Laura Proszak
Contact
- GMH 208
- lproszak@mercy.edu
- (914) 888-5266
Laura Proszak
About
Dr. Laura Proszak is Associate Professor of English and Composition Coordinator within the Department of Literature and Language. Her research centers on composition pedagogy, rhetorical education, embodied and material rhetorics, cultural rhetorics, and archival studies. Laura has two current research projects in writing studies. One examines rhetorical constructions of childhood in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century texts, and the other is on the impact of themed writing courses for Latinx and historically underrepresented students, which was informed by an IRB-approved study. At Mercy, Laura teaches first-year composition, Intro to English Studies, and major-level writing and rhetoric courses. Prior to joining Mercy, she served as Assistant Director of Northeastern’s Writing Program and on the Board of Directors for Rhetoric Society of America. Laura has received numerous faculty grants and awards, including the Faculty Fellowship and the Teaching Excellence Award.
- ENGL 110: Elements of Exposition
- ENGL 111: English Composition I
- ENGL 112: English Composition II
- ENGL 191: Honors English I (topics: Introduction to Rhetoric and Writing: Memory, Place, and Archives; Digital Writing)
- ENGL 195: Introduction to English Studies
- ENGL 210: Cultural Rhetorics
- ENGL 209: Writing for the Professions
- ENGL 510: Theory and Practice of Writing (graduate)
- Composition pedagogy
- Rhetorical education
- Embodied and material rhetorics
- Cultural rhetorics
- Archival studies
Proszak, Laura. “Generative AI Should Be Used Similarly Across Writing Courses.” Bad Ideas about AI and Writing: Generative Practices for Teaching, Learning, and Communication, edited by Christopher Basgier et al., The WAC Clearinghouse Perspectives on Writing Series, 2026, pp. 307-312, https://doi.org/10.37514/PER-B.2026.2777.2.41
Proszak, Laura. "A Manual Training Method as Literate Practice: Rhetorics of the Sloyd Training School for Teachers, 1904-1914." Rhetoric Review, vol. 43, no. 3, 2024, pp. 173-186, DOI: 10.1080/07350198.2024.2349860
Proszak, Laura, and Ellen Cushman. “Delinking Student Perceptions of Place With/in The University Archive.” Teaching Through the Archives: Text, Collaboration, and Activism, edited by Tarez Samra Graban and Wendy Hayden, Southern Illinois University Press, 2022, pp. 197-211.
Proszak, Laura. “‘Products of U.S. Performance: A Material Rhetorical Education at North Bennet Street Industrial School, 1890-1910.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 109-121, 2021, DOI: 10.1080/02773945.2021.1877801
Mercy University Faculty Senate Microgrant, 2024, 2026.
Mercy University Teaching Excellence Award, 2023.
Mercy University Faculty Fellow, Advisory Committee for Teaching and Learning and the Provost’s Office, 2020-2021.