PhD, Toronto
MA, Toronto
BA, Toronto
Extension: 43965
Office: HH 264
Email: klawson@uwaterloo.ca
Biography
I joined the Department of English at the University of Waterloo in 2002. I am fortunate to teach a range of undergraduate courses, including first-year literature courses, the survey course ENGL200B English Literatures 2, and, in 2026, a 400-level special topics course (ENGL485) entitled “Bleak House, bleak nation.” In 2025, I will teach a graduate course in Victorian literature, “The Brontës,” an in-depth exploration of five Brontë novels: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Shirley, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Villette.
My scholarly research focuses on mid-nineteenth-century British fiction, especially Charlotte Brontë, forms of literary influence, and the relationship between literature and history.
I have held numerous service roles, including Chair of the Department of English (2015-18) and member of the UW Senate (2010-12). I have also made contributions to academic-labour and higher-education policy and advocacy as President (2013-15) and Chair of the Board (2017-2020) of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA).
Selected Publications
Books
Charlotte Brontë. Villette. Ed. Kate Lawson. Broadview, 2006; 2024, included in the new “Broadview British Bookshelf Collection.”
Kate Lawson and Lynn Shakinovsky. The Marked Body: Domestic Violence in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Literature. Albany, NY: SUNY, 2002.
Recent Articles
Kate Lawson, “The ‘impassable gulf’ and the Epistemology of Ignorance in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton.” Victorian Review 50.1 (2024) 97-114. doi:10.1353/vcr.2024.a956302
Kate Lawson, “Walking as Literary Influence in the Brontë Dining Room.” Cahiers victoriens et édouardiens. [Victorian and Edwardian Journal] 97 (2023). doi:10.4000/cve.12714.
Kate Lawson. “Shirley: History after Wuthering Heights.” Studies in English Literature,1500-1900. 61. 4 (Autumn 2021) 623–639. doi:10.1353/sel.2021.a910832
Kate Lawson, “Church Building, Community, and Nation in Charlotte Yonge’s The Daisy Chain.” VIJ: Victorians Institute Journal. 47 (2020) 200-223.
Kate Lawson. “Indian Mutiny/English Mutiny: National Governance in Charlotte Yonge’s The Clever Woman of the Family.” Victorian Literature and Culture 42.3 (2014) 439–455. doi:10.1017/S1060150314000084
Fellowships & Awards
- Outstanding Performance Award (2016)
- SSHRC 4A Grant (2005)
- UW/SSHRC Seed Grant (2003)
- Merit Award, University of Northern B.C. (2001)
- SSHRC Grant to Occasional Conferences (with Dr. Gordon Martel, 1997)
- SSHRC Standard Research Grant (with Dr. Lynn Shakinovsky, 1993-97)
- SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (1985-87)
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship (1983-85)
Current research
The Brontë novels; literary influence; Elizabeth Gaskell.
Areas of graduate supervision
Victorian literature and culture, especially fiction from the 1840s and 1850s.