Lauren Cardon

Lauren Cardon is an Associate Professor of English and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Alabama. She earned her PhD in English from Tulane University. Her research focuses on twentieth-century and contemporary literature, critical pedagogy, and ecocriticism. Current projects include an ecocritical monograph, A Planet in Hospice: Environmental Justice in Existential Ecofiction, and a co-authored book on inclusive teaching strategies, Inclusive College Classrooms: Teaching Methods for Diverse Learners (Routledge, 2022).

Her earlier work explores identity construction through fashion in American literature, analyzing how characters use style to negotiate cultural and ethnic identities. Major publications include Fashioning Character: Style, Performance, and Identity (2021) and Fashion and Fiction: Self-Transformation in Twentieth-Century American Literature (2016). Cardon’s scholarship also addresses topics like queer literature, experiential learning, and accessibility in education.

Her articles span journals such as Southern Quarterly, MELUS, and The Saul Bellow Journal, with recent work focusing on transgender narratives and pandemic-era pedagogy. Cardon is committed to advancing inclusive classroom practices and interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and research.