Jennifer Dawson, Ph.D., earned her B.A. in English from the University of Michigan,
and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Michigan State University with an emphasis on Early American
Literature and Victorian Studies. She taught at Michigan State University and Grand
Valley State University before joining Aquinas College's faculty in 2001.
While her main area of scholarly interest is American Literature and culture before
1900, her academic passions include studying women writers, conduct manuals, periodical
literature, captivity narratives, letter writing and all aspects of cultural history.
In 2008 and 2011, she applied her background in Irish Literature and History to co-directing
the AQ Ireland program. Over the years, she has been active in Student Affairs: co-chairing
the President's Academic Integrity Committee in 2007 and helping with the Common Reading
Program which she began chairing in 2010. Being appointed Associate Dean of Student
Affairs in 2011 formalized this commitment to fostering student development and promoting
academic integrity.
Off-campus, she is an avid reader, an ardent organic gardener, and a busy mother of
two very active children who share her dream of returning to Ireland.
