Faculty/Staff

• Associate Professor, Department Chair, English
• Associate Professor, English Graduate Program

First Year at Xavier University:

1992

Degrees:

• M.A., Ph.D. (University of Cincinnati)

Expertise:

Composition/Rhetoric, Writing Center Studies, Pedagogy, Contemporary American Fiction and Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction, Travel Literature, Literature of the American West

Biography:

Alison Russell was born in England but grew up in New Jersey and California. Since starting her career at Xavier in 1992, she has been the director of the Writing Program, of the Writing Center, and of the M.A. in English Program (fortunately not all at the same time). To continue her non-stop administrative stint at Xavier, she has served as department chair since 2006. Recently selected for membership on the National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education, she is also the author of Crossing Boundaries: Postmodern Travel Literature (Palgrave 2000) and of articles on topics about visual literacy, travel writing, Paul Auster, and Colson Whitehead. Dr. Russell teaches Rhetoric, Composition Tutoring, Teaching and Research in Writing, Creative Nonfiction, Literature of the American West, and Contemporary American Fiction. She lives with her husband in Lakeside Park, KY.