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Mary Lenard, Ph.D.

  • Director of Composition and Associate Professor - English
  • Literature and Languages Department
  • Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1996
  • PHONE: (262) 595-2018
  • EMAIL: lenard@uwp.edu
Mary Lenard

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Victorian literature
  • Children's Literature
  • Young Adult Literature
  • British literature
  • Nineteenth-Century British Literature
Mary Lenard grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, has a B.A. from the University of Virginia (1989) and a M.A. (1991) and Ph.D. (1996) from the University of Texas at Austin. She started at UW-Parkside in 1998, after having taught at Alma College in Michigan for two years. Her first book, Preaching Pity: Dickens, Gaskell, and Sentimentality in Victorian Culture, was published in 1999. She lives in Racine, has taught at UW-Parkside for almost twenty years, and is currently serving as the Chair of the English Department.

Teaching Interests

Dr. Lenard’s primary research and teaching field is 19th Century British Literature, so she teaches the British Literature 1700-1900 survey course (English 318), as well as 400 level special topics courses on the Brontës, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Romantics, and more. Currently, she is working on a book about British and American children’s fantasy literature in the women’s suffrage era, so she also teaches courses on children’s and young adult literature. Dr. Lenard also regularly teaches writing courses: Fundamentals of English (ENGL 100) and Composition and Reading (ENGL 101), and occasionally Advanced Composition (ENGL 201).

Research Interests

Dr. Lenard is currently researching and writing a book on portrayals of powerful women in British and American children's fantasy fiction during the women's suffrage era.

Consulting Interests

Selected Publications

2024: Ozma, Sorceresses, and Suffrage: Women, Power, and Politics in L. Frank Baum’s Land of Oz, McFarland (108-122 pp.)

2014: "The Gospel of Amy: Biblical Teaching and Learning in Little Dorrit", Christianity and Literature (337-355 pp.)

2005: "Dealing With Online Selves: Ethos Issues in Computer-Assisted Teaching and Learning", Pedagogy, Winter 2005, Volume 5 Issue 1 (19 pp.)

2003: "Deathbeds and Didacticism: Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna and Victorian Social Reform Literature" in _Silent Voices_, Greenwood Press (22 pp.)

2000: Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna, Greenwood Press (3 pp.)

1999: Preaching Pity: Dickens, Gaskell, and Sentimentalism in Victorian Culture, Peter Lang

1998: "Mr. Popular Sentiment:" Dickens and the Gender Politics of Sentimentalism and Social Reform Literature, Dickens Studies Annual

Departmental Service

2021: Chairperson - Department of Literatures and Languages chair
2021: Chairperson - English Department Chair
2021: Chairperson - Department of Literatures and Languages

College Service

2015: - Interim Associate Dean, College of Arts and Humanities

Professional Service

2018: Committee Member - The Astrid Lindgren Award Committee, ChLA
2016: Committee Member - Carol Gay Award Committee, ChLA

UW System Service

2016: Committee Member - Wisconsin English Placement Test Committee
ENGL 101 - Composition and Reading
ENGL 112 - Women In Literature
ENGL 167 - Introduction to Literature
ENGL 253 - Literature Into Film:
ENGL 266 - Literary Analysis
ENGL 268 - Intro to Holocaust Studies
ENGL 318 - British Literature, 1700-1900
ENGL 354 - Young Adult Literature
ENGL 468 - Holocaust Studies
ENGL 489 - Teaching/Assessing Composition
ENGL 495 - Seminar in Literature:
HIST 268 - Intro to Holocaust Studies
HIST 468 - Holocaust Studies
WGSS 112 - Women In Literature
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