Susan Lawrence
Susan Lawrence
Professor
Writing center theory and practice, research methods, discourse analysis
Susan Lawrence is Director of George Mason University's Writing Center, which serves undergraduate and graduate students across the university. Her scholarship focuses on tutor education and graduate student writers in the disciplines. In 2026, funded by a Summer Team Impact grant, she co-led a a team of seven student researchers who examined how students are incorporating generative AI into their writing process.
Susan has taught courses in writing center theory and practice; research methods including ethnography and discourse analysis; professional writing; and rhetorics of reconciliation. She has consulted with professionals in government, business, and non-profit organizations about communicating with public and congressional audiences.
She is a Stearns Center Teaching Excellence Award winner (2022) and past co-chair of the Consortium on Graduate Communication.
Selected Publications
Bychkovska, T., & Lawrence, S. (2024). Tutors' perspectives on their work with multilingual writers: Changes over time and in response to revisions in training. Writing Center Journal, 42(2), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.7771/2832-9414.1933
Lawrence, S. and Zawacki, T. M. (Eds.). (2018). Re/Writing the center: Approaches to Supporting Graduate Students in the Writing Center. Utah State University Press.
Lawrence, S. and Zawacki, T. M. (Eds.) (2016). Writing center support for graduate student thesis and dissertation writers [Special issue] WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, 40(2).
Lawrence, S. (2008). The intertextual forging of epideictic discourse: Construals of victims in the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission Amnesty Hearings. In B. Johnstone & Eisenhart, C. (Eds.), Rhetoric in detail: Discourse analyses of rhetorical talk and text (pp. 113-40). John Benjamins.
Hayes, J. R., Bajzak, D. M., Lawrence, S., & Steinberg, E. R. (2007). Developing an online writing tutor: The interaction of design principles and assessment. In O'Niell, P. (Ed.), Blurring boundaries: Developing writers, researchers and teachers: A tribute to William L. Smith (pp. 169 - 93). Hampton Press.
Flower, L., Lawrence, S., and Cook, D. (2000). Tracking a literate practice across the disciplines: The rival hypothesis stance in biology and history. In Flower, L., Long, E., & Higgins, L. (Eds.), Learning to rival: A literature practice for intercultural inquiry (pp. 213 - 25). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Courses Taught
ENGH 389: Tutoring Writing in the Disciplines
ENGH 302: Advanced Composition in the Disciplines
ENGH 386: Editing for Audience, Style, and Voice
ENGH 388: Professional and Technical Writing
ENGH 459: Internship in English
ENGH 501: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Professional Writing and Rhetoric
ENGH 502: Research Methods in Professional Writing & Rhetoric
ENGH 503: Theory and Practice of Editing
ENGH 611: Discourse Analysis
ENGH 611: Rhetorics of Accountability
ENGH 612: Cultures of Professional Writing
ENGH 797: Capstone Project in Professional Writing and Rhetoric
ENGH 822: Writing Center Theory and Practice
Education
PhD, Rhetoric, Carnegie Mellon University
MA, Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison
BA, English and French, College of William and Mary
Recent Presentations
Lawrence, S., & Massie, C. (2025, October 16). A decade of tutor reflections on training, space, and knowledge gained [Paper presentation]. International Writing Centers Association Annual Conference, Cincinnati, OH, United States
Lawrence, S., Massie, C., Franson-Thiel, T., Perkins, & M. Riley, H. (2024, October 24). Feedback face-off: Comparing writing tutors’ and GenAI written responses to student writing [Paper presentation]. International Writing Centers Association Annual Conference, virtual.
Lawrence, S., & King, D. (2024, April 3). Building AI critical literacy collaboratively in consultant training [Workshop]. International Writing Centers Association Collaborative@CCCCs, Spokane, WA, United States.
Zawacki, T. M., Cox, M., & Lawrence, S. (2021, August 2). Exploring approaches to supporting graduate writers across disciplines, demographics, and diverse institutional contexts. [Pre-conference Workshop] International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference, virtual.