Assistant Professor and Student at Heart
Published: April 13, 2021
Her first year in graduate school, Lindsey Row-Heyveld '04 attended a Halloween party dressed as Hester Prynne, the heroine from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. On the way to the party, her long dark dress, white cap, and red letter 'A' led people to mistake her for a nun. When she walked into a room crowded with fellow English graduate students, however, everyone immediately burst into applause. "I remember thinking, 'I've found my people' - not because they got my dorky costume, but because they were as excited about literature as I was."
Lindsey, now an assistant professor at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, had previously delighted in finding "her people" at Greenville College - people that shared her passions about literature and learning. She is among the Greenville College graduates for whom the doctoral path makes sense as the next step after completing their undergraduate work. Her decision to commit to that seven-year process resulted from discoveries that unfolded over her four years at GC.
"My current research focuses on representations of disability in early modern English drama, which I see emerging from the mentorship I received at Greenville," she explains. "I wrote my very first paper on disability in a class with Dr. Shaw, and Dr. Hartley's passion for the English Reformation ignited my own."
Dynamic discussion in Shaw's classroom inspired Lindsey's decision to continue studying literature and engaging in that kind of "vibrant, even electric learning." She began doctoral studies at the University of Iowa at age 22, only three months after her Greenville College graduation. She received her degree in 2011.
"It suited my interests and my abilities since I care about teaching, but I also really love research for its own sake," she explains. "Honestly, I don't think I realized at the time what an enormous commitment it was, which is probably why I thought I could do it: I had the courage of ignorance."
Lindsey's continued excitement for teaching and research confirm that an advanced degree was the right path for her. "I do more and better research when I'm teaching, and my teaching is stronger and more creative when I'm also doing research."
She regards the guidance she received from her GC professors as a continual influence. "They nurtured so much more than just my intellect. I would consider myself deeply blessed to offer that same care to my students."
