Campus Directory

Pronouns she/her

Division Humanities Division

Department/College/Unit Oakes College
Writing Program

Title Continuing Lecturer, Oakes College & Writing Program

Affiliation Faculty

Other UCSC Campus Affiliation Oakes College

Faculty Type Lecturer

Areas of Expertise Writing
Poetry
Literature
Personal and Social Identities
Diversity
Digital Humanities
Social Justice

Web Site

Primary Office Location Oakes College Academic Building
Oakes #313

Office Hours Please email for current office hours and appointments. Thank you!

Mail Stop EPC/Community Studies

Biography, Education and Training

Lindsay Knisely has taught writing and social justice at the University of California, Santa Cruz since 2004.   She is a two-time winner of the UC Santa Cruz Excellence in Teaching Award.  Lindsay is a Continuing Lecturer at Oakes College and in the Writing Program, where she focuses on supporting the academic success of first-generation students.

• B.A. in Creative Writing, Minor in Psychology, Oberlin College, May 1999.  Concentrations: African-American Literature and Literary Theory, Contemporary American Women Poets, Translating Poetry. Advisers: Calvin Hernton and Martha Collins

• M.F.A. in Poetry, University of Oregon Creative Writing Program, June 2001.
Concentrations: Ethos and the Construction of the Poetic Speaker, Contemporary American Poetry and Poetics, Cultural Theory

Summary of Expertise

At Oakes College, Lindsay teaches the Oakes Core Course, the Oakes Mentoring Workshop, and an Oakes poetry course.  For the Writing Program, Lindsay has been teaching a Writing 2 course since 2009 that investigates the ways that young people’s relationships with themselves and others have been affected by their digital connectivity.  She also teaches a Writing 1 course, “Come Closer to Feminism.”

Research Interests

·      Digital Identity Production in Youth

·      Establishing Ethos in Writing

·      Writing of Witness

·      African-American Literature and Literary Theory

·      Writing as Social Activism

·      Writing as Identity Development

·      Poetry Analysis and Interpretation

·      Development of Critical Consciousness

Teaching Interests

·      Feminism

·      Student Success

·      Race and Social Justice

·      Composition

·      Poetry Writing and Analysis

·      Writing as Identity Production

Awards, Honors and Grants

UC Santa Cruz Excellence in Teaching Award, 2023 and 2013

Selected Performances

In this Faculty Spotlight interview created by the UCSC Committee on Teaching, Lindsay Knisely’s former students asked her about her teaching philosophy and the various programs she has created, including the Oakes College Mentoring Program, the Oakes Core Awards, and the Oakes Academic Success class. “The Faculty Spotlight is a way to feature outstanding educators at UCSC who have received the Excellence in Teaching Award. Each interview gives an insight into the experiences, successes, and innovations of different faculty members to showcase what’s happening around campus.” –UCSC Committee on Teaching

Selected Presentations

Presentation: "Using self-efficacy strategies to promote student success and build community," UCSC First Generation Initiative Speaker Series. Recorded April 1, 2021.

This workshop, designed for instructors of discussion-based, distance learning courses, explores student self-efficacy and in-class exercises that teachers can integrate into their remote courses to build self-efficacy. During the workshop, I share teaching materials that I have used successfully to build community and promote student self-efficacy in remote learning environments.

Distance learners struggle with motivation, time management, and engagement, all of which can be improved by implementing activities that promote self-efficacy. Self-efficacy strategies work to create inclusive spaces by providing opportunities for engagement and connection, which research tells us are critically important for students to succeed as distance learners.

Selected Publications

•  “Teaching Patriarchy Post-‘Barbie,’” Ms. Magazine. In this essay, I describe how I have created a way for students to learn about feminism even if they initially describe themselves as anti-feminist.  My class helps students harness the power of the feminist lens to discover how the patriarchy is operating as a defining force in their lives.

• "Moving from Zero Draft to Essay Writing: A Scaffolded Response Exercise,"  Journal of Response to Writing. This article describes an exercise designed to demystify the writing process and provide students with helpful guidelines for moving from concept to explication through the process of developing their zero draft into a completed essay.

•  “Using Reflection and Metacognition to Develop Your Half Essay," Writing Spaces.  This assignment is a selection from the Writing Spaces Assignment and Activity Archive, an open access companion resource to the Writing Spaces open textbook series.

Courses Oakes College Core Course
Writing 1: Come Closer to Feminism
Writing 2: Youth Identity in a Networked Culture
Oakes College Mentoring
Diverse Voices in Contemporary American Women's Poetry