Lori Askeland, associate professor English and department chair, has been elected to a three-year term as a member of the executive committee of the Association of Departments of English (ADE).
According to the Association's website, the ADE advocates for English departments and promotes the value of English studies. Founded by department chairs for department chairs in 1963, the ADE represents more than 700 departments of English, writing programs, and humanities divisions in two- and four-year colleges and universities across the United States and Canada.
Comprised of 12 members elected by the ADE community, the executive committee meets twice annually. Askeland’s term began Jan. 8, 2018 and will conclude on Jan. 10, 2021.
“During this challenging time for the humanities and higher education, I am excited to help English departments across the country demonstrate the value of the English major as a nimble and valuable degree,” Askeland said. “We provide students with strong writing and critical thinking skills that serve virtually all careers - and with a broad and varied historical and cultural awareness that enhances their lives.”
As a project of the Modern Language Association, the ADE provides information and research for its member departments, creating institutional, national, and professional contexts for exploring policy, disciplinary challenges, trends, and best practices in the broad field of English studies in higher education. Becoming part of the ADE network helps department leaders identify how local issues are shared and shaped across the profession.
Askeland earned her bachelor’s degree from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and both her master's and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. Her research interests include adoption, foster care and reproductive justice in United States literature, American women writers, the literature of slavery and human trafficking, and intersectional feminist/critical race theory. She has been the faculty liaison for the Lilly Fellows program in the humanities and the arts at Wittenberg from 2000-present, is a member of the Springfield Leadership Council of Planned Parenthood, a past council member and past vice president of the Village Council of Yellow Springs and a past member of the Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Board of Directors.
Askeland has also edited a volume on Children and Youth in Adoption, Orphanages, and Foster Care, and has written peer-reviewed articles on a variety of writers including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Toni Morrison, Fanny Fern, and Octavia Butler.
