Writing Programs, eds. Justin Everett and Cristina Hanguna-Bresch. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado, 2016. 221-250.
“Plagiarism and the Internet: Fears, Fallacies, and Pedagogies.” Co-authored with Rebecca Moore Howard. The Handbook for Academic Integrity .Ed. Tracy Bretag. Singapore: Springer Science+Business Media, 2016. 591-606.
“Browsing with Intent: Digital Information Literacy and Distant Reading Practices.” The Next Digital Scholar, eds. James P. Purdy and Randall McClure. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc. 2014. 229-258.
Service
Director, Campus Writing Programs
Chair, College Writing Committee
Composition Program Steering Committee
Adolescence English Education Curriculum Committee
Professional Writing Curriculum Committee
Grants
SUNY Cortland Sesquicentennial Grant. $1000. SUNY Cortland, 2018.
Faculty Research Program Grant, $2996, SUNY Cortland, 2018.
Institutional Planning and Assessment Committee Strategic Funds Allocation, $50,000, SUNY Cortland, 2018.
Campus Artist and Lecture Series Grant, $470, SUNY Cortland, 2018.
SUNY Developmental English Learning Community Grant, $25,500, State University of New York, 2017. With Matt Lessig and Abby Thomas.
Fine Teaching Development Award, SUNY Cortland, 2017.
Academic Program Innovation Grant, $6700, SUNY Cortland, 2016. With Matt Lessig and Geoffrey Bender.
Nuala McGann Drescher Research Leave, New York State/United University Professions Joint Labor/Management Committees, 2016.