Lisa J. Udel, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of English
Co-Founder, Gender and Women’s Studies Program

Education: University of Michigan, B.A. 1985; Indiana University, M.A. 1989; University of Cincinnati, Ph.D. 2001

Courses: Race Theory; Global Women Writers; Theory in Gender and Women’s Studies; Writing the World; Ethnic Women Writers; African American Literature; Native American Literature; Multicultural Literature; Principles of Writing; Modern Women Writers; Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies; Introduction to Gender and Men’s Studies

Achievements: Faculty Collaboration Fund Award 2003; Alice H. Engelbach Endowment for Peace Studies (2005, 2006), Alice Margaret Engelbach Memorial Endowment for Asian Studies 2006; Malcolm F. Stewart Faculty Award for Intercultural Education 2006

Research Interest: Native women’s literature, feminist theory and literary criticism; multi-ethnic literary studies

Professor Lisa Udel knew in high school she wanted to teach English. Her area of specialization, however, did not gel until she took a course in Native American literature during her undergraduate studies. She was required to read “Black Elk Speaks,” the 1932 autobiography of an Oglala Sioux medicine man.

“The book grabbed me like no other book I’d read before,” Udel recalls. “The more Native American literature I read, the more I had this vision of all of us being connected—both for good and for bad—and I couldn’t get enough of it.”

What also grabbed Udel was the interconnectedness between literature and history.

“When you work in Native American studies you have to know the history,” says Udel, who likes to take her students on field trips to visit historical sites. “The two can’t be divorced. I bring history into most of my courses so my  students have a context for understanding what they’re reading.”

Udel earned her Ph.D. in English from the University of Cincinnati, where she also earned a doctoral certificate in women’s studies. She taught at Kean College, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of the Incarnate Word before joining Illinois College in 2003.

“Illinois College is very responsive to student needs and very supportive of faculty members who are interested in developing new courses or fields of study. It’s liberating.”

Udel is co-founder of the Gender and Women’s Studies Program at IC. She also added several new courses to the English department’s curriculum, including Global Women Writers and Race Theory.

“Although my students may not share the main character’s culture, I try to get them to identify with the feelings of that character. Who hasn’t experienced feelings of being silenced, of being proud, of being scared or of being ostracized? In addition to identifying with those feelings, I help my students understand intellectually what’s going on.”

Udel also tries to keep her course material contemporary. For example, she recently introduced her students to the book, “Taking Back Islam,” written by American Muslims.

“I tell my students to think of themselves as citizens in a global community. We need to educate ourselves about what’s going on in the world. We can’t afford to be ignorant because if you are, you make mistakes and do things that appear arrogant.”

Udel is a frequent speaker at national conferences on Native American women writers. Her article, “Revising Strategies: The Intersection of Literature and Activism in Contemporary Native Women’s Writing,” will be published in the journal Studies in American Indian Literature.

 

   

 

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