A full professor in the Department of English and Modern Languages, Dr. Ayres calls herself a Victorianist. She has published widely in 19th-century British scholarship, including seven books to date, and regularly presents papers at conferences. Each year she takes students abroad, usually to the British Isles. This summer's (2008) trip will be through Ireland. She also coordinates the Victorian Society and Lamplight (LU's literary and arts magazine) and helps put on the Civil War Seminar each spring. She is also the Assistant Director to the Honor's Program and is active with graduate studies by serving as the Chair of the English Graduate Committee and as the Secretary to the Graduate Senate and to the Executive Committee.
Other
Pedagogy
Building Community with Online Students, Faculty on Pedagogy (2007)
Statistics show that many students persevere and succeed to graduate from college when they are...
How To Have a Successful Web Course, Faculty on Pedagogy (2007)
Here are ten rules that should help an instructor make a Web course succeed for...
How to Survive Teaching Distance Learning, Faculty on Pedagogy (2007)
Dr. Ayres shares nine rules or tips to help instructors manage their time, course, and...
Mythic America: Developing an Interdisciplinary Course (with Phillip A. Gibbs), Faculty Publications and Presentations (1997)
Postcolonial Criticism
Persephone in the River Phlegethon; or, the Women at Gettysburg, Faculty Publications and Presentations (2009)
This paper identifies the heroic women who participated in the Battle of Gettysburg, both on...
Victorian Literature
The Many Loves of Christina Rossetti, Faculty Publications and Presentations (2007)
This paper identifies the proposals that Christina Rossetti received in light of her religious convictions....
The Role of Christianity in the American Woman's Movement, Faculty Publications and Presentations (2007)
America’s founding fathers expected to grant rights and freedom to not only men, but also...